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Sadie settled inside the circle of trees, the shadows rising from the ground, their silhouettes taking shape. No longer flat and connected to the dirt, but like the ones she’d seen leap from the trees, only she hadn’t seen them this clearly. Her eyes widened, her gaze fixed on the horns sprouting on their dark heads. The one nearest her, she believed, was the goat-skulled creature by the shape of its horns.
“Is River with you?” She hadn’t smelled his scent that day at all, even though she knew it had been him hovering by her truck. The creature didn’t answer, only bowed its head.
In the distance, a wolf howled, and it most likely wasn’t the safest thing to be out here, but her eyes unwillingly fell shut. She forced them open and gasped—the creatures surrounding her were no longer silhouettes, but in their true forms. Skeletal and furred.
“Why do you follow me around?” Sadie asked, her gaze fastened to the empty sockets of the goat-skulled form.
It only lifted its arm, pointing at the opening in the ground, then slowly backed away from her to the others, who were all pointing to the same place. Their empty eye sockets rested on her, and she watched as the moths lifted from the trees, swirling around the entrance in the dirt, the lanterns’ light illuminating their ivory color.
A scuffing sounded around her, and Sadie gave pause, staring in horror as the trees expanded, enfolding themselves together, trapping her in like she’d been the night before. The trunks exhaled and inhaled, whispering louder and louder until it resembled hoarse screams.
Sadie stumbled backward, her grip tightening on her flashlight. She turned from the creatures, slowly moving toward her, forcing her to descend the stairs.
Heart pounding, she rushed down the steps and glanced over her shoulder, but the creatures didn’t follow. Sadie hadn’t been afraid of them, but now, she wondered if they could be the ones keeping River trapped here.
As soon as her gaze fell on River, she touched the back of his neck and watched as he took a breath. The dagger fell from his hand, and she snatched it, pointing it toward him.
“You came back,” he rasped, not shying away from her, even though she held up a dagger. “I told you not to. Last night I had you, and if you hadn’t woken up...”
“Then what?” She scowled, motioning around the room. “You’re not saying anything. Only slivers of things. You’re not saying why there are creatures with animal skull faces above us and if they are the ones keeping you here, why the trees move and breathe, why you always have this dagger in your hand, why your eyes went hollow last night, why the woods are quiet during the day, and the animals sleep. When I released your ashes here, it created all of this, am I right?”
River’s throat bobbed as he nodded. “The ashes did open this.”
Was that the only question he was going to answer? The blood in her veins roared and she squeezed the dagger. “You said you didn’t know if you wanted to kiss me or kill me. Why?”
“My heart yearns to do both,” he said between gritted teeth. “That should make you want to leave me here.”
“Stop being vague!” she shouted, her voice echoing off the walls. “Why did you kill yourself?”
River stepped toward her, his hand wrapping around her wrist that was holding the dagger. He gently brought it to her side, and with his other hand, he pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “To protect you,” he whispered, his gray eyes pinned to hers.
“Protect me from what? Are those creatures doing this to you?”
“No, the fiends do not cause harm. Let me show you something.” River arched a brow as he turned away from her, pressing his fingers to a door handle.
“The last time you opened a door, the room led to bleeding hearts,” Sadie spat.
“If that bothered you, then I suggest leaving the other doors shut.”
“Why are you talking differently? You wouldn’t have used ‘harm’ or ‘suggest’ before.”
The edges of his lips tilted up as if this was all a trick. “There’s plenty you have left to uncover, but I suggest you don’t. If you do, keep the dagger close.”
Sadie glared before saying, “Show me.” Her heart lodged in her throat as the door opened. Taking a deep breath, she followed him inside the candlelit room, expecting something more ominous, bloody.
Instead, it was a bedroom of sorts—a bit gothic in style. Two glass boxes, like coffins, rested in the center of the room on top of a black fur rug. The walls were a glistening obsidian—an oval mirror hung on one side and abstract portraits, painted with a deep crimson, that might have been blood, on the other.
Two large onyx wardrobes hugged opposite corners, and a black desk with a quill and stacks of paper sat in between. The flooring was the same stone that was in the main room, and the scent of sage surrounded her.
River led her to another door at the back of the room. Inside was an antique clawfoot tub and a mirror framed with bones.
“All right, you’ve officially shown me scenes from a horror film,” she said, trying to sound light, yet her voice came out anything but that. “Is the bath going to fill with blood next? Are bones going to protrude from the walls?”
River sat on the edge of the bathtub, running his hand along the porcelain as he stared at her, his eyes hooded. “This is our room, our bathing chamber. Welcome.”
Sadie’s brows rose up her forehead, and she blinked at him. “Sleep in glass coffins? Like we’re vampires?” At any other time, the thought would’ve amused her, but not now, not when she didn’t have answers.
River pinched the bridge of his nose, his other hand starting to shake, the expression he’d tried to hold twisted into something more like him. “As you’ve discovered, you’re not wholly here, but your essence is. At the stroke of midnight, that’s when the veil drops, opening to us all.”
