Page 50 of Splitting Secrets
“Is that supposed to make us trust you?” Beatrix voices all of our thoughts aloud. “Because it’s giving the opposite effect.”
Raze swings his gaze toward her and narrows his eyes, his brows tenting upward in a condescending look. “It’s not supposed to make you feel any type of way. Except, maybe relieved, since they can’t come after you anymore.”
“You are one crazy motherfucker,” Jonah mumbles, but the look on his face is full of trepidation.
Raze’s head draws back as he considers what Jonah said. He stands there quietly for a breath as we all gather together in the living room across from him.
“What are you here for?” Ava asks him, gesturing toward his empty hands. “You haven’t brought any food, so I assume you have something else to say.”
Her tone suggests she’s expecting the worst, but her face is carefully blank.
He nods once, as if her question has brought him back on track to explain his visit. “We’ve finally got a safe house secured for you.”
Beatrix crosses her arms over her chest. “We’re moving?”
“Would you rather stay here, cowering on the floor at every sound that goes bump in the night?” he asks her mockingly, and it’s the most normal thing he’s done since we escaped Ravenshurst. I’ve watched him speak to students in the same sarcastic tone for months.
“Where is this house?” I ask, refusing to get caught up in the nostalgia of it.
“You’ll know more soon.” He holds a finger up and twirls it around. “We can’t risk having the conversation here, in case an Aeternum comes through and sweeps the place.”
Beatrix scoffs. “So, you want us to follow you out of here blindly after you just told us you’ve killed two men?”
His answer is immediate. “Yes.”
“Are you going to give me a hard time about this?” His voice fills my head, and I hate the way it instantly calms me.
“I haven’t decided yet,” I mentally admit, careful not to reveal our new form of communication to the others. “Tell me where the safe house is.”
His shoulders slump slightly forward, and he tilts his head. “You really don’t trust me?”
I just stare back in response, my mouth a tight line. We’re not having this argument again.
“What is happening here?” Ava probes, glancing between the two of us.
Raze’s eyes shutter in defeat, and his reply is a sigh in my mind. “It’s on the edge of Nocturne Valley, where it will be easy to transport you out if need be.”
“Hello?” Ava demands, waving her hand in front of my face.
“Why not just take us out of the town now?” I ask, then finally break eye contact with him to offer a soft smile to Ava.
“Just ensuring he isn’t taking us for execution,” I explain, scrunching my nose.
Raze sneers. “Because we may need you.”
“How are you doing that?” Beatrix questions.
After seeing how Ava reacted to my being able to control the lights, I’ve been terrified to admit I can also read thoughts and speak to spirits. Which is why I’ve kept my visits with Finley under wraps. I suppose I don’t know for certain if talking to Raze like this is his power or mine, but it feels intimate either way.
“By channeling thoughts,” Raze simply tells her, then begins handing off the large piece of fabric he’s been holding. “Put these on so we can get going now that Miss Ellery has exposed herself to our Aeternum spy.”
Ava’s eyes ping to mine, and I know I’m in trouble from the hard look on her face.
Jonah holds up the black fabric with a scowl. “Are these...cloaks?”
“Why do you have so many of them?” Beatrix wonders under her breath.
Raze doesn’t answer. Instead, he hands off the last two cloaks to me and Ava, then turns back toward the door. “Let’s go. We’ve got people waiting on us.”
