The Writing Retreat(94)

But it was empty. I raced to the window. In the glowing light of dawn, dark figures moved on the wide expanse of the yard.

“No,” I murmured weakly. Taylor, in her bright blue hat, was kneeling down by someone. Yana, facedown. Splotches of red stained the snow around her.

Taylor was calling in the direction of the house. I stepped closer to the window and looked down. Roza and Chitra stood almost directly beneath.

Taylor bent over the body, and I held my breath. Maybe Yana was still alive. Maybe Taylor was tending to her.

But then Taylor grasped Yana’s hands and began to drag her facedown towards the garage. This time the stains were beautiful watercolor strokes of salmon and rose against the pure white snow.





Chapter 36




Wren and I sat on the floor of Roza’s wardrobe, clothes surrounding our heads like soft buffers against the world. The knife sat on my lap. I massaged my stiff fingers as I told Wren about the last twelve hours, ending with our need to hide until the police arrived. Wren said nothing, only gasping when I mentioned finding Zoe’s body in the garage.

“They’re going to look for me,” Wren said when I finished. “They’re not stupid.”

“No,” I agreed. “But they might be getting desperate. They know Keira’s getting help.”

“Then why did they kill Yana?” Wren’s voice broke on the word “kill.”

“I don’t know. Roza told Taylor not to hurt Yana. Maybe she’s losing control of her? In any case…” I tugged at my earlobe. “All we have to do is hide. And if they find us: fight.”

“I don’t know if I can fight anyone,” she said in a low voice.

“Hey.” I squeezed her leg. “Just think positively. We’ll be okay.” While Zoe’s death had shattered me, Yana’s had slid me into a deep calm. Maybe even acceptance. I would do everything I could to get us out of here, of course. But it might not necessarily be enough. We just had to wait and see.

We were quiet for a few minutes, staring at our hands.

“I’m sorry,” I said finally.

“Me too.” She fiddled with her engagement ring.

“No. I mean for what happened.” It felt important to say this during our brief respite. “At the bar.”

“Oh.” She looked up at me. “That.”

“I was so angry.” I exhaled sour breath. “I didn’t go in with the intention of hurting you, but I needed you to listen to me. And you just looked so disgusted… I might not have shoved you, but I did reach out and touch you. I knew you’d jerk away. I knew how close you were to the stairs.”

“Stop.” She shook her head. “We don’t have to do this.”

“I know. But I wanted to be honest with you. Finally.”

She didn’t respond. We sat in silence. I realized how relieved I felt. Regardless of Wren’s reaction, I’d done the thing I’d never thought I could do. I’d accepted responsibility.

Roza had tried at every turn to stoke my resentment. And it felt good to fight a larger-than-life villain. But it wasn’t that simple. Wren and I were both fallible, imperfect, sometimes cruel people. Wren had hurt me throughout our friendship, but I’d allowed it, because then she was the Bad Witch, and I was the Good Witch.

“Listen.” Wren broke into my thoughts. “I’m sorry too.”

“Thanks for saying that.”

“And it wasn’t nothing,” she went on in a rush. “What we did in bed. Being with you like that… it actually meant a lot to me. But I guess I was confused. Really confused. I’d never hooked up with a woman before. I know I said I did it with friends, but that wasn’t true. But afterwards… It just felt easier to leave.” Wren took my hand. The diamond scraped against my finger. “Though it made me feel really sad.”

“I was sad too. And mad, obviously. Jesus.” I smiled. “Talk about a breakup.”

“Brutal.” She was smiling, rueful. “I was a mess, truly. I got so depressed in the hospital. Of course I was scared for my hand, but I also had this horrible fear that I could never be in a normal relationship. That I’d die alone.”

“And then you met Evan.” I said it lightly, but she withdrew her hand.

“Yeah, about Evan.” She took a deep breath. “He actually dumped me a few weeks ago.”

“What?” I felt stunned. “But the ring…”

“He wanted it back, and I told him to go fuck himself.” She chuckled. “I don’t wear it all the time, though. I guess I just wore it here because I wanted you to think… I don’t know. To keep a barrier between us.”

“Wow.” The news made me feel disoriented.

“Well.” Wren grinned. “Here’s a silver lining: if we don’t make it out alive, at least I won’t have to go back on the dating apps.”

I laughed and it came out as a sharp honk. Slapping my hand over my mouth, we both fell into sudden convulsive giggles.

Finally we calmed ourselves.

“Okay.” Wren rubbed her eyes. “Not to change the subject, but I just thought of an idea.” She paused. “Do you think Taylor might have more guns?”

I nodded, impressed. “I wouldn’t be surprised.”