Breakfast had gone by too quickly for her taste. Lily had been upset, and Basen was quieter than usual. Even Cale did not speak. Violan was looking at her with sympathy, and Count Deruth did not look at her.
She had let Hans pack for her. Her bag was travelling with her on the carriage. She sat there on the lush cushions, Hong in her arms. Only Hong was coming with her so that she might broaden his poison palate.
"Are we going to your house?" Hong asked her, lying on her lap.
She suppressed a sigh. "Yes."
He stared curiously up at her, excitement in his golden eyes. "Is your house pretty? Can I run around? Can I play?"
She patted his head. "The gardens are very big and beautiful, and we have multiple gardeners. And I will take you to a separate garden for poisonous plants." She paused, debating her next words. "Hong, I won't lie to you."
Hong's mood dampened as he stared at her with curiosity. But he held his tongue; he let her speak.
"My house..." Adara trailed off. "My Estate is not safe. It is not a pleasant place. You won't be able to run around outside my room and office, and I don't advise playing outside. The gardens are fine only if you are with me."
Hong looked confused. "But why?" he asked in a small voice.
She continued petting him softly. "My Stepmother does not like cats."
Hong didn't think her answer was sufficient; it didn't answer his question, and he wanted to ask one of his own, but the carriage stopped with a shudder. They had arrived. Adara put him on her shoulder as she got out.
The Estate was as big as the Henituses' Estate. The gates were large, and the walls were high. It was as green as she remembered it, with multiple patches of green, bushes, and grass. On each patch was a sculpture gifted by the Henituses, marble statues of great heroes and the like. Countess Louise hated the sculptures. Each bush had red and black berries, which she knew were poisonous.
But nobody stood waiting for her. The gate had been opened, but nobody was there to greet her. Not even a servant to take her bags.
The chauffeur had disembarked and, seeing the lack of servants, started unpacking her bags. She quickly stopped him. "Unpacking bags is beneath your position," she said, unpacking the bags herself.
The chauffeur stared at her for a second. He was new to the job, having been hired while the Young Mistress was in the Capital. He heard great deeds about her from the ones in the city and also wild rumours, but none of the servants would speak of her except to speak badly.
He had managed to get it out of a gardener that she wasn't well-liked by her family. And he could tell by the lack of reception. The Henituses had waved her off, but none of her family had come to greet her. Not a single servant.
"Madam, it's even less befitting for you to be unpacking the bags," he responded, taking the last bag and setting it next to her.
She didn't quite smile at him, but it was something similar, though without much mirth. "Young Mistress," she corrected. "Madam sounds odd."
He nodded. "Young Mistress it is."
She tried reaching for her bags, but he did not allow her to do that either. He scooped them as she reached them, smiling apologetically. "Forgive me, Young Mistress, but carrying your own bags is also beneath your position."
She huffed softly, feeling Hong nuzzle her cheek. She nodded. "Very well then, let's head inside." She cast a cursory look at the overcast sky. "I think it will rain soon."
She had been wrong. It wasn't raining—not yet, at least. She was through the poisonous garden, walking to the Poison Department, Hong still on her shoulder. The chauffeur had escorted her to her room, where he left her bags. She had thanked him and he had only smiled.
She had let Hong stretch and explore her room before picking him up and placing him on her shoulder again.
The poisonous gardens were dark and damp. It was a recreation of the Forest of Darkness, where they could cultivate the poisonous plants they uprooted from the forest. One reason they had so many gardeners was that most of them were working on ways to bioengineer the plants so that they could be planted in normal conditions.
It took a bunch of money to maintain this recreation, however small. She had already walked through it.
Many servants despised the Poison Department, as walking through the poisonous garden was the only way to get there. But it was safe, as the airborne poisons were kept in the Department itself under heavy regulations. And it kept unwanted guests away.
Hong had wanted to eat the plants, but Adara shook her head. "It is better if you drink the poisons; those are more efficient."
Hong nodded, stilling on her shoulder.
She opened the door, and a quiet hush fell over the whole Department. They had not known that the Young Mistress would be back.
Sadie was the first to welcome her. Adara spotted her immediately as she stood up and walked to her, a smile on her tanned face. "Ah, Adara. Welcome back."
She heard scattered greetings among the department. She didn't look back as she turned and walked into Sadie's office, Sadie close behind her.
