“I had a good coach in boarding school,” he says, grabbing a pruning saw, too.
“I need you to promise me something.”
Metal clanks as he drops the tools next to the turpentine.
“If we can’t get rid of him in the hedge maze, if he comes back to the Water Garden, your first target needs to be the ruby.”
“Okay.”
“Before you go for any of the hounds.”
“Sounds good.”
“Jude.”
He takes a small step toward me. “I’m very motivated to destroy the ruby, Selah.”
His attention dips to my lips, and when his eyes meet mine, I can feel the full weight of his longing, his restraint, and it couldn’t be clearer. His motivation has nothing to do with saving himself, and everything to do with the distance I’ve kept between us. The distance I’ll continue to keep until the ruby is gone and my love can no longer harm him.
His gaze is so intense, it sets my skin on fire.
I turn away and take a shaky breath, forcing my mind back to the task at hand.
We’re here to collect weapons.
My attention snags on a clipboard hanging near the door.
“This is a diagram of the hedge maze,” I say, pulling it free.
If the maze is the same inside the Overlay as it is outside the Overlay, then surely a map will give Rafe and me an advantage.
52
A MIDNIGHT SNACK
Ilay in bed and stare at the ceiling as the clock turns to midnight and the television drones downstairs—a rerun of a news broadcast from earlier. Chief Perry’s statement filters into my room.
“As of this evening, we have been unable to establish contact with either Griffin Tate or Lainey Sikes. Based on the totality of the circumstances, both teenagers are now also considered missing persons. With severe winter weather expected overnight, time is a significant concern…”
A faucet turns on downstairs.
A gust of wind pushes against my bedroom window.
The snow is accumulating fast outside.
And I’m thankful for it. Because of thisblizzard, active ground search operations have been suspended overnight. The investigation has temporarily transitioned from search and rescue to containment. Which means the police are patrolling the perimeter of the property, not the property itself. Once Jude gets Twig, Naomi, and Harper inside the estate, they shouldn’t run into any problems on their way to the rift. Of course, we need to get out of our houses first.
I strain my ears, hoping for the television to turn off, for the lights to go out, for Dad to succumb to the exhaustion I know he must feel so I can begin phase one of our plan. But the television stays on and my stomach twists into a knot.
What if Dad stays up all night? What if his concern out-muscles his exhaustion and he doesn’t go to bed? Our carefully laid plans will fall apart before they can even launch. He spent the entire day outside in the cold helping the police. Surely, exhaustion will win.
The dots on my arm tingle, as if begging to be pressed. They’ve been prickling all evening.
The droning of the television stops.
Silence settles.
And then—footsteps on the stairs.
