pulled Minnie against her chest. Minnie didn’t resist. She didn’t
do anything.
“We’ll go get them,” Thom said, feeling a fierce, reckless cour-
age take root in his chest. “Alden. We’ll do whatever we have to do
to him to make him fix this.”
“Everyone is so sad,” a sleepy voice said from behind Thom.
He whipped around to find Mary, plucking at her thin dress and
biting her lip.
“You!” He rushed forward and grabbed the woman, pulling
her by her bony elbow into the room and shoving her against the
rock wall. “Tell us how we can fix this!”
She blinked, unperturbed by his use of force. It was that more
than anything that filled him with shame, made him let her go.
“You can’t,” she said, black eyes nearly as blank as Minnie’s.
Cora’s sob tore out of her throat, the sound going straight
through Thom like a knife.
“Tell me how I can kill him,” Arthur said, standing, his face
an unreadable mask.
Mary’s eyes lit at that, something burning deep within them.
“That is better. What would you give up to do that?”
“Anything!” Thom shouted. Maybe if they killed Alden, what-
ever spell he put on Minnie would be broken.
Mary’s smile grew, her expression dreamy. “I’ve been waiting.
So long. I tried to do it myself, a few times, but he always knew.
And I loved him, once. I forget when. And why.”
“How can we kill him?” Arthur pressed, leaning toward Mary,
his shoulder against Thom’s.
“You must become him. Or me. I’m so very tired. I’d like to
sleep. Sleep and not dream.” Her gaze drifted away, eyes focusing
on something they couldn’t see. “It’s never been the right time,