Chapter 194

I handed the photo to Veronica and she held it out over Elva’s body. She began to chant, but they weren’t words I recognized. Sparks flickered in her hands. Purple-blue flames fanned out across the photo, and then twisted down toward Elva.

“Elva!” I gasped and started forward.

Nicholas gripped me around the waist and held me back. I struggled, desperate to get to Elva.

What if this was actually hurting her? What if it was doing more harm than good? I couldn’t let anyone hurt my little girl!

“Nick! Don’t! Let me go!”

“Wait!” Nicholas said back. His voice was strained. This must have been hurting him too. “Please, Piper. Just wait!”

I couldn’t. I couldn’t.

Those flames were so close to Elva. If they touched her, then –

All at once it was over.

The flames shot back up to the talisman and burned the photo down to ashes. Then even the ashes dissipated into nothing.

Veronica turned over her hands. She exhaled long and slow. Then she opened her eyes.

Elva did too. She turned her head to look at me. “Mommy?”

Nicholas released his hold at once, and I barreled forward, desperate to hold my little girl in my arms. She was still feverish, but it wasn’t as bad as before. She was awake, that was what mattered.

“You should send for the doctor,” Veronica told Nicholas, who pulled out his phone at once. “The worst of the curse is gone, but she will still need medicine to fight back the fever.”

“Curse?” Elva asked, eyes going wide.

“She’s playing, honey,” I lied. I kissed Elva’s forehead. “You just have a bad cold. You need to rest okay.”

Veronica gave me a sheepish look. “Sorry,” she mouthed.

I shook my head. It was okay. She’d done so much for us, I couldn’t be mad at her if I wanted to. As far as I was concerned, I was indebted to her for the rest of my life.

I held Elva tightly. I wouldn’t let go, even as Julian and Charlotte were brought back.

“We might have trashed Jessica’s wardrobe,” Julian said. He was smiling in relief. He didn’t seem sorry at all.

“We’ll buy her a new one,” Nicholas said. I’d need a new one too. “None of that matters now.”

“I agree,” Julian said.

I thirded that opinion.

Julian sat on the other side of the bed. He smiled down at Elva, who tried to return it with one of her own. Hers was wobbly.

“Jul-an.”

“How’s my little mischief-maker?” Julian asked.

“Tired,” Elva said with a yawn.

“I believe that,” Julian said. “You’ve been a good soldier today. Fighting hard against this fever. It’s liable to take it out of anyone. Even Nicholas gets brought so low, all he does is sleep.”

Elva’s eyes twinkled. “Even Nick-lass?”

“Yep,” Julian said.

“It’s true,” Nicholas said, as he stepped into the space behind me. “You’re so much stronger than me, Elva. And braver too.”

“I didn’t do nothing,” she said.

“Yes, you did,” I told her. “My brave little girl.”

Only when the doctor finally arrived, did I loosen my hold on Elva and step back enough for the doctor to have enough room to work.

Nicholas was waiting for me, and pulled me against his chest as soon as he was able. He kissed the top of my head.

“Elva isn’t the only brave one,” he whispered.

I shook my head. “I’m not brave.” I felt like a coward. Even now, I was avoiding thinking about my feelings, and what it meant to have that picture be the talisman.

It proved that Jane still felt strong feelings for Elva. She had to, or the curse would not have been so strong. But how could anyone who loved their daughter so much, amplify a curse meant to kill her?

It didn’t make any sense. Unless Jane was trying to cut out that part of herself that loved Elva. Maybe she saw Elva as a weakness that needed to be purged.

Gods, either way, it was just too sad. Not just for Jane, who had truly become a monster, but also for Elva, who nearly became a victim of her own mother’s love.

“This can never happen again,” I said to Nicholas.

“It won’t,” he vowed. “I will protect you both. Even if that means…”

He didn’t say it, wouldn’t for my sake. But I knew what he meant.

To protect Elva and me, he would kill Jane himself.

Everything was just so sad. Tears welled in my eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he said, misunderstanding.

I shook my head. “My sister has been dead a long time. It’s her as a little girl that I mourn now. The one who stitched rocks into her pockets and gave me a friendship bracelet. I feel like that photo was the last hold the person she is now had to the person she was. And now it’s burned away.”

Nicholas tightened his hold. I buried my face in his chest to hide my tears.

The doctor took her time inspecting Elva, then gave her more medicine. By the time she was ready to address Nicholas and I, I had shed most of my tears and was ready to face the world again.

“She’s going to be okay,” the doctor said, and no, I lied. I definitely had more tears to cry. They were happy ones this time, at least.

“Thank you. Oh, thank you.” I pulled the doctor into a quick hug, unable to help myself. I jumped back as soon as I realized I had done it. “I’m sorry,” I said.

She smiled at me. “It’s fine. Honestly, I am so relieved. All our tests returned inconclusive. I wasn’t sure what to think. But she’s a strong little girl. She’s a fighter.”

“She is,” I agreed.

The doctor left some medicine with Charlotte and then saw herself out.

By now, Elva was fast asleep once more. I crawled onto the bed beside her and held her in my arms.

“Do you mind if I stay?” Nicholas asked.

I motioned him closer and he sat on the bed beside me.

Julian yawned. “I’d like to stay too. Not on the bed of course, but that couch over there looks comfortable.”

He hadn’t slept either. He’d been so worried about Elva. It seemed unfair to send him away now, when the matter was mostly resolved. Adrenaline was giving way, and everyone was exhausted.

“It’s okay,” I told him. “You can stay.”

In the end, only Mark saw himself out, but I imagined that was to go see Susie.

Charlotte stayed in the room as well, taking watch on the chair near the sewing machines.

Nicholas wrapped his arms around me, and I felt sleep calling me.

Soft snores already sounded from the other side of the room.

“Sleep,” Nicholas said.

“Only if you do, too.”

“I promise.”

My eyelids were too heavy to keep open much longer. Soon, sleep pulled me over.

I slept a full night without dreaming.

In the morning, I awoke with Nicholas’s strong chest pressed against my back. His arms were wrapped around me and Elva both. Across the room, Julian snored where he was on the couch. Charlotte’s head had dipped down onto her shoulder from where she sat on the chair.

Warmth filled my chest. This was my family.

A bittersweet feeling surged at the thought.

I had them now, but for how much longer?

Too soon, we’d be ripped away from each other.

I tried to live in the happy now, but dread lingered, just under the surface.