The Whispering Night (Luminaries #3)

Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

WTF Triangle: These three young adults belong to the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday clans. Formerly best friends, two of them are now romantically involved while the third is a tentative ally. See also: Winnie Wednesday, witches, and werewolves.

When the WTF triangle met eight days ago, their first reunion in four years, it was awkward. And tense. And Winnie kept imagining spaghetti western music playing in the background, as if she were trapped in the graveyard climax scene of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. (She’s pretty sure she was the Ugly in that scenario.)

But it was also undeniably productive.

If Winnie had brought a voice recorder to the cabin on that night, a transcript of the conversation would have read as follows:

[0:00]

Winnie: [standing below the window] Tell him, Erica. Tell Jay what you actually are.

Erica: [seated in the folding chair] No thanks. I’m good.

Winnie: Okay, then I’ll tell him.

[Erica shrugs.]

Winnie: She’s a Diana.

[Jay, leaning against a riding lawnmower, stiffens.]

Erica: I am. And Jay’s a werewolf.

[Jay stiffens more.]

Winnie: This is a big deal, Erica. You do recall that you broke into my house to steal my dad’s clues?

Erica: Because your dad took my sister’s stuff. That dampener belonged to Jenna, thanks.

[Now Winnie is the one to stiffen. She pushes her glasses up her nose.]

[0:20]

Winnie: And you’ve known that for how long? Four years? You’ve known your sister was a Diana and my dad wasn’t—

Erica: I don’t know anything about what your dad was, okay? [lifts both hands] Maybe he was a Diana too. I have no clue. I just know that the dampener I found in your room belonged to Jenna, not him.

Winnie: But how did you even know the dampener was in my room?

[A pause while Erica crosses her legs at the ankles and smooths her jeans.]

[0:42]

Erica: I saw that map your dad left on the library shelf, and since I’m a Diana… I knew what I was looking at.

Jay: [snorts] So you aren’t even gonna try to deny what you are?

Erica: Are you? It’s not like you can call the Tuesdays on me, can you?

Winnie: Okay, but Jay didn’t ask to be a nightmare, Erica—

Erica: [eyes narrowing at Jay] Yeah, how does that work?

Winnie:—while you voluntarily became a witch.

Erica: [shrugs] I only recently joined the Dianas, and only because I wanted to know why Jenna died. How, too. The official report from the Tuesdays says a vampira horde killed her on her second hunter trial, but I don’t buy that. For one, Grayson said…

Jay: What? What did Grayson say?

Erica: He said he saw will-o’-wisps near her body when he found her. Not vampira. And for two, it just… it’s never felt right. Her being on that trial, her dying in the forest. So once I learned she used to be a Diana, well… [Erica trails off.]

[1:34]

Winnie: So what—are you saying she was killed because of what she was?

Erica: I have no idea.

Jay: And how did you figure out she was a Diana in the first place?

Erica: How did you figure out you were a nightmare?

Winnie: [speaking at the same time as Jay] Stop deflecting questions, Erica!

Jay: [speaking at the same time as Winnie] Because I woke up one night in the forest with no clue how I got there. Is that specific enough for you?

Erica: [sniffs] I found a spell in Jenna’s room. It was hidden in her diary.

Winnie: A spell for what?

Erica: I don’t know.

Winnie: Do you still have it?

Erica: Of course not. With how nosy my mom is?

Jay: That still doesn’t get us from point A to point B. So Jenna was a Diana—why did you become one?

Erica: [glares] They started contacting me. With Jenna’s locket. I ignored it at first until… I didn’t anymore.

Winnie: Wait, how does that work? [She fishes out her locket from her sweater.]

[2:24]

Winnie: This thing sends messages?

Erica: Yeah, the lockets send messages. A small piece of paper shows up in mine with words, sometimes in Latin. Sometimes not.

Jay: [under his breath] Pretentious.

Winnie: Does it ever heat up? And burn?

Erica: No. And that’s a weirdly specific question. Does yours do that?

[Winnie doesn’t answer. Just pushes the locket back into her sweater.]

[2:45]

Jay: Wait, I thought Grayson had your sister’s locket. How did you get it back?

Erica: [bites lip] He gave it to me. After Jenna’s funeral.

Jay: Does that mean he knew what Jenna was?

