Page 91 of Unveil

“All I can say is”—his hands go up, palms out like he’s trying to calm a spooked animal—“since that Wilde got killed outside Masque, things are getting heated. People are getting… jumpy.”

“Okay, what’s ‘heated’ mean? Like arguing in the streets? Tourists getting rowdy? Bar fights…” I run through more scenarios, letting my stream of consciousness flow with questions, until his tight-lipped silence makes a brittle, frustrated laugh huff out. “Come on, Benny, tell me already. You’re scaring me. Are my parents okay? Nox, Uncle Jaime? Oh God, it was the car chase. Did Jaime get hurt?——”

“Okay, chill, Lu. Your parents, Nox, Jaime, they’re all fine,” he rushes to say. “The car chase was child’s play. We’ve done worse on the track. But the sooner we get home?—”

“Benoit.” I step up to him. “Tell. Me.”

He closes his eyes, bracing himself for me to blow up on him. He’s quiet for so long, I have to physically bite my tongue to keep my racing thoughts in check.

His eyes open on a sigh. “It’s about the other daughters. Us shadows are watching them like hawks, closing ranks to make sure they’re protected. Brylie’s pissed as per usual, but Lucy…”

“What about her?” Dread pools in my stomach as he grimaces.

“She’s scared. Todeath. You being kidnapped majorly triggered her. Panic attacks, breakdowns, the whole nine. I’m sure she’ll be okay once you’re safe and sound, but we’re worried she’ll go rabbit on us again. Like she used to after she was… you know.”

Cold sweat prickles the back of my neck. He doesn’t need to elaborate. When we were kids, we were told to never, ever,everbring up Lucy’s kidnapping. Just mentioning it would send her spiraling.

“But she hasn’t run away in years,” I say, guilt building in my chest. “Benny, that’d be literally the worst thing she could do in this situation.”

Her parents were always able to find her before, but she got better and better at hiding from her anxiety, not to mention the rest of us. Trauma taught her it was the only way to save herself.

Sure, Lucy and I would fantasize about leaving to find our own paths, out from under our parents’ and the public’s watchful eyes. But the only reason I even entertained those thoughts is because she’d grown out of the habit and hadn’t run away in years.

“Panic isn’t always logical.” He sighs, the sound jarring in the quiet forest.

Wait.

“And she was good at hiding as a kid,” he continues while my ears perk up. “Imagine what she can do now that she knows what she’s doing?—”

“Shh,” I cut him off, straining to hear.

He jolts. “What?”

I tap my ear, mouthing,Listen.

He stills. The world stills. I hold my breath for the cawing of birds, the rustle of scurrying animals, or even a trumpet from one of the lake swans calling to their mate. Anything.

But there’s just… silence.

“I don’t hear anything,” Benoit murmurs.

“Exactly.” My eyes sweep the dark woods beyond the porch. “Something’s out there?—”

“Luna, look out!”

The shove knocks me back just as two deafening bangs rip through the air.

Benoit jerks twice, twisting under the impacts. Blood blossoms across his green shirt, each bloom with a gaping cavity in his chest.

“Benoit!”

He stares down at the wounds in disbelief, then at me, eyes wide, unfocused.

Nononononono—

“Benny?” The world slows into a warped, muffled blur as if I’m underwater. My chest is tight as I sink.

I can’t breathe. This isn’t real. It can’t be.