Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 68024 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68024 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“Many. So, not everyone here has magic?”
“No. There are also Christians here. And still others who have no particular faith at all. But the curse was placed on the whole village, not just those with magic.”
She nods. “Go on.”
“The decision was made to cast the curse, with the intention of being able to break it once the hysteria was over. We would essentially make Hallows End disappear, along with any knowledge that it ever existed. We should have been caught here for no more than two years.”
“Instead, it’s been more than three hundred years.”
I exhale, relieved at the understanding in her gorgeous eyes. “Yes.”
“Jonas.” To my horror, tears fill her eyes, but when I reach for her, she shakes her head and stands to walk to the fire, staring down into the flames.
Nera whimpers and sits up so he can lick his mistress’s hand. She brushes her fingers over his head and whispers, “All is well.”
That she would work to soothe her familiar when she was in turmoil herself says so much about the woman Luciana is. It makes me ache to touch her. Before I can get up to do just that, she turns and pins me with those luminous green eyes, her lashes glistening with moisture.
“This is a far worse punishment for you than death.”
I feel my hands flex in and out of fists, and then I simply nod. “There are days that’s true, yes.”
“I can help you lift the curse,” she says. “I told you earlier—there are powerful people in our coven. I know that if we put our heads together, we can lift this and set you all free.”
“I don’t think it’ll be that easy.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be easy at all,” she agrees but then crosses to me. She kneels before me and takes my hands in hers. “But this has to stop. For all of you. We’ll find a way, but I don’t know enough to do it alone.”
“Clearly, neither do I or I’d have lifted it centuries ago.”
She looks down at our hands, tracing the mark on her skin and then mine.
“What if you weren’t meant to?” She turns her gaze back up to meet mine. “And what in the world is a soul mark? Oh, and why do I feel like I know you even though I only met you yesterday?”
I take her hand in mine and bring it to my lips, kissing the new mark as I try to gather my thoughts.
“I don’t know why you have the crescent moon,” I whisper. “I’m as surprised as you are. I’ve never seen the soul mark on anyone before. From what I’ve read and was told, it’s a physical manifestation of a soul bond. I’ve had this mark on my hand since I was a child.”
“But mine happened only minutes ago. Is it because we’re here? Why didn’t it happen when I met you in my shop?”
“All good questions,” I say with a small smile. “Ones I wish I could answer for you. But mark or no mark, it doesn’t change the instant pull we felt as soon as we met.”
“Before we met,” she says. “I followed you to that bridge the other night because I couldn’t do anything else.”
“And I couldn’t stay away from you today. Leaving you this evening was…well, it was difficult.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t live in 1692.” She lets out a short laugh. “I need a shower. And electricity. And, you know, things that don’t exist here.”
“Don’t worry. I’m in no position to ask you to live here. None of the people in Hallows End can see you.”
“Oh, I’d forgotten about that.” She sighs and pulls her hand out of mine so she can push both hands through her hair. “So, this means you’re—”
“Three hundred and sixty years old.”
She blinks rapidly and then looks me up and down. “You look good for your age, Jonas.”
I can’t help but laugh at that.
“Were you born here? In Hallows End?”
“No, I was born in Salem.”
“What happened to your parents? Your family?”
“They died a very long time ago. They lived in Salem. I lived here.”
“Would there be records of your birth? In a census somewhere or something?”
“No. As soon as I cast the curse, our very existence was wiped out of memory.”
She scowls and shakes her head slowly. “So, even your family would have forgotten that you existed?”
“That’s right.” And it was torture being able to go into Salem and see them but having them not recognize me. My mother once passed me on the street without even a second glance.
“Some of the people who live in Salem now, those who have ancestors from that time, may be the descendants of some of the people still living here in Hallows End.”
“You have a very busy mind, Luciana.”
That makes her smile. “I overthink everything. But that’s true, isn’t it?”