Page 25 of Echoes of the Banshee

“You’ve got power. Though what it is… I’m not entirely sure.” Her hand touches my shoulder. “Now get rid of that tree, and I might forgive you for dragging me out of bed to regrow half a park at three yesterday morning!” My stomach drops. “I knew it couldn’t be fairies. You’re lucky it was a little one or I might not be so forgiving.” She’s already walking away, still smiling to herself like the whole thing’s an inside joke.

I stare after her for a minute, then hurry over to the tree. It was probably an empty threat, but I’m not about to risk it. I stand and look at the burned tree that now dominates the greenhouse.

The trunk is rough as I rest my hand cautiously on the blackened bark. The heat’s gone, but the ash clings, too familiar under my fingers. A memory I don’t want. I close my eyes and push hard, trying to will it away. My magic strains, but the tree holds fast, its presence digging in like roots in stone. The harder I push, the more it resists.

“Go,” I whisper through gritted teeth. Nothing.

“I’m sorry.” The shadowed voice snaps me from my futile attempt, and this time, it’s attached to Mavrik. His darkness seems to consume him. His black eyes stand out starkly against his pale face.

“For what?” I ask, genuinely confused by what he could possibly be apologizing for.

“I—you looked like you needed help, and I didn’t think. I’m sorry I violated you like that,” Mavrik stammers, staring at his feet, clearly bracing himself for whatever I might say.

I blink, taken aback by how vulnerable he sounds. “You didn’t violate me. Thank you for your help.”

“It wasn’t me… the shadows moved on their own. I didn’t mean to send them. They just… saw you and went.” Everything he says makes me think he’s waiting for me to berate him. Poor guy.

I offer him a smile.

“I’m Mavrik,” he says, introducing himself, and I realize we’ve never actually spoken before. He’s always been in the shadows, part of the room but never quite in the conversation. And Adora was invisible. More people have spoken to me in the last two days than in the last two years, and I’m starting to think that might’ve been part of the curse on the bracelet.

“I know,” I reply, offering a small, awkward smile. “I’m Thea.”

Mavrik tilts his head, narrowing his eyes. “Do you have a sister? I thought your name was Adora?”

“No, I used to go by Adora,” I say.

His brow furrows in curiosity. “Is there a reason for the change?” Then, seeming to realize what he said, he winces. “Sorry, I’m being invasive. I don’t normally do this.”

I can’t help the small laugh that escapes me. “Talk to people?”

He sighs, almost sheepishly. “Yes.”

His sincerity catches me off guard. A shadow wraps around his feet, so I squat down and offer my hand to it. It curls around my fingers immediately. Déjà vu prickles at the back of my mind.

“Thanks for the save earlier, little guy,” I tell it. “Do you think you can protect me while I try and get this tree to go away? I’m scared to do it on my own.”

I don’t know how, but I can tell that it agrees. I sit at the trunk of the tree and reach out to let my hand rest on it. Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. I feel weird, but I tell the tree it has done its job and it retreats under my hand. I keep my eyes closed until I no longer feel it. Then I open them slowly. Mavrik is gawking at me and I look to see if I’m glowing again. But no, I’m surrounded by his shadows.

“How are you doing that?” he asks reverential. “They don’t usually like people,”

“Good thing I’m not people,” I tell him. I’m dead. He wordlessly asks for permission before sitting down next to me and they seem reluctant to return to him. One continues spinning around my wrist and between my fingers.

“No, like, seriously. They won’t even go to my parents or sister like that.”

Excitement bubbles up in me, like I’ve found the answer to a question I didn’t even know I was asking. “Your sister? Full sister, or half? Do you have more than one?” The words tumble out, too eager, too fast. Then it hits me. What am I doing? He doesn’t know me. He’s just some guy who barely talks to anyone. Just because he’s shadowy doesn’t mean he’s a banshee, let alone my banshee. My face heats, and I scramble to salvage it. “Forget I asked that.”

“Mavis is my twin sister, I hope we have the same parents,” he says, his voice a little flat, like he’s not sure what I expected.

“Sorry,” I wince, face heating, wanting to dig myself a hole. “I mean, not that she’s your sister, just… maybe I should just stop talking.”

Mavrik opens his mouth, then closes it again, clearly trying to process the verbal train wreck I just delivered. “Is this what normal conversations are like?” he asks, eyebrows raised.

“No, I’m a conversational disaster,” I say, rubbing the back of my neck. “You should hear my pickup lines.”

Mavrik’s lips twitch, like he’s fighting a smile. He glances away and I think I’ve thrown him off completely. Then, with a soft exhale, he gives in.

“Probably better than mine,” he says, his smile breaking free.