Page 60 of The Luminaries
Mom winces, a knot clearly in her throat at the sight of her daughter’s misery. “I believe you, you know,” she says as Winnie shambles away. “But the town is focused on the werewolf right now. It’s the thing weknow.The thing we’ve experienced before. Soon the Council will turn to this… this Whisperer. One thing at a time, Winnebago.”
More like one death at a time.Winnie’s teeth grind, but she makes herself nod before climbing the stairs.
Her throat hurts.
CHAPTER31
By Tuesday morning, Winnie feels well enough to drag herself out of bed, shower, and go to school. The fever is gone and her throat has shrunk back down to its normal size. While the new stove goes in at the Revenant’s Daughter, Mom doesn’t have work, and she gives Winnie a ride—as well as a tight hug and kiss on the cheek, which Winnie isn’t particularly pleased by but that she lets Mom have.
Homeroom is a surprisingly calm affair. It would seem missing class on Monday has let the sheen of survival wear off. No one asks her about the trial; most people actually ignore her like they used to.
Darian gives Winnie a ride to the Sunday estate at noon—Mom’s orders (along with a reminder topleasepractice driving)—and Winnie is glad to see him, even if another question burns in her:Do you know about the birthday cards?After all, he had been rummaging in that box too. He must have noticed them in the pictures.
Winnie doesn’t ask, though, and after a hug from him as well (and a fierce “Congrats on the second trial. See you at clan dinner tomorrow”), Winnie makes her way into nightmare anatomy.
The twins are there. So is Erica. Winnie avoids the latter and aims for the former. “Excited for your birthday?” she asks, making Bretta’s and Emma’s dimples form.
“Extremely,” Bretta replies. “See you at the party tomorrow night?”
Winnie shoves at her glasses. She still lacks a birthday gift for the twins, and a “fancy outfit” definitely doesn’t exist in her wardrobe (though she wouldneverwear her Save the Whales hoodie, haha). But she also doesn’t want to disappoint Bretta and Emma. She really likes them, and she wants to give them something nice.
She’s wearing her leather jacket right now, and she’ll never forget that the twins gave it to her with open smiles and genuine goodwill. It’s just… a lot of pressure to find something comparably as thoughtful in her price range.
Winnie should have searched more deeply in the attic. Maybe there was a second locket.
As Winnie takes a seat at the back of the room, and as Professor Il-Hwa starts describing local manticore stingers (length of a forearm, width of a finger, survivable as long as no venom is pumped through), she feels eyes on her. And she knows, without turning her head, that it’s Erica watching her from her own corner.
Winnie doesn’t look her way.
As class progresses (this time about the organic changes to a revenant’s skin—something Winnie already knows plenty about), she stares out the window at the parking lot. Spring sun spikes down. She considers who she should approach next about the Whisperer. She’s never had much luck with the Council directly, but it might be the only option left.
As if summoned by her thoughts, two black SUVs glide into the estate parking lot like harpies in flight. One has a little flag with a golden key. It’s the head of the Council: Dryden Saturday.
A few other students notice his illustrious arrival and sit up at their desks. Professor Il-Hwa lectures on, oblivious. By the time she reaches the end of her current slide, no one is paying attention to her. They’re all focused on the parking lot and the entourage following Dryden Saturday toward the building.
One of them is Darian, his skin back to haggard paper and his pace frantic behind Dryden’s. Meanwhile Dryden, despite being shorter than Darian, feels orders of magnitude larger. As always, he looks like a slightly scattered professor on his way to a lecture.
A second Council member exits the second SUV, marked by a flagwith a scroll. It’s Theresa Monday, tall and impeccably dressed in a honey-brown suit that sets off her darker, cooler-toned brown skin. Walking behind her is Mario. He looks harried and grouchy, and he pulls a fresh stick of gum from his lab coat as he follows everyone else toward the front door.
The intercom clicks on. The whole classroom jolts. “Report to the auditorium, please,” Headmaster Gina trills. “We have an important announcement.”
The Whisperer,Winnie thinks.Please, let it be about the Whisperer.
She lags behind the rest of the class so she won’t have to sit near Erica, and by the time Winnie sidles into the blessedly empty last row of the auditorium, Dryden Saturday is at the mic on the center of the stage.
Her teeth are clicking up a storm. Her heart is thundering too.
“Thank you all for coming,” Dryden says. The speakers give a kick of static, then a kick of feedback. He glares at the first row, and Winnie has no doubt the recipient of said glare is Darian—as if the technical incompetence of the microphone is somehow his fault. “As many of you know, we’ve had several recent werewolf incidents. And though we’ve, thankfully, had no civilian encounters thus far—at least within the Luminaries—our hunters have had several run-ins.”
Winnie’s whole body deflates. She slumps over in her seat. No, no, no.
“Now, I want to begin by saying you are allquitesafe, and there’s no cause for alarm. There will be a public forum on the issue tonight, but we felt it important to go ahead and speak to students.
“I’ve invited Councilor Theresa Monday and the lead scientist studying this daywalker, Mario Monday, to update you all on the essential information you’ll need to stay safe. Then I’m going to share the steps that we, the Council, are taking to address it.”
Winnie leans forward to rest her head on her knees. She doesn’t know why she’d hoped they’d be here for the Whisperer. Ofcoursethis is about the werewolf. Ofcourseshe’s going to have to raise the issue entirely on her own.
She hears Theresa Monday’s heels strut across the stage. “Hello, students,” she says into the mic. “Like Councilor Saturday just mentioned, we’re here to discuss the werewolf. Our lead scientist will explain ourpreliminary findings, and then we’ll answer any question you all might have.”
