Black the Tides by K.A. Wiggins

Author:K.A. Wiggins
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: sea monsters, haunting, ecopunk, paranormal, dystopian romance
Publisher: Snowmelt & Stumps
Published: 2020-08-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19: Ghosts

I drop my stick. “The Mara are ghosts?”

“Not exactly,” Cadence sounds bored. “But neither is Ravel if you ask me. Which you should have.”

“You heard him too? Back by the stream?”

“I heard the same thing you did. You just never asked. Which, again, could have made things a whole lot simpler. But now you need to get back to Gran.”

Then, apparently in revenge, she refuses to answer any more of my questions. So I take the long way back, watching people dash around in controlled alarm. Little kids dart in circles waving toy weapons like miniatures of the sticks and branches Steph’s been using to train me, which is depressing. Eager-looking teens in dark combat gear and securely holstered weaponry quick-march in packs, and more than a few of their elders seem to be marshalling, too. The rumours spread: under attack, enemy lurking in the woods, protect the borders, send out scouts, a squad, no, a whole division.

The whispers dry up when they catch sight of me. Tight smiles, wary eyes, or worried, or pitying. One lady even tells me to go on home like I’m one of the little kids getting shooed inside away from the threat.

Soon enough, the streets clear and the clusters of movement wheel away, and there’s nothing much to do besides lurk by the main gates and watch for signs of a ghostly attack, or head back to Susan’s place and wait for news.

So, of course, I head to the gates.

Which turns out to be a boring move. A solid row of dreamwalkers bars my way. They won’t let me up on the wall, where I could get a better view. They won’t tell me anything. They won’t even talk to Cadence when she tries to get answers.

I circle around and try one of the side gates, but guards are everywhere now. They keep warning me off. Every door is buried behind bristling strangers.

I keep thinking I’ll run into Steph and the other trainees that I challenged last week, but after covering maybe a third of the wall from the inside, I still haven’t seen them. They’re either stationed at a different gate, or they’ve been sent out to deal with the threat.

Curiosity gives way to thirst and a growing desire to get off my feet, so I drag myself home. Back to Susan’s, I mean—twisting around to check behind me every few steps and make sure I’m not missing anything important.

When I get there, the house is empty. I slam through the motions of getting a drink, shedding dirt in my wake, too afraid to miss any new developments by wasting time with anything so mundane as washing up.

But somewhere between downing that cup of water and craning my neck to watch the door and the window in turn, I must have put my head down. The next thing I know, I’m picking it up off the table.

Susan stands in the doorway. She looks from the dirty floor to me. “Really?”

I ignore

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