Torment - Lauren Kate [126]
Then Andrew stopped chewing on the felt feathers around his neck and started yipping at the door. Luce’s dad stood up and reached for the dog’s leash. What a relief. “Somebody wants his after-dinner walk,” he announced.
Her mother stood up, too, and Luce followed her to the door and helped her into her pea coat. Luce handed her dad his scarf. “Thank you guys for being so cool tonight. We’ll do the dishes while you’re gone.”
Her mom smiled. “You make us proud, Luce. No matter what. Remember that.”
“I like that Miles,” Luce’s dad said, clipping Andrew’s leash to his collar.
“And Daniel is … just remarkable,” her mom said to her dad in a leading tone of voice.
Luce’s cheeks flushed and she glanced back at the table. She gave her parents a please-don’t-embarrass-me look. “Okay! Have a nice long walk!”
Luce held open the door and watched them walk out into the night with the eager dog practically choking on his leash. The cold air through the open door was refreshing. The house was hot, with so many people filling it up. Just before her parents disappeared down the street, Luce thought she saw a flash of something outside.
Something that looked like a wing.
“Did you see that?” she said, not sure who she was addressing.
“What?” her father called, turning back. He looked so full and happy that it almost broke Luce’s heart.
“Nothing.” Luce forced a smile as she closed the door. She could feel someone right behind her.
Daniel. The warmth that made her sway where she stood.
“What did you see?”
His voice was icy, not with anger but with fear. She looked up at him, reaching for his hands, but he had turned the other way.
“Cam,” he called. “Get your bow.”
Across the room, Cam’s head shot up. “Already?”
A whizzing sound outside the house silenced him. He moved away from the window and reached inside his blazer. Luce saw the flash of silver, and she remembered: the arrows he’d collected from the Outcast girl.
“Tell the others,” Daniel said before turning to face Luce. His lips parted and the desperate look on his face made her think that he might kiss her, but all he did was say, “Do you have a storm cellar?”
“Tell me what’s happening,” Luce said. She could hear water running in the kitchen, Arriane and Gabbe singing harmony on “Heart and Soul” with Callie while they did the dishes. She could see Molly’s and Roland’s skittish expressions as they cleared the table. And suddenly, Luce knew that this Thanksgiving dinner was all an act. A cover-up. Only, she didn’t know for what.
Miles appeared at Luce’s side. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing you need to be concerned with,” Cam said. Not rudely, just stating the facts. “Molly. Roland.”
Molly put down her stack of dishes. “What do you need us to do?”
It was Daniel who answered, speaking to Molly as if they were suddenly on the same side. “Tell the others. And find shields. They’ll be armed.”
“Who?” Luce asked. “The Outcasts?”
Daniel’s eyes landed on her and his face fell. “They shouldn’t have found us tonight. We knew there was a chance, but I really didn’t want to bring this here. I’m sorry—”
“Daniel.” Cam interrupted him. “All that matters now is fighting back.”
A heavy knocking thudded through the house. Cam and Daniel moved instinctively toward the front door, but Luce shook her head. “Back door,” she whispered. “Through the kitchen.”
They all stood for a moment and listened to the creak of the back door opening. Then came a long and piercing scream.
“Callie!” Luce took off running through the living room, shuddering to imagine what scene her best friend was facing. If Luce had known the Outcasts would show up, she would not have let Callie come. She would never have come home at all. If anything bad happened, Luce would never forgive herself.
Swinging through her parents’ kitchen door, Luce saw Callie, shielded behind Gabbe’s narrow frame. She was safe, at least for now. Luce exhaled, almost collapsing backward into the wall of muscle that Daniel, Cam, Miles, and Roland had formed behind her.
Arriane stood in the whitewashed doorway, a giant