Page 117 of Fallen Thorns
Verdant and unseeing.
Ben’s.
Rani gagged beside me and grabbed my sleeve, turning away and crouching down, free hand over her mouth.
I was the only one left standing up right, and suddenly the room felt a thousand times bigger. All eyes fixed to what lay before us.
All I could think to do next was charge over to tip out the rest of the box’s contents. And so I did. I shook it in front of me, my legs unsteady, and watched as the rest of the silk glided to the floor along with a small white note.
You didn’t see me coming x
ChapterTwenty-Eight
Ihad no words. Standing there, the room froze over. Rani choked up behind me as Marianne rose to her feet and shook herself off, stepping ever so slowly towards thegift.Wiping her face, she sniffed, and then used the lace to clean it up off the floor. Dropping it back into the box, she sniffled again before replacing the lid.
She stood there, back to us, speaking in a hushed tone, “I don’t know why she is doing all this when it’s reallymeshe wants.” Marianne’s hands gripped the table, knuckles white.
Rani took another stifled breath, and I was struck yet again, at my severelackof emotion. Or more, my inability to show it. Static in both mind and body. Only the clenching and unclenching of my fists reminded me that Icouldmove.
“Why?”Rani turned to look at me, and then to Marianne who did not face us, her voice hoarse.
“Why not?” Marianne’s answer was brutal as she finally turned to us. “When you’ve lived this long, why not try a littleevil?” The unhinged twang of sarcasm made me shiver. Marianne’s eyes were wide with distress.
“So that’s it then? He’s gone. Lucy wins.” Rani finally gathered the strength to stand back up.
“Never,” Marianne snapped.
I didn’t know what compelled me to return to the note, but I did… Picking it up, I turned it over, both sets of eyes on me.
A date, time, and location.
The abandoned church.
I looked at Marianne. It didn’t take her long to deduce what I had read.
“We’ll be ready.”
I hope so.
We informedthe rest of The Thorns as best and as quickly as we could. Tomorrow morning at sunrise. She’d be there.
We gathered Lawrence and Francesca, and Mars hugged them both close, pressing their heads together in a promise of hope.
Carmen wasted no time in arming herself to the teeth, refusing Marianne’s safety advice. “I will not fuckingstand by,”she said, pocketing another knife.
Casper was inevitably the hardest to inform. He didn’t even let Mars finish the call before he hung up. Less than half an hour later, he stood in the room with us, covered in snow.
“I need to see it,” he demanded, his whole body restless. The wobble of his voice oozed endless anguish.
Marianne shook her head as I looked at her.
“I need tosee it,”he insisted, his feet shuffling and banging against the floor as his legs threatened to give way.
“I can’t.” Marianne’s eyes were full of sympathy, like that of a mother; who she really was to them all.
As Casper let his knees fall to the ground, Marianne was there to hold him up, petting his shoulder in protective comfort.
His guttural cry consumed the entire room. He started to pound a weak fist against her breastbone, fingers grabbing at her jumper.
