Darkness Loves Company: A Tides of Darkness Prequel by Sarah Blair

Author:Sarah Blair [Blair, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-10-07T04:00:00+00:00

Seventeen

Mitch’s blood turned to sludge in his veins and his heart ground to a halt when he took stock of the vision before him. Sidney had climbed the stairs, walking on her own, so at least he knew the enormous stain on the front of her dress wasn’t caused by her own injury. Her hair sagged along with her shoulders, and she looked all too much like a wilted rose.

After everything that happened that day, the last thing he needed was to see her like this. Not again. The first time had been enough to haunt him for a decade, and now the darkness had returned for her. It made him sick to realize he always knew this was going to happen.

And he hadn’t been there to stop it.

He gripped the tread of the stair he was sitting on and fought to catch his breath, to stay calm. What monster did this to her? He wanted to rip it to pieces with his bare hands.

“What the hell happened to you?” he asked.

He watched her work through an answer in her mind. She sagged even heavier against the railing, and then glanced down at her dress. Her face paled another shade, along with her lips, and he stood, ready to catch her.

But she didn’t fall. She lifted her chin, eyes desperate.

“Any idea how to get koala blood out of chiffon?” she asked.

He tried to process her words, but they didn’t register.

“You—koala blood?” he repeated.

“My stylist is going to strangle me.” She moved past him to the landing and fumbled in her clutch for her keys. “At least they’ll probably do it with something fabulous like a vintage Hérmes scarf.”

Then she turned around, waiting for him to catch up.

“Hang on. You’re worried about the dress?” He met her on the landing.

Lines of confusion marred her perfectly smooth forehead. “It’s a bespoke Sophie James.”

“Who gives a shit?” Strands of hair hung in her eyes, stiff with dried blood. His stomach turned. He reached up and tucked them behind her ear, and examined her for injury. Gauze covered her arm, but other than that she seemed unharmed, at least physically.

“I’m so screwed.” Her chin trembled and she made him think of a porcelain vase that had been broken and put back together without any glue, ready to shatter at the slightest touch.

She tried opening the door again, but her keys slipped to the floor. The clatter against the wood made her jerk. She stared down at her feet, and leaned into the wall. “Fuck.”

Mitch retrieved the keys. “Which one?”

He waited, giving her a chance to work it out. It was easy enough to recognize the signs of shock.

“It’s okay,” he assured her. “We’ll find it.”

There were only four options. One was a match to his own office key. He tried the second in the door, then the next. Of course it was the last one, but he managed to get the two deadbolts and the door open. He reached inside, feeling for the light and flicked it on.

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