Chapter 59

I watched the beast with wide eyes, wondering whether it had detected anything, and was secretly terrified of what it might do to me should it discover my untruth.

I almost couldn’t bear to watch as it approached the edge of the river and sniffed the air again. It roared, slapped the water with a clawed hand then roared again.

“Where is she?” it bellowed.

It spun around but I had managed to sneak behind a nearby mossy rock. There wasn’t much to hide behind, but if I lay down flat and pushed myself into the small crevice between it and the ground, it hid me completely. I waited and waited until I couldn’t stand to wait another second longer. I poked my head above the top of the rock and when I could no longer see the demon, I stood up.

I stepped slowly and carefully away from the rock, almost at the same time as Rosamond emerged from the water.

“Is it gone?” she called in a whisper.

“I don’t know,” I whispered back. “Stay there.”