“How much longer?” Mischa demanded. “How am I supposed to believe that you’re getting anywhere? Every time you’ve said you’ve known what we have to do, you’ve made things worse!”

My breath caught in my throat. She’d forgotten that I could have easily turned a blind eye after both Olivia and Candace died in the fall. After all, Jennie had protected me from the curse that Violet had issued to them, as well as to Mischa. It was only because I’d wanted so desperately to be part of their close-knit circle—even after Mischa was all that remained of it—that I’d dedicated myself to trying to stop Violet. Maybe I’d been trying to save Mischa because I hadn’t been able to save Jennie from the fire that had burned down our house when we were eight. But the fact remained that since the fall, I’d wrecked my life—and Trey’s—in service to Mischa, and I’d not been under any obligation to do so.

Before I could utter a word, I heard Mischa sob over the phone. “I’m sorry. I know this isn’t your fault, and you’re the only person I can count on. I’m just scared,” she said through her tears.

“I know. And I am trying. I will figure this out,” I promised.

I ended our call feeling like my heart was as heavy as a brick. It was so easy down here in Florida to simply not think too seriously about what was happening back in Willow. All I really wanted to think about was Trey being released from Northern. If I were to insert myself back into the workings of this curse, I’d be risking any kind of future with him. Or any kind of future at all in which my parents didn’t disown me.

After finishing my homework, I changed into my pajamas, and when I stepped into the hallway to brush my teeth in the bathroom, I could hear Dad and Rhonda talking downstairs in hushed voices. Whatever they were discussing, it sounded serious, and my stomach clenched at the likelihood that it had something to do with me.

The next morning I kept my chat with Henry brief because I didn’t want to skimp on the candle protection spell.

“Are you trying to get rid of me?” he teased.

Perhaps it was his tone, or maybe just because I was still on high alert after my conversation with Mischa, but it occurred to me that because Henry was someone whom both Mischa and I cared about, I may have been putting him in danger by not informing him about Mischa’s predicament. He’d been so happy back in January when we believed we’d broken the curse that I feared he might get mad at me if I admitted we hadn’t been so successful, after all. And I couldn’t stand the thought of Henry being mad at me. Without intending to fill him in on all the details, I said in the calmest voice I could muster, “There are some things going on in Willow that make me and Mischa suspect we’re not completely out of the woods with this Violet thing.”