Page 27 of Black Curtain

Even while he was in the hospital with me, he would have arranged that.

I knew Black.

He absolutely would have.

“Miri.” He sounded at a loss. “Do we need to talk about this tonight? We just––”

“I know.” I looked up at him. “How many, Black?”

He looked over the crowd, frowning faintly, then back at me.

“We don’t havefinal-final numbers yet––”

“I know. But you have some idea.”

He exhaled, looking exasperated, even as they started wheeling out carts from inside the resort’s main buildings. Those carts were covered in round and square plates. Each plate was ceramic, and glazed by one of the colors of the sunset.

Each one carried its own colorful, fondant-frosting cake creation.

Dalejem’s cakes were here.

The cakes, like the plates, were all different: in shape, in size, in color, in the artwork decorating the porcelain-like frosting.

“Maybe five thousand,” Black said. “Maybe a bit more. Maybe less.”

I felt a slight jab in my heart.

Five thousand.

There had been close totwo millionseers here after the dimensional gates first opened.

That was… incredible, really.

I’d honestly had no idea so many followed Charles, and followed his religion.

I’d honestly thought maybe we would keep half the seers.

Maybe a third.

I hadn’t even been close.

“I don’t think theyonlytook Charles’ people,” Black clarified, obviously hearing my thoughts. “I haven’t had much time to talk to the others, but both Yarli and Jem agree with me. We theorize that those beings, Tortoise and Dragon, had their own agenda, and that it likely has to do with colonizing another dimension or world. They probably didn’t want their new colony to consistonlyof members of your uncle’s cult. They seem to have taken everyone who didn’t have a close energetic affinity to you and me… or anyone in our group.”

I watched as the seers on the pool deck below began approaching the trays, pulling plates off, reading whatever was written on the cakes, then handing them off to other people, mostly other seers, but also humans among the crowd.

I didn’t see Nick anywhere, but I knew he was there, somewhere.

I wondered how he’d feel about the seers dosing his eighty-year-old parents.

“Honey.” Black wrapped a muscular arm around me, pulling me snug up against him. “What’s wrong? I thought you were okay with this. I thought you said that this was better. For both of us. For everyone. You felt happy before. You feltveryhappy. I don’t think I’ve ever felt you so happy. It made me cry, you felt so happy.”

I looked up at him.

Seeing the worry in his eyes, I caressed his cheek and jaw, leaning up to kiss him.

“Iamhappy, Black,” I assured him. “More happy than I’ve ever been. Ever. For any reason. I can’t even believe how happy I am.”

I saw some of the tension leave his eyes.

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