Page 62
Raven had touched my lips, and in turn, I will touch Étienne’s. This is how Raven will take his soul, how he had given me a fragment of his power. This is how he will have me use Étienne’s weakness against him.
A kiss of death.
Raven tilts my chin up to him. I sway, my gaze locked with his, mine wide and confused, his cool and distant. Eternal. In the darkness, I hear the deep echo of his voice.
“Restore the immortal world with me, Rose,” he whispers.
And feverishly, I nod my consent.
24
As if Étienne knows I’ve learned his secret, he is nowhere to be found the next day.
He doesn’t answer his phone, nor is it even on. After several tries that go straight to his voicemail, I give up.
Thorn and Raven haven’t handed down the specific of my third test yet, so there’s no reason for Étienne to stick around London if he has other missions. Still, I’m unnerved by his sudden absence. I spend most of the day in a stupor, lost somewhere between the revelation about him and the kiss from Raven.
From my patron god.
When I close my eyes, I can still feel his coldness, that immortal energy flowing from him through my body. When I touch my lips, I can taste the power of death on my skin.
Later that afternoon, I head to Aurora’s pub, hoping to find Étienne lounging at one end of the bar. Or even Charlotte, doing her art homework, who could help me sense where in the world he might be.
But neither of them is here today.
“Have you seen Étienne?” I call Katie on the phone as I take a seat by the counter. “I need his help for something.”
“Étienne?” Katie sounds distracted on the other end. “No—I thought he was busy testing you.”
“He is. But I haven’t heard from him lately. What about Charlotte?”
“Ah.” She cuts off for a bit, then comes back on in a more hushed voice, as if she’s found a quieter place to be. “You want Charlotte’s help finding him?”
“Is she with you?”
Katie is quiet for a moment.
At the pause in her voice, I tense up. “What is it?” I say.
“She left the city several days ago.”
I blink. “She left? Why? Where? For a job?”
“To her family’s old farm.”
I momentarily forget my own troubles. “What happened?”
“Her parents are fine,” Katie says. “No one’s hurt.” She pauses for a beat. “Charlotte’s family moved.”
I swallow, the knot of fear and dread in my stomach now making way for guilt. “Moved?” I ask. “Why?”
Katie sighs, then says, “I’m not sure. I don’t think she’s in the mood to chat, and she probably won’t admit it, but I think she’d be happy to see you anyway.”
How long has Charlotte been asking me to come with her to her family’s farm, to go to a fair with her, to hang out? How often have I forgotten or let her down? While I’ve been mired in my tests and all the revelations about Étienne, things have been happening in everyone else’s lives, too.
“Okay,” I answer. “I’m on my way.”
Winter in North Carolina has set in fully, but unlike London, it hasn’t snowed yet.
