None Shall Sleep (None Shall Sleep, #1)

by Ellie Marney

“So… are we still mad at Cooper?”

She was Gutmunsson’s hostage during the arrest.”

“My dad persuaded Gutmunsson to trade the sister as a hostage. He let my father take her place. But then Gutmunsson knifed him, so Kristin stabbed her brother in the neck. That’s how they caught him. My dad still died, though.”

The mental health care of the privileged few.

It’s because Kristin is beautiful. Some men find beauty discomforting, and Emma’s not sure why.

“He would like you, though,” Kristin says. “Why do you say that?” “Because you look closed-up and spiny, like a crab in a shell. He’s so curious about locked boxes. He would like to crack you open.”

“You still care for him.” Emma is shocked into saying it out loud.

I feel like its not all that surprising, honestly.

“He hates being bored. And your mysterious murder investigation is just the sort of thing he would like.

Later, in the cab of the Dodge as they drive back to Quantico against the end-of-day commuter traffic, Emma will notice how quiet he is, and that he has grass in his hair.

He knows how the FBI works. If he thinks she’s wired, he’ll just lie.”

For him, the longer this circus goes on, the better—he gets more attention that way.”

“In her philosophy, anyone can be reformed.”

The mundane necessity of housework seems at odds with the time-capsule feel of the space.

I’m sure he wants his donors clean and sober for the grand finale. Have you checked the histamine levels?”

Rub off the rust and your beacon is revealed, like a sliver of light in the dark.”

He sees something glowing in them, something he wants to kindle inside himself.…

I still don't know what this means

“How far is it to Berryville?”

Such a BAD idea guys...

“You’re about the least blunted person I ever met.”

I know what it is, she thinks. Gotta tell Cooper. But her brain is already fogging over, and by the time she wakes again in the morning, the knowledge is gone.

NAURRR

It makes him angry in turn, because he knows she already lives with a debilitating amount of fear.

That’s why I said please don’t mention our parents. He’ll get angry, and you won’t get anything out of him then.”

He knows that Kristin was a suspected accomplice of her brother for some time, that the question was raised in court. That her legal team reminded everyone how Kristin had stabbed Simon in defense of a lawman. It was one of the things that resulted in her exoneration.

Interesting...

The victims are all beautiful. Some of them unconventionally, but all of them have a luminous quality. It’s in their clear cheeks, their glossy hair, white teeth. They smile out of the photos, young and fresh and radiant, bursting with good health, the vigor of adolescence spilling off them like sunshine. Smooth foreheads and wide eyes and clean jawlines—the bone structure of the newly dead.

“I imagine that’s why he cut their hair.”

Kristin, you're scaring me.

But Kristin Gutmunsson has torn the veil from his eyes. He wants it back, but he’s a better investigator without it. There are no limits, he sees now.

“You don’t try to tame the lightning, son. You just give it the respect it deserves.”

“The legend goes that Siegfried bathed in the dragon’s blood, and it made him invincible.”

“I’d like you to let me know what you find out from Simon. The more I know, the better equipped I am to treat him. And it’s easier for me to cooperate with the FBI if I’m kept in the loop.”

Maybe I'm dumb but I'm becoming suspicious of her...

I believe he considers you a friend.

Uhhh, no thanks

The spark in his eyes tells her the significance isn’t lost on him. Do not take anything he offers you. She imagines she can still feel the warmth of his hand on the paper in hers.

Why he kinda...

“You think Gutmunsson’s planning another escape attempt?” “Simon never does anything without thinking about his own self-interest. If he’s agreed to cooperate with Raymond, to act as bait, it’s because he thinks he can work it to his own advantage.”

“Yeah, that’s me.” The man smiles. “Hoyt. Anthony Hoyt.”

Ah shit

She rolls sideways and throws the keys through the bars of Simon’s cage.

Simon Gutmunsson, free and unrestrained, walking closer, sauntering really. In the darkness of the asylum he resolves like smoke poured onto glass, gleaming like a phantasm when the moonlight hits him. White skin, red lips, his hair a beacon. Eyes glittering, fathoms deep.

She stops, because she doesn’t know for sure if everything’s okay. She looks up at Bell and he steps closer and cups her face in his hands. He wipes her cheeks with his thumbs and slowly, slowly, Emma sinks in until his arms wrap around and he is holding her. The warmth of him thaws some of the numbness inside, but Bell is solid; he keeps holding her while her shoulders shake.

She remembers the way he cupped her face last night, at the end of everything. The memory is very vivid, and she thinks it’s maybe made them a little awkward around each other. It’s strange to be awkward around Bell, and she tries to push the feeling aside.