13 Secrets (37 page)

“I don’t see what’s so complicated.” Rose’s voice was soft. “I’m here because I love you.” She glanced at Warwick. “And I… I love him. It’s quite simple, really.”

“I remember when we were in the fairy realm,” Rowan said, looking at Warwick. “You said you didn’t think you’d ever be happy again, not without Evelyn. You blamed yourself for her death, even though it wasn’t really your fault. If this will make you happy, then I’m glad.”

Too late she noticed Fabian tense beside her.

“What do you mean by that? Why should he blame himself for my mother’s death? It was an accident!”

Warwick’s mouth opened and closed, but no words came out.

“It was an accident,” Fabian repeated through gritted teeth.
“Wasn’t it?”

“Tell him, Warwick,” Rowan said sadly. “It’s time he knew the truth.”

“It wasn’t an accident.” Warwick moved toward Fabian, his arms outstretched, but Fabian backed away. “It was revenge, against me, for meddling in the fairy world. They wanted to hurt me—so they… they took your mother.”

“No!” said Fabian. “You told me she’d been sleepwalking! That’s how she ended up falling into the brook! That’s how she drowned—”

“She was enchanted,” Warwick cut in. “She didn’t have a chance. I’ve wanted to tell you the truth for a long time.”

“But it was easier to lie,” Fabian spat. “And
Florence must have known, and”—he shot a venomous look at Rose—“I’m guessing
she
did.”

An injured look crept into Rose’s eyes. She pushed past Rowan and Tanya and walked out of the room, leaving Fabian to his tirade.

“Even Rowan knew before I did. Be honest—were you ever going to tell me?”

“Of course!”

Fabian laughed without mirth. “I don’t think any of you in this room know how to tell the truth. You’ve all lied to me—every single one of you.” He cast his eyes around, and Rowan saw that hers was not the only face burning with shame.

Without another word, Fabian left, his footsteps thudding across the hall to his bedroom. Warwick rushed after him. “Fabian!”

“Go away!” Fabian roared, slamming his door.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Warwick and Rose,” Tanya said. She knelt by Oberon and buried her face in his fur. “I didn’t know how to… and I thought they should be the ones to do it. I didn’t think it’d come out like this.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Rowan shook her head. “None of it matters anymore.” She smiled bitterly. “I wanted a distraction—and I got one. And a lot more than I bargained for.”

She nodded to the door, which had started to swing closed after Warwick’s exit. “Turns out I didn’t even need it.”

His keys dangled from the lock.

The keys rattled traitorously in Rowan’s hand as she searched for the right one to the library. Twice she moved away at the sound of approaching voices, but no one had yet seen her trying to access the room. Sweat poured from her forehead, not helped by the roaring fires all around the house. Her nausea magnified with each wave of heat.

Finally she found it. After letting herself into the room and locking the door behind her, she removed the key from the ring and left it in the lock. She stuffed the remaining ones in her pocket and crept to the bookcase, knocking softly on the wood.

“Sparrow?” she whispered.

There was no answer. She tapped harder. “Sparrow? Are you there?”

Something shuffled on the other side. “Where
else would I be?” His voice was groggy, but sarcastic.

She leaned her head against the wood. “Sparrow, I’m sorry.”

There was a silence. Then, “Who else is there with you?”

“No one. I’m alone—they don’t know I’m in here.”

“Have you found something that proves it wasn’t me who attacked Morag?”

“No.” She bit her lip. “But I trust you.” As she spoke, a realization hit her. “Wait—you
couldn’t
have attacked Morag… because it happened when we were at Dawn’s. I was with you all day!”

Sparrow was quiet. “Shame you didn’t remember that earlier. Are you letting me out?”

“I don’t think I can—not yet.”

“Then why did you bother coming in here?”

“Because I wanted to check you’re all right. Are you?”

“You mean after Tino chucked me down the stairs?” His bitterness permeated the wall. “Yeah. A few scrapes and bruises. I’ve had worse.”

She closed her eyes, picturing his chipped tooth. “Listen. I need to show you something.”

“
Show
me something? Wouldn’t that involve you opening this door?”

“Yes. Will you promise not to run?”

He laughed. “Give me one good reason why not.”

She opened her eyes and took a deep breath. “Because if you do you’ll be caught and it’ll only make you look more guilty.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

“Even if you got out, you wouldn’t get far. The house is being watched.”

“Not good enough—I’d still run.”

“Fine. Because I’m asking you not to.”

“Fair enough.”

Rowan blinked. “Are you serious?”

“I’m locked in a damp, stinking tunnel. I’m not exactly in the mood to joke.”

Before she could change her mind her fingers found the mechanism. She stood aside as the narrow passageway was slowly revealed. Sparrow huddled at the top of the stairs, shivering. He squinted as the light from the room flooded in, blinking at her miserably, then moved into the warm library.

“Get by the fire,” said Rowan. She wanted to cry at the sight of him, she was so ashamed. She waited a couple of minutes to let him warm himself before pulling the piece of paper from her pocket. She unfolded it and passed it to him.

“What’s this?” he asked through chattering teeth.

“I’m trying to help Morag with a diagram of the hex under Suki’s caravan. This is what I’ve remembered so far—I was wondering if you could remember any more.”

Sparrow took it from her. His hand was shaking,
and his fingernails were caked with dirt. “Yeah, I can remember bits of it, but wouldn’t you be better off asking Suki?”

