She looks at her hands. “Oh. It’s not mine. I think Lexie fell.”
We both look at Lexie. She’s curled up in a fetal position, her hair splayed out around her head. One of her knees is coated in blood. It smears down her leg.
I know now why the Keres went after her. Master Crue taught us that the Keres are attracted to the smell of blood. It’s how they find their victims.
“We need to get her out of here.” I scoop the tiny girl up in my arms. She groans a little and blinks at me a couple of times, so I know she’s not really unconscious, but it’ll be faster if I carry her. “I need you to come with me,” I say to Daphne.
She hesitates. I can feel her reluctance to go anywhere with me. I guess I brought that upon myself with what I tried to do in the grove.
“It isn’t safe here. We need to get your friend home.”
“So you did see something?” she asks. I can hear both the hope and the fear in her voice.
I don’t answer.
I set a quick pace for us, hoping to get away from the grove before the Keres decides to return. It seems to be concentrating its hunting activities on this side of the lake, but that isn’t a guarantee that it wouldn’t stray in order to come after us. I can hear Daphne’s breath quicken as she tries to keep up with me. Getting away from the Keres’s hunting grounds isn’t my only motivation for moving quickly—if I keep Daphne out of breath long enough, she won’t be able to ask any more questions.
The short girl regained herself enough to tell me her address and then she nestled her head against my shoulder and seemed to go to sleep. I used my iPhone for directions.
We have just deposited a very dazed-looking Lexie into the arms of an equally confused-looking housekeeper at the girl’s home—the air is clear of any hints of sulfur, so I feel safe leaving her in the care of someone else—when Daphne turns to me with a concerned expression on her face.
I know what’s coming.…
“She isn’t my friend.”
Or maybe I don’t.…
“What?” I ask.
“Lexie isn’t my friend. I don’t hang out with people like her, you know.”
“Okay,” I say, not sure why she’s telling me this.
“She doesn’t like me at all. She made that pretty clear, and then she went off toward the grove. I should have tried harder to stop her, but I didn’t. Just like that Pear Perkins girl. But I wasn’t thinking then.…” I can hear the guilt dripping from Daphne’s voice, and know why she’s telling me all this. She blames herself. “And then I heard her scream.…”
“And you went to help her?” I look her in the eyes. “Even though she treated you with such disrespect?”
“Yes,” she says. Her cheeks twinge with pink.
I did not expect such bravery from a human. “That was stupid,” I say, and look away from her face.
“What?”
“You should have run away.”
“I’m not weak,” she says, standing at her full height, which is only a few inches shorter than mine. I can tell it irks her to have to look up to meet my eyes. “I could have—”
“Fought it?” I ask, unable to hide the amusement in my voice. This girl is unbelievable. “You think you could take on a wild animal or a monster?”
“So you do think something was out there?”
I look down at her. A soft breeze catches her golden hair, blowing a few stray strands about her face. I feel the sudden urge to reach out and catch one in my fingers. A strange heat tingles through my body at the thought. She startles—as if she can see it in my eyes. I train my face into the stony, emotionless look I have practiced since I was a child. “I think nothing of the sort.”
“You’re lying.”
My stony mask almost cracks.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you just happened along tonight when something weird was going on in the grove, and I don’t think it was a coincidence that I saw you there before that other girl was attacked.”
“She had a health scare. She wasn’t attacked.”
“You’re lying again.”
I purse my lips. What is she getting at? Does she think I tried to kill that girl? Does she think I was the assailant tonight? How on earth am I going to explain my way out of this? How can I ever get her to trust me?
“I think you followed me tonight because you knew something was wrong. And I think you tried to get me to leave the grove the other day because you knew it wasn’t safe. You were trying to protect me.”
I blink at her, not knowing how to answer. Is she really handing me the explanation I need?
“Maybe,” I lie.
“But how did you know?”
I flounder for an answer. “Maybe I … just did.” I stifle a wince, thinking I probably sound like a complete dolt.