“What are you doing?” I asked, suddenly afraid for him. It was a long drop from where he stood.
He turned around to face me. “Showing you that my brothers and I are not liars, or crazy.”
Seeing him standing up on that ledge made me nervous. I walked up to him and reached for his hand, ready to pull him back down. But before I could grab him, he jumped backwards off the balcony. I was certain that he’d plunge to his death. Why would he make me watch something so awful? A moment later he fell forward, his arms and legs flailing, as though a powerful gust of wind had blown him back inside the castle.
I put my hand over my mouth to cover my scream as he crashed down on top of me. Somehow he managed to brace himself in the nick of time to keep from crushing me. For a split second, something inside of me compelled me to pull him closer, to wrap my hand around the nape of his neck and bring his lips down on mine.
Thankfully, his brothers ran into the room before I could act on my crazy impulse. Instead of helping us to our feet, they just stood there staring.
“Can one of you give your brother a hand?”
“No. We cannot,” Frederic said.
“There’s no need for that.” Nicolai eased himself off me and managed to get back on his feet. “I’m fine,” he said, grabbing me by my hand and helping me up.
“What. The. Hell. Just. Happened?” I asked, still in shock.
“Nicolai is trapped in this house because of a witch’s curse,” Maxim explained. “He’s been stuck in here for the past two years.”
“I’ve tried everything I can think of to get out of here, but I can’t leave this wretched castle,” Nicolai muttered. “This home has become my prison.”
If I hadn’t just seen what I had with my own eyes, I’d never have believed it. I stepped out onto the balcony and stretched my arm out in front of me, checking for something, anything, that would explain what I’d just seen, but I could up with no explanation for why Nicolai had somehow been able to defy gravity.
I turned back around. “Why do you think that I can help Nicolai?”
“As I already explained, you are a witch, of that I am certain,” Maxim replied. “And you’re not just any witch, but one who has a great deal in common with Nicolai.”
“Sure, we have a few things in common,” I conceded. “But that’s just a coincidence.”
Frederic shook his head. “She may be a witch, but she knows nothing.”
I frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Witches don’t believe in coincidence,” Nicolai explained. “They believe everything happens for a reason.”
“Which is why she must be the one,” Alexander said to Nicolai. “There has to be a reason why she can do what no one else can.”
“What is it that I can do?” I asked.
“You can touch Nicolai.”
“That’s another part of his curse,” Frederic explained. “My brother hasn’t been able to lay so much as a finger on another person without suffering excruciating pain—until you came along.”
I narrowed my eyes, confused. “I don’t understand.”
“Take my hand,” Nicolai commanded.
I hesitated before doing as he asked. His skin felt soft against mine. My heart raced, and my face flushed. This was no good. It wasn’t like Peter and I were engaged, but we’d agreed not to see other people. My attraction to Nicolai was all wrong. I snatched my hand away.
“Come here, Alex,” Nicolai said.
Alex shook his head. “I won’t do it. I won’t hurt you that way. You’ve shown Willow enough. She has no choice but to believe.”
Nicolai ignored Alexander and took a step forward. He put his hand on his brother’s shoulder before Alexander could move away. Nicolai cried out in pain, sweat beading on his forehead. His face paled, and he sank to his knees, letting go of his brother.
I stared at Nicolai, then his brothers, then Nicolai once more. The look of agony on Nicolai’s face had been so genuine, but what he and his brothers were trying to convince me of could not be real. For a moment I wondered if they were just pulling some sort of elaborate prank on me. But for what purpose?
I walked over to Nicolai, hesitating before reaching out for him. What if? What if? None of this was possible, but what if it was? There was a reason Nicolai never joined his brothers at their dinner parties. This had to be it. No. There was no such thing as witches, and even if there was, I certainly wasn’t one. There had to be some other explanation for why I could touch Nicolai without causing him pain when no one else could. This curse had to be all in Nicolai’s head. With time I could convince him of that. I kneeled beside Nicolai and grasped his hand.
“I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
He shook his head. “No. This isn’t your problem.”
Frederic grumbled, “Are you out of your mind, Nicolai? If there’s even a chance that Willow can break this curse, then we must take it.”
“She can’t.”
If there was anything I hated, it was being told I couldn’t do something. I held his chin with my hand, lifting it and forcing him to look into my eyes. “You don’t know that.”
“He’s just being noble,” Frederic said. “Nicolai has always been that way.”
I stood and faced Nicolai’s older brothers. “I’m not a witch, even though I know you guys seem to think I am. I don’t want to give you false hope that I can help Nicolai, but I’m willing to try. Whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it.”
Maxim nudged Frederic in the shoulder. “I told you she’d agree.”
“You are a witch,” Frederic said. “All you need is the proper instruction to unlock your powers. Perhaps then you can save our brother.”
“And if she can’t?”
