Because she was awake.
But how could I see them?
I bounded forward, breaking the black mist apart, and stood between them and Camora. When I faced them, they were slowly piecing back together, the knocking shouting in my ears as if it were their heartbeats.
“No!” I screamed. And my scream spilled with great power. It allowed me to erect my spine and narrow my eyes at the five filthy things.
The Shadows stood straight and, like a snap of a finger, lost all their horrific vibrations. They’d heard me. They were listening to me.
“Leave,” I hissed through my teeth, keeping Camora behind my outstretched arms.
The Shadows seemed to bend their form, and all five ripples of smoke rocketed through the air.
I turned to Camora and took her into my arms. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” My fingers combed her black hair as I searched her face for clues.
Camora couldn’t speak, an ocean of tears leaving her eyes.
The following day,Cyrus, Cillian, and Kaser looked handsome in their deadly-black suits.
Camora, despite her mother, wore the same one-piece I’d designed to Darnell’s funeral. The same pantsuit she’d worn when she’d last danced with her father in his wheelchair at the Founder’s Day Ball only four days prior.
I stood next to Cyrus on the shoreline, the wind sweeping around my skirt. His eyes remained on his father’s coffin, mine on Bone Island in the distance.
As Cyrus had explained, Crescent Beach wouldn’t be where Darnell would rest in peace, unlike the rest of Sacred Sea. We were only here so Sacred Sea could say their goodbyes. Later, the Cantini family would perform a ritual in the Crypt of Secrets, where Darnell would rest alongside the ancestors of his bloodline.
As much as I wanted to be present for Cyrus, my mind was elsewhere throughout the ceremony. I hadn’t realized it had ended until Ivy wrapped her arms around me in an embrace. I looked around as everyone was walking down the shoreline with their backs to me.
“It could have been you,” she said into my neck in a strangled whisper.
I pulled her close, hugging her back. “But it wasn’t. I’m safe.”
The events of what happened the night before played in my mind. From running through the manor, finding Camora cornered by the Shadows, to them leaving because I commanded it. Had they listened to me, or was it something else entirely? Would Ivy think of me as insane for telling her this?
She pulled me to the side, where no one else could hear. “I can’t help but think this isn’t all a coincidence.”
She had my full attention. “What do you mean?”
“Think about it, Adora. You had an altercation with all of the Shadow’s victims. First, with Mrs. Edwin at Oh My Stars. When you accused her daughter of stealing.”
“Yeah, but that happened before the Shadows got here.”
“Just listen to me for a second.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Then Jacob Taylor because he grabbed your ass and you tore him to pieces, remember? Viola’s handyman looked up Fable’s skirt, and it wasn’t that long ago I told you about Darnell. And look what happened.”
“It doesn’t explain the others … and it definitely doesn’t explain Mrs. Madder. She loved me like a daughter. She even helped me open Oh My Stars. She always believed in me and never wronged our family. Not in any way.”
“Did you say something to her? Were you angry with her for any reason?”
I tried to think back.
There was the night just before she died when I was incredibly rude to her. But I had just found out I was going to be married to Cyrus, and my entire world had flipped upside down. I didn’t mean the words I said. I hadn’t meant the thoughts in my head. I had only taken it out on her. Was Ivy right? Had the Shadows sensed this and viewed Mrs. Madder as a threat?
“Just be careful,” Ivy said when I didn’t answer. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
CHAPTER 39
ADORA
January 5, 2021
