Page 62 of Reap the Night
“Stop!” Padma runs at it.
Edwin sprints around the side of the house and straight toward Padma. “Padma, wait!”
“It’s me!” Holly cries. “Just me!”
The clouds part, the shadows retreat, and Holly stands with her hands up. “He’s gone. Whoever he is. I was too slow to catch him.”
Edwin doubles over, hands on hips. But Padma isn’t winded. “You idiot,” she says to Holly. “You could have been hurt. Why didn’t you call us?”
“I was out for a walk, and I saw him,” she says. “I went for it. I didn’t think.”
“Did you get a look at his face?” Padma asks.
“No.” She lowers her hands. “He was tall, though, at least six three. Scaled the fence easily.”
“Who the fuck…” Edwin says. “And why?”
“Best check the grounds in the morning, and all the locks on the windows and doors tonight,” Padma says.
“It’s a shame wards don’t work here,” Holly says as we turn back to the house.
Haiden meets us at the door. “It looks like no one can sleep tonight. How about I make some cocoa?”
“Great idea,” Holly says. “Should we check if Orina is awake?”
“She’s gone,” Edwin says.
“Where?” Holly asks before I can.
“Branwood.”
A thought occurs to me. “What if that man was a spy?”
“Linked to Ariella?” Edwin says.
“Ruby,” Padma corrects. “Her real name is Ruby, and it’s a strong possibility.”
“Do you think he saw Godor take her?” Edwin asks.
There is no way to know and no way to determine how it might affect Orina if he did.
“You got any marshmallows?” Holly asks Haiden. “I’m going to need a sugar fix.”
I follow the others back into the house, trying desperately to ignore the itch at the back of my mind.
I don’t have long before I reset, and I can’t help but wonder if I’m always this scared or if the awful foreboding in the pit of my belly is new, and if so, what it could mean.
Chapter 23
ORINA
Hemlock made up a bed for me in Ezekiel’s cell room. He placed it by the exit as far from the bars as possible.
“Are you sure about this?” Ordell asked me.
“I’m positive.” Godor had delivered me here at three this morning, my head filled with the horrific images of what had happened to Ezekiel.
I’d told them the things I’d seen.
