Page 16 of Extraordinary Quests for Amateur Witches
“So, basically,” Kieran explained to Delilah and Briar, “we need to find the village witch.”
Back at the aeroship, Kieran sat in the study with the two of them.
Briar was nursing a glass of water, having had a few too many drinks.
Delilah was beside her, petting her short ginger pixie cut as they sat beneath a blanket on the green velvet couch.
Briar leaned up against her, eyes heavy, seemingly seconds away from falling asleep.
Kieran sat alone across from them with a cup of tea.
Sebastian had elected to stay at the pub for a while longer, even after they’d been able to repeat their success at darts and won easily, much to Deena and Lila’s horror.
After a bit of prodding from Sebastian about their deal, he’d gotten Lila to admit the truth: The missing posters all over town, the fear in the residents’ faces—it was all because of the village witch.
“Lila told us that the lake was perfectly safe until six months ago,” Kieran continued, setting his tea down on the ornate side table.
“But the townsfolk think someone cursed it. Now it seems to be drawing in townsfolk and drowning them. That’s why they call it the Lake of Whispers: It speaks to people.
And it doesn’t stop until…well…the listeners drown. ”
“Great,” Briar slurred, nuzzling closer to Delilah. “Cursed lake. Just what we need.”
“Like some kind of siren song?” Delilah asked. “I’ve read about stuff like that in books but never heard of it happening in real life. Do you think the Hilt is involved?”
Kieran nodded. “Dunno—maybe. Lila didn’t know anything about the Hilt. Her only advice was to try to find the village witch. Apparently, she lives on the other side of the lake and hasn’t come to town since the lake started killing people. Everyone assumes she had something to do with it.”
“Any word on whether the village witch is dangerous?” Delilah asked.
Kieran shrugged. “Lila said she was much loved before the curse. Now no one gets close to her cottage. So…I guess we won’t know until we go.”
Delilah raised her eyebrows. “Is that your plan? To go see her?”
Kieran paused. Once again, leadership had been foisted upon him, and he very much didn’t enjoy it. He felt himself moving to ask Delilah her opinion, but really, wasn’t that exactly what Ash would expect him to do? Just go with the flow and hope someone else figured it out for him?
Kieran pursed his lips. If I want to get him back, I have to start taking control of my life.
Finally, Kieran nodded. “Yeah. First thing tomorrow, let’s all head over there. If we’re going to find the Hilt, we have to figure out what’s going on with the lake first. And who knows, maybe she’s really nice outside of the whole cursing-lakes thing.”
Delilah and Briar exchanged a doubtful look, but neither tried to argue. Finally, they nodded.
Hopefully, Kieran thought, I’m not leading us into a trap.
Later that evening, after Delilah and Briar had gone to bed, Kieran headed to the upper deck and stared out across the airfield.
He sighed, leaning against the banister at the front of the ship. He looked out toward the Lake of Whispers with its teethlike rocky edges. At this time of night, it was little more than a shadow in the distance, taunting him.
Ever since his conversation with Delilah and Briar, he’d felt that he was on the verge of a panic attack.
In his life, he’d made exactly one big decision on his own: stealing the aeroship from his father and running away from the Pelumbra estate to try to break his curse.
The only way he’d managed it was because of sheer desperation: If he’d stayed, he’d be dead.
Since then, he’d been perfectly happy to let others take control. Leadership was something that simply did not mesh with his brain—he hated making mistakes, hated being seen as a failure. Pelumbras were raised to be perfect. They were strong, bold, capable leaders who valued logic over emotion.
So, in summary: everything Kieran wasn’t.
He let his forehead press against the tops of his forearms where he leaned on the banister. I have to be better. Stronger. Less likely to cry and throw up at the slightest inconvenience.
He lifted his eyes just enough to look up at the stars. At least it was a clear night, so his view wasn’t bad. The moon hung heavy above him, a waning gibbous. I’m so out of my depth.
“Needed some air?”
Kieran let out an inelegant shriek as he whipped around to find Sebastian standing behind him. He clapped a hand over his chest, trying to catch his breath. Sebastian just wordlessly looked at him, his expression even.
“You scared me,” Kieran said, trying to smooth his coat. Absently, his hand went to his hair to make sure none of his curls had decided to stick straight up. “Sorry, um—back already? Did you…have a nice time?”
Sebastian huffed out a small laugh. “I got what I needed.”
