Page 44 of Whispers of Deception

“Jesus Christ,” Augustus muttered under his breath, his stomach turning. He quickly covered it back up before turning back to Lilia, who was now sitting on the floor with her knees pulled to her chest, her eyes brimming with fear.

“What the hell is going on?” he asked. “Who would do this?”

Lilia didn’t answer, because she didn’t have a single one. Augustus crouched in front of her, his hands squeezing her shoulders softly, before running up and down her arms in an attempt to offer some comfort.

“We need to call the police,” he said softly. “They need to know about this.”

“No.” Lilia shook her head, shaking her head. “We can’t. I got a message, something about the cops being shady. And then, they sent me this.” She held up her phone.

“Is that . . . ”

“McCall and Willow. Yeah.” Lilia gulped.

Augustus’ jaw clenched. “We’ll handle this ourselves. But we can’t stay here. Whoever sent this could come back.”

She looked up at him. “What are we going to do?”

“We’ll figure it out,” he assured her. “We’ll go to my place for now. Get out of here, somewhere safe.”

Lilia was too tired to argue. Augustus helped her to her feet, keeping his arm around her as they quickly gathered what she needed. The night felt colder, the shadows darker as they stepped outside, the weight of what they had just seen pressing heavily on them.

As they drove away from the house, the world outside seemed distorted and unreal. Her mind kept going back to the dream, the man in the shadows.

She wondered what it meant—if it meant anything.

She couldn’t figure out what was real anymore, what was imagined—fabricated.

“Are you cold?” Augustus asked, as took the curve.

She sniffled, her knees touching the dash as she moved lower into the seat, “No,” she murmured.

Augustus turned the heat up, regardless.

“Thanks,” she whispered.

“Mhm.”

The trees blurred, molding in shape and color as they sped down the road.

“Thank you for coming,” she said.

“You only had to ask. You know that.”

She did know; she always knew.

He slowed at the stop light, the car’s engine purring softly abaft the silence. His head leaned back against the headrest, and he inclined to look at her.

“You look exhausted,” he commented. The bags under her eyes were noticeable even in the darkness.

She snorted. “Gee, thanks.”

“You know that I didn’t mean it like that, Lils.”

“Go.” She nodded toward the now green light.

He embedded forward, sighing. “Don’t shut me out. I know that was a lot but—you can talk to me.”

She shook her head. “I lost that ability a long time ago.” The words leave her mouth before she can stop them.

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