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He narrows his gaze and flattens his lips, which I've come to realize means he's worried. Grumpiness is a cover.
"Please," I say. "Find something for our guest to eat."
Dax lowers his arms and sighs, then walks out the door.
"Is he a monster?" Willow asks.
"No. Dax is a good man, but he can be grumpy when he's worried. Don't let it get to you." I lay my hand over hers. "First, I want you to know you will be safe here. Dax and I will not hurt you. Do you believe me?"
She chews on her lip and nods.
"How old are you, Willow?"
"Fifteen."
Christ, she's so young. I don't want to grill her, but I do need to know more about the girl. Though I hate thinking that way, I can't help worrying Sefton has used this girl to get to me. Not sure how or why he would do that, but I can't shake the worry.
"Where are your parents?" I ask.
She bows her head, wringing her hands more vigorously. "They died in the first wave. Mom and Dad hid me in a sewer drain, but they had to go out to look for food. Monsters got them."
"I'm so sorry, Willow. I lost my parents too, but it was a long time ago. You were very brave to get past those creatures in the woods."
She shrugs. "Heard there was a place in the countryside that hadn't been destroyed. So I came here. Nobody else could get into the woods, but I did."
"Do you know how you did that?"
Willow shakes her head. "The other people I was with kind of bounced off the air or something. They couldn't get in."
"I'm sorry your friends didn't get in too."
She throws me a sidelong look. "I'm not. They weren't my friends, and they weren't nice like you."
Dax returns with food for our guest, and I don't ask any more questions—for now. Willow scarfs down the food and water Dax got for her, then she starts yawning. Though it's late afternoon, we take Willow upstairs and let her choose which bedroom she wants. She picks the one next to mine. I sit on the bed until she falls asleep, then leave the room and shut the door as quietly as possible.
How did this girl get through Sefton's safeguards?
If someone else has the power to breach the wards around Fallenmouth… Maybe Dax and I aren't the only ones connected to the Echo.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Dax
Allison doesn't want to go far from our houseguest, so she stays in her bedroom with the door open in case the girl needs to call out for help. I go into the cellar and try yet again to break into the boxes. No luck, of course. I wonder if the young girl who broke through the wards can help us. I don't want to upset Willow, though. She seems frightened of me, and those creatures outside don't help matters.
Willow trusts Allison. They seem to have forged an instant, if fragile, bond.
Unfortunately, I can imagine what Willow might've gone through since the alchemy of worlds began. I'd rather not envision it, but my mind has other ideas. Maybe she didn't experience the full terror of the Echo, like I did, but the strangers she took up with could have abused her.
After giving up on Sefton's boxes, I go outside to patrol the grounds and make sure none of those creatures managed to pierce the wards the way Willow had done. I see no evidence they have. Just before I left Allison upstairs, she suggested the girl might have a connection to the Echo that allows her to circumvent the magics that bar anyone from getting onto the estate. Is that possible? Given the cataclysmic power my brother has amassed, I can't rule out anything.
I return to the house just as Willow and Allison are coming down the staircase. We all need to eat, and I insist on cooking for the girls. Allison offers to help. We wind up collaborating on a meal while Willow sits on a stool at the island watching us. We bicker over which dishes to make, but it's not a real argument. I think we're teasing each other. It seems odd to do that when the rest of the world is in chaos, but I've decided Allison was right. We both need to relax once in a while and allow ourselves to "lighten up." I'd forgotten how to do that after five years in purgatory.
Our mutual teasing encourages Willow to sit up straighter and almost smile.
When I drop a fish finger on the floor, Allison plucks it up and holds it to my mouth. "Five second rule. You dropped it, you eat it."
"No thank you."
