Page 101 of Thief of Night
“I will,” Posey promised.
When Charlie returned to the table, she didn’t sit. Instead she stood beside Red’s chair and put a hand on his shoulder. He smiled up at her in a way that made her stomach hurt.
“We should go,” he said to Archie, as though he couldn’t bear to be without her a moment longer.
“Plenty of time for us to catch up tomorrow,” Archie said, then turned his attention to Charlie. “And for me to get to know the girl who stole Remy’s heart.”
“I hope so.” Charlie glanced over at Malhar. “It was so interesting to talk with you.”
Malhar met her eyes, his expression an apology and a plea. Archie slapped Red on the back. Posey gave Charlie a small nod.
The night had grown colder and a thin sheet of ice had frozen overeverything. Salt crystals crunched under Charlie’s boots where the staff had scattered them.
“It looks so peaceful,” she said, shivering even under Red’s coat. She thought the sleepy Hatfield church must have looked the same before the massacre. As though nothing bad could ever happen there.
“Do you want to give up looking for the shadows and get your sister and Malhar out of here?” Red said.
Charlie gave him a long look, thinking of some of the things he’d said over the last few weeks. “Did you guess that she’d joined a Cabal?”
He looked at the frozen ground. “I figured she might be working for someone. And juicing her shadow.”
“You mean feeding it blood that’s not hers,” she offered incredulously, even though the context made it pretty clear.
“I don’t think she’s hurting anyone.” He paused for a moment, then shrugged. “Much.”
“She says she can find out where the shadows are being held on the property,” Charlie said. “Look, I know Mr. Punch is going to be furious when they go missing. But he’s going to be furious anyway. He has three gloamists here. They’re going to tell him he was impersonated.”
“We’ll have to be sure they don’t,” Red said, a threat in his voice.
“Mark has got to be mixed up in this somehow,” Charlie went on. “I told you how Mr. Punch tried to recruit me to steal shadows. He might have found a different thief.”
“He would have had to bring him on very recently,” Red reminded her. “You only just turned him down.”
“What else could Mark possibly be doing here?” she demanded.
Red frowned. “Gloamist?”
She shook her head. “Not when I knew him.” And definitely not enough money to be a guest.
“If we find him, I can persuade him to talk,” Red offered darkly.
She just bet he could. “In the meantime, we should check out where they’re putting Mr. Punch. It’s got to be close to where the Cabal security is staying.” Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she texted Posey:which is yr room?
Posey texted her back the name of the place:Woodgrove 3.
That would be one of the cottages on the property. Charlie held up her phone so he could see the message. He nodded and headed for their golf cart.
Red drove them down the dirt path, parking beside an iced-over lake. “I think it’s up that way.”
He climbed off the cart and crept toward the cottage. She followed. A signat the edge of the driveway marked it as Woodgrove 3. Woodgrove 1 was across the street and inside, the lights were on. “Wait here,” he said. As a shadow, he slipped easily through the trees.
Charlie shivered, his coat around her shoulders. She slid her arms into the sleeves.
He was back a few moments later, but didn’t bother to shift from shadow. Against the bright snow in the moonlight, she could see him gesturing to her to follow him.
“The men are inside Woodgrove 1, playing cards. So long as we don’t give them a reason to come across, they won’t.” The words were a whisper around her, almost as if they were carried by the wind.
Hoping that was true, she followed him across the road, to Woodgrove 3. It was larger than the cottage where they were staying, with a teak hot tub in the back. Red flowed under the back door and opened it for Charlie. A fire had been lit in the living space and in the bedroom, the blankets had been turned down. Fresh flowers sat on both bedside tables.
