Exile (The Oneness Cycle) Read Online Free Page B

did and said very little in haste. “Maybe she just wanted to get away.”
    “Things have been dark lately,” Richard said. “We are all careful to stay connected and report back in time. April wasn’t careless. We’ve looked all over town and can’t find her.”
    Diane cleared her throat. For a fleeting second she had hoped that the boys’ Reese and this April might be one and the same—but no, this girl had only been missing since yesterday morning, and Reese had left her cell, wherever it was, at least sixteen hours earlier—enough time for her to cast herself off the cliffs.
    “So you’re here because …”
    “We wondered if you’ve seen anything,” Mary said.
    Diane started to shake her head. “Do you know a girl called Reese?”
    Richard frowned. “No.”
    “Never mind,” Diane said. “I don’t think I can help you.” She knew what she should tell them—that she’d seen a demon two nights ago, in a flash of vision, and seen its bat-body dead on the floor, slain by a girl who said she was an exile from the Oneness and should not even have the power to wield a sword. A girl who claimed the impossible and yet believed it so deeply she had tried to take her own life only a few hours before. But she couldn’t say it. The girl was involved with Chris, and Chris was her son, and Chris didn’t need to become mixed up with these people—to become enamoured with them like Douglas had.
    Like she had.
    So she said only, “I haven’t seen anything. Surely one of your own can help you.”
    “Diane …” Mary reached out to lay a comforting hand on Diane’s shoulder, but it wasn’t comforting. Anything but. Never, never had this woman brought comfort—not her and not her people.
    The Oneness held the world together. Diane knew that, and she treated them with respect because of it. Respect, but not welcome.
    And yet, she had to know.
    “What do you think happened to her … April?”
    “We don’t know,” Mary answered. “But we’re worried. Something feels very wrong. You feel it too, even if you won’t admit it.”
    Diane bristled a little. “Is there any possibility—any chance she might just have left?”
    Richard frowned. “What do you mean?”
    “Maybe she wanted to leave.”
    He shook his head, his face betraying how abhorrent he found the idea. “Not possible.”
    “Isn’t it?” Diane asked, pretending the comment was off-handed. “Doesn’t anyone ever leave the Oneness? Don’t you ever throw anyone out?”
    Mary paled. “How could you suggest such a thing!”
    Diane wasn’t sure herself. She softened. “I’m sorry. I was just trying to say that maybe things aren’t as bad as they seem. Maybe, after all, this girl just went off on her own for some reason.”
    “I wish I could believe that,” Richard said, cutting Mary off before she could respond more explosively. Though Diane doubted he knew the history between the two women, he seemed to have picked up on the strained dynamic between them and was doing his best to calm it down and stay focused on the reason they were there—the missing girl, concern for whom was evident in his whole bearing. “But she was clear on when to be back, and April doesn’t just go off on her own. She knows better.”
    Diane shook her head, but she was less combative now. She considered once more telling them about Reese, then decided to leave it alone. Things were bad enough—one girl exiled from the Oneness, another inexplicably gone—without her getting into the middle of it.
    Still, she couldn’t just send them away with nothing.
    “If I see anything that might help, I’ll tell you,” she promised.
    Mary nodded. “Thank you.” Richard caught her eye and raised an eyebrow in a look that meant, “Shall we go?” She nodded.
    Then she met Diane’s eyes one more time. “Things are dark,” she said. “Like Richard told you. Be careful. And if you need us—well, you know where to find us.”
    The words came out dry, cracked.