I’d never heard Fable groan before, but it was a somber, sugary sound. Even Fable’s groan could not dampen optimistic heart and positive nature. She was hiding behind large sunglasses and inside her oversized Voodoos hoodie. But covering the V, a D was written in thick sharpie on a swatch of masking tape.
“Ughh,”she groaned again.
And“Arggh,”Ivy grumbled in response, eyes on Cyrus, who was sitting at a different table. Her pale face was curtained by hair so black it seemed to have blue undertones as she hid behind coffee, her full-moon eyes droopy.
The Crimson Eclipse would occur the following night.
No longer years. No longer months. No longer weeks.
After all this time, Kane’s death was less than forty-eight hours away.
Good, I thought. This ache made me want to kill someone.
I’d battled the cold for a week, hoping to see Stone in Town Square. In case the plan took a wrong turn, I wanted to make sure he knew how I felt about him, even if he didn’t feel the same in return. The most frustrating part of it all was that I believed he already knew, and I was the bloodthirsty fool who would come up with any excuse to see him again. To talk to him. Like confessing my feelings.
I looked out the frosty paned window and into Town Square.
As before, every passing person was not Stone.
“Aggh,”rolled out of me as my coffee cooled in my hands.
My nails were bitten down to the nail beds.
I hadn’t blinked in over sixty-three seconds.
And there the Sullivan sisters sat after love had bitten them, turning three strong, courageous women into miserable, undecipherable zombies. I no longer had the will to hide my pain from myself or others. Strong did not mean cold. Courageous did not mean fearless. Emotions did not mean weak. I could still be all these things and be broken-hearted.
I couldn’t escape from it either. I’d lost the book of Alec and Circe.
My escape hatch was missing.
“Is that Cyrus’s hoodie and sweatpants you’re wearing?” Ivy mumbled.
The first time words had been spoken in half an hour.
I bid her a sullen glare.“Mmm.”
“Ughh.”She dropped her forehead to the table.
Across from us, Cyrus and Kane stood to leave.
Cyrus slipped into his black coat, his face, arms, hands, and the little sliver of carved abs peeking out like one of his chiseled sculptures. He shoved a hand into a front pocket, pulled out his wallet, and tossed a few bills on the table. On his way out, he gave me a look that said,I don’t know what’s going on and I’m not even bothering to ask.
Kane swept through the diner like a fall season and threw his empty cup into the trash.Enjoy your last days, I thought, bringing the cold coffee to my lips. I then shifted my gaze back out the window in hopes of catching a glimpse of Stone again.
A cane appeared on the other side of the fogged glass, stabbing the cobblestone walkway. My gaze followed it to the hand it was attached to, then the face of the tiny homeless man, Ocean, who was hobbling past the window toward Norse Woods.
My heart jumped, and I leapt out of the booth and ran after him.
The Bean’s bell rang as I rushed out of the coffee shop and into the cold. White clouds spilled from my warm lungs as I sprinted to him, flatlanders paying me awkward glances. I ignored them, not stopping until I was blocking Ocean’s way, my chest heaving.
“Where’s Stone?” I panted. But the man just stared at me through beady eyes, his long beard slanting in the wind. “Well, is he okay?”
Ocean’s face fell. “I have nothing to say to you.”
He stepped around me, but I slid back in front of him and grabbed his arm. “Does it seem like I’m here to see how you’re doing? Where is Stone?”
“That’s none of your concern, sea witch,” he grumbled.
