Outside, the front gate groaned open. I peeked into the courtyard. The men came in, muddy, exhausted, not even noticing the blazing lanterns. For a moment I felt a bit exposed in only a nightdress, with the storm raging and men returning, but I had bigger concerns. I glanced back to make sure Alice hadn’t woken, and slipped outside the door.
Balthazar brought in Duke with the wagon, the back gate hanging open. One cadaver, swathed in muddy white. Which meant they hadn’t found Jaguar, only another victim. Montgomery and Father struggled to unload the body, but Edward saw me. His gaze was as unreadable as the night stars.
He crossed the courtyard, shielding his eyes from the bright light coming from my doorway. A streak of mud ran down the side of his face, alongside the scar.
“Why are you awake?” he asked. “Why are the lanterns lit?”
I clutched the claw to give me strength. “Something happened while you were gone.”
He could tell by the falter in my voice that it was serious. He pulled me into the room, where we had some privacy. He glanced fleetingly at Alice asleep on the bed.
“Your face is white.”
I fingered the claw’s broken ridge. Remembering the sounds at the window, the tiles sliding off the roof. The certainty that I wasn’t alone in the barn. “Something tried to attack us. At the window …” Something broke inside me, and words didn’t come out. Fear did, instead, in a rush. I squeezed the claw.
“Shh, you’re safe now.” Edward pulled me to him, barely glancing at the claw. I supposed he’d seen enough of the carnage it had wrought. He ran a hand over my hair like he’d done behind the waterfall when I’d pretended to be asleep. It was a soothing gesture that had the opposite effect. Being so close to him agitated me, as if the dream might become real and I’d find myself with him instead of Montgomery. It wasn’t as though the thought had never crossed my mind. Father wanted us matched. Edward clearly felt affection for me. Yet I couldn’t be with Edward. He was running from something. He had secrets that he hid so well, I sometimes forgot they were there. I wasn’t sure he’d let me peel back the layers, even if I wanted to.
“I shouldn’t have left you alone,” he said. “I knew it was dangerous. I thought it might be safer for me to be out there”—his fingers tangled the ends of my hair—“hunting whatever demons your father created.”
His whispering lips grazed my ear. It was like an unexpected bolt of electricity. I pulled back, but he didn’t let go, lips parted to tell me something. His arms around me no longer felt safe at all. They felt dangerous, as if he might try to kiss me at any moment. I pressed my thumb against the claw’s point, the bite of pain keeping me grounded. I knew he cared about me. But so did Montgomery. Oh, Montgomery … Being around Edward only confused me.
“We’ll leave this island before it comes back,” he said, his voice low so as to not wake Alice.
“The monster, you mean.”
His hands dropped to my waist. Temptation whispered in my ear, ruffling the lace on my collar, drawing me closer. “Whatever you want to call it.”
The door creaked. Montgomery stood on the doorway, frozen for a beat. I pulled away from Edward, face on fire. Edward toyed with the loose button on his shirt as if nothing had happened.
But something had happened, and I wasn’t sure how to interpret it.
“I was looking for Alice,” Montgomery said, his eyes shifting between me and Edward almost imperceptibly.
I brushed a strand of hair behind my ear and nodded toward the bed. “She’s here.”
He came in, relieved. “She wasn’t in her room. I was worried.…”
He checks on her first, I thought. Not me. But I shook the jealous thoughts out of my head. I was drawing inaccurate conclusions. When he’d come in and seen me with Edward, he might have come to a similar conclusion. But he’d have been wrong. Surely.
“Something got into the compound. One of the beasts, or else …”
“Or else what?” Montgomery asked.
“I don’t know. What else might be on the island?” I asked, my eyes flashing, and set the claw on the dressing table.
Alice muttered something in her sleep and turned over. Montgomery’s hand hesitated an inch above the claw.
“We can’t stay here,” Edward said, voice rising. He picked up the claw and thrust it into the obscurity of his pocket. “We need to get off this island.”
“Sh!” I hissed. Alice jerked awake, disoriented, crying out.
My first thought was to tell her it had been a bad dream. But Montgomery was already by her side, smoothing a hand over her beautiful fair hair. “We’re back,” he said. “You’re safe.”
Because I kept her safe, I thought. Father obviously wasn’t taking care of the island residents, so someone had to.
But she kept shrieking, breathing so quickly I thought she might faint. At last Montgomery scooped her in his arms and carried her out. He passed someone in the courtyard, coming quickly, carrying a lantern.
Father burst into the room. “What’s happened? The barn door is off its hinges and there are a dozen broken tiles.”
I stood up. “One of your monsters came in over the roof.” Venom laced my words.