Page 59 of Reap the Night
Edwin tumbled into the room, his gaze flying about, searching for a threat, and when he found nothing, he pulled me into a hug. “What happened? Did you have a nightmare?”
I nodded, but I knew it was a lie. What I’d just seen wasn’t a nightmare; it was a series of memories belonging to Ezekiel.
I’d been in his head.
I’d seen through his eyes.
“I have to go.” I croaked out the words, wincing and tearing up at the pain.
“Where?”
“I have to go to Branwood. He needs me.”
Edwin looked like he wanted to argue, but I grabbed his shirt and pleaded with my eyes.
“I’ll send a Raven,” he said.
I sagged against him, allowing the sob trapped in my throat to be free.
I’m coming, Ezekiel. I’m not leaving you. Not until you’re back with me.
Chapter 21
PADMA
It’s bloody freezing in the sitting room tonight, but the fire fights me, taking time to catch and flare. Thank goodness I pulled on my lounging sweater before coming down here.
“The pipes are warm,” Haiden says from the radiator by the window. A fairly new heating system installed five years ago.
“Yeah? Then why is it so cold?” A shiver glides up my spine like an icy finger. I shudder and wrap my arms around myself.
Edwin slips into the room. “Fuck, it’s cold in here.”
“Right?”
“Has Orina gone?” Haiden asks.
Edwin rubs his arms through his polo top. He’s been working out the past few weeks, and it shows in the breadth of his shoulders and the way his shirt hugs his biceps. “Yeah.Godor picked her up a few minutes ago.” He crosses to the hearth and adds more kindling, playing with the construction until the fire is high and cackling as it throws out heat. “Better?” he asks me.
I edge closer to the warmth. “Much.” He snags a throw off the sofa and drapes it over my shoulders. “Merry and Holly?”
“Haven’t seen them,” he says, “so I assume they missed the commotion.”
Edwin and I have rooms close to Orina, but Holly and Merry are farther away. I’d come in as Edwin was leaving to send a Raven, and the haunted look in her eyes made my skin crawl.
“He’s established a mental connection with her.” Haiden tugs on the drapes to ensure they’re properly closed. “He’s never done that with a watcher before.”
We’re all thinking it. That she has to be the curse breaker he’s waiting for, but it feels premature to say it.
“You should both get some sleep,” Haiden says. “It’s late, or early, however you wish to view it.”
“I think I’ll enjoy the fire for a bit.” I drag a cushion onto the rug by the hearth.
“I’m too wired now,” Edwin says. “I’m going to do some more research.”
“Loviator?” Haiden and I ask in unison.
“Yeah. The Night Library finally came through with a couple of books that mention her. The one I’m working through has information dappled throughout, and it’s a mishmash of languages: Latin, cuneiform and hieroglyphs, and some that I still need to figure out. They’re accounts from the world before and from all eras. Snippets of myth. I’m trying to compile it into something that makes sense.”
