Page 15 (1/2)

CHAPTER 27

Schuyler

She was used to being alone She had been alone for rand, anxious practice ofThere had been no one from home to watch the few school plays she was in, no one to cheer her on froames It had been sink or sith Cordelia: no risk of drowning from too much attention Schuyler¡㱠childhood looked lonely fros, no parents, and until Oliver came into her life, no friends

But here was a secret: Schuyler hadn¡㲠been lonely She¡㢠had her painting, her drawing, her art, and her books She liked being alone It was coed her; she had no idea how to make casual chitchat, or how to interpret and eether She was forever the Little Match Girl at the , shivering out in the cold But while people scared her, she had never been afraid of the dark

At least, not until now The darkness that surrounded her was absolute: so coht was useless She hid in a tunnel until the screa into blackness She should have stayed; what had she been thinking? Why had she left him there alone? She had left Oliver and now Jack But she had had no weapon; she had nothing Jack had wanted her to run, and so she had "Jack? Jack?" she called, her voice echoing down the length of the tunnel "Are you all right? Jack?"

There was no answer

The silence was evenIt was so quiet she could hear the sound of rain falling somewhere above the catacombs, could hear the drip-drop-drip of every trickle that fell through the cracks in the walls and hit the floor She hugged herself tightly, unsure of what to do Her shoulders ached, and it felt as if her muscles were frozen So this hat it was to be afraid of the dark To be afraid and alone in the dark Schuyler called Jack¡㱠name for what seen of the Silver Bloods either, but that didn¡㲠 Maybe they had withdrawn, only to return later She didn¡㲠want to think about what ht have happened to Jack Could they have taken hione No Schuyler shook her head even though she was only arguing with herself There was no way he could have fallen Not hiht that he was No She had seen his true form and it esonificent suns burning with flaht Terrible and wonderful andshe had ever seen No!

He will return for me

She believed it She looked around at the maze of tunnels She had no idea where she was, or where she had coet lost in here for centuries, Schuyler had told Jack

That’s the idea

What a? I’m such an idiot The intersection! It was the only natural place What had Charles said? The intersection The place where they cannot cross All the tunnels led there Where was it? She couldn’t see, so she felt along the wall There was an opening She felt another Two tunnels A fork in the road She would have to choose But which? She felt along the grain, trying to sense so If she could not see, maybe she could smell

It had s She had expected the underground cavern to s on the floor But when she and Jack had first disappeared into the catacombs, she had been surprised to breathe fresh air This one, she thought This one smells just a bit fresher, as if maybe it would lead to more fresh air, maybe to the stairs that led upward and out She made a decision She walked into the dark tunnel, with only her fingertips as her guide

It felt as if she had been walking in the dark for miles, but her nose had not failed her, the air had cleared, and fro in the darkness Jack It had to be Jack

Finally she reached the intersection

But the light was fro before they were attacked

And there was no one there

CHAPTER 28

Bliss

It was the last week of August, and Cotswold had finally sold after the price was reduced another hundred thousand, give or take A Russian oligarch bought the Ha in it, down to the last nautical cushion and including the car collection The new faht away, so there was a very short escrow period And ever since the day Bliss had overheard the conversation in Forsyth’s study, the Visitor had retreated for his longest absence yet Saturday, their first day back in New York, one Almost an entire week

It was a relief to be back in the city again She had gotten tired of the Hamptons, as everyone ultimately does And while she had her freedo on She had called the Force household, not sure of what she could say exactly, not that it mattered anyway since their maid told her that no one was around

Charles was gone, Trinity was in DC, and the tere away as well Then she called Schuyler’s cell, but her service had been disconnected She called the house on Riverside Drive, and Hattie told her Schuyler was away The housekeeper sounded too frightened to tell Bliss anything else The Hazard-Perrys were spending the summer in Maine, but when Bliss called that nu

She had raided Forsyth’s study before it had been packed up and had tried to call Ambrose Barlow She had decided that if Forsyth and the Visitor had uys But when she called the Barlow residence, the warden wasn’t there And she didn’t knohat kind of e to leave that wouldn’t find its way back to the Visitor She had toas well

Finally she decided she would mail an anonymous note Not an e-mail that could be traced back to her computer, but a note on some nice stationery so that the Barloould pay attention to it and not think it was junk mail Bobi Anne had kept a nice collection of card stock, and Bliss selected one

Dear Warden Barlow,

You don¡㲠knowBeware of Forsyth Llwellyn He is not who you think he is

A friend

God that sounded la herself away? It had as uarded lawn, but Bliss had no idea what else to do She couldn’t risk the Visitor being aware of her actions, and if anyone fro for her, Forsyth would knohat had happened

It was better than doing nothing

Maybe it would even help She hoped so