ELLIOT
There is something wrong with Secora Reed, and it’s notjustthat she’s an escaped murderer. It’s a feeling I get when I look at her. Like she’s a lie. Like there’s something twisted in her soul, meant to be unraveled, but too vague to name. I look at Secora Reed, and I see a complete stranger.
Not a former classmate.
Not a friend’s spare sister.
Not Harrison’s killer.
She is a stranger I’ve never met, and I can’t make sense of that. She is pretty and sharp andalive. I should have memories of her. I would have spoken to her in school. At the very least, I would have noticed her from afar. And yet, no matter how hard I try, I can’t come up with a single, solid memory of this woman.
“I don’t have a guest bedroom,” she says. She glances back at me, and if she sees the panic on my face, it doesn’t phase her. She stops at an unmarked door, the last in a ridiculously long hallway of them.
“Are those rooms all full?” I ask, tilting my chin in the direction we came.
“They’re empty,” she says. She pauses, hand on the doorknob, to look up at me. Her large eyes are a deep shade of brown. Her mouth is wide. Only her nose is small, and it makes her look a bit like a porcelain doll. Beautiful. Too delicate for a murderer.
With that, my mind snaps back to the situation at hand. Now isnotthe time and she isnotthe person.
“I’ll stay in one of them then,” I say. “No offense. I’m sure you’re great company?—”
“They’re not warded,” she says, shoving open her door. “So unless you want vampires attacking you in your sleep, I’d recommend staying in mine.”
She strides through her doorway and doesn’t look back to see if I follow. I’m not sure if this is another bluff. Maybe, if I start for a different room, she’ll chase me down like before.
Or maybe she’ll let me go, I’ll get eaten, and I’ll never make it back to the Day Realm.
With a stiff sigh, I force myself into the woman’s quarters. They’re as dreary and unpleasant as you’d expect for a murderer. The furniture is black. The kitchen is littered with incomplete potions and a sink full of dishes. Stepping farther into the room, I can see an array of rotted plants across from the kitchen. They’re alive though. Magicked to look dead while thriving.
Yes, I think.There is something very wrong with Secora Reed.
She stands in the kitchen, her back to me. It’s a stupid move for a wanted criminal. I could disarm her before she turned around, have her tied up and thrown over my shoulder before she could retaliate. But then, I’d be faced with getting us back to the Day Realm, a feat I’ve accepted is impossible. Clearly she knows that too.
“I’m not used to company,” she says. Then, “I only have green tea.”
“Honey?” I ask.
Secora stills, her entire body clenching at once. As if honey is somehow an offensive request.
“No,” she says finally. “No, I don’t. Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I say. I watch the tension ease out of her shoulders. Slowly, she starts making a single cup of tea.
“I’ll take one,” I say. She never offered, but it felt implied.
“You drink green tea?” she asks. Only now does she turn around, one of her dark brows stretching for her hairline.
“Yes?” I say. It comes out more like a question. I’m not sure why she looks shocked. Maybe she forgot tea is a universally loved beverage in the Day Realm. I don’t think I’ve met a witch whodoesn’tdrink it. We all have our preferences, sure. Green tea isn’t my favorite, but I’ll drink any kind other than black.
“Oh,” she says. She looks frazzled now, dropping her eyes as she turns back to the counter. “Sure. Of course.”
Then she’s rattling through cupboards for another mug. They’re all mismatched. Many are black, but there are colorful ones too. Red and orange and green. She returns her focus to the tea, and I stand awkwardly near the doorway, just watching her.
“Shut the door,” she says without turning.
“I thought it was warded.” I don’t know why I don’t simply close the door. Or maybe I do. Maybe it’s the same reason I’ve yet to take my eyes off Secora as she makes my tea.
“I’d rather no one know you’re here,” she says.
