Page 90 of Gothikana

She gave him a nod, fixing her gown straps, realising her breasts had been uncovered the entire time.

Corvina sat down on the window ledge, watching him perch himself on the opposite side, the candles burning behind him, casting him in his black clothes in an eerie glow.

‘I don’t even know what I’m supposed to find.’

He gazed at her thoughtfully for a long minute, tilting his head to the side. ‘Have you tried asking Mo?’

Corvina blinked at his suggestion.

‘Considering these voices are internal, that they’re your subconscious,’ he explained at her obvious confusion, ‘they come from the same place. Since Mo is a voice you have known your whole life, one that you trust, why not try asking him? What could it hurt?’

It had to be the most bizarre conversation she’d ever imagined having with him. It also made a weird kind of sense.

‘You want me to ask now?’ She raised her eyebrows.

He shrugged. ‘I’d rather you do it with me. Just in case.’ Just in case she had a breakdown.

Corvina sighed and closed her eyes. She felt him take her feet in his lap, rubbing the arch in circles she was sure he must’ve meant as comforting but were slightly arousing, especially considering the way she’d left them both hanging.

She focused on his touch, letting it anchor her, and thought to herself.

‘Mo? Are you there? I need your help. Help me. Tell me what I’m meant to find.’

She waited. And waited. And waited. And nothing.

Slumping in defeat, she opened her eyes and gave a shake of her head. ‘I don’t know how to talk to him. Usually, it’s the other way round.’

He tapped her feet with his fingers, playing a tune she couldn’t hear on them. ‘Trust yourself, little witch. I do.’

She sighed, looking out at the moon, and blinked, something suddenly coming to her, something from her childhood, an old ritual she and her mother performed only a few times in her life.

‘The moon,’ she gasped, turning to look at Vad. ‘The Black Ball. Is it always held on the same date?’

Vad frowned. ‘No. The dates change.’

‘But it’s always a full moon?’ she asked, her heart pounding.

She could feel his confusion at where she was going with this. ‘Yes. At least to my knowledge. Why?’

Corvina pushed her hair back with her hands. ‘There’s a special full moon every five years. It’s called the Ink Moon. Not many people know about it,’ she informed him, seeing his gaze sharpen. ‘Mama told me it was the most powerful full moon on earth, one that spiritually had the power of many eclipses. I was born on an Ink Moon.’

‘Okay.’ He processed what she was telling him. ‘So, the Black Ball falls on this Ink Moon every time. What does that mean?’

She gritted her teeth in frustration. She wished she had any idea.

‘I don’t know. But Mama used to say energy is high that night. If that many people were murdered on these grounds on such a night, and one of them claimed to be an actual witch who cursed the killers, the energy must be powerful.’ Corvina felt goosebumps litter her arms at her own words.

‘You think the disappearances are truly something preternatural?’ he asked her, his fingers frozen on her feet.

Corvinapondered his words.

‘Honestly, at this castle, I’m beginning to believe anything is possible.’

Chapter 25

Corvina

The Black Ballwas a week away.

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