[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
my bag was one thing, but a large, shadowy monster going completely unnoticed by me and the entire
crowd surrounding the gate was virtually impossible.
I think it s more important to focus on how to stop it, I say. Leave this to me, Simon says.
You ll contact the Court then? You ll ask them how to send this thing back? Or kill it?
Simon draws one arm across his chest and uses the other to grab his elbow, pulling it tight to stretch
his shoulder. There s no need to bother the Court with this matter.
But it could go on hurting people.
Simon shrugs. I don t really care. I just need to clean up after it in order to keep too many people
from asking questions.
I realize then that Simon is more concerned with appearances than about the people this Keres could
possibly hurt. Or kill, if it gets strong enough.
Which it will, if it goes unchecked.
Then I ll go after it myself, I say, balling my fists.
You don t have time for such distractions, Simon says. Leave this to me. This isn t of your
concern.
But that thing almost hurt my Boon, I say. That does concern me. And I m sure it s only just started
with its attacks. If we don t stop it now. . . .
Simon snaps his gaze in my direction. I don t look away fast enough and he locks eyes with me.
Drop it, he says. This conversation is over. Let me handle this in my own way.
I find myself unable to speak anymore about the topic but I know this matter is far from being over.
chapter thirty
daphne
I don t realize that I have been asleep until the sound of a phone ringing wakes me up. In my groggy,
disoriented state, I find I am unable to tell if what had happened in the last few hours the party,
Lexie near the grove, strange shadows and lightning, Haden walking me home had been real, or if
I d merely been having the strangest dream.
I blink several times and my eyes focus on the dirty, torn blue dress that s draped over the back of my
vanity chair.
Nope, definitely not a dream.
The clock on my dresser tells me it s early Saturday morning. Too early for social calls, I think as I
pick up the phone.
It s my mother.
Her voice is bordering on shrill, and the notes of concern ringing through her words are so strong that
I panic, thinking she s somehow gotten wind of what happened after the party and is about to demand
that I pack my bags and come home. Instead, I realize she s saying something about CeCe.
I sit up in bed with the handset pressed to my ear. What was that?
Have you heard anything from CeCe in the last week? she asks.
No. I ve left her messages, but she hasn t called back.
Nothing? No texts or anything?
No, I say, not admitting that my cell phone is probably in some guy named Haden Lord s bedroom.
Who may happen to be related to a kidnapper, according to my new bestie. Why?
She s gone, my mom says.
What? What do you mean, gone? I try to keep the panic from rising in my voice, but Tobin s talk of
missing girls is making me as paranoid as he is.
Demi, you re being overly dramatic and scaring the girl, I hear Jonathan s soothing voice and
realize I m on speakerphone. Probably in the flower shop, the faint buzz of the old cooler in the
background. Hey, honey, how was the fancy party? You took pictures, didn t you?
It was . . . nice, I say. But what s this about CeCe? I thought she had the flu.
She quit, Jonathan says. In a note, of all things, and right before we needed to get all the orders in
for the Harvest Banquet.
Why would she quit?
I don t know, Mom says.
When did this happen?
I don t know when she left, Mom says. She called in sick the morning after you went to California
and didn t come in for any of her shifts this week. I figured she must have been feeling really poorly,
so I went over to her apartment with some of my tummy tea this morning, and, well, she was just gone.
Her landlord said she left a check to cover cleaning and a note saying that she quit her job and was
leaving town.
Why? I ask.
No idea. She s never seemed interested in leaving Ellis.
I told you, I hear Indie s staccato voice from somewhere in the background. She must have taken
that new job.
What s that? I ask.
Some woman called the shop a few days ago, Indie says, coming closer to the speakerphone. She
was asking all these employment verification questions. Like how long CeCe had worked here, where
she d worked before, and stuff. I don t get why everyone is worked up about it. So she quit and took a
new job in a town that actually has malls and stuff.
Honestly, I can t blame CeCe, considering I d left Ellis for bigger and better things. It just surprises
me that she hadn t called to tell me her plans.
We were hoping you d heard more from her, Jonathan says. I just can t get over her not saying
good-bye.
It doesn t make any sense, Mom says. She always seemed so happy here. Right up until you . . .
Right up until I left, I say, finishing the thought for her.
chapter thirty-one
haden
He s not even singing, Tobin whispers to Daphne. They sit on the other side of the half circle of
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]