I tugged Sarah gently back, shut the door, and fished out my keys so I could lock it.
“There’s nothing down there you’d want to see,” I said, keeping my voice carefully even. “Nothing good at all. Promise me you won’t go down there even if someone leaves it open, all right?”
“I promise,” she said in a soft voice.
“Perfect.” I gave her arm a quick pat. “Now do you want to keep chilling out with the music, or do you want to hear what we’re discussing? I think you’re big enough that you’ve got a right to know what’s going on if you’re interested.”
Jenner’s mouth tightened, but after a moment’s contemplation, Sarah just said, “I’ll go back to the music.” But her “Thank you” as she headed back to the sofa sent a sharper twang of foreboding through me.
If we couldn’t get the Storm’s people out of the Bend in the next seven days and the Long Night made good on his promise to clean the slate, it wouldn’t be just the men in the next room who’d suffer. Every kid with any ties to the local powers would pay for our failure too, including Sarah.
The clock on the mantel seemed to tick louder, each second inching us toward our possible doom.