The Devouring Gray(94)

Harper had told her about the Church of the Four Deities. Violet had decided, as she spoke, that Harper had been through enough with her father. There was no sense in being angry.

It was easy to forgive someone who’d made the right choice before it was too late.

“It’s none of your business,” Justin said now.

“No, it is my business,” said Violet. “Because if I’m going to trust you, I need to understand why you would betray someone like that.”

Justin’s neck inclined slowly and stiffly, like a robot in need of joint repair.

“Fine.” The carefree ease that had been there when she opened the door was completely gone. “I’ll tell you.”

They ended up in her room. Violet couldn’t help but think of Isaac perched beside her window. She would have much preferred him slouching on her bed instead of Justin, still wearing his jacket, uncomfortably stiff.

“The truth is…” He paused. “The truth is, Harper’s the most powerful person in Four Paths.”

Violet jolted with shock. “What?” She’d suspected Augusta had taken Harper’s memories away. But she had never thought this was the reason why. “So she didn’t fail her ritual.”

“No. You’ve probably noticed by now that people’s powers work by touch. Your touch raises the dead. Augusta’s touch takes people’s memories away. It’s why she wears the gloves—to avoid accidents.”

Violet nodded. “So what does Harper’s touch do?”

The expression on Justin’s face was pain and desire in equal measure. “Harper’s touch turns you to stone. And it lets her control you.”

Violet remembered the statues littered outside the Carlisle house. The bells, the swords, the sentinels.

“Control you?” she whispered.

“The Carlisle founder petrified things, then commanded them, like a stone army,” said Justin, his brow furrowing. “The town called them guardians.”

“And she could do that, too.”

Justin nodded.

“Holy shit,” Violet breathed. “That’s terrifying.”

“That’s what my mother said,” said Justin dully. “The Carlisles do their rituals alone, and return to their families once they’ve figured out what their powers are. They don’t know this, but my mother’s been supervising every Carlisle who comes of age for as long as I can remember, to make sure their powers aren’t a threat. My mother was there the night of Harper’s ritual. When she walked into the lake. When she came out.” He paused. “I know, because I followed her.”

“I imagine that didn’t go so well.”

“It didn’t,” said Justin. “When my mother realized I’d followed her, she forced me to stand alongside her, said that if I was going to be the Hawthorne heir, I would have to make tough choices. So we met Harper at the edge of the water and Augusta demanded a demonstration of her new powers.

“Harper was so scared. My mother had her cornered. And when Harper gets scared, she panics. So she grabbed Augusta’s arm. And I saw—” He shook his head. “I saw it start to turn to stone. And I knew she’d been pushed too far. She wouldn’t stop.”

“What did you do?”

Justin’s voice had gone so low, so ashamed, Violet could barely hear him. “I couldn’t let her kill my mother, so I pushed her away. Into the lake. I thought she’d be fine, I just wanted her to stop, but I didn’t…” He broke off.

“What happened?” said Violet softly.

Justin shook his head, staring out at the branches that waved beside her window. Violet pretended she didn’t see him rub clumsily at his eyes before he spoke again.

“The Gray took her. She was lost in there for days, and when she came out, half her arm was missing. Augusta removed her memories in the hospital, before her family could ever find out the truth.”

It was rare that Violet opened her mouth and found there weren’t words waiting to spill out. But Justin’s guilt over Harper was justified. He’d made a mistake he couldn’t fix.

“Now do you understand?” Justin said. “She doesn’t remember I betrayed her. She doesn’t remember she was dangerous.”

And then Violet realized that she did know what to do. What to say. “Would you give her those memories back?” she said. “If you could?”

Justin turned his head away from the window. His face was ashen. “Absolutely.”

Violet had seen the feelings for Harper that lingered beneath the story he’d just told her. The ones he may as well have confessed to aloud.

She could try to handle this on her own. But after all Justin had done to help her, all the guilt he carried with him, he deserved the chance to make this right. And if he didn’t take this chance—well, then she would help Harper herself. And she would know that what Harper had said about the Hawthornes was true: They would always put themselves first.

Violet didn’t tell him the truth about May. But she told him enough.



After Justin left, Violet walked all the way to the edge of town, until she stood before the WELCOME TO FOUR PATHS sign.

A month ago, she and Juniper had driven into town. Now her boots crunched across the gravel of the road as she stepped beneath the sign. She expected to feel something, a rush of power leaving her, the harsh embrace of the Gray even, but there was nothing.