Consumed by the Shadows

Kenna

The dining room table in the castle can seat twenty-four people. It’s insane, really. I’ve been to both formal and informal dinners here during my brief and scattered trips to Crescent Falls. Normally, the family only gathers in Maatua, and there we like to spread out on the grass, or the patio, or the beach for dinner….

But there’s no food laid out. No breakfast spread, no snacks. Nothing to drink or fiddle with. 

I lace my fingers together in my lap while I sit on one of the chairs near the head of the table. Ryan sits across from me, his legs crossed as he drums his fingers on his knee. 

Sydney and Aunt Maddy are upstairs with Uncle Isaac. 

Misty walks into the room, her eyes red, bloodshot, and full of tears. A smear of mascara peppers her left cheekbone as she looks from me to Ryan. 

I shoot to my feet. “Misty, what’s the matter?”

She pouts, her lo