“Not that I can recall. Wait. There was one thing—Lauren was forever meeting with her at the school. Elizabeth Pike seemed to positively be attracted to it. At the time I thought it meant she was only a good student. But no teenager enjoys school that much.”
This was the first sensible, helpful thing Mateo had ever heard his grandmother say. Too bad it didn’t get them very far: They already knew Elizabeth’s plans weren’t centered on the school, so nothing at Rodman High could have anything to do with it.
Disappointed, Nadia nodded. “Okay. That’s all we needed to know. Thank you for talking with us, and sorry we woke you up.”
Before they could go, however, Grandma said, “You’re a very polite young lady, Miss Caldani. You seem a sensible girl. And yet the connection between you and my grandson is all too clear.”
Was it that obvious to everyone? Were they sending off sparks? When Mateo’s eyes met Nadia’s, and he felt that moment of raw electricity between them, he could believe it.
Grandma continued, “For your own sake, Miss Caldani—stay far away. I paid the price for loving a Cabot man. Trust me, it’s not one you want to pay.”
“You can’t tell me who to love,” Nadia said, so steady and sure it took Mateo’s breath away. “I can’t even make that choice myself. Sometimes, love chooses us.”
“Nadia,” he said. His voice broke on her name.
Nadia plowed on. “Mrs. Cabot, it’s horrible, what happened to you. And believe me, I know the curse is real. But I can fight back in ways you never could. I can give Mateo a chance nobody else can. And I’m not abandoning him, no matter what.”
Her hand closed around his, and they walked out together.
His grandmother must have been too astonished to say another word.
The whole way home, as Mateo’s motorcycle zoomed along the winding roads of Captive’s Sound, Nadia’s mind whirled with what she had just learned. As important as the information about Elizabeth was, she kept going back to the revelation about IVF.
Apparently male infants conceived that way were exempt from whatever powers had once bound them from holding magic. That explained why Mateo was now her Steadfast; although Nadia had long since accepted this, she was glad to finally have a reason.
However—thousands and thousands of baby boys had been conceived that way. IVF began back in the 1970s, hadn’t it? That meant there were grown men out there capable of holding magic. Were they also capable of performing it? For the first time in all human history, could there be men who were also witches?
Possibly she and Mateo were the first to discover this. No other witch would ever even think to investigate something every magical principle and even the First Laws took for granted.
But if they didn’t know this—what else might be out there, waiting to be discovered?
The motorcycle came to a stop half a block away from her home. Nadia felt relieved; she didn’t want Dad walking out to say hi. Not now. Not after what she’d said at Mrs. Cabot’s house on the Hill.
She took off the helmet, slid off the bike. Mateo slung his leg over so that he stood in front of her. When Nadia handed him the helmet, his fingers closed over hers, and they just stood there, holding it, like they still needed an excuse to touch.
“What do we do now?” Mateo said.
“We prepare to go against Elizabeth.” Nadia felt the weight of responsibility heavy on her again, crushing down. “She’s going to attack the town’s magic. So we should cover it, each of us. With what I can reveal with my own spells, and what you can see, we ought to be able to determine a lot of the more powerful forces Elizabeth has at work.”
“Like whatever she did to Verlaine,” Mateo said.
Involuntarily Nadia shuddered. “Once we know more about her spells, we’ll know what she’s trying to attack. Then maybe I can figure out how to fight her and keep those spells in place.”
His dark eyes betrayed his disbelief. “You’re going to fight to protect her magic?”
“It’s part of this town now, for better or for worse.” She caught herself. “Okay, mostly for worse. But Elizabeth is woven into the fabric of Captive’s Sound. That means she can rip the place apart. If keeping her magic in place is the only way to stop her, then that’s what we do.”
“So we’ll be fighting for my curse?” Mateo said. But as horrible as that had to sound to him, he only smiled ruefully. “Didn’t see that coming.”
“Mateo—”
“It’s all right.” The moonlight caught the warmth in his deep brown hair, painted the lines of his cheekbones and jaw. “If that’s what we have to do, then we’ll do it. You’re the one who told me I was strong enough to bear the curse. Who made me believe it.”
The responsibility pushed her down even harder, but Nadia struggled against it. She snatched the helmet from him, hung it on the bike, and grabbed his hands. No more excuses. No more waiting. “Don’t do this only because of me.”
“I’m not. But I would.”
Mateo’s fingers wound around hers, so soft and so slow that her skin tingled. At first she wanted to look away, suddenly shy, but when their eyes met, she couldn’t imagine turning from him.
His voice was low. “What you said back there—”
“I meant it. I won’t abandon you.”
“That’s not what I was talking about.”