Verum (The Nocte Trilogy 2)

He’s a weapon, armed for obliteration.

And if I’m not careful, the obliteration will be my own.

Chapter 13

I watch Finn walk peacefully around the pond that borders the back of the gardens, and I ponder how completely different he is today than he was last night.

Last night, he’d been desperate, out of his head.

Today, he’s peaceful and calm.

Like magic.

You’d think that since I’m imagining him, I could control his actions, but apparently, like always, he does what he wants.

“It’s ok to pretend your brother is still here.”

Surprised, I turn to find Sabine approaching from behind. Somehow, she always seems to move silently through the rooms of Whitley, and appears when I least expect her.

“How did you know?” I ask, my cheeks flushing with embarrassment. Only a crazy person would do something like this, yet Sabine isn’t acting like I’m crazy. She’s calm, she’s quiet, she’s respectful.

“As long as you know the difference between reality and your thoughts, all is well,” she tells me easily, as though she’s a guest at the White Rabbit’s tea table.

I swallow hard because I’m the rabbit.

“He’s at peace now, you know,” Sabine tells me, sitting down next to me. “Demons chased that boy. They don’t now.”

I suck in a breath, glancing at the old woman. “How did you know that?”

She shrugs. “I know things.”

I swallow hard. I sense she knows things. So many things are in her eyes, so many truths. It scares me a little.

“He first started seeing things when we were in kindergarten,” I tell her quietly, my memories bitter in my mouth. “He saw demons. He’s seen them for years. He’s medicated now. I mean, before he died. Sometimes, he forgot to take them…”

Sabine nods and I know she understands. Somehow.

“It’s good for you to be here,” she tells me seriously. “Away from death. Your mother would think so, too.”

I look at her quickly. “You think so?”

“Yes,” Sabine answers. “I knew her well. She’d want you to focus on yourself here without inhaling death in the air. It’d be good for anyone. We absorb the energy that’s around us, you know. Energy never goes away. It just goes from thing to thing to thing.”

That actually makes sense. In fact, it’s a scientific fact. The law of conservation of energy states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only change form. Here outside of the house, the energy is quiet and peaceful.

I definitely should absorb some of that.

“Where do you think my brother is?” I ask hesitantly. “If energy can’t be destroyed, I mean.”

Sabine crosses her arms. “You carry him with you,” she says confidently.

I fiddle with my fingers. “I know. I…yes. But where do you think he actually is?”

Sabine looks away, far off into the distance, and when she answers, it’s slow and sure.

“I have many beliefs, Calla. And I’m not sure you want to hear them all. Just know that you’re not alone. You’re never alone.”

I’m not sure if that’s comforting, actually.