“That’s what I thought,” said Rowan. “She’s been with Morag all day, trying to identify the hex. But I saw what she drew, and it’s nothing like what was under the caravan. Sparrow, I think she lied—I think she’s hiding something. If we can remember what those symbols were then maybe we can figure out what she’s up to.”

“You think she’s involved in what’s been happening?”

“Why else would she deliberately mislead someone who was trying to help her? Morag recognized the hex she drew and confirmed it was a nasty one—but that hex was never cast.”

Sparrow studied the paper. “Got a pen?”

She reached over and grabbed one from the desk, and Sparrow began to sketch. “Burned-out matches, I remember those. Candles. And the symbols… they were sort of curly, like this….”

“There was something holding her picture down,” Rowan remembered, the sketch jogging her memory. “A pebble. That’s it. That’s everything—I think you’ve done it.”

Sparrow stared at the paper, then folded it and handed it back.

“I just thought of something else,” he said. “When the dog started growling before, it wasn’t only at me. Suki was there too—both times. Even if it was my
top he could smell, what’s to say he wasn’t reacting to her scent as well?”

A tremor of fear went through Rowan. “You think Suki’s the one?”

Sparrow shrugged. “She was quick enough to come out with a story about being afraid of dogs. I’ve never known Suki to admit to being scared of anything before, have you? And if she lied about that piece of paper, who knows what else she’s lied about?” He leaned toward her. “Think about it for a second. She’s been with the Coven for less than a year. Now half of us are gone, with virtually no signs of a struggle anywhere. They trusted whoever got to them—that’s what got them killed.”

“But why? Why would she do this?”

“I don’t know,” said Sparrow. “All I know is that we’re trapped in this house with her, and you say the outside is being watched—”

“She can’t be working alone,” Rowan said, horrified. “We’ve got to tell Tino and the others!”

“No,” said Sparrow fiercely. He stabbed at the diagram. “Until we know what that is, we don’t have proof of anything—she’ll just wriggle out of it by saying she remembered it wrong. At the moment, they all still think it’s me, and while we’re in this house, with her on the inside—and whoever she’s working with on the outside—we’re sitting ducks.”

“They’ve rounded us up like sheep,” Rowan said as the realization hit her.

“But we’ve got a chance to catch them off guard,”
Sparrow whispered. “Don’t you see? If you give me what I need to find my way out, the tunnel leads far away enough from the house for me to see what’s happening, but not be seen. I’d have the advantage.”

“You’re right.” Rowan got up and headed back to the bookcase, opening the secret passageway.

Reluctantly, Sparrow stepped back inside, his skin graying in the gloom.

“Will you help me, Red?”

She nodded. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. I’m going to get this to Morag, and then get us some flashlights and my fox-skin coat.”

“Us?”

“I’m coming with you.” Impulsively, she leaned into the tunnel and put her arms around him. His hair no longer smelled of shampoo. He smelled like Sparrow, her Sparrow. “It’s the least I can do.”

Something scuffled at the bottom of the stairwell.

“Go on,” he said gruffly, nudging her away. “Before the door closes us both in the dark.”

She slid back out of the tunnel and into the warm library. “I won’t be long.”

The partition started to close.

“Hurry back,” he whispered through the gap. “I can hear something down there—have I ever told you I hate rats?”

The tunnel entrance sealed itself, cutting him off.

Rowan let herself out of the library, her hands shaking as she fumbled to lock the door. The hallway was clear. She darted through it, her eyes peeled for
the old gypsy woman. Eventually she found her in the kitchen, talking to Tino and Suki. Warwick was there, subdued after the confrontation. He stood at the table distributing the green liquid from the vat into some of the smaller bottles, then handed one to Morag and another to Rose. He pocketed another one, and then handed Rowan a fourth.

“Will you give this to Fabian? He won’t open his door to me.”

She took it, glancing at Suki out of the corner of her eye. “I doubt he’ll open it to me either.” She went to the sink and rummaged in the cupboard below it.

“What are you after?” Warwick asked.

“A flashlight. I thought it’d be useful in the safe room, just in case,” she lied.

He nodded and turned back to what he was doing. Eventually she found a flashlight, and after changing the batteries, she headed for the stairs. She was halfway there when a window smashed somewhere on the first floor.

She ran to the top, reaching the landing at the same instant as Tanya came out of her room, the compass and scissors in her hand, her eyes wild.

They both saw the garvern at the same time. It clung to the windowsill in the hall that overlooked the back garden. Fragments of glass glittered on the floor underneath the window, and the creature hissed at them, swiping through the window with its fist, but unable to cross the salt barrier.

“It’s starting,” Rowan whispered. “They’re going
to try and get in.” She dug the keys out of her pocket and thrust them, and the bottle Warwick had given her, at Tanya. “Give this to Fabian, and put the keys back where we found them. In a few minutes come down to the library and take the key out of the door. Hide it.” She tucked the piece of paper into Tanya’s pocket. “Once you’ve done that, get this to Morag and
do not
let anyone else see, especially Suki.”

“Rowan, you’re scaring me. What’s this all about—where are you going?”

“You have to trust me. Whatever Morag tells you, take her to Tino and make her tell him.” She pulled Tanya into her room and collected her bag from under the bed. She stuffed the flashlight in it and checked that her knife and the coat were there. “Suki lied about the hex. Whatever you do, don’t trust her. Sparrow and I are using the tunnel to get out. Having us all in one place may make it easier to defend ourselves, but it makes us easier to attack too. If Sparrow and I can get out we might be able to surprise them and get the upper hand somehow.”