Page 39 of What Lies in the Woods

“It took years for her to recover. Years. And God knows I love that little girl, but if it hadn’t been for you—”

“If I hadn’t almost been killed, you mean?” I asked.

“Let’s not pretend you were some innocent little girl. The things you all got up to in those woods were ungodly. They were perverse,” she said. “You invited darkness into your life and you brought Cassidy and Olivia into it, too. And now Olivia has paid the price.”

I could have told her that the Goddess Game—thatmostof the games—were Cass’s idea, but I knew better. Cassidy Green could do no wrong in the eyes of her parents, and if she did it was someone else’s fault.

“Mom? Who’s there?” Cass called. She appeared in the hall behind her mother, looking glassy-eyed and disheveled. Her foot was wrapped, and she was limping heavily. She spotted me. For a moment, the world hung on a point of perfect stillness—and then Cassidy gave a gulping cry and rushed forward at a stumbling run, past her mother, and flung her arms around me.

She buried her head against my shoulder and sobbed, and I held her, eyes shut, holding back my own tears.

“I can’t believe she’s gone,” Cass said through racking sobs.

“I know,” I whispered. It didn’t feel real. Part of me still hoped it wasn’t.

“Come inside, both of you,” Meredith said, her desire to keep me out slightly less powerful than her desire not to have us make a scene where the whole neighborhood could see us.

Cass grabbed my hand and pulled me through the foyer to the stairs, shuffling along on her bad foot. I cast one last look behind me at Meredith’s sour face.

Cass had to take the stairs one at a time, leaning heavily on the rail, and her lips were pale by the time she reached the top. She paused for breath for only a second before waving me forward into the master bedroom and shutting the door behind me.

She stood with her back to me a moment, collecting herself, and when she turned around she was shaky but calm, forcing her words out past tears she was barely holding back. “I’m sorry about Mom,” she said. “You know how she can be. She thinks she can micromanage this into being okay.”

“She always did have control issues,” I said. And Cass wasn’t the one who had to apologize.

Cass’s room was delicate and feminine, but not in an obvious way—done in soft blues and greens, with gentle lighting and an ornate full-length mirror. There were two pairs of slippers by the bed, and nail polish on the bedside table. I could imagine Amanda and her mother having a girls’ night in, dishing secrets.

Not real secrets. Just the fun kind.

I sat down on the end of the bed. Silence settled between us, suffocating. “I’m sorry I didn’t call,” I said. “I promised to call.”

“Don’t worry about that right now,” Cass said. “You must have been in shock.”

“Is your ankle…”

“Just a sprain. It’s doesn’t even hurt that much now. I shouldn’t have…” She looked away and rubbed tears from her cheek with theheel of her hand. “I should have gone with you. You shouldn’t have had to find her alone.”

“I wasn’t alone,” I said dully.

“Who…?”

“Ethan Schreiber was there,” I said.

“What? Why?” she asked, alarmed. “Did he have something to do with…?”

“No, he didn’t,” I said quickly. “He was looking for me, that was all.”

“Fuck.” Cass sank down, her back against the door, and tucked her arms tight against herself.

“Cass,” I said. “We need to decide what to do.”

She looked at my blankly. “There’s nothing to do. She’s dead. We can’t help her anymore.”

“What to do about Persephone,” I said.

Cass’s mouth opened slightly, as if she was searching for words she couldn’t find. “Naomi, we can’t do anything. Not right now, at least. We have to shut up and let this blow over.”

“Blow over?” I echoed, incredulous.

---