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Some of the warmth drained from the kitchen.
keep your phones away from them, I sent. if they see this we’re screwed.
I showed Damian the texts. He scrolled through them with his brow furrowed.
“I’m going to have to tell them,” I said. “They need to know about the plan for the pool party. And they need to know about Clemency. They can’t help me if they don’t know.”
Damian touched the back of his neck, like just the thought of it gave him a headache. “I know,” he said. He stared into his coffee mug for a moment, his shoulders tense.
I reached for my phone.
“Wait.”
Damian placed his hand over mine. “They’ll need a cover story to tell the guys. It’s Sunday. They’ll be planning another date.” He tapped his thumb against his mug, but an idea came to me first.
“I’ll tell them to say the four of us are hanging out here to journal together and discuss the retreat. They can’t argue with that.”
I unlocked my phone and typed out the plan. I ended my text with there’s a way out of this. I’ll talk to you about it today.
One by one, they confirmed.
When two o’clock rolled around, I’d spent two hours rehearsing exactly what I was going to say. I had Clemency’s journal, her mirror, her locket around my neck, and the shadow token tucked away in my bag. I’d also assembled a small bag of salt and nails and a marigold from the backyard.
Priya arrived first. Her hug was clingy. I could feel the anxiety buzzing right under her palms. Dark circles sat under her eyes, and her hair had been thrown back into a messy bun.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he followed me here,” she said. “I haven’t slept in two nights. He knows something’s up.”
“He doesn’t know.”
“Marlowe, he was waiting on my doorstep when I got home from work on Friday. I told him I was really tired and I needed a night alone. He turned up anyway. I only just got rid of him. He ran a bath for me. He made me pasta. I couldn’t get away from him.”
“That’s stalker behavior,” I said.
“That’s a hostage situation.”
I tried to reassure her, and I almost succeeded, until Callie arrived. She looked even worse. The glow that followed her around like sunlight had gone. She was pale and looked like she’d lost weight in the two days since I’d seen her.
“He bought my mother flowers. For her birthday.”
We stared at her.
“What?”
“He’s never met my mother.”
“Callie—”
“White roses.”
“That’s terrifying,” Priya said, her arms crossed.
I pictured Damian doing the same. I thought of Wren, slowly dying as he love-bombed her.
Callie looked close to tears. “My mother loved him.”
“Of course she did.”
“She asked if we’d set a date.”
