Page 16 of Breaking the Dark

Ophelia smiles tightly. “I’ve had more than this. I’ve had much more than this. This”—she arcs her arm around the kiosk—“is my happy ending.”

The girl sighs loudly through her nose, then picks up her cheap bag from her lap and hooks her fingers through the handles. She stands and looks around one more time, then stares imperiously at Ophelia’s face.

“Your loss,” she says. “Your loss.”

When the girl finally leaves, a long, ragged breath escapes Ophelia’s throat and she clasps her hand to her heart.

That girl contains darkness and evil. That girl, she believes, is a mortal threat to Ophelia’s hard-won happiness.

SIX

BACK AT THE Finch the following morning Jessica follows the signs to the Gloria room. This one is clad with baby-pink paneling and has a huge green velvet sofa in the window scattered with pink cushions. Amber has ordered tea in a pot for her and coffee in a pot for Jessica, and there is a selection of miniature breakfast pastries on a plate in front of her. Amber’s hair is tied back sharply from her face, and she looks tired. “Good morning, Jessica. How was your dinner?”

“Kind of nice, actually. They do great bread.”

“Your hair looks pretty.”

Jessica touches it vaguely and shrugs. Then she gets out her phone so that she can play Amber her recording.

“This was Fox when he thought nobody was there. I tuned the audio so you can hear it through the background noise. Listen.”

She presses play and watches Amber’s reaction, pausing the recording just after the sound of Fox’s body cracking.

“What was that?” Amber says. “Can you play that again?”

Jessica replays it.

“What was the noise?”

“I have no idea. But it came from Fox’s body.”

Amber shudders. “Oh my God, that’s horrible.” Her voice wavers as she speaks.

“Yes,” Jessica agrees. “It was. You okay for me to carry on?”

Amber nods tersely and Jessica presses play again.

“Wait.” Amber holds up a flat hand. “What was that? What did he just say?”

“I don’t know. I’ve listened a dozen times and I still can’t make it out. I thought you might know.”

“No,” she says. “I have no idea. Sounds like ‘my number’?”

“Sounds like all kinds of things.”

“And then what did he do? After that?”

“He went into the bathroom. I went back down. And apparently Fox met a girl?”

“Did he say what her name was?”

“Belle.”

“Belle. No. I don’t know of her. Did he say anything about her?”

“No, not really. Just that she was perfect.”

“Ah, that word again.”

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