God, I wished that was true, more than anything else in life. I would happily stay in this house for a thousand years without an escape if we all could live happily and healthily together.

Wait, what?

“Theo, can you please look in on Felix and let me know if he’s okay?”

He nodded and turned down the hallway while I looked at Brynn. She wasn’t too happy I hadn’t yet answered her question, too focused on Theo. A frown creased her forehead, and she had her arms crossed in front of her chest. “What the hell is going on?”

I sighed, pressing my hand against the window. “Felix was bitten by a spider. It got infected, and he isn’t doing well.”

“Oh, Sav.” She put her palm against mine on the glass. “Have you slept at all?”

I shrugged. “A bit.” Then I locked eyes with her, begging her in a way I could never do with words alone. “Please tell me you have good news for me.”

Her face fell.

“No, Brynn. No, don’t give me that look. You have to have good news for me. You have to.” Those tiny knives shredding my heart were back, tearing into bone and muscle, ripping me to pieces. Brynn was our only hope. Our only chance.

“I’m sorry, Sav. I really am. I explained the situation to Granny. She knew exactly who I was talking about, and what house I meant. She also said there was no way for her to break the spell. Felix has to break it. He’s the only one who can.” She took a deep breath, her green eyes pooling with tears. “She wanted to help. You know her. Of course she’d do anything to help you. But she couldn’t. Said it was completely something that had to happen on the inside.”

I pressed my head to the glass, tears threatening to stream down my face. I could hear Theo call to me as he ran down the stairs. As soon as he grabbed my hand, he kissed it. I didn’t dare look at his sweet face, knowing whatever expression I found there would be my downfall in keeping myself together. I tried to focus on the cool glass against my skin, even as I wanted nothing more than to punch the glass out and feel the wind blowing through Brynn’s hair. I wanted to take Felix to a doctor, to give him the antibiotics he so badly needed. I wanted to show my men the real world that had been stolen from them before their time. You will forever share a lifeforce, each of you keeping the other alive. If he shared a life with the house, shouldn’t it be keeping him alive right now? I sighed, the weight of the world pressing on my back, breaking me down vertebrae by vertebrae. “Thanks for trying, Brynn. We’ll keep trying here.”