Blind the Stars (Rose of the Dawn Series Book 3) by Ily Maguire Read Free Book Online

turn to Ezekiel, trying to tune out my sister.
“All this time and you didn’t tell me.”
    “We’ve
got to get out of the open,” Pike interjects. I watch crows fight for space on
nearby furniture. Chairs that should be in the house. The crows are huge and
they linger. A few hop towards us on the lawn. Closer now than before.
    “We
can talk, but somewhere safe,” Ezekiel states as he looks around.
    “To
the quarantine room!” Dory yells and pulls Ezekiel along, one arm outstretched
in front of her. She’s different. Unafraid and innocent. But the same.
Childlike and immature.
    Pike
lets Dory and Ezekiel go first. Pike stares at Ezekiel, but doesn’t say a
thing. He’s wondering how they know each other, too. Unless he lied.
    I
look back at Pike. Something moves, beyond him, in the distance. A shadow at
the far edge of the lawn where low bushes have overgrown into shapeless blobs
of sticks and needles and weeds have taken over. My vision is blurry. I can’t
focus that far out.
    “Rose,
what is it? What’s wrong?” Pike asks.
    “I-I
thought I saw something. It was nothing.” I look past him again, but nothing’s
there. This would be a good time to take his hand and show him I’m not crazy,
but he just nods and pushes me forward.
    “Let’s
get downstairs,” he orders.
    We
walk down the hallway and then down the stairs to the quarantine cellar. I stop
mid-way down and Pike, a few steps ahead of me, comes back up.
    “It
was probably just a crow,” I assert. But what if it wasn’t? I’m paranoid
now.
    Pike
takes my real hand and doesn’t say another word. Electricity warms me, pushing
the blur from my mind. He’s all I can think about.
    Dory
and Ezekiel await us at the bottom of the stairs. The door is closed and then
it opens when Pike and I reach them.
    As
we huddle together in the containment room, the door to outside closes and the
one to the quarantine cellar opens. We hurry inside. Dory and Ezekiel move to
the couch and Ezekiel waits for Dory to sit before he does. Her arms wrap
around his waist and she is curled up next to him. How does she know what to
do? How is she not as clueless as I was? As I am?
    She
smiles.
    Pike
lets go of my hand and walks into the kitchen. I look at Ezekiel. He stares
back and then blinks, looking away, breaking our eye contact.
    “What
are we going to do?” I whisper, moving toward Pike. He slides away to give me
room against the same part of counter he’s leaning on. He crosses his arms over
his chest watching Ezekiel and Dory. I wonder what he’s thinking. I hop up onto
the counter beside him and cross my ankles. I just want to be near him.
    “I
don’t really know,” Pike answers.
    “Do
you think he knows anything about Evie or the rest of my family?” I ask. I
don’t want to break him and Dory up. His eyes are closed. So are hers. He
whispers something to her. This massive hulk of a human is smaller to me
somehow.
    “He
got here quickly,” I observe. “Do you think they had far to go to get to the
safe house?”
    Pike
doesn’t say anything. He stares out of the kitchen at my sister and his friend.
    “Something
has him worried,” Pike finally says.
    “How
can you tell?” I ask. He’s not acting any differently to me. I haven’t seen
this soft, sensitive side to him before. It doesn’t strike me as worry, though.
    “It’s
something in his face,” Pike answers. “The fact that he got here so fast and
the way he is with your sister. He’s tired, too.”
    I
don’t answer. I stare out at Ezekiel. As if by some telepathic connection, he
looks back and gets up from the couch.
    Ezekiel
walks toward us. He pulls over a stool and sits. His arms cross like Pike’s.
    “Zeke-”
Pike begins.
    “I’ve
got to be honest.” Ezekiel stares at his arms and then up at Pike. “I’m
worried.”
    “But
the others are okay, right?” Pike asks, moving closer to Ezekiel. Dory lies on
the couch. Her hands are tucked beneath her cheek. The blanket covers her