“Look at it this way. I haven’t tried bedding you yet, and if this had been before I met Lily, I certainly would have.”

Wick was a beautiful woman, despite her attempts to hide it, but the thought of being with anyone other than Lily made his stomach twist in knots. He’d never known it was even possible to feel this way.

“I’m not sure if that was meant to be a compliment, but I didn’t take it that way,” she replied absently.

“No, it wasn’t. Merely facts.” Lux stared up at the hole in ceiling. “How did that happen?”

“What?” Wick went over to the large wooden chest on the other side of the room to search through it, and she glanced up at the carnage done to her cottage. “Oh, that? Just a fight with a sorceress.” Something occurred to her, and she stopped rummaging to look back at him. “You wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with Scelestus, would you?”

“No, I’ve never personally had any business with her,” Lux said, then realized that was a lie by omission. While he’d always been known for his silver tongue, he wanted to reform. “Valefor and Scelestus planned some kind of exchange, but I’m not sure of the details. All I know is that he sent me to fetch Lily from her, but instead of bringing her to him, I left her in the woods.”

“Ah, yes. Leaving a young girl alone in the Necrosilvam. What a wise decision,” Wick mocked him.

“I didn’t know what else to do!” Lux sighed. “In retrospect, I regret it entirely. I should’ve stayed with her.”

“There’s nothing to regret. I took care of her then, and I’ll take care of her now,” Wick said. “She fares much better with me than she does you.”

“She’s still with Ira, no matter who you blame,” Lux replied icily.

“Not for much longer.” She found something in her chest and held it out to him. “Here. Put this on.”

“What is it?” He sat up as she tossed white cloth at him.

“It’s a shirt.”

“I thought you said you didn’t have a shirt.” He slipped off his jacket and pulled on the shirt. It didn’t have buttons, but the collar hung open a bit, the way he liked it.

“No, I said your shirt was destroyed. And that’s not just any shirt. It should protect you from magic, so your friend Ira won’t decimate you if you see him.” She went back to digging through the chest, hoping to find something else useful for herself.

“Well, thank you.” He adjusted the shirt, fixing it so it laid right on him. “I know it pains you to help me.”

“It really does,” Wick sighed. “But I don’t see that I have a choice in the matter.”

“Why did you even bring me back here?” Lux got to his feet, feeling too frustrated to rest any longer. Most of the aches in his body had worn away, and the burning in his chest had disappeared almost entirely. “You hate me so much, but I’ve never met you. I’ve never done anything to you.”

“You didn’t have to,” Wick said. “My best friend, my only friend was the castimonia, and she spent her whole life trying to spread good and fix the damage you and your brethren did. When she died, she left me to watch out for her daughter. Now Lily is involved with you, everything she stood against. She would be mortified if she knew what was happening.”

“It doesn’t matter if her dead mother approves of me or not,” Lux pointed out. “It only matters that we find Lily. When this is all done, you can spit on my grave, for all I care. But right now, I need you to stop hating me. I know I can’t do this on my own, not after the way Ira took me out. I need you, and you need me. For Lily.”

“You’re right.” Wick pushed her hair behind her ears and took a breath. “I know I have another cloak around here. As soon as I find it, we can leave.” 

Lux went to the hole in her wall, staring out at the night. The moon was still swollen, shining down on the Necrosilvam. When he was around, the woods were silent, but he didn’t understand how anyone could live out here. The charuns were troublesome, and the trees were known for thieving. He’d never seen a purple apple tree before, and as he admired it, the branches started quivering.

Wick didn’t think anything of it because the protective sphere had been going haywire since Lux arrived. He’d disturbed its balance. Then she felt a more drastic fluctuation, as if the world pulled and swayed, and Lux looked around, meaning he’d sensed it too. A gust of wind blew through the house, and an apple fell from the tree, landing on the ground with a thud.

Something was coming, and Wick got to her feet just as the front door swung open.

11

Wick had her hand on her wand, and Lux was at her side, his stance defensive and confident. She’d expected him to cower in the corner, but when he ran to her aide, Wick started thinking that perhaps she’d underestimated him. Not that she had much time to think because someone entered her cottage.

The thin man came inside with an overly casual stride. His clothes looked even finer than Lux’s, all silks and leather. Gaudy rings ordained his hands, along with a heavy chain around his neck. His features were refined and delicate, bordering on feminine but still attractive. He kept his blond short and perfectly styled, and his dark eyes went over the room with contempt.

“You didn’t have to clean up on my account,” he said. He ran his finger along the counter, and when it came up covered in dust, he wiped his finger off with disgust.

“Who are you and what do you want?” Wick demanded. She hadn’t raised her wand yet, and she didn’t want to waste her energy if she didn’t need to. Her other hand dropped into her pouch, digging for something to frighten him away.

“Avaritia, what are you doing?” Lux asked when the man didn’t answer.

“Avaritia?” Wick questioned, looking at Lux out of the corner of her eye. He was another peccati, but Lux hadn’t relaxed since he came in, so she wasn’t sure if it was good that Lux knew him. “Greed?”

“Right.” Avaritia smiled at her, flashing perfect white teeth. “It’s a good thing you’re smart, because you’re horrible at housekeeping. And you’re not much to look at either.”

“Why are you here?” Wick asked, ignoring his jabs.

“I came to see how Lux was slumming it.” Avaritia turned his attention to Lux. “This really is quite repugnant, even for you. You can’t possibly be intimate with that woman … can you?” He wrinkled his nose and nodded at Wick, who rolled her eyes.