Once inside, Adara sat on the chair in front of Sadie's desk. "Report."
Sadie leaned on the desk, her knees touching Adara's. Sadie took one look at her and grew uncomfortable. She looked more tired than the last time she called her, and her scars seemed to scavenge her face.
Her face was as cold as the last time, as well, but she could tell that she was tired—much more tired. The way she sat in the chair and looked around the office when she came in told her she hated being back, the contempt hidden in the corners of her eyes.
Sadie no longer wanted to see her façade crumble. She didn't want to know what might be underneath.
And she had a cat with her. On her shoulder, staring curiously at her with golden eyes. How odd, she mused. She never considered Adara a cat person.
"The Poison Department is going well after what happened with Matt. We've developed a few new poisons but are still working on the antidotes. Rory is also doing well; he's been talking to his family, but it is under the pretence of what you asked of him." Sadie paused, shaking her head to get her short, light brown hair out of her face. "Uh, what did you ask of him exactly? They are speaking very vaguely."
Adara raised an eyebrow. "In code?"
Sadie shook her head, her hair getting in her face again. She realised that Adara had not answered her first question—and was unlikely to. "Nope, just vaguely. They mention you once in a while, but that's about all I can understand."
Adara huffed a laugh, petting Hong on her shoulder. "All good things, I hope."
Sadie shrugged, her arms crossed. "The Mother mentioned a necklace she hoped you liked. Don't know what that's about."
She watched Adara's mood sour, saw how her shoulders tensed and straightened, and saw how the kitten nuzzled closer to her, pawing at her cheek. It had been a bad move to mention the necklace. And she didn't know why.
As Sadie watched her closer, she realised something had changed inside her. Her opinion of Adara had changed and she was no longer delighted that she had affected Adara in such a way.
In the beginning, she would stare at Adara as she checked in on the Administration. Adara was so much younger than her, though she acted so much older.
Even now, her mind rejected the idea that the person in front of her had only turned 18 a few months ago. Sadie herself had acted much younger when she was 18, and even now, she felt Adara knew more than her.
And Adara knew that she stared at her; there was a sort of awareness in her manner that betrayed it. But it took much longer until Adara approached her. Sadie can't remember how things fully went down, but she rose in Administration under Adara's guidance. There were not many other positions she could climb except for Head of Administration.
That was a problem because the Head of Administration was good, and he did not need to be replaced. So Adara offered her another job—the Head of the Poison Department.
In the beginning, she admired Adara, but then it evolved into something more. She saw how stone-faced she was, how she barely let an expression slip, and she became curious. She tried a few things, observing if certain words invoked certain emotions. Then, she became more curious, and more and more, until when none of it worked, it became an obsession.
She was crass and rough with her words, speaking of uncomfortable topics and trying to surprise her in any way she could. And it never worked.
But it all changed when she saw her the last time, so tired and grave. Something changed in her at that time as she stared into those dark, tired eyes. And her opinion changed.
Adara was so young. And so old. So tough on the outside, unmoved, unchanged, unfeeling. But she knew better now. She had an idea of what was underneath; she had glimpsed it briefly the last time. And it wasn't her business any more than it was anyone else's.
And she had made sure it was nobody else's. She never wanted to see Adara like that again, so Sadie did her best on the normal assignments and the extra ones. She shut down anybody in the Poison Department and the servants who made a snide comment. She wouldn't listen to the gossip, knowing it was pointless, but she would threaten them as soon as they said one wrong word.
She only hoped Adara noticed how the whispers didn't cling to her as she walked down the corridors anymore. She only hoped she noticed the effort in the assignments. She never wanted to see Adara so tired again, and she would do anything she could to take her burdens away, if only for a moment.
She ran a hand through her messy hair, pushing it further out of her face. She changed the topic from the necklace. "About that extra assignment—," she paused again, seeing Adara's head snap up to her, hawk eyes trained on her.
"How many?"
"Four," Sadie said immediately.
Adara's eyebrows raised. "That little?" She had expected more. Seeing Sadie's surprise at her words, she asked another question to distract her. "Where?"
"Three of them are servants, the ones under Countess Louise's care," Sadie said. Who am I kidding? They're all under Lousie's care, she thought. It's the only reason they can say all that shit about Adara. "Two of them were assigned to you a year ago with a 4-month and 8-day interval; the other was assigned two years ago. And the fourth is in Administration. But we've gotten a few new recruits, and I haven't done any background checks on all of them yet."
