Chapter 13: The Lake

I found Cassian at the end of the dock with the steward's empty chair beside him.

Two of his guards had gone to fetch the old man, and the rest of the court stood on the sand waiting.

He turned when he heard my boots on the boards.

"You shouldn't be walking," he said.

"I need you to come into the lake with me."

His eyes went to the black water, and then back to my face.

"Why?"

"Because I can't tell you," I said. "I can only show you."

He didn't ask what I meant.

He looked at me for a long moment, and I watched him decide something.

"Now?" he said.

"Now. Before the steward comes and before she thinks of something."

"Before who thinks of something?"

I didn't have to answer.

"Cassian!"

Odile came down the beach at a near run, with her gray skirt in both fists and her hair coming loose.

She had found her tears in the last few minutes, and they looked real.

"My lord, don't go with her," she said, loud enough for the whole shore. "Look where she's leading you. That is the gate."

The lords turned their heads.

"The Abyss cannot stand in that water," Odile said. "It strips us. Every child of the court knows that."

She pointed at me.

"She means to drown you in front of everyone, and she'll call it a mercy when you're gone."

A murmur went along the crescent.

Mom lifted the shotgun an inch from the sand, and the whole town of Tamarack Hollow turned to look at her.

Keep reading free with an account. Start Cursed by the Light for Loving the Dark from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.