Lark frowned, obviously unbothered by my snooping. I ought to have known she’d support it. “Do you think he doesn’t know?”
“I’m not sure. He asked what Kevin’s name was, though. And he didn’t say anything when I told him. That’s weird, right?”
“Yeah.” The curtain slipped closed once more. “It’s probably not a big deal, but it is strange. I guess the only way to find out is to ask him. You know, if he did know, that would explain why he gave up Woodstock so easily. The jerk picked on Noah’s family.”
I hadn’t thought of that, but she was right. What surprised me the most was that she actually sounded like she wanted to give Noah the benefit of the doubt. That was weird, too.
Maybe Noah hadn’t said anything to me at the time because Robert might have been listening. “I’ll go to Haven Crest later and talk to him.” As soon as I said the words, the toothbrush holder on the vanity fell over, and Lark’s makeup caddy began to shake, tossing brushes and cosmetics onto the marble counter.
“What the hell...?” Lark muttered. Then she screamed.
I yanked open the curtain without touching it. My sister had her back pressed to the tiles, and held up her hands to deflect the spray from the shower.
It was blood.
Blood poured from the showerhead, ran over her bare feet and down the drain. It covered Lark from head to toe. It was in her hair and eyes, coating her in a clotted glaze.
“Stop it,” I said, focusing on that spray as my energy heated. My hair lifted, and I felt that surge of power that came when I got angry. “Stop it. Now.”
And just like a flick of a switch, the shaking stopped. Water poured from the showerhead, washing away the blood. Lark jumped under the spray, scrubbing furiously at herself to get clean.
“What the hell was that?” she demanded when she finally stepped out—scrubbed pink and free of blood.
I knew she didn’t really expect me to have any answers. “I don’t know.” Then I felt it—like a shiver down my spine—the presence of something, or someone, else. It wasn’t close, but it was strong. Powerful. Everything around me blurred for the duration of a blink, and when it cleared I couldn’t believe my eyes.
“Lark?”
My sister looked up from tying the belt of her robe. When she saw what I’d already seen, her jaw dropped. “Oh, my God.”
Blood ran down the walls of the bathroom, trickling from the letters that a dead hand had painstakingly printed all around us, some of them several times.
DANGER
HE’S HERE FOR YOU
SALT
IRON
DEATH
AS ONE
BURN
Our gazes followed the words, the letters losing shape as the blood dripped. At the same time we turned toward the mirror. Lark made a small noise. I didn’t, but I was just as surprised.
There, on the other side of the glass, was Emily. Her palms pressed against the mirror. Her long white hair hung wildly around her pale face, and her eyes...
Her eyes were hollowed-out black holes. Not gory. Not bloody. Just black. Bottomless.
Lark moved toward the mirror. I reached out for her, but she stepped just out of my reach. She raised her own hands to the mirror, so that they settled over Emily’s.
“What do you want?” she asked.
Emily opened her mouth to speak, but then she glanced over her shoulder. I couldn’t see what she saw, but whatever it was scared her. For a second, her fingers breached the glass, grasping at this world—at Lark.
I rushed forward as my sister reared back, tugging on Emily’s hands. I grabbed her right arm so Lark could switch both hands to her left, and we pulled. First came her forearms, then her head and shoulders, then her torso...
Emily jerked back, taking us with her. “Pull harder!” she cried. “He’s got me!”
I glanced at Lark. She turned her head to look at me. I knew our expressions were the same. Without saying a word, we both dug in our heels—for me that was fairly literal, as I could actually set my heels into the floor—and pulled with all our combined strength.
Whatever—or whoever—had a hold of her on the other side was incredibly strong. Even though we pulled with all our might, my fingers slipped against Emily’s energy. She was being pulled back into the mirror, and there was nothing Lark or I could do to stop it—though we tried.
“You need to face It together!” Emily cried as she was ripped from our grasp, the black caverns of her eyes staring sightlessly at both of us. “Together!” Her head phased through the glass so fast it was a blur. Then her arms.
And then she was gone.
Lark took a step toward the mirror. It cracked, spider webbing out from the center with a violent crack!
“Duck!” I shouted, flinging myself at her, forcing myself to manifest as I pushed her to the floor. The mirror exploded into tiny daggers that burst from the frame like shrapnel from a bomb. If Lark had still been standing, her face would have been destroyed.
*