She expected the servants; they were the best option if the Secret Organisation wanted someone close to her. And Administration made sense as well. "You didn't tell anybody this except for me?"
Sadie shook her head. "Not a soul. I'm still not done, but I thought I would report on who I've found with missing backgrounds so far."
Adara nodded. "You did well. Tell me their names, and I'll do my own research. I'll dismiss them based on what I find."
Sadie hesitated. Adara realised immediately, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Yes?" Adara asked.
Sadie fidgeted with her fingers before she realised what she was doing. "The one in Administration... It's the Head of the Department."
Adara held in a breath. "The Head of Administration? Damon?"
Sadie nodded, suddenly feeling a need to explain herself. "His background has holes. For example, it says he studied under a scholar whose name is Brice, which the scholar confirms. Still, the scholar is said to have studied at the Citadel of Rosewood, which all the other Academies and Citadels do not acknowledge as an actual place of education. Coincidentally, one of the three maids previously worked at the Citadel of Rosewood, the second has a sister who is a maid there, and the third is the daughter of the Groundskeeper at the Citadel."
Adara frowned. She had never heard of this Citadel of Rosewood. "Is this Citadel a front of sorts?"
Sadie shrugged. "I have no idea. I can't get a list of its students or of any scholars who work there, only what people have said and what the Citadel has confirmed. But I find it highly suspicious that all four of the people with holes in their backgrounds have something to do with it."
Adara sighed. She'd have to deal with this after coming back from the Forest of Darkness. "I need to talk to Rory. We'll also need to start training a replacement as a precaution if it turns for the worse."
Sadie watched Adara stand up, petting that kitten again. She raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying you're going to give Rory a promotion?"
Adara shrugged. "Maybe, if the training proves sufficient. We'll have to see. Of course, you'll need to train him, so don't be expected if he reports first thing tomorrow morning." Sadie stood up, too, expecting Adara to be done with talking. But she wasn't. "I need small doses of multiple poisons, as varied as possible. Can you arrange that?"
Sadie stared at her, her grey-blue eyes squinting. "Are you trying to poison someone?"
Adara waved a hand at her. "Oh, don't look so pale; your freckles are standing out like blood splatters. I'm going on an expedition to the Forest of Darkness, and I want to study how much we've enhanced the efficiency of the poisons. Will you get the poisons?"
Sadie nodded, calming down. "Of course. I'll bring them to your room later today."
Adara nodded, and Hong meowed.
She was in the garden with Hong—not the poisonous one, but the normal one. She wanted to sit here for a little bit longer until she got up to go to Rory. She also wanted to stay away from her brother, Mikhail, and her stepmother, Louise.
And she knew they never went to the gardens.
Hong was playing in the grass, enjoying himself and rolling around. He saw the multiple flowers around him and decided to pick one for Adara.
"Don't pick one," she instructed. "Just get one that fell onto the ground."
Hong nodded, already running away. She could hear him as she stared at the overcast sky. They would need to go inside soon. The rain was threatening to pour.
But the tranquillity of the moment was soon disrupted when she heard Hong's playful meows turn to distressed screeches and hisses. Adara got up quickly, walking in the direction of the cries.
She soon saw what had been going on. Countess Louise's lady's maid was there, a stern-faced woman whom Adara rarely saw without a scowl. She was holding Hong roughly by the scruff of his neck as he thrashed.
"What do you think you're doing?" Adara asked, her voice sharp.
The lady's maid turned to face her, her scowl deepening. "I found this stray cat disruptin' the flowers. I was just goin' to throw it over the fence, back to where it belongs."
Adara's eyes narrowed. "Drop him."
The lady's maid did not. "But, Young Mistress, y'know how the Countess dislikes vermin such as—."
Adara interrupted her. "Hong is not vermin. He is not a stray cat. He is my... pet, and you will treat him as such."
Still, the lady's maid did not drop Hong. "Young Mistress, surely you understand not to anger the Countess. She wishes for no... pets to be allowed to roam freely around the estate, especially not in the gardens," she argued back. "I will put it neatly on the other side of the fence, and you may collect him when you return."
Adara tried hard not to clench her fists. "However might Hong be a pet, he is still a member of my Household and will be treated with respect. Thus, you will release him this instant."
