Chapter 18

18

J ack looked like a kicked puppy, and it was all my damned fault. Why did he have to be so ridiculously loyal? He’d been trapped up here, all alone, for ten fucking years. Clinging to the memory of someone who no longer existed. Who never would exist.

It was time for us both to move on.

And if it took bearing my shameful past to make him see me in a different light, then so be it. It’d only be a matter of time before he heard talk of it anyway, assuming we ever made it back to the forest. Better to rip the bandage off now and save him the added heartache. Especially seeing how epically my attempt at fake-dating Tenebris was failing to keep him at bay.

I bit my lip, searching my brain for something to say that might disperse the awkward silence that was growing between us, but before I could come up with anything that wasn’t complete shit, Jack’s entire face seemed to brighten. Almost as if a lantern had been lit inside his head. His eyes glittered with determination, and he held his hand out, saying, “Come on. Let’s go wake up Harp.”

I stared at the proffered hand, half suspecting him to snatch it away and laugh ha! Just kidding . But he didn’t, and I couldn’t think of a good reason not to take it. So I did. And for a brief moment, I was seventeen again, and everything around me was cast in a rosy hue. I glanced up at Jack and found him watching me with a smile so tender it made my heart ache to see it.

And just what do you think you’re doing? Love may lift some people up where they belong, but you’re not those people. You know full well what would happen if you went around holding hands with Jack. Bad things, Mari. Bad things would happen. Now, stop it.

I looked down at our joined hands, waiting for mine to move away. Only it didn’t, and my heart did an embarrassing little trip-trap when Jack’s thumb brushed my knuckles.

Shut it down, Mari.

Gods, his hand was big. It practically swallowed mine whole.

Damn it, Mari. Abort!

I jerked my hand back and tucked them both inside my cloak for good measure. “Should we, um, call out from here? Or…?”

It took Jack a beat to respond, the intensity of his gaze making my cheeks burn, and when he did, his voice was gruffer than usual. “I’m sure she’ll wake up once we’re closer. ” He started toward the stage without attempting to take my hand again, and I pretended I didn’t miss the feel of his rough palms layered against my own while I followed along.

Our footsteps echoed softly as we crossed the dance floor, the sheer vastness of the room making me feel unusually small and vulnerable. Unlike the outdoor space we found ourselves in last night, where the stream and trees all felt normal in their natural sizes, everything about this room was big . The width of the floor, the massive chandeliers, even the stage was huge, the edge looming a good four feet above my head.

I prepared to jump up, but stopped when Jack headed for a narrow set of stairs built into the far right side of the stage—a courtesy for visiting humans, I imagined. I narrowed my eyes at his limping gait, recalling the way his pace had slowed out in the foyer. The Jack I knew should have been neck-and-neck with me the entire time.

He squared his shoulders as he stepped onto the stage, almost as if he could sense my scrutinizing gaze on his back. “Harp? You have visitors.”

The instrument’s eyes fluttered open, a whisper-soft yawn slipping through her rose petal lips. “Jack?” She blinked sleepily, her gaze drifting in our direction. When it settled on me, she snapped to attention with a startled, “Oh!” A brilliant grin lit her face, and I fought the urge to shield my eyes. “You must be Mariana. Jack’s told me so much about you.”

Even her voice sounded like music—like she was a breath away from bursting into song. It should have grated on my nerves—I’d never been able to tolerate the bubbly types—but it didn’t. All I could think as I stared into her crystal blue eyes was, She’s the reason Jack still smiles . While I’d been doing everything in my ability to stomp out Jack’s memory, she’d been here, keeping him sane.

Thank you. The words stuck on my tongue, and I cleared my throat while I slowly stepped around Jack’s side and approached her. I held out my hand. “I am. It’s nice to meet you.”

She accepted my hand, her long fingers wrapping around my own with a gentle squeeze. “The pleasure is all mine. I’ll admit, I didn’t expect to meet you so soon. I assumed Jack would keep you to himself for as long as possible.”

Jack flushed. “We’re here because we need your help.”

“Oh?” Harp arched a painted brow.

“We need your help with the curse,” he explained. “Mariana thinks she might be able to contain it. She just needs a powerful enough vessel to hold it in.”

“Preferably a magical artifact of some kind,” I added. “I don’t suppose you know where the giants would have kept something like that?”

Harp frowned. “I’ve only ever been in a few rooms, so I’m not sure how much help I could be…”

“It could be anything, really,” I urged. “So long as you saw magic involved when they used it.” I placed a hand on her arm, pleading. “Please, if you can think of anything at all…”

“Weeeell”—her gaze bounced back and forth between Jack and me, a sly little smile forming on her pink lips—“I might know a good place to look. It won’t be easy to get to, though.”

“You tell us where, and we’ll find a way to manage it,” I promised. “Don’t worry.”

“It’s not you I’m worried about,” Harp replied. “It’s Jack.”

I glanced at Jack in surprise, and found him glaring at Harp, his lips pressed firmly together. “Why are you worried about him? I thought he was used to navigating the castle.” Although he had seemed to struggle earlier…

“He’d be fine if he were at full steam, but?—”

“Harp,” Jack interjected. “Leave it alone.”

She frowned. “He hasn’t properly fed in months!”

“Damn it, Harp,” Jack muttered, scrubbing a hand over his face.

Fuck. Why hadn’t I thought of that? Vampires may not need blood to survive, but purebloods like Jack required a steady source to function properly. To be honest, I was surprised he was moving as well as he was. “Why didn’t you say something? I would have let you have some of my blood.”

“I don’t need it,” he mumbled from behind his hands.

“What do you mean you don’t need it?” I threw my hands up in exasperation. “For fuck’s sake, Jack. You’re a pureblood vampire—the longer you go without blood, the weaker you’ll be. Just take the damn drink. I don’t mind.”

“Well, maybe I do,” Jack replied, dropping his arms to his side. “Did you ever think of that?”

My jaw hinged open. “That makes zero sense. You need blood, and mine is about as potent as it gets. What’s the problem?”

“Nothing,” Jack muttered. “It’s stupid.”

“So tell me.”

He scuffed the toe of his boot on the stage floor, looking supremely uncomfortable as he glanced over at Harp. “It’s just… drinking blood is so… intimate. And drinking yours…” His ears burned bright red as his voice dropped almost to a whisper. “I want to be with you, Mari, but you’ve made it abundantly clear you don’t feel the same way right now. And I’m afraid if I were to sink my fangs into you now, after all those years dreaming about that very thing…” He shook his head. “I don’t know if I’d be able to stop.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but all that came out was, “Oh.” Quite frankly, my brain had short wired somewhere along the lines of ‘sink my fangs into you’. Because I knew exactly what that felt like. And fuck me, but I wanted it.