Page 139 of Hidden
“Now, what’s the third rule?” Alyssa asked.
Bianca bit her lip, glancing down at her doll before looking back to Alyssa. “I want to play.”
“In a minute, Bianca.” There was a frown in her voice. “Now tell me, what’s the third rule?”
I cursed as the ground fell out from under me when Bianca opened her mouth to answer. I wouldn’t count on Bianca coming forward with the ‘rules’ she’d been given any time soon. But the memory was over—I’d gotten what I’d come for. Bianca had known her mother, even though she hadn’t been aware.
Before I could lose my focus, I grasped the next thread of light.
It was raining. The sun was setting, and in the distance, a small, white farmhouse stood alone in the middle of a sloping landscape. Mountains and woods, with an explosion of color, surrounded the area. It was autumn, and the leaves were changing. Frost covered the grass.
However, this was a memory, so Miles and I were unaffected by the chilly air. The rain, also, we were unable to feel.
But the sudden fear that caused my heart to jerk painfully was enough.
“Bianca!” Miles moved to step past me, only stopping when I grabbed at him.
“This isn’t reality,” I reminded him. “There’s nothing you can do about what happens next.”
Miles hissed in a breath, his arm shaking under my hold. “Fuck your abilities,” he muttered.
I silently agreed. Now, more than any other time in my recollections, I wanted to intervene.
Bianca stood at the edge of a pond, enamoured. She watched the surface as the darkness grew. But what she couldn’t see—what was so clear to Miles and myself—was the demon standing across the water.
We could only hear the music becauseshecould, otherwise the sound would have been unnoticeable to us. Adults, after all, were unaware of the call of the piper. The water rippled from where Bianca stood, and I knew—from legends—that she was captivated by the creature’s illusions.
There were many demons that lured children to their deaths, and every one had their own reasons. Lonliness, revenge, or evil intentions. I wasn’t certain of this one’s history—this fell more into Bianca and Damen’s realms of expertise—but it was easy to see that it wanted Bianca dead. And once it achieved its goal, it would devour her soul. Add it to his collection.
I glanced around the darkening space, fury lacing though me. Where was Kieran? Hadn’t someone else been in the house, too? Multiple people had been speaking in Bianca’s earlier memory.
Why was she out here alone? He was supposed to be protecting her!
Bianca moved, dipping her toe into the water and remaining unaware of the danger she was in. My heart raced.
I couldn’t do anything. It wouldn’t matter even if I tried. Everything had already happened, and she was alive now.
This was only a memory.
But then—unlike any other entranced child—Bianca paused. A second later, she glanced up. There was no fear in her gaze, only mild curiousity as she spoke to the giant, long-limbed kappa. “Why?”
The creature’s yellow eyes popped open, and it lowered the reed flute. It’s shoulders dropped as it’s mouth thinned. Clearly it’d never been questioned before. “You can see me?”
“You’re lonely,” Bianca said, clutching the doll to her chest. “But you have people with you. So why are you sad?”
“It’s not enough,” he said, raising the flute back to his lips. “I have to fulfill my contract.” He seemed to say the second statement more for himself than her and after, began to play the instrument once more.
But to Bianca, the magic had been lost. Possibly because she was aware of his presence.
“I can’t go with you,” Bianca interrupted his song. “I’m not allowed. I need to go home now.”
He paused, eyes narrowing, limbs tensing.
“I’m sorry you’re sad though,” she said, turning away from the demon. “Goodbye.”
She hadn’t even taken a step before the monster moved. The flute was thrown aside, and he lunged across the surface of the water, claw-like fingers reaching for Bianca.
“I only need one more,” he screeched. “Just the one. I’ll drag you with me myself, I don’t care.”