Erica: I have no idea. We didn’t talk about it, and I didn’t know what the locket meant when he gave it to me. [lifts hands in frustration] Jenna spent all her time with him the year before she died. When he showed up to give me the locket and invite me to a party at the old museum… Well, the only reason I wanted to go was so I could tell him off for stealing all my sister’s time. But then my mom wouldn’t let me leave the house, and that was that.

Winnie: But only a few weeks ago, you told me you’d lost the locket. Where was it?

Erica: [flushing] I just misplaced it. The latch is shoddy, and it fell off.

Winnie: Okay, so when did you get your first message from a Diana?

[Erica’s lips compress.]

[3:28]

Jay: Come on, Erica. Answer the question.

Erica: Well, when did you become a werewolf?

Jay: [unfazed] When I was thirteen.

Erica: [Her eyes narrow again.] Okay, fine. I was twelve. And they sent a message every year after that, but I never answered until last year.

Winnie: Why last year but not before?

Erica: Because I wanted information. As mentioned, Winnie, I want to know why Jenna died. And how. [She flips up her hands.]

Jay: And do the Dianas have an answer?

Erica: I… don’t know. Or at least, I haven’t learned anything. Yet.

Jay: So why remain a Diana?

Erica: And why remain a werewolf?

Winnie: Because he can’t just change what he is.

Erica: Precisely, Winnie.

[4:02]

Jay: [inhales audibly, then exhales] Give us one good reason we should believe anything you’re saying right now, Erica.

Erica: [bounces one shoulder] I don’t know. Maybe because I saved your life in the forest, Jay? I knew those witches were after you, but I led them away. Winnie can vouch for that. She was hiding right there.

Winnie: [winces, then nods] It’s true. She did do that, Jay.

Erica: Look, the only reason I agreed to meet you here tonight is because I think we want the same thing. You want to know what happened to your dad; I want to know what happened to Jenna.

Winnie: And those are connected somehow?

Erica: Obviously. Your dad’s map led to Jenna’s dampener. Without the source inside. Do you know anything about that, by the way?

Winnie: You stole all my stuff. Did it look like I knew anything?

[Erica studies Winnie for several seconds.]

[4:37]

Erica: Okay, so this is why we need to work together. Pool our resources. I know about Dianas, you’ve got the clues from your dad. And you… [She looks at Jay.] I don’t know what you contribute, honestly.

Jay: For starters, I’m someone Winnie can actually trust.

Erica: What are you trying to say?

Jay: I’m not trying to say anything, Erica. I am actively saying you’re not trustworthy.

Erica: Oh, because trusting the Big Bad Wolf is a great idea—

Winnie: Enough. Both of you. [Winnie chops her hand at each of them.] Witch, werewolf, Wednesday.

Erica: Huh?

Winnie: Nothing. [She looks at Erica.] Jay is the F in our WTF triangle, okay? I’m not keeping secrets from him, and he will help us find what we need.

Erica: So does that mean we have a deal? I help you follow your dad’s clues, and you help me find Jenna’s source?

Jay: Hold up. I thought you wanted to know what happened to Jenna. You didn’t say anything about finding her source.

Erica: [rolls her eyes] The two go hand in hand, Jay. Can’t do one without the other. An empty dampener is useless.

Jay: And a full dampener is dangerous.

Erica: Jenna has been dead for four years. There’s no magic left inside her source.

Winnie: Stop it, you two. Enough squabbling. And yes. [She extends a hand.] We have a deal, Erica.

[Erica shakes Winnie’s hand, firm and businesslike. Jay simply digs his hands into his pockets and turns away.]

[End 6:16]

After that, the spy games began. Although admittedly it has mostly been only Winnie and Erica participating. Partly because there really isn’t much that Jay can contribute. But mostly because he still doesn’t trust Erica, even after eight days of proving herself useful to them.

And it’s fine.

Yep, it’s fine being caught in the middle.

Winnie didn’t expect the WTF gang to become besties again overnight. Sure, she’d hoped for it. ( Hope is the thing with feathers! ) And yeah, she still daydreams of easy camaraderie, but even her loyal bear heart knows she has to approach this Erica alliance with wide eyes and hunter senses turned to max.

So for now, Winnie will be the W in a WT angle… and in a WF angle too. And maybe one day—hopefully sooner rather than later—those two corners will slot back into the three-sided shape they’re meant to be.