Page 16 of The Midwinter Mirror
Time to get back to reality.
Chapter 6
That Gargoyle Is Smirking at Me
Holly
Wow, we kissed.
I didn’t mean to kiss him. But there was always a connection between us, however much I tried to forget him after he left. It’s like we’re part of a whole.
God, I’ve missed him so much.
But that doesn’t change the fact that he thinks I betrayed him. He’s never going to trust me again.
And really—ditto. He believes I lied about something so important. How could he believe that of me?
I thought about that kiss all night—about how the world went quiet for a second in that hut in the snow.
The way I panicked afterward. Because I’d wanted him. Right then. Right there. Terrified that if I let him go, he would vanish out of my life again.
Which he’s pretty much admitted is his plan. Get Tansy and run. I have to remember that he didn’t come back for me.
In the end, I backed off because I was scared. This new Zayne is…too much.
But just one more thing before I do my best to put that kiss from my mind—he’s been getting some practice somewhere. This new Zayne sure knows how to kiss a girl.Grrr.
We didn’t talk on the way home, but he looped his arm in mine. When we got back, the villagers were gone, searching for the children. Dad was just setting off to clear the road again, and I grabbed a sandwich and went along. I needed to be doing something.
I stayed in the village to help with the search, but we found absolutely nothing. No sign. How can twelve children just vanish? We continued until well after dark, and there was no inch of the area left to look. I was so exhausted when I got back that I needed no excuse to go straight to my bed.
And dream of old boyfriends and hot kisses.
Ugh.
When I get down to the kitchen, everyone has beaten me to it. I hover in the doorway for a minute. Zayne is standing at the coffee machine. He’s wearing a black shirt and black leather pants. Who wears leather pants? Obviously, Zayne. The shirt is stretched tight over broad shoulders, and he has a thick leather belt around his waist. And the pants…no, not going there.
I force my gaze up to his face and find him smirking at me again. Yeah, I’m staring, but he’s a little overwhelming—and I kissed him.
God. I need to forget about that for now. We need to go find out what’s happening. Maybe extend the search farther afield…
Heat from the Aga fogs the windows. Mum, Dad, Milo, and Josh are sitting around the big, scrubbed table in the middle of the kitchen. They all look up as I enter. That thing is still sitting on Josh’s shoulder, and I swear it’s looking at me. It’s like the gargoyles you see on churches. It bares its teeth at me. What the fuck? I look away; clearly, I’m now hallucinating. I sink into the nearest empty chair. I need coffee.
Zayne places a mug in front of me. I cup my hands around it and take a sip. Cream and sugar—just as I like it.
“What’s happening?” I ask. “Is there any news?”
“Nothing,” Dad says.
Damn.
“I’ve been phoning around again,” Mum adds. “The local police station says they’ve got everyone available searching—anywhere they can think of, but nobody’s seen any sighting of a group of children.”
That’s not good. I mean, how hard would they be to miss? There are twelve of them. Twelve children. That’s everyone in the village between the ages of six and fourteen. Except Milo. Why? How? The older ones would have had more sense than to just wander off. It makes no sense.
Zayne pulls out a chair and sits down next to me. “They won’t find any trace of them,” he says to the room in general. “They went through a mirror at Silvergate.”
I clench my teeth. I can’t believe he said that. I slam my coffee down hard, so it splashes over the table, burning my hand.Ouch.But really, we need clear heads right now, and he’s not helping.