The lady's maid hesitated, but after a pause and a look in Adara's steely eyes, she uncordially dropped him.
Hong ran towards Adara, and she leaned down to scoop him in her arms. She looked back at the lady's maid, an even deeper scowl on her face now. "I will not tolerate any mistreatment of my pets," she spoke, a harsh edge to her voice. "You be sure to tell your Countess that."
Adara decided not to have a redo of what happened in the Poison Department, so she called Rory to her instead. When he entered her office, he was greeted by Hong, who was intertwining himself between his legs.
He looked down at the playful kitten, a small smile on his face. He bent down, offering his hand to the kitten. The small red kitten rubbed his face against the hand, and his smile widened. With a gentle motion, he scooped the fluffy ball into his arms, cradling it against his chest. The kitten purred, nuzzling closer to Rory.
"Aren't you friendly?" he murmured softly.
"I do apologise," Adara said, spooking him slightly. "I haven't had much time to play with him as our little outing in the gardens was interrupted."
Rory looked past the tired person sitting at the desk and looked outside. The pouring rain was beating hard against the glass of the window. "Because of the rain?"
Adara didn't move. "I guess you could say that." She sighed, setting the quill down and leaning into her chair.
The kitten in his arms squirmed out of his grasp and darted to Adara. She welcomed him with arms, letting the kitten rest on her lap as she petted him. Rory took a seat across from her desk.
"Any news on my head?" Adara asked.
Rory shook his head. "Not much. They are still debating the price of Venion's head. They decided to go along with your plan, though a few altercations were made. They also put Marquis Stan's head on it, and the price of his head is also being debated."
Adara nodded distantly. "Tell your mother I appreciate the necklace. It arrived just in time. It was appropriate for a function I attended."
For a moment, Rory wondered what function she had attened. The necklace was only fit for a funeral—but he quickly got rid of the thoughts. It wasn't his place to wonder. "I will tell her."
Adara nodded again. "Also, I've got unfortunate news." Seeing the way he tensed, she waved him away with her free hand. "Not for you. It's about the Head of Administration. Damon. Do you like Damon?"
Rory frowned at the open question. "Damon-nim is a good boss if that's what you are asking, Young Mistress." He thought Adara looked quite evil like this, stroking her cat with one hand as lightning from behind illuminated her features.
The evil villain in question sighed. "Yes, that's the problem. I don't take you for a gossiper, so I'll indulge you in a secret. Damon is getting dismissed soon. We need a replacement."
Rory blinked. "Are you saying I'll—?"
"You'll have to go through the training," she said. "That is if you want to. If you don't, we'll find another replacement."
Rory shook his head. "No, I do want to go through with the training. What do I do?"
Adara waved him away. "Oh, you don't have anything to do today. I'll be gone tomorrow, so I cannot instruct you. But Sadie, the same one in the Poison Administration, was close to being Head of Administration. If you want to proceed with the training, report to her first thing tomorrow."
Rory nodded. "I will make sure to. Thank you, Young Mistress."
She waved him away again. "Thank me once you get the job."
Rory smiled another small smile. It was such an Adara way to answer. "Well then, thank you for the opportunity."
Adara looked up at him with a gleam in her eyes that told him she wasn't serious. "Get out already."
Adara had stayed long enough in her office. She was walking down the hallway on her way to her room. Hong had gotten fed up with travelling on her shoulder and was walking next to her, blending neatly with the red carpet.
She heard familiar footsteps come out of a room behind her and cursed in her mind. She walked quicker.
A voice stopped her.
"Adara?"
Adara paused for a moment. Debating. Should I ignore him? But she had paused for too long, and she could no longer ignore the person who had called out her name. She turned around to face him. "Mikhail."
One thing that irked her about Mikhail was that he looked so much like her Father despite them not being blood-related. He had brown hair, though lighter than her Father's, and greyer in colour, too, but it was closer than her pitch-black hair.
However, his eyes were green-blue, and both her father and stepmother had green eyes—they were still more similar than her dark eyes. His skin was tanned, not as much as Sadie's, certainly not as pale as her Father's, but much lighter than her skin, with and without her necklace.
He looked like he belonged in the family. And she, who was her Father's true child, not the child of a woman who said she loved him, looked like the outcast.
He spoke up first. "What are you doing here?"
Adara narrowed her eyes at the accusatory tone. Something was off. "I live here." Why wasn't he ignoring her? Why had he called out her name? He hasn't talked to her in so long.
