She opened the door, the metal cold on her palm.
There was water, and it was shimmering.
No, not shimmering—that was the fluorescent lights reflecting off the glass and porcelain that were scattered throughout the liquid and the string of beads that were wrapped around the fingers of—
Of Lily.
Katherine’s knees caved.
She heard the crack as they hit the tile.
Lily was sprawled in the center of the room, soaking in the few inches of water that covered the ground, spewing from the broken pipes of the sink that had been blasted off the wall by the force of her snap. Her closed eyes and the strands of her hair floating in the water made the scene look almost peaceful.
If it hadn’t been for the blood. There was so much blood. Too much to tell where it was coming from, because everything was colored in that deep tinge of red.
There was no way someone could lose that much blood and survive. But Katherine checked anyway. Reached her hand to Lily’s, choked back a sob as she pulled the body to her. Felt for a pulse in a wrist colored rust, and found none.
Katherine screamed. Screamed for the girl she’d been. Screamed for the woman Lily would never get to be.
And then the bathroom door started to open. Voices filtered through. People. People coming, people who would find her, people who would blame her for whatever happened here.
Katherine made a choice.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Katherine’s hands shook as she fumbled for her keys.
It was a miracle that she’d made it back to Sunspot, that she’d managed to remember the motions of her feet on the pedals and her eyes on the road. A miracle that took everything out of her, because now she couldn’t even make her hands work enough to unlock the door, and she wanted to be furious at herself for it, but she didn’t have the energy for that either.
What had she done?
What you needed to do, said the coldest part of her brain.
Ensured that Lily’s family will never know peace, said the rest.
But then, what peace was there to know?
When the bathroom door had opened…
Katherine’s anxiety never cared that Sylvia had changed her appearance. Never cared that her snap had been years ago, when she was a different girl in a different city. Those were thoughts for the rational part of her brain, and that part was chased away the second the possibility of being caught entered the building. To be found, dragged back home, forced to face the family that had once loved her more than anything, to look them in the eyes knowing that she was a murderer… those thoughts? Those Katherine’s anxiety fed off like cake.
She hadn’t even needed to pull out her caster. The pain from the slam of her knees onto the tile was still so fresh, blood welling in the cuts the broken floor had left on her skin. All it had taken was a thought,her hand pressed to Lily’s body, and her fear of being caught in a room with a dead body had willed the spell into existence.
And willed Lily out of it.
Lily’s body turned to ash in a millisecond. Washed down the drain in even less. By the time the door opened, she was gone.
By the time the door opened, Katherine realized it didn’t matter. It wasn’t the police, coming to arrest her—it was two women, crying as they searched for a missing friend.
Back here, in front of this door, Katherine’s hands trembled around her keys. They fell to the pavement, the clatter startling her enough that she jumped back—just in time for the door to swing open. Katherine squinted into the shadows of the dark interior, barely making out the halo of blond hair waiting for her within.
“Come in.”
Sylvia’s voice was raspy. Like she’d been screaming too.
She stepped back, the hint of color disappearing into the darkness.
Katherine followed her inside. The door slammed shut behind her.
