“You went in there on a dare?” Maxwell frowned. “I would hate to know your friends.”
Cecelia looked pointedly at Melbourne, who chuckled nervously and glanced away.
The farther we traveled along Old Mill Road, the more ominous the clouds grew. The wind knocked the skeletal branches of nearby trees into the coach, so that it sounded like creatures were raking their nails over the roof. The progress was excruciatingly slow, as Cecelia had warned, and by the time she stopped the driver, it had begun to drizzle. We had three umbrellas between us, so Melbourne paired off with Maxwell, and Cecelia insisted on venturing out alone. That left me with Ambrose. If Cecelia was interested in pursuing Ambrose, that was rather shortsighted of her, but she seemed content walking into the gloom solo.
“Good sir,” Ambrose said, sending me a mocking bow as I stepped out of the coach and beneath the umbrella he spread overhead. He then handed it to me, and I hid a scowl as I struggled to hold it aloft while also wielding the lantern. God forbid Ambrose lift a finger.
We gazed around the place Cecelia identified as where Emmett had stood when she’d passed by a fortnight prior. We were parked just before a bridge, but she was unsure as to which side of the bridge Emmett had been on, and seeing nothing in the immediate vicinity, we crossed to the other.
I gazed down as we traversed the bridge to see a river rushing below quietly. Instinctively, I felt an aversion to the running water, but that was an old reaction. I didn’t understand the power it held over me, in the same way I had no idea why I found a crucifix revolting. Either way, I would grow sick around them and never made it a few steps over water before collapsing from vertigo. As I’d grown in my power, I’d found I was able to fly over rivers without growing ill, so I took to transforming into a bat as necessary. Otherwise, I had to rely upon others, usually human servants, to carry me across by coach.
“You seem lost in your thoughts,” Ambrose said softly as we touched down on the other side.
I glanced up at him. “My apologies. I’ve been rather in my head today, haven’t I?”
“A little. I don’t mind, though. I would prefer a strong, silent companion. It’s less taxing.”
“The last thing I would want is to be a burden on the future duke,” I said innocently.
Ambrose nodded, knowingly. “You’re not quite what I expected, actually. It’s rather easy with you. I don’t feel like I have to have my guard up in your company.”
I met his eyes. The lantern glow warmed his features in a way that reminded me how handsome he was. It was a shame he was so insufferable. “I’m glad to hear that.”
“Over here, everyone,” Cecelia called out, a welcome distraction.
We stalked over to the roadside just a few yards from the bridge. Cecelia pointed to a group of trees. “I think he was there,” she said.
I squinted as the rain began to grow heavier, beating steadily upon the umbrellas and obscuring our surroundings. A peal of thunder belted out, echoing across the sky.
“We may have to cut this trip short,” Melbourne observed, wincing as he stared at the clouds, which were nearly black now as they roiled overhead.
I frowned at the treeline. There appeared to be a clearing ahead. “What’s back there?” I asked.
Ambrose shrugged and led me past where Cecelia had spotted Emmett. We were gifted a brief respite from the rain as the trees took the brunt of the blows. When we reached the clearing, we paused to look out over a cemetery, green with overgrown grass and shrubs, choked with weeds. I could make out dozens of headstones, several in the shape of crosses, while one large figurehead of an angel seemed to spread her arms in welcome to the storm.
I took a step forward and reluctantly, Ambrose followed, until I stopped before a gravestone with the phrase etched into it,Together in the next life.I gazed at the headstones before me as the others joined us. “This is the location of Emmett’s painting,” I said.
Maxwell let out a startled gasp. “So it is.”
As the others stooped to get a closer look at the grave markers, I ventured with Ambrose to the back of the cemetery, where I noted a steep drop. Dead leaves clogged the rocky valley as I realized what I was looking at. I could almost picture the owl Emmett had depicted in the branches of a nearby tree. This was the dried-up riverbed, likely a tributary from the nearby river that had been cut off.
“Emmett spent some time out here, it would seem,” Maxwell commented, suddenly beside us.
I nodded slowly before gazing up to see a ghostly house in the distance, obscured by the rain, which was now falling in torrents.
“We need to go,” Cecelia insisted. “We can come back another time, if necessary.”
I nodded. “I think we saw all we needed to.”
We hurried back the way we’d come, my shoes sinking into the mud as puddles formed, making the path more treacherous. Another rumble of thunder chased us from the forest and back onto the road, only to find a figure waiting for us.
I stopped abruptly, going still as a woman twirled an umbrella in one hand and tilted her head to get a better look at us. The relentless slapping of the rain against the umbrella overhead became a roar in my mind as I tensed.
“Oh, hello!” Melbourne called to her. “Do you need assistance?”
“No, I do not,” she said with a lazy grin. “But you might in due time.”
Her eyes locked with mine, blacker than her undead heart.
