Page 73 of Wake the Dream

“It’s a lie by omission.”

A tickling sensation along her spine urged Illaria to move. To reach Crow Point, a green patch of land in the center of town with towering pines and meandering paths. Nowhere for her sister to hide. Yet that’s where the crystals pointed.

The crystals paid for with Kieran’s mysterious favor.

The sun shone high overhead and blinded her. She raised a hand to shield her face from it, urging her feet onward. “Come on. Let’s go.”

Yet her legs didn’t want to cooperate, but she lengthened her strides to match Kieran’s.

“If we find her?” he repeated. His shoulders were tight.

“I don’t want to think aboutif. I want to think aboutwhen.” Still, Illaria held out her hand for Kieran. Loath as she was to admit it, she had a soft spot for him. More than a soft spot.

“When, then. Wewillfind her. I’m optimistic.”

She noticed the way his fingers clenched around hers. Through the sunlight they walked, the cop and his Fae love, until the park unfolded in front of them.

A large green space in the center of Hedgehill Marsh, it served as a play area and exercise spot for rowdy children. Illaria saw them ahead, those not yet old enough to be in school, but under the watchful eyes of their parents.

Kieran tugged her toward the opposite end of the park and the copse of trees rising into the sky.

Crow Point.

Except today, there were no crows dotting the branches. Once they stepped foot in the park confines, the atmosphere fell curiously silent.

“We head this way. I highly doubt your sister would bother herself with a jungle gym.”

“Do you...have your weapon on you?”

Kieran gave a curt nod. At least he was prepared.

No matter where Illaria looked, she saw no sign of Yelena. Strangers walked the dark mulched paths and not one looked familiar to her.

Her disappointment manifested in a predictable flash of anger. Except this one was cold. Like a boulder of ice forming beneath her ribs and growing with each footstep.

It was almost...yes. It was almostfear. Fear of what she might find.

Illaria craned her neck left and right, searching. Her footsteps quickened, breath rushing in and out in panicked fashion. Had they been led on a wild chase for nothing?

“I should have known better than to trust that old witch. She has no clue what she’s talking about,” Illaria grumbled, her hands fisting at her sides. “And here you are balls deep in favors to her with nothing to show for it.”

Kieran’s shoulders were tight. “Please, try to calm down, baby.”

At once she stopped, not surprised when she wanted to lash out. To beat her tiny fists against Kieran’s barrel chest and scream at him. Loudly. Until his ears bled.

“I can’t calm down. I can’t breathe. What if she’s here and she tells me she doesn’t want to be with me anymore? Or what if she’s not here and this is just another dead end? I’m not sure which one is worse.”

“Either way, you and I are going to get through this,” he told her. “I promise.” He flashed a smile at a couple jogging past them, their arms pumping at their sides.

“I don’t know how you can be so calm about this. How are you calm?” she griped. “How are you not going out of your mind?”

“I’m a seasoned officer of the law. It’s in my job description to stay cool under pressure.” He moved her closer to a tree, hiding her from the prying eyes of the general public when her voice rose again. “And if you keep getting hysterical then you are going to give away our presence.”

“You’re not vocalenough,” she stated, her eyes wide. Then she went on, needing to dump the contents of her mind in case the pieces somehow assembled by speaking them aloud. “What do you mean, give away our presence?”

Kieran refused to give in to her temper tantrum, which when she thought about it later would be one of the things she appreciated most about him. His cool head, his keen eye, and his decisive and logical mind. But right now, with panic riding her hard and anxiety she couldn’t quite control, she hated all of the above.

Kieran’s gaze searched the trees. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

---