“And what if shehasforgotten? What if she’snotpretending?”
Amabel said nothing.
That was the difference between us. She could wait. Could sit back, all patient and poised, as if time was on our side. As if Serafina slipping further and further from our grasp wasn’t something to worry about.
But I knew better. Shewasslipping: She was laughing and happy. Andthat? That was unacceptable.
#
Amabel
Eluned was going to ruineverything.
I pressed my fingers to my temple, exhaling slowly as she fidgeted beside me, shifting from foot to foot like a restless child. The hedge maze was perfect cover, but it wouldn’t matter if she kept making noise. If she kept moving.
She didn’t understand patience. Never had. She wanted fire, chaos, a grand declaration of our presence, and for what? To feel powerful for a fleeting moment? To watch them scramble and panic? It was short-sighted. We were here for information, not dramatics.
But trying to keep Eluned in check was like trying to hold back the tide with bare hands.
“We arewatching,” I reminded her for the third time, my voice even, firm. “Nothing else.”
“Wealwayswatch. I’m sick of it!”
“And if you act now, without thinking, you’ll ruin the opportunity for something better later. Are you really so impatient that you can’tseethat?” I clenched my jaw.
She glared at me, but I could see the way she bit her lip, restless, dissatisfied. She wanted to argue. I could feel it building in her like a storm, the way it always did when I told her no.
Then she tensed.
“Did you hear that?”
“What?” I frowned.
“That clicking sound.” A shiver ran through her. “Like nails on glass.”
I hadn’t heard anything. The wind rustling the hedges, the distant hum of music from the house, yes, but nothing strange. Another excuse, then. Another way to derail our focus.
“El,” I sighed, rubbing my temples. “Enough.”
“No, really, I heard something—”
“It’s nothing.” My patience thinned. “If you’d focus instead of chasing shadows, maybe we’d actually get somethingusefulout of this.”
“Iamfocused.” She scowled, crossing her arms.
I resisted the urge to laugh. Focused. Right. On every irrelevant thing except what mattered.
I had spent my entire life reining her in, smoothing over her recklessness with careful planning, and what did I have to show for it? A half-feral sister who still acted like she was ten years old, who never thought further than the next thrill.
Maybe I’d be better off doing this alone.The thought was unsettling in its honesty.
I had never considered it before. Not really. But standing here, watching her scowl at me like I was the enemy instead of the only thing keeping her from self-destruction? Well, I wondered.
Ireallywondered.
#
Koa
