Nell cleared her throat and started lighting the candles. “This storm probably won’t last long. We just have to wait until it clears up. I know this was only supposed to be a quick visit, but—”
“It wasn’t, Nell,” Harper said. “You don’t make the drive all the way out here for no good reason. You didn’tvisitjust because you missed me.”
“That’s not true, we—”
“Youdid, maybe. But I have a feeling you weren’t the one who suggested the trip.”
Nell clamped her mouth shut, glancing at Evie. Who still didn’t look at either of them.
Harper scoffed and threw the blanket onto the couch. “Unbelievable.”
“I was worried about you, Harper,” Evie said.
“Of course you were. Worried enough that you drove hundreds of miles just to poke your head in and make sure Maya hadn’t used the solitude of this cabin to fucking eat me. You don’t know her. Have you ever even had a conversation with her?”
“I don’t need to. I know enough to keep my distance. Something you would do too, if you paid attention to what people are saying.”
Harper clenched her jaw. She’d known this would be an issue. Evie had even told her, but despite that, Harper hadn’t genuinely believed that this would drive such a wedge between them.
“I didn’t like you being alone with her,” Evie said. “She should have sent you home by now. Hell, she shouldn’t even have asked you to come out here.”
“Iwantedher to ask,” Harper bit. “Iwantedto come see her. And for us to be alone in this goddamn cabin. Me staying here wasn’t her idea, it was all me. That week she was gone killed me inside, because I couldn’t stop thinking that she might be hurt or dead somewhere.”
Harper’s voice turned unsteady. “Don’t you get it? This is serious for me. She’s patient and decent, and she can handle me better than I can even do myself. I’ve never had that before. She’s not the monster everyone says she is. Why can’t you see that?”
“You don’t know what they’re like!” Evie shot to her feet. “You don’t know the havoc they can cause. How they delight in it or how much inflicting pain amuses them.”
Tears beaded in her eyes. She swiped them away, though they still showed in her voice.
“She’s a killer, Harper. A predator. And once she stops bothering to hide that fact, she’ll fill you with terror just because it makes your blood taste better. Everyone is scared of her. What does that tell you about what she’s capable of? She’s just biding her time, and when she gets her chance, she’ll hurt you.”
Evie had never spoken like that before. So harshly and coldly, as though intending for the words to cause pain. Or maybe the memories they spawned contained so much hurt that it bledinto her voice.
The stories were wrong. It didn’t matter that Harper didn’t know the details; they werewrong. There was nothing monstrous about Maya. Nothing cold, or cruel, or even reckless.
Harper had spent hours looking into those dark, golden eyes of hers, and there was nothing in them but warmth and kindness. She was so much more than the preconceived notions people had of her. Evie, more than anyone, should know what that felt like.
“What about Natalya, then?” Harper said, voice shaking. With anger or sorrow, she wasn’t sure.
Evie’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“She has a reputation. She’s dangerous. Everyone is scared of her, including me, frankly. Does that mean she’ll hurt you?”
Silence filled the cabin, the only noise coming from the creaking walls. A silence that Evie clearly wanted to break with a retort. But she couldn’t find any that weren’t hypocritical.
The front door blew open, and a gust of wind sighed through the cabin. The few lit candles snuffed out, making the only source of light be the cool white glow from their phone flashes.
“I tried calling, but I couldn’t get a signal,” Maya said, shutting the door. “You have to stay inside. This storm will probably last the night, so—”
Maya stopped in place, eyes darting around the room. Harper let out a relieved sigh, Nell hugged herself, and Evie took a quick step back, her retreat halted by her knocking into the armchair.
Maya stared at Evie, shocked. Then she glanced at Harper.
“I didn’t realize you had guests.”
Evie’s eyes were locked on Maya, her body frozen in place.
“We came a few hours ago,” Nell mumbled. “We meant to leave at nightfall, but… we hoped the storm would clear and then it… didn’t.”
