in?”
“No, only if you aren’t ordinary or have malicious intent. Clark would have been fine. So, let’s find something, okay?”
“Okay, if you’re sure.” I didn’t want her to be let down, so I looked through the books faster. Then when I had cleared my half of the room, I began phasing through walls, pausing in between, which I hated because it was spooky. When our hope began to fade, we found a clue. Nessa had cut a slot into the carpet just off center of one wall, and beneath, the floorboards had been manipulated.
“She wouldn’t have gotten her deposit back with this destruction,” Isabelle joked, but her eyes were wide with excitement as she wrestled one of the floorboards loose. Below it sat a neat little cubbie hole, lined with soft eggshell-colored material to protect the books piled inside.
The book on top had been tied with silky blue ribbon. Isabelle lifted it out while I leaned over her shoulder. I was interested in the book and the care that had been given to arranging patterns of cloth onto the binder. Nessa had glued them down for an intricate and elegant design.
Isabelle’s attention had wandered past the diary to the other books. These appeared to be the spells books she’d been looking for. She sucked in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. Her hand trembled as she removed the first volume from the cubby and opened the cover. She stilled and glanced up at me. “Do you mind, Libby? I’m so sorry, but I must keep our secrets to myself.”
I understood even as a twinge of annoyance came over me. I couldn’t imagine what Isabelle must have gone through feeling alone growing up, knowing she had to hide a part of herself from the world lest she be judged. In our small town, it would likely happen. There were some who had been ostracized for less. With everyone knowing so much about everyone else’s business, Isabelle’s secret would have been all over town within hours of the first person learning it.
I picked up the diary and brushed a hand over the cover. The silken surface teased my fingertips. Isabelle hadn’t protested me looking at this one, so I assumed she didn’t believe spells would be written there. Still I hesitated because it was likely Nessa’s private thoughts were written within, and even if she was dead, me reading it would be an invasion of her privacy. Suspicions rose in me regarding Nessa’s reasons for being in Summit’s Edge. My experiences of the last few weeks had taught me to take every opportunity presented and not let the conventions bind me.
I opened the diary to the first entry and promptly dropped the book on the floor. The thump brought Isabelle’s head up from studying her own volume. “Libby? What’s wrong?”
“I know the connection,” I said.
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Vanessa was named after her great-grandmother, the original Nessa.”
“Original?”
I considered whether to tell her Ian’s history and decided to go through with it. At least most of it. “So, you see, our Nessa was related to the original Nessa who came between the brothers.”
Isabelle nodded. “And Tevin still holds a grudge. He shouldn’t. It isn’t as if she was his girlfriend after all. To hold on to his anger all this time…”
“Not just now,” I said, thinking about it and growing cold. “Tevin’s reaction seemed a little extreme. To be honest, I believe he—”
“May have already been an unbalanced individual.”
I nodded.
“Then their maker made it worse by giving him unimaginable power.”
“Maybe it was all a game to him,” I speculated. “They live forever, and I can only imagine how dull life would grow over time. Maybe they begin to manipulate circumstances for their own entertainment.”
“We don’t know the reasons, and like you said, if Tevin told the truth and the man is dead now. Good riddance.”
“That’s true.” I went back to scanning the diary, trying to understand Nessa better. She hadn’t been very
“No, only if you aren’t ordinary or have malicious intent. Clark would have been fine. So, let’s find something, okay?”
“Okay, if you’re sure.” I didn’t want her to be let down, so I looked through the books faster. Then when I had cleared my half of the room, I began phasing through walls, pausing in between, which I hated because it was spooky. When our hope began to fade, we found a clue. Nessa had cut a slot into the carpet just off center of one wall, and beneath, the floorboards had been manipulated.
“She wouldn’t have gotten her deposit back with this destruction,” Isabelle joked, but her eyes were wide with excitement as she wrestled one of the floorboards loose. Below it sat a neat little cubbie hole, lined with soft eggshell-colored material to protect the books piled inside.
The book on top had been tied with silky blue ribbon. Isabelle lifted it out while I leaned over her shoulder. I was interested in the book and the care that had been given to arranging patterns of cloth onto the binder. Nessa had glued them down for an intricate and elegant design.
Isabelle’s attention had wandered past the diary to the other books. These appeared to be the spells books she’d been looking for. She sucked in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. Her hand trembled as she removed the first volume from the cubby and opened the cover. She stilled and glanced up at me. “Do you mind, Libby? I’m so sorry, but I must keep our secrets to myself.”
I understood even as a twinge of annoyance came over me. I couldn’t imagine what Isabelle must have gone through feeling alone growing up, knowing she had to hide a part of herself from the world lest she be judged. In our small town, it would likely happen. There were some who had been ostracized for less. With everyone knowing so much about everyone else’s business, Isabelle’s secret would have been all over town within hours of the first person learning it.
I picked up the diary and brushed a hand over the cover. The silken surface teased my fingertips. Isabelle hadn’t protested me looking at this one, so I assumed she didn’t believe spells would be written there. Still I hesitated because it was likely Nessa’s private thoughts were written within, and even if she was dead, me reading it would be an invasion of her privacy. Suspicions rose in me regarding Nessa’s reasons for being in Summit’s Edge. My experiences of the last few weeks had taught me to take every opportunity presented and not let the conventions bind me.
I opened the diary to the first entry and promptly dropped the book on the floor. The thump brought Isabelle’s head up from studying her own volume. “Libby? What’s wrong?”
“I know the connection,” I said.
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Vanessa was named after her great-grandmother, the original Nessa.”
“Original?”
I considered whether to tell her Ian’s history and decided to go through with it. At least most of it. “So, you see, our Nessa was related to the original Nessa who came between the brothers.”
Isabelle nodded. “And Tevin still holds a grudge. He shouldn’t. It isn’t as if she was his girlfriend after all. To hold on to his anger all this time…”
“Not just now,” I said, thinking about it and growing cold. “Tevin’s reaction seemed a little extreme. To be honest, I believe he—”
“May have already been an unbalanced individual.”
I nodded.
“Then their maker made it worse by giving him unimaginable power.”
“Maybe it was all a game to him,” I speculated. “They live forever, and I can only imagine how dull life would grow over time. Maybe they begin to manipulate circumstances for their own entertainment.”
“We don’t know the reasons, and like you said, if Tevin told the truth and the man is dead now. Good riddance.”
“That’s true.” I went back to scanning the diary, trying to understand Nessa better. She hadn’t been very
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