Talk to the council. If they’re still alive.
Even though the council hasn’t gotten better like the rest of Silver Valley and Diamond Springs packs, they have been stable. I’ve got no reason to think something has happened to them—except for the fully dark windows.
When I slip through the front door, it gives an impressively spooky creak as I push it back and close it behind me. There’s a flicker of light in the hall to the left, so I know there has to be a meeting going on.
That’s where they all are. That’s why there are no lights.
I pace down the hallway, ready to bust in on the meeting and shake everyone down, but I stop dead when I hear the voices echoing through the stone hall.
“Please, just wait. We can’t rush this.”
Sadie?
“I understand,” Rafe replies. “But I don’t think we have a choice.”
“It would be far worse to act before we really know,” Trina says. “It will only mean more death, more loss.”
“Look at me,” Darla hisses, her voice harsh as she tries to speak through her ruined throat. “Does it look like I have time to wait? Do any of us?”
“I understand,” Sadie says. “But we have to do the ritual again. We can’t do anything until we confirm.”
“And then you’ll go?” Neville asks. “You’ll bring her back here if the ritual names her again?”
Her?
My heart pounds so hard, my head spins, and I have to lean on the wall. I wonder briefly how long it’s been since I ate or slept, but dismiss the thought immediately.
There are more important things than eating or sleeping!
“Well,” Sadie answers. “I’ll certainly—”
“Oh, stop!” Darla tries to snap. “We need to do this! I’m sick of hearing your excuses. We have to act now.”
“If we’re wrong, then we’ll destroy her,” Trina begs. “I can’t take away her autonomy. I know exactly how that feels.”
“And you?” Neville asks, his voice hushed. “Are you destroyed?”
“Yes,” Trina whispers. “And I was remade.”
“Well, then,” Neville replies, as if that settles everything. I can imagine the intense look he’s giving her. So far, every argument Trina and Sadie have tried to give to the council has fallen flat.
They’re talking about my bride as if they know who she is.
Briefly, I think back to the times I performed the ritual with Sadie. Only once did the drop of blood settle on a location,and it was very weak. We repeated it multiple times, and it never happened again.
Sadie said it was a mistake. That we had to keep trying.
Voices are rising at the end of the hall again, and I’m about to stride in there and add my voice to the clamor when Trina shouts over everyone.
“Hyacinth is innocent!” she yells. “She knows nothing of our ways, or this town. I was close to the mystery, and so was Sadie. Hyacinth is just a random woman; she didn’t even grow up around here. How can she possibly be related to Lynette?”
“That’s not my fucking problem!” Darla thunders back, her voice cracking. “The ritual chose her. We are dying. Something has to be done, don’t you see that?”
“It was one extremely weak hit,” Sadie says softly, as if she’s trying to calm the room. “A false positive. We have to try again.”
“We have to tell Shane,” Neville says. “He deserves a say in this.”
“No,” Sadie replies. “There’s no point in telling him until we’re sure. I wouldn’t want him acting out of emotion and fucking up the whole thing. We’re so close now.”
