Page 11 of Dark Night Golden Dawn
“So, are you seeing anyone?” she asked.
He shook his head. “No, I’ve been so focused on finishing the atelier I haven’t had time for that. I cleaned out the townhouse too. It’s rented now.”
“How’s that feel?” Enzo’s parents’ home had been a haven for all when Clarissa Weraka was arch-chancellor of the Order of Mysteries. The Werakas had been some of the few sorcière who believed in a world without such strict delineations between the four species of humanoid creatures who populated Okairos and their home had been full of joyful parties and quiet respite from the busy world in equal turn.
“At a certain point, it got easier. When everything was in boxes, one day it was justthings. It had become a time capsule, you know?”
She nodded. After Enzo’s parents died he hadn’t changed a thing in their five story townhouse in Uptown.
“I was afraid to move anything for so long. I just kept the dust off things. But the longer I let it sit, the worse things got inside.” Enzo patted his heart. “Last year, I walked downstairs and was afraid to make coffee. I was afraid that if I moved another mug the last memories of my mother would disappear.”
Harlow looped her arm through Enzo’s and he rested his head on her shoulder, assuming a pose they’d sat in thousands of times since childhood. Her mind’s eye saw Clarissa bustling around her kitchen, dark tresses piled on her head, her sculpted face bursting into laughter as she made breakfast for Enzo, Maurice, and Harlow. Harlow had eaten hundreds of breakfasts at Enzo’s as a child. When Clarissa and Maurice died, Enzo wasn’t the only one to lose his family. Clarissa and Maurice were Aurelia and Selene’s closest friends, and Enzo their godschild.
Harlow’s chest shuddered at the memories. “I should have been there to help you.”
Enzo nodded. “I wish you had been. I...I should have called you. It’s not all your fault, you know. I made mistakes too. Gods, I needed you though.”
Tears trailed down both of their cheeks and Harlow felt Enzo’s arm tighten around hers as he sipped his tea.
Enzo’s voice was shaky when he said, “I should have fought harder for you to come home, Harls. I saw his heart, what he was like, and I wasn’t as supportive as I should’ve been.”
“You tried to be…”
He cut her off. “A little. I tried a little. But my mother wouldn’t have liked that I let things go so easily, Harlow. If you’re not ready to meet someone new, maybe the season isn’t the best idea...”
Now Harlow cut Enzo off, her voice struggling through the sharp pain clenching her throat. “It’s okay. I’m ready. I need to get back into the swing of Order life and prove to everyone they can trust me. It’ll be the easiest way to move on.” Enzo nodded, understanding the depth of Harlow’s emotions, probably better than she did. “As bad as Mark was, I’m worse. I thought I deserved it all—all his anger, his jealousy—I thought I caused it. And even though my head knows that’s not true now, my heart doesn’t.” It was the first time Harlow had admitted this to anyone, even herself.
“Then is this really the time to get into a new relationship?”
Harlow shrugged. “It’s been six months. Things are getting better, and my family needs me. The Order needs me. I need to be a part of our world again, Enzo.”
He kissed her forehead. “I completely understand, but what are you going to do if they want you to pair with Finn?”
Harlow shook her head. “As long as it’s me, not my sisters, I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“Harlow,” Enzo said, drawing her name out several syllables longer than it was, but he didn’t say anything else.
No one understood duty to the Order of Mysteries better than Enzo. He shook his head, but didn’t respond to the thoughts that were probably broadcasting themselves at a shout from inside her head. Like Thea, Enzo believed in the magic of the season, that it drew the right people together and matched them perfectly, so long as they showed up with open hearts, willing to find love. Harlow wasn’t sure that was anything more than lore, and an open heart certainly wasn’t going to solve anything between her and Finn.
The rain started up again, obscuring the last of the sunset. Enzo drained his cup and slipped his shoes back on, taking his cup to the kitchen sink. “Let’s get these clothes hung up and order some food, okay? No more sad talk right now.”
Harlow smiled. She could do that. She typed their order into her Dined, Dealed, Delivered app for delivery of fancy burgers and parmesan fries from the pack-owned pizza joint, Gastro Lupo, around the corner. Enzo unzipped the wardrobe bags they’d used to transport the clothes and they began hanging them together in companionable silence. When they began chatting again it was to gossip about the newest hit television show,Knight’s Children, averyloosely historical drama about medieval vampire knights.
Enzo was complaining about the intricacies of inaccurate portrayal of medieval costuming and makeup when the burgers arrived. The rain broke long enough for them to eat on the terrace on two plastic chairs Harlow had found in the dumpster out back. When the last fry had been consumed and Harlow was sure she’d burst, Enzo kissed her forehead.
“You know how to get to the Grove, right?” He asked as he dragged her up from the terrace tile.
Harlow nodded as she walked him to the door. “The invitation will come at the eleventh hour and act as a portal…” Harlow rolled her eyes. “And then I’ll be in our super secret ritual spot in the woods somewhere, right?”
Enzo shook his head. “You might try taking this a little more seriously.”
“I might,” she laughed as he ran down the steps. She closed the door. “I might.”
ChapterSix
When she turned back to her empty apartment, it felt lonely for the first time. It wasn’t that she hadn’t felt sad here before—she’d rarely felt anything else since she moved in—but she’d also valued her solitude while she’d grieved the loss of her relationship with Mark. Tonight, for the first time, she wished she had furniture and a TV or stereo, instead of just her phone. She wished she had her boxes of books and art, packed away in the Monas’ attic. All things Mark had insisted she give up when she’d moved in with him.
A phantom movement caught her eye, but when she turned nothing was there. A shiver slipped deep into the secret parts of her, rattling her to her core. It might be one of the building’s many ghosts, but in her heart she knew it was something worse: the memory of what she’d abandoned. Harlow tried her best never to think about the giant black cat Mark forced her to leave behind, but tonight it was impossible not to. She missed Axel so much her heart nearly burst with guilt. The helpless feeling she got any time she allowed herself to think of him squeezed her lungs until she could barely breathe.
