Good. The tight muscles in Kay’s shoulders released slightly. She honestly hadn’t expected Elizabeth to agree so easily.
“I have a few commitments at the college over the next week and a half,” Elizabeth said. “Once those are done, I’ll drive up to London and we can all sit down to talk it through together.”
“Also… he’s going to tell the Council,” Kay admitted.
This time the silence was even longer. “Well, that’s up to him, but I think we should still stay clear. What do you think?”
“I think something is very wrong. Those Shadows were foul, but they were definitely Shadows.” She cleared her throat. “And the thing is… they had to come from someone in the Order.”
Kay’s Shadows churned uneasily. “There’s more,” she admitted quietly. “Do you think Zach could… I don’t know. Maybe also know something about this?”
The words physically hurt to say. She didn’t want to believe that one of her oldest friends could possibly be involved in those dark Shadows. But he’d lied to her. He’d left her alone just at the worst possible moment. Why had he done that?
“Zach?” Elizabeth sounded shocked. “I’ve known that boy since he was a baby, and he’s always had very firm beliefs about right and wrong. I really can’t see that he would do something like this.”
“Do you think I should say something to him? We didn’t get a chance to discuss anything in the hospital with so many people around all the time.”
“I don’t know, Kay, you’d put him in a bad position. You’d have to tell him about the dark Shadows and the visions, but then ask him to keep what he knows from David and the Council.”
God. It was bad enough keeping secrets as it was, and Zach would hate having to hide the truth. Even worse, it might jeopardize his hopes to join the Council, which he’d worked for his whole life. All over a misunderstanding about a book. “You’re right, I think I’ll have to leave it for now,” Kay agreed slowly.
“I have a really bad feeling about this,” Elizabeth admitted. “About this, and about the Council. I know you hate it when I get feelings, but this time… something’s coming Kayleigh. Be careful,Cariad.”
ChapterSeven
So much planning.So much stress and pain. All fucked up by one girl in the wrong place at the wrong fucking time.
He let himself into his small flat and strongly considered kicking something.
The rooms were almost empty. The walls were covered in faded floral wallpaper, cheap curtains bracketed the small window, and a sagging brown couch sat in the dingy living room. In the bedroom, there was a small double bed with a sleeping bag on top of the otherwise bare mattress, and a couple of plates and glasses stood on a shelf in the kitchen. The tiny second bedroom was furnished as an office. It was the only room that looked remotely lived in, with papers and books in piles on the desk and on the floor.
It was exhausting keeping such a huge secret, managing two completely separate lives, never knowing exactly what was coming next.
He hated it. But it was the sacrifice they made to ensure that the plan succeeded. And the Archdderwydd was right: there was only one way to hide things from people who could see the future—and that was very fucking carefully.
Which reminded him of the fact thatshehad been there. How had she possibly known where to be?
They had a system. Multiple targets, multiple plans. Different times and different days, all entirely theoretical. Far too amorphous for even the best Seers to predict. Then, using a random number generator, they allowed the computer to pick a plan. Complete silence until the go order—no one knew which plan was chosen until text messages were sent out by the specially designed program just before the event. Then everything happened at once, synchronized and instant. There was no way for anyone to predict in advance. No warning for the Seers. Fucking genius.
And yet she had known. She had been in the right place beforeheeven knew it was the right place.
He had to scramble to get there, finding an excuse to get away, and then scramble to get back again before his absence was noticed.
All that work for nothing. Two gang members who he had personally recruited, now worth nothing. The loss of the Shadows, all for nothing. And seeing her standing there under the bus shelter surrounded by Shadows…. God.
He let out a grunt of frustration and ran his hands through his hair, tugging it until it stood up in unruly directions. Nothing could be done now except work up more plans, more options, and enter them back into the system. And then more fucking waiting.
Maybe it was just supreme bad luck? It happened. Either way, he had to stay calm and start again. All would be well. They had a goal, and it was in sight.
ChapterEight
Kay rubbedthe grit out of her eyes and slumped back in her chair.
Elizabeth was more on edge every time Kay spoke to her and David still hadn’t come back to her. She had spent her days reading everything she could find about Shadows in the Circle library—with no luck finding any reference to the dark Shadows whatsoever—stressing about Zach, pushing away all thoughts of Ethan and how her Shadows had responded to him, and then struggling to concentrate on the numbers on her screen. She sighed and picked up the mug on her desk. Tepid tea, nice.
The only moment of reprieve she’d had was when Constable Robbins had called to say that the mum from the bus stop had asked for her phone number so that she could send her thanks.
A few minutes after Kay agreed, Sharon had called. She had taken her new baby out for a walk and a bit of shopping as her government minister husband was stuck in Westminster working late. Her voice had wobbled when she talked about how frightened she’d been after seeing the knives come out, and she’d had to take a few deep breaths before she could thank Kay for saving her baby’s life.
