Page 2 of The Whispering Night
“You mean you want to know why she turned on the Luminaries and chose their enemy?”
The girl nods. She does want to know why her sister would trade one controlling society for another—and what the Dianas have to offer that was worth giving up everything for, including her life.
The Crow laughs again, a round, hearty laugh that is fully human now. As if a switch has been flipped inside her throat. “I think there is more to your answer.”
There is, but the girl will not say it out loud.Cannot say it. The spell her sister left behind—she doesn’t know if it was a secret or if this witch before her was ever aware of its existence.
So instead, she says: “This is all I have. Please.” Her voice is weaker than she wants it to be. “It’s all I have, and so I have to try.”
The Crow sighs, a sound that is neither amused nor mocking. It is simply the sound of someone who has heard what they needed to hear. “Yes,” she agrees. Then she offers a black mask to the girl. It is wobbly without a human head inside and vaguely canid in shape. “This is yours now. Whenever you are summoned, you will wear it. Whenever you enter the forest, you will wear it. And whenever you work magic, you will wear it.”
Work magic. The girl’s heart finally releases from her throat. She reaches for the mask.
But the Crow skips it out of reach, wagging a finger. “This is for our protection as much as yours, child. Do you understand? Should the Lambda hunters ever find you, then you cannot betray us. You do not know who we are, you do not know our faces.”
“You’ve seenmyface, though. That means you can betray me.”
“Yes, it does, Erica Thursday.” The Crow bobs her head. “Now take the mask, child, and we will begin our first lesson.”
From:[email protected]
Subject: Home from the hospital
Winnie,
I’ve been home from the hospital for a week now, and I’ve been running training sessions every day since. You haven’t been there though. Any particular reason why? Coach Rosa is great, but you’ve got to get in more movement than just Sunday estate training. At least if you ever plan to join the hunt.
I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat it: you don’t have to join the hunt. When, if—that’s up to you. But I do think we need to catch up on some things. So I’ll see you in the Armory tonight. I have gear for you, in case you do decide to train.
As for next week, we start at dawn every day to accommodate the Masquerade.
See you soon.
Rachel
CHAPTER
1
The old cabin is neither old nor is it really a cabin.
Sure, it has four walls, a roof, and a general vibe that speaks of wolves eating little girls in red hoods, but if you step inside, you won’t find grandmothers with big ears or big teeth. You’ll find two lawnmowers, a compost bin that no one uses anymore, some canisters of gasoline, and an assortment of gardening tools that span the powering spectrum from completely handheld (a shovel) to fully battery powered (a leaf blower).
This is the landscaping shed for the Thursday clan, tucked against the northwestern edge of their estate, between the weeping willow on one side and the copse of dogwoods that will soon blossom on the other. The grounds appear deceptively untended here. As if the Thursdays don’t want to betooconspicuously Thursday in a place where almost no one ever visits, but still they can’t resist imposing order on nature’s chaotic ways.
The grass is shorn. There are no weeds.
A large front door on the shed will release the lawnmowers from their pen like bulls at a rodeo, but it’s to the smaller, human-sized door that Winnie Wednesday now tiptoes. The grounds are empty this early on a Friday, but she checks her surroundings anyway. And to be fair, with all that’s happened to her in the last few weeks, she has good reason to never relax again.
Like ever.
Basically, if Winnie’s life were a seesaw with “good stuff” on one side and “bad stuff” on the other, then it would definitely be tipped toward bad. In fact, the bad side would be so weighed down it would be underground.For one, there are Dianas in Hemlock Falls. For two, those Dianas framed her dad four years ago, which in turn caused the ruin of Winnie’s family. For three, those Dianas also have a self-feeding spell loose in the forest that’s killing people, aka the Whisperer.
For four, her ex–best friends are determined to stay ex, and it’s getting to be exhausting.
Yet despite the imbalance of Winnie’s seesaw, she still feels happier than she has in weeks. Maybe part of that is because she can calculate pretty measurably just how far she has come since her first trial:
