Page 44 of Obscurity
“Stop.” She giggled. “You’re just saying that for the camera.”
“I’m saying it because it’s true.” He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.
Olive had to fight not to close her eyes at the tenderness of the gesture. She longed for moments like these—but not fake ones.
Real ones.
“This is perfect!” Maya gushed from behind her phone. “You guys are like, couple goals for real. Tell my followers how excited you are to be at Grayfall!”
The woman seemed to have forgotten about how upset she’d been earlier. The alcohol was working wonders with her attitude.
Jason’s arm tightened around Olive’s shoulders.
“We’re looking forward to seeing how this plays out.” His voice sounded bright and convincing. “The setting is incredible, the music has been . . . unique, and getting to experience it all with my wife makes it even better.”
“And we can’t forget how beautiful the mountains are.” Olive surprised herself by how steady her voice sounded. “And the festival has been full of surprises.”
That was certainly true, though not in the way Maya’s followers would expect.
“Aw, you’re making me cry.” Maya lowered her phone. “That’s exactly the kind of content I needed. You guys are the best. I can’t post any of this yet—I don’t have a signal. But I’m going to have enough content for a month!”
She stumbled slightly as she turned away, and Olive wondered how much alcohol the festival organizers had distributed. If Maya was this intoxicated after such a short period of time, what would the crowd be like by the end of the evening?
“Thanks for letting me film,” Maya called over her shoulder as she wandered toward another group of festivalgoers, presumably looking for more content.
Olive and Jason remained in their embrace for a moment longer, both of them reluctant to break the contact.
Finally, Jason’s arms loosened, and Olive stepped back, immediately missing his warmth.
“That was interesting.” She tried to sound casual.
“Getting everyone drunk is a classic crowd control technique.” Jason’s gaze darkened with disapproval. “Harder to organize, harder to think clearly, harder to make coordinated decisions about leaving.”
“Exactly what I was thinking.” Olive glanced at the festivalgoers who were already getting sloshed. “Whateverthey’re planning, they want to make us as compliant as possible.”
“The question is what happens next?”
Olive thought about Connor’s abrupt departure with Brad, about Maya’s stolen hard drive, and about the watchers positioned around the crowd.
And this weekend had only just begun.
CHAPTER 27
By midnight, the festival grounds had quieted some.
The Mountain Boys had mercifully ended their torture session hours ago. Their bonfire hadn’t been well attended—but that wasn’t a surprise. Olive did wonder where the band was staying. She assumed it wasn’t in these tents. Since they were locals, maybe they’d gone home for the night.
The watchers in the woods appeared to have disappeared . . . somewhere.
The free alcohol had done its job. Most of the attendees had either passed out in their tents or were too intoxicated to cause further trouble.
Olive and Jason had stayed outside observing and mingling.
But they hadn’t seen anything that would help them find Chloe.
Not yet.
So they’d turned in for the night, vowing that tomorrow would be the day they found answers.
