I Belong to the Earth (Unveiled Book 1)
Page 51
I stepped straight into the cold spot. Without even thinking about it, I pulled the sparking, electric energy around me like a cloak. Helen's attempts to rebuff me were useless. How easy it was now. I wondered if I had made it difficult by fighting against what I was. Helen stopped swatting at me.
What do you want? She sounded wary, as though she was afraid of me.
To know how to stop this. To save Grace.
Why do you care? You recall how she treats you? Like you're worth less than her. Like dirt.
Are we talking about Grace and me, or you and Kate? I said, annoyed. Why was she being so obtuse? Besides it's not as simple as that. Things are difficult between sisters.
Are they? Anything you really want she will take from you and not give it a thought. Helen added slyly, I saw how you looked at that young man…
Not really any of your business. You're dead. Are you going to help me or hang out on the stairs forever?
I meant well I'm sure. You canna trust men. Especially the handsome ones. Why bother with him or your sister? Or that black-hearted devil on the moor?
Just how long have you been stuck here to speak like that? I can trust Ciarán. I can trust Grace. If I can break the Pattern then the rest will sort itself out. If I'm wrong about Ciarán then it's best to know without other factors clouding the issue. At least I'd know for sure.
That's your reason? You're as besotted as that young kitchen maid…
It is not the reason. I was truly angry now. Haze…Hardiman is killing my sister. I think he knows that but he doesn't care. He doesn't care how many girls die because one day he hopes one of them will be Kate again. Enough people have died Helen. Why won't you stand up to him?
You think you've seen the worst of him, Miss. And Of Miss Kate. You haven't. You'll learn.
Helen! PLEASE! Help me! Tell me how Hardiman died. Where he's buried. You must know!
That I don't. And I wouldn't meddle in that if it did mean eternal rest. Leave well alone Miss. Don't tax me with useless questions again.
But.., but the Pattern…Grace…all of you trapped. Helen…more than just Grace will die this time. I'm sure of it!
I canna help that. There was no pity in her hard voice. It's already begun. Too late to stop it now.
Helen? Helen! HELEN!
I stepped down onto the next stair. Alone. No Helen. No help. No answers. I whirled and charged back at the cold spot.
It was gone. Helen was gone.
A lump of dread dropped into my stomach. I doubled over, crouched on the now empty stair. My broken arm wrapped awkwardly around my good one. I didn't realize I was rocking until I stopped and the staircase ceased moving. A thin layer of shadow lay over the stairs and hallway. It was transparent but I could see the shape of the vicarage as it was in 1789. It was growing thicker. Helen was right. It was already starting.
It can't be too late. Helen had been right about everything else but I refused to believe she was right about this. The shadows grew too slimy-thick to tolerate. I fled upstairs. Helen's words rang in my mind.
Leave well alone, Miss.