Page 259 of Quiet Ones

He growls and bears down, grabbing my lips with his.

And my chest caves, breathless.

God, I love him. Our quiet talks and our quiet house and our quiet nights.

But it won’t be a quiet wedding. I’ll be taking over the town that day.

Winslet stands on the balcony of the ski lodge, steam from her breath barely visible. She doesn’t breathe. Not really. Manas once called her a creature, not human. Maybe, after all this time, she understands what he meant.

The way she didn’t need air to live, but rather absorbed whatever was on his lips when he pressed them to her skin.

And the way he said her cunt was poison. Like a drug that made him think only of her when he couldn’t have her.

Lucas helps Quinn to her feet, slowly gliding down the mountain in short stints and waiting for her as she timidly follows.

If she leaves now, she can get into 01 Knock Hill while Lucas and Quinn are out and leave one last present for them.

But it’s best to leave it alone. Let Lucas concentrate on rebuilding Weston. She wants it to thrive before both towns burn.

And perhaps, there are other players to mobilize in the meantime.

She scans the slopes, spotting wild little Dylan flying over a ramp and beautiful Aro, still shaky with her new snowboard. They both went searching Camp Blackhawk last summer with Quinn and others, but they didn’t find what is certainly there. It’s not their fault. It’s hidden as well as the memories of when Manas and Deacon found her that summer, after the night rides, when the blood still soaked the ground.

That…was a glorious night.

She moves away from the railing but notices the white-haired girl in black ski pants. She wears a red-and-black-checkered flannel as she sails through the air, spinning, and then landing before skidding to a halt at the base next to some young men. She beams, removing her helmet to reveal a light blue Cubs cab on backward underneath, Farrow Kelly high-fives her.

Winslet toys with the stud in her earlobe and watches the young woman, the Shelburne Falls girl who joined a Weston family. Someone who knows what it’s like to not feel love from others and finally feel home somewhere and not want to lose it.

The best thing about thieves is that people think that’s all there is to know about them. But their most valuable quality is desperation.

What isn’t Thomasin Dietrich capable of?

What would it take to find out?

THE END