Page 37
”Shut up.”
“I still suggest we drink.”
The scarecrow’s fingers curl and Malakia grabs its wrist.
“Don’t.” I tell him.
The movement stops.
He leans toward the burlap hood.
I hate when he does this. Always have.
He listens and I watch as his face changes.
“What?” I ask but he doesn’t answer. “Kai.”
He releases the wrist and steps back.
“What did it say?”
“Nothing,” he says.
”Bullshit.”
His eyes find mine. “She isn’t ready.”
Rhett and I both go still.
“For what?” Rhett asks.
Malakia looks toward the lights, the bonfire… toward Sage. “The Communion.”
I start walking away but Rhett catches my arm. “Where are you going?”
“To stop it.”
“How?”
”I’m shutting it down.”
”Two hundred plus drunk people are waiting for a party.”
”Then disappoint them.”
”You can’t shut down Harvest Communion.”
”It’s a fucking party.”
Malakai laughs once. There’s no humor behind it and I turn towards him.
“What?”
”You still believe that?”
”I know what it is.”
”No. You know what you turned it into.” His gaze drops to the Earth. “But remember what it was.”