Mikhail looked past her, down the hallway, and he looked behind him as well before he quickly made his way to her and shoved her into one of the abandoned guest rooms.
Adara complied only because it would be unstately if they fought in public. And also because she had a feeling he wasn't here to fight, he knew his stick arms could never land a punch that would hurt. And she had her daggers with her.
Her back was against the wall, and Mikhail was grabbing the fabric of her shirt to pull her down to his level. His voice was low when he spoke. "I need you to do something."
Adara tried not to roll her eyes. "Do tell."
"Become the Count."
Adara's eyes widened in a flash. "What—."
Mikhail interrupted her. "I don't want to be the Count," he explained. "If I do become it then the Family, the Territory, it's all going to go to ruin. My Mother will rule through me, and it will all be for nothing. Become the Count."
Adara put her hands around Mikhail's wrists; his hands were still holding onto her shirt. "If you don't want any of it, then why didn't you—oh, you sly fucker." She realised what had been off. He wasn't acting the same. The tone of his voice was different, the way he held his body, the way he looked at her, it was all different.
Mikhail flinched at the look in her eyes. He hated how her eyes scanned his face as if she knew what he was thinking.
"You were pretending all that time, weren't you?" Adara spoke up, her voice now accusatory. "With the amount of studying you were doing, I was truly surprised none of it stuck." Mikhail looked away. "Were all those anger outbursts fake, too?" she continued. "And the incompetence? How much of it was fake?"
He opened his mouth, about to respond. "I—."
Adara interrupted him. "No. Shut up. Someone's walking towards us. How well are you monitored?"
Mikhail stared at her scarred face and wondered how she could hear from beyond the door. "Pretty well."
Adara pushed him off her. "Fuck, your mother is going to come in and cause problems. I'll have to be gone before the sun comes up, or she'll hound me."
Mikhail couldn't keep up; she was speaking too fast, moving too fast. He almost fell when she pushed him away; she had to hold onto his shoulders to balance him. "My mother?" How can she tell?
True enough, the door opened and out came his mother.
Countess Louise always looked like the embodiment of aristocratic dignity, and this was especially true today. Her golden blonde hair was meticulously styled in an intricate hairstyle, each twist and curl arranged to perfection. The luminous hairstyle framed her sharp features, making them appear more delicate.
Her complexion was fair as it always was, and her green eyes pierced through Adara with an intensity that betrayed her thoughts. Her expensive gown, with its lavish silk and satin, covered her slender frame; the intricate lacework and delicate embroidery were a profligate show of aristocratic superiority.
She stared at Adara as she spoke. "Oh, Mikhail, here you are. Adara, what sort of things have you been telling my son?"
Adara held in a sigh. She had tried to avoid them, and now she was trapped in a room with both of them. "Nothing, madam, I was just giving my good advice on studying."
Countess Louise tutted. "Well, he certainly doesn't need advice from a person like you. You're not even from my blood; what use do you have?"
Adara did not want to be here.
"Your mother died because of you, but frankly, I think you should have done her a favour and taken the load off of your poor mother. It would have been much better for the County."
Adara really did not want to be here.
"And for your father," Countess Louise added. "He is stressed out and worrying about where his useless daughter is going to go when my son becomes Count. Nobody wants to marry you, in any case. You might have to become a nun. A nun— for you could never become a priestess— at the Temple of Death, perhaps, the Sun God knows you would fit in with your blasphemous skin colour."
Adara stared at Countess Louise for a moment. Well, she thought. That was uncalled for.
Countess Louise let out an exasperated sigh. "Well? Aren't you going to answer? It is very rude for a Count's daughter to ignore someone with a higher status than her, namely a Countess."
Adara was getting tired by the second. She was glad that Hong had accidentally been left outside the door. She didn't want him to see her like this, not with this company. "I do not see why I have to answer to you, all you are doing is meaninglessly slandering me."
Countess Louise's nostrils flared, a sign Adara knew well. "Is that it, you insolent child?" she spoke, her tone rising. "You dare say those words to me? You are lucky I did not tell your father to kick you out when you were still a small child. You should be grateful to me. After all, you were such a prissy child; I'm surprised he didn't leave you for the monsters the moment you were born. The Sun God knows I would have left you for the monsters if I had the misfortune of giving birth to you, however pale your skin."
