Page 128 of The Whispering Night
“In fact, Dryden,” Winnie tells the councilor, “I’d rather step inside the sleeping spirit again than ever chat with you about anything. So leave me alone. I’m not your Midnight Crown anymore.”
It’s true: L.A. Saturday has fully claimed the Midnight Crown (although no, she did not actually get as many votes as Winnie). And at Winnie’s firm (read: unrelenting) insistence, the rest of the Court has been reinstated as well. Emma Wednesday has won the Golden Crown; Kiki Monday has earned the Silver; and Bronze goes to Eugene Saturday.
They all look quite stunning on Friday morning, when they are brought onto the Saturday clan’s newly erected Nightmare Stage by the river. Emma smiles widest for the group photo. L.A. opts for a broody smirk.
Winnie, meanwhile, is nowhere near the Saturday estate. Or the Friday estate, where the day’s Masquerade festivities are kicking off in earnest. (Lizzy goesall outfor the Haunted House each year.) Jay isn’t at his own party either. Because he’s with Winnie.
So is Erica.
So is Mom.
So is Darian.
And so is the crow from the family rooftop.
They are all assembled in the old cabin at the edge of the Thursday estate, and for once, the place does not smell like cut grass or fertilizer. The scent of hamburger overpowers everything. The scent of fries too, since Erica is currently shoveling three into her mouth.
She sits in her chair near the shelf, while Winnie kneels on one side and Jay crouches on the other. They are, each of them, focused very intently on the crow that currently hides in a birdcage borrowed from Animal Control (aka Lauren Wednesday). Winnie holds a burger toward it. Erica holds a fry. And Jay just watches on silently, his pewter eyes filled with a combination of sympathy and pity.
Nearby, Mom paces. In one hand she holds the photograph that was hanging in her office until last night. In the other hand, she holds the now-empty bag of Revenant’s Daughter takeout. Darian, meanwhile, sits on a lawnmower. He is bent over, his hands in his hair. “We need a permit for this,” he says to his loafers for the thirty-seventh time. “We need a permit—”
“Enough.”Winnie glowers at her brother. “I know we need a permit, Darian, but by the time Jeremiah approves another request for a Contained Spell Casting, months will have passed. I don’t want to wait that long for Dad, do you?”
Darian hoists upward, his hair disheveled and face green. “Sure, but what are you gonna do when we get caught, Win? Because wewillget caught! People are going to notice when Dad just shows up, walking around town again.”
“It’s called double jeopardy.” Winnie plants a hand on her hip. “Ever heard of it, Darian? We can’t get punished twice for the same crime.”
“That is a non law, Winnie, not a Luminary one.”
“I’m pretty sure, though,” Jay inserts, “that your sister is above the law at this point. At least for right now while the entire town is obsessed with her.”
Winnie makes a gagging sound. “Don’t remind me.”
“But Winnie is not the one doing the magic.” Mom’s voice is very pitchy as she points this out. She waggles the empty paper bag. “It’s Erica, and I would hate for Erica to get in trouble trying to help our family—”
“It’s okay,” Erica cuts in. She bares a weak smile, her mouth half-full of french fry. “Bryant got in a lot of trouble helping Jenna, so trying to turn him human is, like… Well, it’s the bare minimum of what I can do—Oh! Here he comes.”
All attention snaps to the crow, now hopping out of his cage toward the hamburger.
Winnie’s eyes bulge. They are very bloodshot thanks to a combinationof recent sleep deprivationandthe fact that she is wearing contacts since her glasses got lost in the sleeping spirit’s vortex. It’ll take another day for new lenses to arrive.
Jay keeps saying she looks so different.
Then kissing her to make sure she knows how very much he doesn’t mind if she looks different.
Winnie, in turn, keeps trying to adjust invisible glasses that aren’t there. Or rubbing at her eyes and knocking the stupid contacts out.
The crow hops two more steps toward the hamburger, his beak parting and the little gray feathers across his face fluttering. Winnie drops the burger. He starts chowing down.
And Mom stops pacing for the first time since entering the cabin ten minutes ago. “What if that’s not him? What if that is justsome bird?”
“Or what if it is him,” Winnie counters.
“Stop arguing, everyone.” Erica wiggles to the edge of her folding chair. “He’s out now, so I’m going to try doing this. Which means, um…” Her cheeks redden. “Please go outside?”
Darian hurries out, still muttering. Mom traces behind, and Jay ambles out third.
The last to leave is Winnie. She stares down at Erica, who holds a new source, crafted in a pinch last night from another crystal that Marcia spent too much money on. This one is amethyst and very sparkly in the old cabin’s dim light. It only has a single night’s charge, but Erica thinks that’ll be enough.
