It was Persi.
My first feeling was one of utmost relief. We were not getting robbed, and no thief was going to find me in these bushes. But that initial relief was followed by an intense wave of curiosity. Persi was wearing all black clothing—not totally off-brand for her, but these weren’t her usual style. She wore a pair of black leggings, a black sweatshirt with a hood, which she was now pulling up over her hair, and a pair of black sneakers. She carried a black backpack slung over one shoulder, which she was hastily zipping up as I watched her. She raised her head, looked warily down one end of the street, and then the other, before hurrying off down toward the harbor.
Go home, Wren. Just go home. It’s none of your business.
I hesitated only a moment and then, abandoning my bike in the bushes, I followed after her.
11
My brain seemed to be completely disconnected from my body. I was shouting inside my own head to simply go home and mind my own business, but my body just kept plunging forward heedlessly. There was something inside me that was more instinct than logic, and I couldn’t help but obey it in this moment. About halfway down the narrow side street, I stopped fighting it. I was listening to something deeper… something more innate in me, something I wouldn’t have trusted before that night on the beach, but which I now recognized as intuition. Was this part of what Rhi had been telling me? That I needed to trust myself more?
I doubted she’d approve of the scenario, but I was going to take her advice regardless.
The narrow cobbled street we were on sloped down and met up with Harbor Street, which ran the length of the waterfront. Beyond the sea wall, boats bobbed in the dark water like corks under a star-sprinkled sky. The remnants of the old boardwalk jutted up from the waves, like skeletal fingers pointing out the constellations. I crept silently along, keeping a wide distance between myself and Persi as she walked purposefully down the street. For someone who looked like they were up to somethingshady or possibly illegal, she certainly didn’t carry herself that way. We’d traveled maybe half a mile down Harbor Street when Persi took a sharp turn, and disappeared through a gap in the sea wall. I quickened my steps, afraid I would lose her. When I reached the spot where she had vanished, I realized that it was the top of a staircase that led down to the rocky lip of ground that only appeared during low tide. I began to descend the stairs, which creaked with age; luckily, that creaking was swallowed up by the sound of the ocean, and the wind that whipped loudly against the sea wall.
The moment my feet hit the ground, I felt a sharp yank on the back of my sweatshirt. I yelped in surprise, but a hand clamped down over my mouth, smothering the sound. I was dragged backward into the deeper shadows underneath the staircase, and began thrashing in panic until I heard a voice whisper harshly.
“Stop flailing, Wren! It’s me.”
I recognized Persi’s voice, and forced my panicking body to go still. As soon as I did, Persi removed her hand from my mouth, and turned me by my shoulders so that we were looking at each other face to face.
“What the hell are you doing?” she asked. “Why are you following me?”
“I thought we were being robbed!” I said, feeling defensive.
“So you followed a potential criminal down a darkened street to a secluded beach?” Persi asked, incredulously. “Good God, child, has my sister taught you even a modicum of self-preservation? If it was anyone but me, you could be dead right now!”
“Okay, fine, not my most brilliant moment, but what are you doing, looking like you’re burgling your own store?” I asked.
“What are you doing outside the store at 1 o’clock in the morning?” Persi snapped back.
“I asked you first!”
“I’m an adult!”
“Well, you’re not acting like one!”
She glared at me for a moment, and I glared right back. A second later, the corner of her mouth twitched into the merest suggestion of a smile, and I knew I had scored a point somehow. She dropped her hands from my shoulders, and sighed.
“You are infuriatingly like your mother sometimes, you know that?” Persi said.
I had no idea whether I should be offended or not, but it sounded like she was trying to insult me, so I crossed my arms over my chest and waited.
“I’m visiting Bernadette, okay?” Persi blurted out after a few seconds of expectant silence.
“I… you are?” I asked, my hands dropping to my side.
“Yes, and if you snitch on me, I’ll hex you into oblivion. Now it’s your turn. What the hell are you doing out here?”
“Nova wanted to perform a Cleansing on Bernadette, and she wanted my help. I came here to talk her out of it, but she didn’t show. I think maybe she got caught sneaking out, but I don’t know for sure,” I said. The words were out of my mouth before I’d even really decided to tell her the truth. But she’d been honest with me, and so I felt like I owed it to her.
“Nova Claire?” Persi asked, her mouth falling open in shock.
“There can’t possibly be another Nova living in this town,” I said, before second-guessing myself. In a town like Sedgwick Cove, all bets were off.
But Persi shook her head. “No, it’s just… I never thought I’d live to see the day when a Claire broke ranks.”
“You are literally sneaking out to visit a Claire in prison, Persi,” I said.