Adara sighed, the corners of her eyes weary.
Countess Louise's green eyes widened. "Did you just sigh at me? Oh, this is how we're doing this, then?"
She continued talking, but Mikhail wasn't listening. He was on the sidelines, watching the interaction he had seen millions of times before. I'd rather have Adara be mad at me, he thought, the revelation coming to him, rather than my mother. He'd never seen Adara mad, never truly mad. When they were younger, she would be sad but never angry; even now, he had never seen her livid.
She mostly avoided him, but when he did manage to push her buttons, she only looked tired. Sometimes, she said a few words, but she had never been mad. She says what she needs to, he thought; distantly, he heard Adara's calm voice. And then she leaves. She doesn't point fingers or come up with baseless accusations. She's... She's calm. Cold and tired, but calm. A sudden realisation came to him. I don't think I've ever even seen her raise her voice.
He saw Adara leave the room, likely finished speaking. He felt that familiar hollow pain in his chest as his mother's wild eyes turned to him. He never had an opinion of Adara, but he hated her when she wasn't there. If she wasn't there for his mother to take her anger out on, then that anger was directed at him.
Sadie knocked on Adara's room. She waited outside the door, the vials of poison in her hands. She waited a bit longer until she knocked on the door again. Is she sleeping? Sadie wondered. No, it's night out, but I can see a bit of light creeping from underneath the door. She knocked once more, and when she still received no answer, she opened the door.
The curtains were drawn out as they were the last time Sadie saw Adara's room. Everything was clean and organised, the books in the bookcases, the sheets on the bed ironed and wrinkle-free, but Adara was in the middle of this clean room, looking like a mess.
She was on the couch, a bottle of wine in her hands, staring blankly at the ceiling. The kitten was purring softly, but she could tell it was worried—if a cat could be worried.
Sadie quietly took a step inside the room, closing the door softly behind her. "Adara?"
"Sadie?"
Adara's voice was soft and slurred, distant, like she was far away and that she couldn't quite believe Sadie was really here.
Sadie carefully placed the vials on the nightstand next to Adara's bed. She was walking to Adara with slow movements. She didn't know what type of drunk Adara was. If she were aggressive or not, so she would be careful until she found out. "Yes, it's me. Sadie. No last name. You know."
Adara didn't react.
Sadie slowly sat next to her on the couch. It seemed she was a quiet drunk. Adara's curly hair was all over the place, and her eyes were fixed on the ceiling. Her face was flushed with a deep and beautiful scarlet, but it was cold.
Adara moved, and Sadie tried not to flinch. But Adara was only handing her the bottle of wine. "No more," she muttered. "Please, no more."
Sadie quietly took the bottle. Adara's hand, now no longer clamped around the bottle, rested on Sadie's lap. She set the bottle on the table in front of the couch. The bottle was Henituse Wine, Sadie noticed. She suddenly thought of the eldest Henituse, the one she had never seen. She knew Adara was close to him. She knew she was very close to him.
"Adara," she started once more. "What happened?"
But Sadie's words came to a stop as she looked at Adara. A single tear escaped the corner of Adara's eye. It glistened in the soft light from the lamp, the tear tracing a path down her cheek. Sadie had never seen Adara cry.
Sadie lifted her hand, her touch light and gentle on Adara's face as she brushed away the tear. The faint touch made Adara's eyes slowly turn to look at Sadie. Her eyes were still unfocused, but they were no longer crying.
"Adara," Sadie whispered, looking into the bottomless pits that Adara called eyes. Her voice was barely audible in the quiet room, but Sadie knew somehow that Adara could hear her. "Whatever happened, whatever you think, I'll be there."
Sadie shifted closer to her, and Adara didn't move away from her. "I know you hate this building," Sadie said softly. "I know you don't consider it home. I can tell you hate it with every fibre of your being. Let me help you. Tell me what to do, and I'll do it if it helps. I'm willing to do anything."
Adara didn't answer. But when Sadie tried to retract her hand from Adara's cheek, Adara followed her hand. Adara leaned into her touch until she was leaning on Sadie. Sadie lay with her back on the couch, Adara on her.
Adara's eyes were closed, but Sadie knew she wasn't sleeping. She would lay here with Adara for a few hours until she would put her in her own bed. Sadie suddenly knew why Adara was like this. Earlier today, she had heard screaming.