Page 197 of The Midnight Order
“Oh, right. Yeah, we should. Silver?”
She snaps to attention, seeming not to recall her brush-up in the woods with whatever spirit haunts the manor grounds until Asher summoned the reverie.
“We don’t need a detailed play-by-play; we heard it all,” Jasper says in a tortured tone, saying his back is probably bloody.
They know they can join anything with Silver. Still, Jasper has a thing about privacy, so he probably stayed away because I remained a spectator to allow Asher and Silver time to cultivate their relationship.
After all, we need that if we’re going to beat this curse. Not only that, but if we’re going to function healthily.
Lowell grins, squeezing Silver’s hand as her cheeks fill with her sinful blood.
“No, that’s not what we were going to tell you. I encountered something in the woods last night before the… festivities.” She nearly chokes out the last word, and Jasper laughs.
“Sorry.” He waves her on.
Lowell has gone rigid beneath her, his eyes turning deadly. “Encounter with what?”
“With whatever is out there. I didn’t understand what it said, but it said I was supposed to warn all of you.”
“Warn us about what?”
“She said everything was wrong. That she was wrong, and it was all wrong. Then she said, ‘The closer they get to breaking the curse, the closer he gets. They need to be ready.’ I don’t know what any of it means. It was so riddled.”
“Everything is wrong?”
Silver nods. “When I called her Valentina, she said she goes by many names. What could that mean?”
Lowell rolls his eyes. “I’m so fucking sick of this shit. Isn’t it enough we’re fucking cursed? At every turn, it just keeps getting shitter.”
“I don’t know how I know, but I don’t think she’ll be back. Her warning is delivered. It almost felt like knocking on the door of the curse unlocked some kind of… echo,” Silver tells us.
“I agree. Enough is enough,” Jasper says, getting up and leaving the room. “I’m going to bed.”
His door slams, and Lowell leans over and kisses Silver. “This isn’t your fault. Let him process.”
She looks between us as Lowell heads outside, shutting the door silently, like he knows Silver needs him to do so.
“What do we do from here?” she asks.
“We keep digging. When all else fails, we just keep going. That’s all there is to do. We move forward like we always do.”
She nods, looking up the stairs where Jasper disappeared.
“You want to go to him?” Asher whispers in her ear.
“I do. I know we just had an amazing time together, but I?—”
Asher cuts her off with a squeeze on her thigh. “Never explain yourself to any of us. You have to love us equally and us likewise. He’s hurting; he needs you. We’ll see you in the morning.”
Silver kisses Asher before coming to hug me goodnight.
I drop beside Asher on the couch, my hand landing on his thigh. “You’re very sweet with her.”
“She brings it out in me.”
“I love it.”
“Let’s go to bed; I’m exhausted.”
