“Hey!Finished up already?”
Meg turned toward them and Eden’s laughter died.
Something was wrong.
Meg’s face was too pale.Her smile too forced.Her posture rigid in a way that set off alarm bells in Eden’s mind.
“Is everything okay with Noah?”
“I haven’t talked to him.Liam picked him up.”Meg’s voice was strained.“I’m heading out.”
She was alone in the parking lot, but her eyes kept darting toward the shadows near the tree line.
Eden followed her gaze but saw nothing.Just darkness and the edge of the forest.
“You okay?”Eden called, her instincts screaming now.“You look pale.”
“Long day.”Meg’s laugh sounded brittle.“Just tired.”
Eden started to move closer, but Nimue’s hand tightened on her arm, holding her back.Eden glanced at her friend and saw something sharp and focused in Nimue’s expression.
Recognition.
“Why don’t you come grab dinner with us?”Nimue asked, her tone deliberately light.“My treat.You shouldn’t be alone tonight.”
“I can’t.I have to—” Meg’s voice cracked slightly.Another glance toward the shadows.Longer this time.“I have plans.But thank you.”
Something moved in the darkness—or maybe it didn’t.Eden couldn’t be sure.But Meg flinched, her whole body going tense.And Eden’s blood ran cold.
“I’ll see you both later,” Meg said, each word sounding forced.“Have a good evening.”
She was dismissing them.
Trying to get them to leave.Pushing them away.Protecting them from something.
And the way she kept looking at those shadows, the fear in her eyes?—
Eden started to say something, to push, to demand answers.But Nimue spoke first.
“Well, give me a hug.This might be the last time we see you.”Nimue stepped forward and embraced their friend in a very brief hug, and Eden could have sworn that Nimue dropped her wallet in Meg’s coat.
But Meg didn’t seem to notice.
Or pretended not to.
“Thank you for everything.”
Meg gave Eden a hug next—trembling, brief—then stepped back.Her gaze flicked to the shadows again, and this time Eden was certain—there was someone there.
Watching.Waiting.
“I have to go.”Urgency sharpened her tone.
Nimue stepped back, looping her arm through Eden’s again.
“We should get going.Lots to do.You take care, Meg.”
They walked away, and every instinct Eden had screamed at her to turn around, to go back, to get Meg away from whatever was waiting in those shadows.
