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“Hey, Cal. Did I forget something?” I prayed this would be about a misplaced wallet, and nothing serious. But I already knew if she w
as taking the time to pick up the phone, it had to be serious.
“You must leave.”
“Excuse me?”
“You have to go. You have to get as far from New York as you can. There’s no time to waste. Leave whatever it is you’re doing, get into your car and go.”
Instead of springing into action at her words, my body went cold and I felt frozen in place, totally unable to make whatever next move was necessary to my survival.
Calliope sounded…scared.
I couldn’t remember her ever sounding this frightened for me, because what would she have to fear? Like she’d told me less than an hour earlier—she already knew how I was going to die. So why should she be frightened?
Unless something had happened to change my fate.
My palms felt itchy, but I could do nothing to alleviate the sensation. I had both my guns, but even so I suddenly wanted my sword very badly.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“It’s Aubrey…” Her voice drifted off like she was struggling to find the words. Maybe it was tricky to tell someone they were about to die by fairy king.
Aubrey Delacourte was the last man I wanted to have to deal with right now. Or ever again, if I was being honest. I had sort of hoped—with him being a true immortal and all—he might forget about the favor I owed him until I was long dead. If I could have put off hearing his name again until I’d been dead for five hundred years, that would have been swell.
“What about Aubrey?”
Cal let out a wavering breath. When she spoke next, her voice was firm and serious. “He sent his men to me tonight. He knew you’d been here, and he had a message for you.”
Was that all? A crazy fairy was sending his men chasing after me in interdimensional space to deliver messages? No biggie.
“And the message was?”
“He wants you to know he hasn’t forgotten you. He wanted me to tell you he’s coming. And he said if you don’t give him what he wants this time, you’ll pay in blood.”
I stepped into Brigit’s closet, though I wasn’t sure what I was trying to hide from. I was already separated from Holden and Sutherland by a whole room, though if they’d been super keen to listen in, they probably could have managed. I clutched the sleeve of a bubblegum-pink cashmere sweater and lifted it to my face. It smelled of Pink Sugar perfume, the candy-sweet scent Brigit had sworn by.
My eyes watered, and I blinked back the tears, struggling to stay in the moment.
Pulling the sweater down off its hanger, I clutched it to my chest.
So the fairy king was out for blood or favors.
I didn’t particularly want to give him either.
“Did he say when he was coming?” I glanced around the closet and considered sitting on the floor amongst the discarded purses, but thought better of it.
“It won’t be long now. If they’d come while you were still here, I wouldn’t have even had this opportunity. You must leave, Secret. Give yourself a chance to finish what you’ve started elsewhere. Once Aubrey has you…”
I waited for her to finish the thought, and when she didn’t, I supplied my own worst-case scenarios. “It’s going to be bad, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know anything when it comes to him, not anymore. I severed my ties with him. Where your future meets his, it’s all black.”
“Maybe it won’t be as grim as you think,” I offered.
“You have to run. This is my brother; we are of the same blood. If I tell you to go, you must go. Please.”
It was the please that did it. Calliope was the type to make orders, not requests. For her to be begging me to leave the city—something she hadn’t done when Peyton’s goon squad was out for my blood—meant it was serious.
