No one knew what to say once the detectives and deputies cleared the chamber to search the cliffs. People drifted from the council chamber like ghosts, stepping into a town that suddenly felt unfamiliar. The cliffs gleamed silver under the moonlight, sharp as knives. The air held its breath with them, waiting for whatever came next.
Tosh sat on a bench, staring out at the dark water, elbows on his knees, hands trembling. His world had been shaken again, and it seemed it wasn’t over. Zach stood nearby, wordless, gaze locked on the horizon as if the ocean might hand him an answer.
Cass sat silent, shoulders hunched, laughter long gone. Mary was missing. Torie paced like a trapped animal. Harmony stood apart from them all, arms crossed, hair lifting in the wind. The streetlamps cast her shadow long and thin across the cobblestone.
Something about her stillness unsettled anyone who glanced her way. Even the wind seemed to pause around her, as ifwaiting for her next decision. It was the same stillness she had at crime scenes, like her pulse ran on a different clock.
Hale had ordered the rest of them to stay put until deputies finished their sweep.
Zach was the first to speak, his voice rough. “It’s strange how soundless it gets when something like this happens.”
“At least silence is honest,” Harmony said. “Noise tells lies. It makes us believe things are normal.”
Tosh looked at her. “Do you think Mary did it?”
Harmony shrugged. “I don’t know. It doesn’t look good.”
He nodded slowly, but his eyes stayed distant. “She wasn’t wrong about what she said. We’ve all been complicit. It feels like the island’s full of ghosts.” He paused. “Some just scream louder than others.”
Harmony studied him, her gaze softening. “It’s not ghosts that scare me. It’s people. They’re unpredictable.”
Zach turned from the water. “Sometimes, it feels like the island itself is doing this . . . like it’s alive.”
Harmony’s lips curved slightly. “Maybe not alive. Maybe awake.”
Tosh rubbed his hands together. “Awake to what?”
Harmony’s eyes lowered as she considered. “To what we are,” she said softly. “To who we are. Nothing we do here goes unseen.”
A breeze carried her words toward the restless sea. They sat in quiet after that—four friends stranded together on an island that seemed to be turning them into different people every day.
Finally, Harmony spoke. “We should try to get some rest. Tomorrow’s going to feel even longer than today.”
Tosh didn’t move. “I want to sit here a while.”
“I’ll stay with you, Tosh,” Cass said, curling beside him. “I’m not ready to go in either.”
“I’m going to walk for a bit,” Harmony said. “Clear my head.”
She stepped into the moonlit road. Her shadow followed.
Within minutes, she heard footsteps catching up. She didn’t turn. She already knew that stride.
Zach moved up next to her. “You can’t be walking alone.”
For a fraction of a second, she sensed a presence behind them—quieter than Zach, lighter on gravel. A brief silhouette stood at the edge of her peripheral vision, near the bend leading toward the harbor. Tall. Still. Watching. Hands low, posture trained. Like someone used to standing still for a living.
When she blinked, it vanished.
“The worst of it might be over for tonight,” she replied. “Besides . . . none of us are ever truly alone here.”
He huffed a quiet laugh. “Somehow, that doesn’t comfort me.”
“I don’t think it’s meant to.”
They walked in silence, pebbles crunching beneath their shoes, the ocean whispering beside them. The adrenaline from the confrontation had faded. Now, exhaustion sat heavy on both of them.
Zach reached out, fingers brushing her arm as he stopped her. He studied her face.
