Page 22 of Thrall
Lucy shot Natalie a look and did something with her lips, genuinely unsure if the end result was a smile or a grimace. And as she went on ahead, Natalie slid behind the tree and fully out of sight.
TheNO ENTRYtape snapped in the breeze, a crooked finger. “Okay,” Lucy breathed, more to herself than anything. “Here goes nothing.”
The walkway was cool. A little wet—Lucy could feel groundwater seeping through her shoes. The sun’s curtain had slipped a little lower, but not low enough to worry just yet. Sunset was in about an hour. Plenty of time to talk.
If anyone was coming at all. It was 6:02 now, according to Lucy’s watch. Not exactly late enough to worry. But if Lucy was worrying a little extra right now, she didn’t think anyone could hold that against her.
There was a little shuffle then, behind the Protestant chapel. Almost imperceptible: the sound of shifting weight in the dirt. But the relief of the sound didn’t last long. Whoever was there, they didn’t keep walking. They stayed right where they were.
And Lucy, fully against her will, could hear the twitching animal of their heart.
All at once, she’d had enough of it. If this really was Pallas, Natalie was right: This was cloak-and-dagger bullshit. And if it wasn’t Pallas—either way, Lucy was tired of waiting.
“Who’s there?” she called.
In the beat that followed, Lucy heard someone draw in a slow breath. “Not yet.” The voice was pleasant. Smooth, and low. But Lucy caught a dissonance in it. A strain. “We’ll do introductions when Pallas arrives.”
So it wasn’t Pallas, but it was someone who was expecting her. It should have been a relief. But now that the anger had set in, it was putting down roots. “I understand that you don’t trust me,” she said. “But you can come out. We can at least talk normally while we’re waiting.”
“We can talk right here,” the voice said. “You should be able to hear me very well, right?”
It was the casual understanding of it that sent Lucy’s blood surging into her ears. The easy acknowledgment of what was happening to her, when Lucy barely knew the half of it herself. It didn’t matter that Pallas had promised to tell her when she arrived. Right then, it only mattered that they’d kept it from her for this long.
“I’m on edge,” Lucy snapped. “You’re not helping.”
“If you’re on edge,” they said, “seeing me won’t help.”
Lucy had no idea what that was supposed to mean. She wasn’t in the mood to try to parse it, either. “I’m going to see you eventually,” she said. “Might as well get it over with now, right?”
“Hmm,” the voice said. Noncommittal. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Lucy said. “I’m sure. Come out, please.”
She heard a low breath, and then the rustle of the hedges behind the chapel. And slowly, Mila Rostova stepped fully into the light, grimaced, and shrugged.
Without that bottle-green cardigan, there was no veneer of softness. The casual tension of her posture that Lucy had noticed when they met—it didn’t look all that casual anymore. And low at her side, like an extension of her arms, she held an entire fucking bow and arrow.
She raised it a little, but kept it pointed at nothing. The arrow was only gently nocked, barely held in position. She wasn’t poised to fire. But in a matter of seconds, she could be.
“Mila?” Lucy said.
The quiver of arrows at her hip jolted, just once, with the motion. “I tried to warn you.”
TRANSCRIPT OF ROLLINS UNIVERSITY STUDENT RADIO STATION WVBS (“PALLAS RADIO”)
Broadcast number: 445
CALLER #5: It’s weird, right? But I don’t know. I could be wrong. You know how some people have face blindness? I feel like I have that, but only for white men.
PALLAS (HOST): Then I suppose my question is this. Do you think youarewrong?
CALLER #5: I…Hah. No. I’m not. He was talking to my friend for a really long time. And then the next time I saw him, he was in the kitchen with the girl who passed out. When he was with my friend, he was behind me. He would have had to push me aside to get past. Do you think it was him?
PALLAS: That’s what we’ll need to find out. But thank you. This was more helpful than you know.
CALLER #5: I feel so stupid. I actually took down that girl’s phone number, but somehow I didn’t save it. I don’t even remember what her name was.
PALLAS: You just focus on staying safe. We’ll find her. [beat] Hey, before you go: How’s that thesis coming along?
