The Twisted Dead by Darcy Coates

Author:Darcy Coates [Coates, Darcy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Owl Books

CHAPTER TWENTY

Dawn seemed to arrive abruptly. Keira rolled over and saw Zoe had become hopelessly tangled in the sheets, her short black hair stuck around her mouth and her eyes. She’d reached towards Keira during the night, trying to draw her into a deathlike grip, and Keira’d had to extract herself carefully.

The couch was empty, the spare blanket neatly folded and the pillow put to one side. She craned her neck and spotted Mason on the balcony. His forearms were braced on the rail and his hands laced ahead of himself as he stared down at the town ahead of them.

Keira pulled a cardigan on over her top and then stepped through the sliding door.

Mason’s smile was warm. “Good morning.”

“Hey.” She stopped at his side and rested her arms on the rail, like he had. The air was brisk and the faint scent of warm bread reached them from a bakery down the road. “Have you been up for long?”

His dark brown hair was still rumpled from sleep. “Only about ten minutes. I was tossing around whether to get us breakfast or whether to pick it up on the road. Ridgegrow University is only about forty minutes from here.”

“Do you feel ready?” Even though Zoe was still inside the hotel room, Keira lowered her voice so she wouldn’t disturb her. “Last night you said you were frightened that Evan might still be there.”

“Yes. But after what Zoe said, I reexamined that. And I realised that I would prefer knowing that he was there over not knowing anything at all. It’s the uncertainty that really hurts.”

Keira nodded and let her gaze return to the streets around them. People were starting on early-morning errands, moving about and occasionally throwing greetings to neighbours. “I didn’t realise things were so bad for Zoe,” she murmured.

“I know Zoe’s mother.” Mason sighed. “She’s a kind, sincere woman, and she loves Zoe dearly. But I can see that Zoe would want to talk about what’s happening. And her mother wouldn’t. It’s a difficult situation to be in.”

“I’ve been taking up so much of her time lately too,” Keira said. She picked at a loose scrap of skin around her fingernail, working it free. “Days spent at my place. The camping trip. Now this. And she has a job on top of everything else—”

“Zoe’s extraordinarily good at saying no when she doesn’t want to do something,” Mason said. “Like she said last night, she was the one who suggested this trip. She chooses to spend time with us. I think, in its own way, it helps her.”

A heavy thudding noise came from the hotel room behind them. Keira and Mason turned to see the bed’s blankets in disarray.

Without Keira to anchor her there, Zoe had rolled off the mattress. She sat up, squinting blearily, sheets tangled around her. Keira, grinning, opened the balcony’s sliding door. “Good morning. Let me make you some coffee.”

“Coffee. Yes.” Zoe, still squinting, began to tug at the sheets that threatened to strangle her. “As strong as it comes.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.