My declaration is met with absolute silence.
I take another sip of coffee, hoping they don’t notice the cup shaking.
“You told him?—”
“What he needed to hear to move on,” I interrupt her. “It’s better this way, and not only for you.”
A shadow falls over me, and I look up into the behemoth of an angel’s face. Malach has a stare that follows you around the room. He nods at me, his expression stern and oddly arresting—a rococo painting behind bulletproof glass.
Gods, Mom would love to have a statue of him in the house. Something to scare everyone shitless before they meet her.
“As I said...” His voice is a low rumble. “I judged him worthy.”
A choked laugh escapes me, and I spill hot coffee on my thumb. “I’m what?”
“Worthy,” Malach repeats, his brow creasing as he looks at me. Is he second-guessing himself already?
“That’s awesome,” I say, taking the opportunity to escape the heavy tension of the conversation. “I’m glad someone around here finally caught on.”
“Ciprian...” Celine’s stare is penetrating. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything.” I cringe at the raspy sound of my own voice.
“When will you be back?” Celine sounds anxious, but I’m not naïve enough to think her worry has anything to do with my wellbeing. It’s about her future in this territory and the escalating violence from her father. As it should be. She has enough to focus on, so why are her brown eyes still locked on me?
I shift my weight. “I’m not sure. I’ll be in touch as soon as I can. But you all need to be careful. Lie low for a few days.”
“We will.” Celine’s voice is subdued.
I dip my chin, hand Luca the rest of my coffee, and leave.
They don’t try to stop me.
I’m ten miles down the road when my phone rings.Alistair.Worry for the surly vampire prickles my skin. He’s in bad shape; he just won’t admit it. I answer, half hoping he’s ready to tell me what’s wrong.
What he says instead turns my blood to ice.
I end the call, crushing the phone in my grip. The screen glitches, pink streaks slicing through the display.
I’m an idiot. I should have known Alistair wasn’t coming around.
The dossier... merging our magic—it meant nothing to him. Ever since he learned my last name, he’s been biding his time,waiting for a moment to cut me where it hurts the most. And now he’s succeeded.
Somehow, he found out about Sheena, my only fucking friend. Sheena, who’s been through more than enough at the hands of our world already. Sheena, the love of my brother’s life and the weakness I’m least armed to protect.
Rage makes it hard to focus on the road.
For two hours, I drive as if I don’t want to reach my destination in one piece. For the next seven and a half hours, I think harder than I ever have. I crush my panic, bury my anger, and fucking think until I have a plan that might work.
Alistair used Sheena against me, playing a card he never needed to use. I was already going to help Celine and Luca. By forcing my hand, he’s torn my blinders off. I see him for who he is—a desperate, cold, angry, lonely monster.
I never should have pulled the sword from his gut.
TWENTY-FIVE
Unspoken rule of the Fringes #544:
Any solid plan has at least three backups.