“From one of those sisters?” he blurted out. Thankfully, it came out sounding like pure curiosity instead of an accusation. Kieran was just so surprised—he hadn’t taken Sebastian for the type to have casual relationships with women at small-town pubs.
Sebastian nodded. “Yes, Lila. Nice girl. I suspect she’ll have quite a hangover tomorrow.”
Kieran’s nose wrinkled. “She did drink a lot. Likely too much to be sleeping with anyone, don’t you think?”
“I— What? No, no, I wasn’t talking about intimacy,” Sebastian said, dropping the word so casually that Kieran had to pause to process what he’d actually said. “I would never.”
“Wait, what were you talking about, then?”
Sebastian fluttered his fingers, but otherwise didn’t react. “I was asking her for more information about the lake. I thought it might help us tomorrow.”
Kieran immediately paled. “Oh. Oh, goodness, I’m so sorry—I shouldn’t have just assumed. I guess I noticed how you seemed to have a connection and thought—”
“It’s okay, really.” Sebastian held up a hand to stop him. “You’re just trying to look out for people. It’s a commendable trait.” While Kieran groaned and let his head fall back to the banister, Sebastian added, “I’m glad my performance was convincing, though.”
“Performance?” Kieran lifted his head just a bit. “You mean…you weren’t attracted to her? But—you seemed so…”
“Earnest? Charming?” Sebastian shrugged. “I try, even if it doesn’t come naturally.”
“What do you mean?”
Sebastian made his way to Kieran’s side, leaning forward on the banister.
He stared out at the lake, dark eyes flickering in the moonlight.
“It’s all scripted, trust me. I use the same couple of lines, smile at them, nod when they’re speaking, make eye contact—it’s just going through the motions so people see what they want.
Left to my own devices, I fear I can be quite… awkward. In social situations.”
Kieran sputtered a laugh. Immediately, he thought of their first interaction on the ship when Sebastian had mistaken Kieran’s trying to get to know him for a job interview.
Sure, the other boy was a bit stiff and overly formal when he didn’t know what to say, but Kieran found it charming in a strange way.
“Well, you did an excellent job of faking it this evening. In my opinion.” A little prickle in Kieran’s chest made his pulse begin to race faster. As casually as he could, he asked, “So I guess…you don’t actually fancy women, then?”
“I do,” Sebastian said. For a moment, Kieran’s heart dropped before the other boy added, “Occasionally. Not as much as the alternatives, however.” Kieran wasn’t sure, but he could have sworn he saw him lick his lips.
Sebastian added, eyes still trained straight ahead toward the lake, “What about you? You didn’t seem particularly enthused by Deena. ”
Kieran had to stop himself from snorting—he’d always figured it was obvious, but maybe not. “Oh, no, I don’t like women.” When Sebastian cocked an eyebrow at him, he quickly corrected, “I mean—of course I like women—as friends! Just not, um…” He searched for the right word. “…carnally?”
Sebastian sputtered a laugh while Kieran turned beet-red. He covered his face with his hands. “I should stop speaking, shouldn’t I?”
“Carnally,” Sebastian repeated under his breath, biting back his smile. “Eloquently put.”
Kieran moaned, hair falling into his eyes as his head slumped. “Sorry—words and I aren’t exactly on the best of terms.”
“Oh?” Sebastian turned and leaned his back against the banister so he could get a better look at Kieran. At the feeling of Sebastian’s dark eyes on him, Kieran immediately felt heat begin to climb up his neck. “Why do you say that?”
Kieran opened his mouth, then paused. He’d only known Sebastian for a few days.
If he had any sense at all, he wouldn’t go spilling his secrets to the first person who’d made him feel decent about himself since his series of unfortunate, self-inflicted events.
Plus, there was Sebastian’s curse to worry about—clearly, he was keeping that secret.
Not that Kieran blamed him—even now, he hated talking about his own former curse—but it did raise a flag.
Still, there was something about him that made Kieran feel like the two of them could be something more than just colleagues on this quest. Perhaps… confidants.
Especially since he really, genuinely seemed to have faith in Kieran. Even if it is misplaced.
“Because,” Kieran explained, “the whole reason I’m here is I wrote a stupid poem that accidentally put a curse on my boyfriend.”
For the first time since Kieran had met him, Sebastian looked genuinely surprised. He studied Kieran’s face for a moment as he considered what he’d said. His lips parted, then closed again. His arms crossed over his chest as his eyebrows settled halfway to his hairline.
Finally, he met Kieran’s gaze again and settled on “Care to elaborate?”