I looked back down at the blood-coloured letters, sunken into the parchment like veins.
I would adore to know the details of your plan.
What plan was he talking about?
My mind moved too quickly to stop, and Lilian’s words echoed from the depths.
If you would like, you could spend more time with Declan. His father and I are good friends.
My chest tightened with a sharp, unsettling jolt.
It couldn’t be the plan he meant, could it? She couldn’t possibly have thought to push us together like that, could she? I swallowed, staring at the curling letters. The longer I looked, the more I felt like they were whispering something I couldn’t hear yet. Something undeniably important. Something that would send me running for my life.
CHAPTER TWENTY
ELODIE
The night hung heavy and still, except for the occasional shuffle of hooves or the soft rustling of straw in the corners. The world beyond was a blur of shadow, the darkness pressing close against the high walls of the stables.
I was back at Lilith’s stall, her dark form a constant in the gloom. There was something almost…comforting about her presence, though I wasn’t sure what it was. Perhaps the way she seemed to understand the unspoken thoughts I hadn’t quite pieced together myself, or perhaps it was the quiet sense of belonging that started to stir within me whenever I was near her.
The faint smell of damp hay and the rich, earthy scent of horse hair filled the air. The stone floor beneath my boots rang loud in the silence.
Lilith raised her head as I approached, her dark eyes gleaming with intelligence that unnerved me. Her coat shimmered in the dim light, almost ethereal in the low glow of the lanterns that flickered overhead. I found myself standing there, one hand pressed against the stall door, my breath coming out in steady clouds.
Her ears twitched like she was listening. My mum had stood here once. She probably rested her hand at the same place I did now. The thought made my chest tighten with her absence.
Lilith snorted softly, as though acknowledging my words, but she offered no answers.
I stepped closer and slowly edged the stall door open. My steps were measured as I carefully slipped inside to the unfamiliar territory, but Lilith did not move, she did not flinch. She simply watched me with those dark, knowing eyes.
I brushed a hand over her blaze, tracing the familiar streak. She nudged her head into my palm, and a snort escaped me. Then she turned back to her hay, and I dropped to sit in the straw at her feet, resting my back against the cool wooden wall of the stall. The soft rhythm of her breathing filled the silence between us. I couldn’t explain why I felt drawn to this horse. Maybe because she seemed to like me, while no other animal ever did, or maybe because she had once been my mum’s. Likely both.
I closed my eyes for a moment, breathing deeply, letting the peace of the moment sink into my bones. I thought of the ghost I’d seen, and the orphans who had once lived here but now were nowhere in sight. Likely, they had grown up and moved away. Still, it was strange Lilian hadn’t mentioned them once.
I shifted, the straw crinkling beneath me, and my fingers brushed against the wood of the stalls side. Over something rough. My eyes flicked open and landed on a carving etched in the wood.
Uneven lines spelled out two letters:
E.T.
My heart skipped a beat.Esmée Thornbury.I traced the initials with the tip of my finger, the pattern rough and deep, similar to the one left in the greenhouse.
I glanced up at the horse again, something stirring within me that I couldn’t quite explain. The strange connection I felt made my throat ache. My mum loved this horse, yet I had no memory of her. No recollection of their bond. Grief simmered low in my chest, like a warning light I couldn’t shut off.
I hadn’t just lost my mum, I’d lost the version of her I never got to meet. The one who rode horses, lived in a castle, got drunk with her friends, and filled diaries with her thoughts. All the pieces that shaped her into who she was.
The sudden sound of the barn door opening broke my reverie. Footsteps, soft but hasty, entered the stables, and I slowly pushed myself to my feet.
“Dee!” The twins noticed me first, and they halted in their wake. They had helmets in their hands, and I glanced down at my watch. It was past ten at night.
“What are you doing here?” Cecily asked, but immediately continued, giving me no space to answer. “You can join us to the village!”
The harsh reality of the world pressed back in.
“Village?”
“We’re heading down to Thornborough,” Myra replied. “It’s nearby.”
