Page 104 of The Harbinger
“Allow your eyes to adjust. It’s the same woods as before.”
Except I’d been hurt and angry by my parents and him that I hadn’t paid attention to the woods around me. I just ran until I found his protective circle, then froze, my feet unable to carry on.
Lightning sparked overhead, casting demonic shadows into the void. Their claws made of branches reached for us… me, and their howling voices traveled through the blowing trees.
There was something about the woods now that he’d shown me his secret world. It tainted the beauty I’d seen before, letting the lecherous beasts cast its evil upon it.
But when I’d let my eyes conform to the darkness and glanced at Sacha walking beside me, there wasn’t the same tainted stench. Instead, there was a likeness I hadn’t witnessed before. Its familiarity drove unease under my skin, causing me to avert my gaze elsewhere.
“You’re listening to those voices again.” We stepped out from the line of fruit trees. The lights stationed across the house illuminated the mess I’d made in the garden.
I shook my head. “I’m just thinking.”
“Sometimes that’s even worse.”
Gravel crunched beneath my bare feet as we stepped onto the walkway, his hand guiding me around the rosebush I’d tossed when a speck of white caught my periphery.
I veered off course, breaking away from his touch as I crashed to my bruised knees and screamed.
Chapter 25
Mia
Myfingersclawedatthe cold, damp earth, revealing a lump of white fur coated in sticky, black grime. Horror lodged in my gut like a jagged blade, twisting and churning as I gazed upon his rigid body in its makeshift tomb. Questions swirled in my mind, but my throat was too tight to voice them.
Sacha’s hand found my shoulder, the weight of it a comfort. “What is it?” His thumb pressed against the knotted cords of my neck, a grounding presence that reminded me I wasn’t alone.
“Alfredo,” I murmured, the name barely more than a fragile whisper. “The kitten I saved.”
He held still, his grip on my shoulder tightening as thunder boomed overhead, the air charged with electricity. The sky lit up with lightning, casting jagged shadows across the ground.
“We’ll bury him when the storm passes.”
The tumultuous storm showed no signs of letting up, each roll of thunder shaking me to the core, the rain chilling me to the bone.
Sacha was right—we couldn’t risk venturing into the tempestuous night. But the thought of leaving Alfredo’s tiny body exposed to the elements, vulnerable to the ravages of the storm, filled me with a sense of helplessness and dread.
I leaned over and covered his body with the dirt I’d dug out from around him, hiding him from anything that might look to find a decaying snack during the night.
“Come on.” Sacha gripped my arm and helped me to my feet while I wiped my cheeks with the back of my grotesque hands, smearing mud across them.
We hustled to the back entrance, my feet dragging in the mud with reluctance as the rain hit the statue with stonytinks.
“Why did you name him?”
“Because he was a sweet kitten.”
Cloth snapped as the wind whipped around us, cracking like a whip.
“Did anyone—”
“Wait.” I whirled around, pulling free from his grasp, and ran back to the water fountain.
“Mia.” His voice boomed over the wind crashing through the trees, his suit jacket flapping in the air.
A slap of thunder exploded around us as I reached for it and squealed, hunkering down for a moment, then snatched it off its makeshift hook.
I froze as Sacha stared at me from the back door. The fine hairs on my neck stood at attention as a shiver raced down my spine, and it wasn’t his cum slicking my thighs or the rain soaking through my translucent clothing.