Page 52 of The Nightmare Bride

I laughed. For the first time in days, I laughed, then did exactly as he’d asked.

That evening, Amryssa and Merron and I went dancing.

I couldn’t bear to visit the theatre, much less the pub where Kai had conquered my defenses over ale and an apple. Thankfully, Amryssa found some other place—a back-alley hovel where yellow lamplight and fiddle music spilled from the door.

Inside, we joined a throng of bodies, the crowd so dense that I exhaled in a way I hadn’t in weeks. I lost myself in the jaunty music, the shout of conversations, the scent of spilled gin.

Still, people stared at me, and a few raised crossed fingers in my direction.

But when Amryssa began whirling in time to the fiddle, a glittering hush spread through the crowd.

Gazes followed her, people orienting to her without realizing, everyone subconsciously answering the draw of Zephyrine’s child.

I smiled and closed my eyes, letting the music carry me. When I looked again, Merron caught me in his arms and twirled me across the floor.

I anchored my hands to his shoulders. His brown eyes beamed, his smile like a balm to my heart.

“I’ve been meaning to tell you,” he said, barely audible over the music. “I’m leaving Oceansgate. And I won’t be back.”

My stomach clenched, but I nodded. I’d been expecting this. I was only surprised it had taken him so long. “Where will you go?”

“Crystal Hollow. I have a cousin there, a farmer. He and his wife just had triplets, and they could use some extra hands. Which means I’ll have a home there. At least until I decide where to build my own.”

I forced a smile. “I’m glad. I mean, not that you’re leaving. But that you’re moving on. Moving up in the world. Doing what you’ve always wanted.”

He flung me out in a spin, then reeled me back in again. He didn’t have Kai’s skill, but our dance was looser, in a way. Easier. Less fraught, since it didn’t require me to lie to myself or violently skewer any errant feelings through the heart.

“Thanks,” he said. “And you know I wish the same for you. I hope you and Amryssa make it to Hightower.”

“We will.” I raised my voice to compete with the shrieking fiddle. “Come hell or high water, we will. I’ll make sure of it.”

Another fond smile. “Knowing you, I believe that. And Harlowe? You’ll be okay. It might take a while, but you’ll be okay.”

As we made our way home along the graveled road, the evening hummed around us, a rhythmic pulse of cricket-calls and frogsong. In the glow of the swamp, Amryssa’s hair gleamed amethyst. I followed it through the dark, replaying Merron’s words in my head.

You’ll be okay .

I would, eventually. It would take me a long time to accept Kai’s absence, but then again, maybe that wasn’t the root of the problem. Maybe I was. Because maybe, just maybe, I’d sent my husband away out of fear, not foresight.

Tiny stones scuffed beneath my shoes. Up ahead, Merron and Amryssa walked with their arms linked, chuckling about something I hadn’t paid attention to. I heaved a sigh and thought back to our last nightmare.

I’d tasted equanimity then, sensed it hovering within reach. In that moment, it had felt so possible to decide, to believe in my own merit. But I hadn’t taken hold of it. Instead, I’d booted Kai out of my life and told myself that what I wanted didn’t matter.

I rubbed at my temples. All this time, I’d been so loyal to Amryssa, but maybe that was because being loyal to her had been easier than being loyal to myself. Maybe?—

A shriek sliced my line of thinking in half. My gaze jumped to Merron, who stood with his arms outstretched, every line of his stance a warning.

I followed his wide-eyed gaze toward the forest.

And froze, my nerves strangling one another.

Vick. That prick. He stood at the edge of the trees, and he had Amryssa.

Her frail frame trembled as Vick held her by the hair, the white rope of her strands wrapped around his fist. The woman from the root cellar—that same damn woman—stood beside him, smiling at me.

“Let her go!” I shrieked.

Vick barely cut me a glance. He just grinned and backed into the diseased swamp, dragging Amryssa with him. The woman disappeared, too.

Cold dropped through me. I pelted after them, crashing through the glowing bracken, screaming Amryssa’s name. But it was no use. Nothing answered me but crickets and squelching mud.

They were gone.

I swatted away a curtain of moss and tried to rein in my pulse. What the hell had just happened? Why would Vick possibly want Amryssa?

My thoughts wheeled, then settled abruptly. It didn’t take a genius to figure it out. Vick had the Lady Marche’s diary, after all.

Goddess. The fucking diary . I should’ve considered what that meant, because of course Vick-the-would-be-hero would want Amryssa. He’d want to stop the nightmares. Help Oceansgate. Even if it meant wiping my friend from existence.

My stomach shrank to a cold, hard pebble. Shit. Why hadn’t I thought of this earlier?

Burning breaths heaved through my lungs, but I pushed aside my self-recrimination. Time enough to hate myself later. Right now, I needed to think. What would Vick do? Take Amryssa to Zephyrine, no doubt. To the holy tree. But it would take him an hour to bushwhack through the swamp.

Meanwhile, I knew this marsh better than he did. Or I had, ten years ago. Its topography still lay in my mind, like a flower preserved between pages. If I ran the road to the manor, I could beat him. I could cut through the marsh, head straight for the oak, and...

Yes. It would work.

I whirled and rejoined the road again, stopping just long enough to toss an order at Merron. “Go find Olivian. Tell him what happened.”

He just nodded, his expression crumpled.

I took off sprinting. If Vick thought he could take Amryssa from me, if he thought for one second I’d let him give her back to Zephyrine, he’d messed with the wrong damn keymistress.