Ember stared down at me, her hazel eyes sad and hopeful at the same time. “I hope you’re right, Ares. See you tonight, when it’s done.”
“Promise?” I asked her.
“I’ll be there,” she replied, before slipping away to get ready. There would be no emotional goodbyes—neither of us could take it—but it felt like my heart was dissolving in my chest. Or maybe it was just the last walls of protection I had left for myself.
If anything happened to her, I wouldn’t survive it. I let myself get in far too deep here, all for dreams of a future I wasn’t sure was even possible. I sat up in bed, covering my face with my hands. Just a few more hours, and then we’d sort all this out. We just had to make it through the night.
CHAPTER 36
EMBER
THE AFTERNOON OF THE GALA
Laraand I left without saying goodbye. The Orphium Maere never said good luck, never said goodbye. There was no need, after all. We were eternal. But I could tell from the jittery way Lara tapped out a beat on the steering wheel of the Dodger that the Chioric weapon was on her mind, same as it was mine.
We were dressed similarly in close-fitting cargo pants, heavy combat boots, and warm sweaters. Lara wore a turtleneck, but I couldn’t stand to have anything so close around my neck on a day like today. The tall collar of my sweater was less constricting due to the zipper that I’d left undone.
Lara raised an eyebrow as I got back into the car with our breakfast sammies. Two jumbo biscuit-egg-and-cheeses with bacon from Little Jimmie’s on Fourth and triple shot lattes to go.
“Does Ares like it when you wear those pushup bras?” Lara joked, tweaking my zipper as I arranged our food.
I glared at her teasing face. “It’s not a pushup bra. It’s a sports bra.” I gestured to my tits. “So they don’t bounce all over the place while we blow up the National Gallery.”
Lara snickered, taking a big bite of her sandwich. “I’m so fucking glad we don’thave to dress up tonight.”
I didn’t answer her. I wouldn’t have minded dressing up with Ares. It had seemed like he might say something emotional to me this morning, some profession of how he felt, or what he wanted from me. I’d wanted him to, but at the same time, a superstitious beast lived inside me. I avoided saying how I felt, because declarations felt like goodbye, like hedging. We could say what we needed to later.
Lara and I ate in silence. “You gonna choose the mixtape, or what?” she said as we tossed our wrappers into the to-go bag.
I flipped the glove box open, chose my favorite and threw it in the deck. Lara turned the volume up as a sick drumbeat pulsed through the car. Shivers skittered over my skin as I watched Lara drive. Hoofbeats of the past echoed through me. She shifted gears, the Dodger leaping forward as she wove through traffic. Her hand slid across the console.
Lara’s fingers wove through mine, and I squeezed her hand. She drew it to her chest, letting me feel her heartbeat, which was strong and steady. “Sing it, Verona,” she ordered me as the lyrics began.
Memories of our voices, lifted to Tanith and Amarante on an ancient battlefield, slipped through the atoms of the car, mixing past and present. Lara’s heartbeat set the pace of my own. She let go of my hand to shift and the familiar music swelled, taking me through memories of all the victories we’d ever had.
And there had been many.
In this lifetime and the last.
The Authority could fuck with us forever. We had the time to wait them out. They took Lara from me. Tricked Max and Sera into betraying us. Separated us at every turn. But we were here now, making our way towards the swords that would set things right.
We were very likely walking right into a trap, but the three of us were about to take back what was ours. And tonight, after we had our swords back, I’d call Max and apologize one lasttime. I’d figure out where Sera’s sword was, and whatever happened next, we would win. I wasn’t going to let anyone keep us down from here on out.
Whoever did all this wasn't going to ruin us.I wouldn’t let them.
Lara grinned at me as the song changed, biting her bottom lip, her pronounced canines gleaming viciously as rain splattered on the window. I laughed as she swayed to the guitar riff at the start of her favorite song, then unlocked my phone and sent Rhiannon the digital version I had saved of this mixtape with the note,Blast the shit out of this while you get pretty, and keep the necromancers safe tonight.
She sent back a positively filthy selfie, which I flashed at Lara, who shook her head. “I’ll never get over her.”
I laughed, tears pricking at the corner of my eyes. “You already are.”
She shook her head. “You don’t get over Rhiannon. She just lives inside you.” Lara sighed. “Deep… inside.”
I laughed so hard that I snorted. The two of them loved to make jokes about their breakup at the most inappropriate times. It felt like we were back. “We can do this,” I said, before turning the music’s volume up all the way.
As we crossed the bridge into uptown, strength filled me. I touched the medallions around my neck. One for Tanith. One for Amarante. I was sure about this. We could get the swords back.
Ahalf hour later and we were in. The first bombs to set were the ones directly under the swords in the Auction Gallery. From all of Avaline’s spying, we knew there would be guards on this level. But when we got there, the numbers were double what we’d anticipated.
