Page 105 of The Harbinger

My gaze wandered from Sacha’s face, scanning the area for the pair of eyes piercing the back of my sodden skull.

A sudden burst of light illuminated the sky, creating a purple hue in the now pitch-black horizon, and my gut twisted in dread.

In the distance, a silhouette stood among the trees, watching silently. Raindrops slid down my eyelashes and trickled down my cheeks as I strained to see who it was.

My feet moved towards the being in the trees, driven by an insatiable curiosity and not towards the safety of Sacha’s arms.

“Stop.” Sacha’s voice cut through the sound of the storm, and I turned to face him. He stretched out his hand, halting my advance, and then stalked towards me.

“Who is that?” My heart raced and sputtered as I turned back to the figure in the woods.

What the…

He shook his head. “I didn’t see anyone.”

“But someone was there.” I pointed towards the tree where the figure had stood moments ago.

Sacha’s grip tightened on my shoulders. “There’s no one there,milaya.” He ushered me towards the safety of the mansion, where the sound of rain couldn’t penetrate the thick walls.

I spun around on him, my fists to his bare chest, not in anger but to steady the dread flooding my veins. “What is going on? Who was that? Why would someone do something so vile?”

He shook his head, his grip around my wrists as he walked me backward through the hall. Our bodies dripped water onto the marbled floor, his shoes squelching from the puddles inside of them.

“I didn’t see anyone.”

“It was there. I saw them in the woods.”

“Calm down.” He released my wrist and cupped my cheek, his fingers wrapping around my skull, his thumb wiping the mud below my eye. “Your hysterics will send yourself into a fit.”

Had I grown hysterical? Was that my triggering emotion that sent my mind reeling into the past on a journey it chose to forget, only to reveal it whenever it so desired? How was he not freaked about someone watching us?

“I am calm. Calmer than when you chased me into the forest and fucked—”

He drove me backward, my words choking as his warm wet palm covered my mouth. My back struck the wall, shaking another dark painting of a man with a red shawl over his shoulders, riding a horse with ghastly beings chasing close behind.

“You will watch what you say. My walls have ears, and those who hear, speak.” His hand slipped off my mouth, his spiced scent leaving my nostrils. “Do you understand me?”

I clamped my lips shut and nodded.

His words hung heavy in the air, and I couldn’t help the tension in my belly. He’d never been paranoid about what I said in this house. So why now? What’s changed?

“Go upstairs and dry off. Meet me here foruzhin.Speak to no one.”

Speak to no one?

Was I just his dirty little secret now?

I nodded, swallowing the rest of my questions as my feet moved about the slick floor with carefully placed steps, his gaze warming my chilled skin.

Mom is going to kill you. You know that, don’t you?

My ears rang as my sister’steensy, high-pitched voice startled me. I grabbed the door handle to my bedroom and shoved through.

“Not if you don’t tell her, you little shit.”

I gasped and stood frozen, hearing the words spilling from my mouth as if a record player spun inside my throat.

Lex sat on my bed that night, her tell-tale voice causing me to nearly fall out of the second-story window I’d sneaked into. The memory of her keeping a look out for me settled into the missing space in my brain as though it’d never disappeared, as though I’d known it all along and chose to overlook its significance.

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