“You have a lot of pluck,” Rafe says. “I’ll give you that. But I’m not sure pluck will quell this particular beast. He’s powerful, and if his appetite has anything to say about it, he’s getting more powerful every day. If you think you can just open a rift, pop inside his lair, and free his prisoners, I feel very bad for my cousin. The poor guy will soon be grieving the death of his ex-girlfriend.”
I round on him. “How do you know we broke up?”
Rafe rolls his eyes. “Of course you broke up. Before Halloween, the two of you were having the most obnoxious competition over who would get to be the martyr.I’ll die. No, I’ll die. No, let me!”He does the imitation in a mocking falsetto. “It was all very nauseating, if I’m being honest. And sincere,” he concedes. “Call me a fool for assuming, but something tells me you weren’t going to let the afternoon snacking continue.”
Fury snakes up my spine at the blasé way in which he speaks of Jude’s soul. “You underestimatedme before, you know. When you didn’t think I stood a chance against Seraphina.”
Pain flickers across his face, just for a moment, and I experience a vindictive thrill.
Despite what Rafe told me on Halloween night—that any love he once had for Seraphina was lost along ago—he seemed to regain it as soon as she rose from the tomb. He looked like a man who would have gone to war for her, sacrificed his own life for her. Now she’s gone. Destroyed. Thanks to me and Jude. While it probably isn’t the wisest move to provoke him, it feels a little cathartic.
“Surely you realize this is different,” he says.
“How so?”
Rafe sighs a long suffering sigh. “Do you have a secret weapon up your sleeve? A fragment of Dr. Psycho’s essence hidden away in a silver locket?”
I blink at him.
“You don’t even have a way to get to him, and as much as I would love to help, I don’t either. Not without the ruby.”
The ruby.
At the mere mention of it, every ounce of my anger morphs into desperation. It takes immense restraint not to grab Rafe by the lapels of his wool coat and beg for his help. “What about the onyx?” I ask. “Or the pearl? Could they open a rift?”
“I have my doubts.”
“Why?”
“The ruby is a stone fueled by emotion, which is exactly what the Overlay feeds upon. Something tells me the pearl and the onyx won’t extend the same favors.”
“But you don’t know for sure.”
“There is an infinitesimal chance I could be wrong. Crazier things have happened.” He dips his chin. “Do you have the onyx and the pearl?”
“They’re in the crypt beneath St. Fortuna’s.”
“There’s a crypt beneath St. Fortuna’s?”
“It’s where your brother hid the amulets.”
Rafe arches his dark brows.
“The problem is, the crypt is locked and Lainey has the key. She’s been wearing it like a necklace.”
He chuckles. “Oh, Lainey. She does like to be in the thick of things, doesn’t she?”
“I don’t think she’s been given much of a choice.”
“I suppose not.” He folds his arms and taps his chin. “She might give it to me, if I rekindled our romance.”
“I don’t think she’ll be so easily seduced this time around.”
“It’s worth a try.” Rafe shrugs. “I’m sure I could sidle in close enough to get the key, anyway.Believe it or not, I’ve got some pretty slick hands. I went through a pickpocketing phase in the 1950s.”
“You’re filthy rich,” I say.
“Yes, I am.”
