The panic in the voice of a guy usually so cocky has us allrunning out the door. Byron grasps my elbow and tugs me toward the stairwell next to the condo.
We’re halfway down the first flight of steps when the elevator’sding!filters through from above.
Asher glances worriedly back. “I hope he managed to fix everything up fast enough.”
Byron grimaces and hurries on. “He is a halfway decent lucent. And I’m sure he’s used to tense situations.”
That tension still hangs over us all, coiling around my gut as my feet tramp on. A sinking sensation spreads through my abdomen.
Just by being here, I’ve made even more problems for my men. I’ve made their lives harder twice in one evening.
And I can’t tell if today’s gamble got me any closer to setting our troubles right.
Thirty-Seven
Elodie
At the end of the school day, I walk out of Thesan Hall alone, not knowing or really caring where my so-called friends are. All the students around me probably assume I’m keeping my head down and avoiding conversation because of the rumors still circulating, but that’s not what’s whirling through my head on repeat.
Every time I close my eyes, I see the woman lying in a pool of blood. Her head rolling after Salvatore’s sword cut her down.
The two index cards I’m carrying in my satchel weigh on my shoulder. How could I even start to bring any of this crisis up with Dad?
Where the fuck is Aunt Daphne when I actually could use a little intervention?
Of course, I’m not sure I’d want to confess what happened last night to her either.
I dawdle for a few minutes on the street outside theschool, the overcast sky glowering down at me and my skin itching with restlessness. Finally, I summon a ride to take me across town.
I get out down the street from Groove Garden, cast a concealment spell around me, and walk the rest of the way over.
The sight of a police car parked in the lane raises my spirits. The club isn’t open yet, and I don’t think it’d be wise to stage a breaking and entering while there are cops on the premises, so I wait outside, watching for any sign of activity.
Two officers emerge, ushered by a man who must be staff. Both cops look vaguely disgruntled.
I ease closer to their car as they head toward it.
One shakes her head at the other. “Dispatch has to do something about these worthless tips. Just a waste of time.”
“No kidding,” her partner says. “Are we supposed to be scared of a bunch of boxes of liquor bottles? Someone was probably high last night and hallucinated a delivery into something crazy.”
As they clamber into the car, I glance at the club’s black walls with a hollow in my gut.
Cole got the police involved like he promised… but it’s already too late.
Am I even surprised? With the level of coordination and secrecy this group has shown, they probably cleared every shred of evidence from the basement room and replaced their equipment with innocuous bar supplies before the sun came up. It isn’t as if they had all that much to move out.
I kick at a stray pebble, my teeth gritting. Salvatore’s gambit might still work to get Ms. Lupul away from Dad, but the bigger problem hasn’t gone anywhere.
I feel like Ariadne losing my thread in the middle of a labyrinth.
My fingers flex at my sides and find nothing to hold onto. The hollow sensation inside me expands with a searing jab of homesickness.
Of Mom-sickness, really. It’s been over a year since I last experienced one of my mother’s warm hugs even in my old reality, but I’d give just about anything to have her here with me right now.
“Chin up,”she’d say.“We’re not letting anyone stop you from becoming the bold, brilliant woman I know you’ll be, Elodie Ishani Devine.”
Would she have felt the same way if she’d known how much blood was on my hands?
