Page 43 of Trick Me
Nothing changes.
We both freeze. Expecting something. A shift. A sign.
But the silence stretches long and hollow.
Nothing.
Still cursed.
Still stuck.
Still… too close for comfort.
“This is insane,” I say with a broken laugh, but it comes out all sharp, laced with fear. “What if this is it? What if the witchwasjust screwing with us? What if there’s no way back?”
He squeezes my hand. “Don’t say that.”
I’m pacing now, my shoes clicking against the old tile. “No, seriously. What if it’s all just some cosmic joke? My life is built on talking to the dead, Ash. That’s how I help people. It’s who I am.”
He’s quiet for a moment, then stands. Walks over. Gathers me into his arms like it’s the most natural thing in the world. “Then we find a new path. Together.”
I close my eyes and let myself fall into his warmth.
“Maybe we missed something,” I whisper against his chest. “Reflection. What if it’s something else completely?”
“Perhaps we’ve been looking for answers in the wrong places.”
Without another word, we rush to the doors. The air outside is colder than before, damp with dew, carrying the faint metallic bite of predawn. We arehurrying into the woods, deeper, when somewhere in the distance, water trickles.
We follow it.
A narrow stone path winds through a hedge maze we hadn’t noticed before.
Around a bend, we reach a shallow stone basin—almost like a fountain, except it’s still. Perfectly still.
And in it, the moon stares back.
Not broken by ripples. Not disturbed.
Reflection.
I exhale sharply. “There. That has to be it.”
Ash takes a step forward, then another.
“I really hope this works,” I say, heart thundering.
“Because if it doesn’t?”
“Then I guess we live here now. Cursed and confused.”
He reaches for my hand again. “At least we wouldn’t be alone.”
I stare down into the water, watching my reflection blur and shift beside his.
And something is wrong.
The wolf in my head growls low.
