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“Did she say anything?” Verla asked urgently.
I shook my head. “I couldn’t understand her.”
Lucas swallowed audibly, and I realized he must’ve heard her last thought. I drew away from him to ask, “Did she say anything to you?”
Lucas shivered. “All I heard was… Don’t trust anyone.”
“Obviously we can’t trust the coven,” Verla said, throwing her hands up. “Didn’t she have anything more helpful to say?”
“Verla!” I shouted, more out of shock than anything. “Everly died. Whatever she was trying to say, she was using her last breath to try and help us!”
Verla bowed her head. “Yes, I… I’m sorry. It’s just… after everything, even more loss…”
A few tears slipped out of Verla’s eyes, and she turned away.
We heard footsteps, then several gasps as the others arrived. Our friends stood on the porch, along with Grammy and Professor Warren, staring down at Everly’s lifeless form.
My voice cracked. “The antidote didn’t work.”
Lucas stood and gently explained, “We can’t even trust the coven’s own herbs. Everly must’ve been unable to conjure her phone, so she got out of bed to try getting help. We got here too late.”
Grammy was the first to step forward. “If the coven finds out about this, they’ll blame you, and they won’t give you the courtesy of another trial. This time, they won’t hesitate to hang you. We’ll give Everly a proper burial.”
Lucas started for the door. “I’ll find a shovel and start digging.”
He was delusional if he thought he could dig a grave in his condition.
Professor Warren placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. “You and Nadine need to rest. We’ll handle this.”
Lucas scowled. He didn’t like that he couldn’t help, but both of us could hardly stay on our feet right now. Lucas knew it, too, and he was in no position to argue. I took his hand and led him to the bathroom, where we stripped down to get out of our wet clothes.
All I could do was wrap my arms around him and hold his body close to mine. We’d won our trial. We were alive and free to go. We should be celebrating.
But we weren’t.
I could feel the pain of death permeating the house—the melancholy creak of slow footsteps as people passed in the hall, the quiet whispers coming from the other room. I couldn’t help but feel that this was somehow our fault. It was a miracle that we’d been found innocent. It felt like something bad had to happen to even out the balance of the universe, and somehow, Everly had been our sacrifice. It wasn’t fair.
Sobs rocked my body, but Lucas didn’t move. I didn’t know how long I stood there before I drew away from Lucas and wiped the tears from my eyes. “What is it?”
He shook his head. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s something,” I insisted. “Let me help you.”
He sighed. “I must be broken or something. Everything we’d gone through tonight should elicit some reaction from me. I should be crying from sheer trauma or from utter relief, but I’m just… numb.”
“You’re not broken,” I assured him.
“I’ve heard you say that a million times, and sometimes I believe it. Right now, it doesn’t make any sense.”
“You and I handle things differently, and that’s okay,” I told him.
He turned to look in the mirror, looking contemplative. I ran my fingers over his back. My stomach twisted at the sight of bruises and sores all over his body.
“Maybe you’re right,” he said. “I handle trauma by turning inward, by going numb and just shutting it all off. Maybe that isn’t bad or wrong. Maybe it’s just how I process it, and maybe I can’t fully process it until I accept that’s how I work.”
“We’ll learn how to handle it together,” I promised, eyeing his wounds.
Lucas watched me in the mirror, and his features got even sadder. “I never wanted you to suffer.”
