Within These Wicked Walls(83)

“Peggy?” he called, and my heart went immediately into my feet.

“She left,” I said, rushing down the stairs.

Esjay paused in putting on his coat. “What do you mean, left?”

As I approached, I could see he looked more tired than usual. More anxious. But I hadn’t really thought out the details to my lie, so I just shrugged. “She didn’t want to deal with the curse anymore, I suppose.”

Esjay looked at me like I had to have been a figment of his imagination. “She’s taken care of Magnus since he was a baby. How could she just leave?” And then his jaw dropped, his eyes wide. “Who did you find to volunteer?”

“U-um—”

“Peggy!” he called, poking his head in the dining room before rushing up the stairs. “Magnus!”

“Esjay, you’re back,” Magnus said, yawning as he came from my room. “You’re not here to pick up Kelela, are you?”

“Kelela?” Esjay stopped himself just short of looking at Magnus, not trusting his amulet. “She’s supposed to be with friends. Are you telling me she’s here?”

“We are her friends,” Magnus said, his tone indignant.

“She’s here,” I confirmed, chewing on my lip. To be honest, I was just glad his attention was away from asking about Peggy.

Esjay turned a sharp look on me—a strange change for him, but relatively tame compared to looks I’d seen on the street, and even from Jember. “Where?”

“Magnus’s room.”

He stormed up the rest of the stairs and down the short distance in the hall, barging into the room without knocking.

And then it was all yelling. “What the hell is wrong with you?” and “You can forget Paris, young lady!” and “What in God’s name happened to your arm?”

Magnus let out a weary sigh and held the back of my neck, pressing his lips to my forehead. “I’m going to get dressed. Don’t go far.”

“I won’t,” I said, every nerve in my body reaching for him as he left me in the hall. But there was no time for that. I needed to find Jember.

He’d designated the game room as his sleeping space, so I went there first and found him and Saba drinking coffee. Well, Jember was drinking coffee. I wasn’t exactly sure if people made of pottery could digest food.

“Saba got ahold of you, I see,” I said, gesturing to his neater beard by stroking my imaginary one. “It’s a sweet act of love, isn’t it?”

“More like a compulsion,” he said, raising his eyebrows at Saba as she innocently grinned and shrugged.

“You two must be getting along really well,” I said, and Saba returned my sly expression, confirming my hopes. “He’s letting you touch his face and everything.”

“Who was making all that fuss out there?” Jember asked—to ignore my comment, obviously, since he didn’t sound like he cared that much about Esjay.

“Kelela’s brother.”

As if on command, I heard banging footfalls down the stairs and Esjay’s argumentative voice. Jember’s brows lowered slightly, and he touched Saba’s arm to excuse himself as he led the way out.

Kelela rushed over to me as soon as she made it down the stairs, hugging me around the neck with her good arm. I froze for a moment before returning it, squeezing her around the waist.

“Kick that hyena’s ass,” she whispered, but Esjay dragged her away before I could respond.

“I will,” I called after her, while Esjay shot me a Why are you talking to my sister? look.

“I can’t believe you let Kelela do this,” he said, turning on Jember. “You’re the adult here. You should’ve stopped her.”

“She’s your kid,” Jember said, without any remorse.

Esjay released an angry huff through his nostrils, like a wild horse ready to charge. And then he simply ignored the instinct, instead grabbing Kelela’s good arm and dragging her outside.

“First thing we’re going to do is see a real doctor,” I heard him say. “Your bone is going to heal all wrong—”

Jember shoved the door shut and headed for the kitchen.

“Will the plan still work?” I asked, rushing up beside him. “With Kelela gone?”

“The important thing is that the Evil Eye has a target,” he said, “which she’s already provided. She doesn’t have to be in the vicinity for it to become active. The two of us will just have to construct some more shields to make up for it.”



* * *



We spent the morning constructing more shields, while Magnus lounged around in the room and drew, then took a break from each other after lunch. Not that working with Jember was unpleasant—some of my best memories were of us sitting on the bed, constructing amulets. It was as if the act of carving patterns was the only way we could connect. Therapy, in a way.

But he needed time to rest his fingers, so Magnus and I took a short nap and then headed to play some music. I think we’d both decided, without telling each other, that we wanted to spend the entire day together. Besides … part of me was terrified there’d be no tomorrow.

Nonsense, Andi. Everything will be fine.

For a moment, all I could hear was the creak of wood and our slow footsteps echoing off the old hollow halls as we walked.