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It wouldn’t be that cut and dry, but Cade and I would have our own discussion about it once Seth was gone.
“Bring me the boy. Don’t let anything happen to him.”
He didn’t add an or else, but I heard one all the same.
The rain had settled into a soft drizzle, enough to dampen my face and create a smoky effect around the light posts. Seth, who evidently thought our business was concluded, began to walk away, ready to fade back into the mist.
The sound of a door lock engaging behind me returned me to the here and now and reminded me why Cade and I had come here in the first place.
“Seth,” I shouted.
Cade stiffened. I hadn’t realized he’d relaxed until the calmness left him. He apparently thought our interaction with the storm god was over as well.
“Yes?”
“We came here tonight to do a task for Ardra. If you want Cade to help me find Leo, it would go a long way with Ardra if you helped with her task personally.”
This, admittedly, was a bit selfish of me. But if we were going to bring down the house, I’d much rather Seth be the one to throw the lightning instead of me. It didn’t drain his energy in the slightest.
“Tallulah…” Cade began, but didn’t get further than my name.
“You want me to dirty my hands with human concerns?”
“I want you to show Ardra that her goodwill in letting Cade accompany me won’t be unappreciated.”
This was dangerous territory. If he was still in an ill humor, he might think I was being insolent instead of helpful. The truth was, I was thinking on my toes, and insolence was sort of my default setting.
What can I say? I was born difficult.
He chewed on this thought for a moment, then walked back towards us, the thin sheets of rain parting around him as he moved so it appeared like he was approaching through a shimmering tunnel of mist.
The effect was impressive.
“Fetch the mortal.” He waved his hand dismissively at the door. “I’m not here to do Manea’s bidding.”
I swallowed hard, realizing the only reason he was giving the man inside a chance to escape was that killing him would benefit the death goddess. Any other time he probably would have leveled the resort without a second thought towards the life inside.
After dashing quickly to the front door, I hammered on the glass pane until a pale, round face appeared. The man was in his late sixties, with thinning brown hair going gray around the temples and small blue eyes currently full of fear.
“Unlock the door,” I demanded.
“No.” His voice was muffled, but I managed to hear the rude tone all the same.
Man, no one appreciated a good life-saving effort these days.
“This building is coming down whether or not you come out.” I gave him a serious look so he would understand I wasn’t bluffing. “Unlock the door and get out, or stay in there and hope you aren’t crushed under a beam. Do whatever you want, I’m not going to fight you.”
I stood back, crossing my arms. In a different scenario I might have shown more patience or tried harder to make him understand what was happening, but thanks to my nerves being run raw by the presence of Seth, I was in no mood for hand-holding. Someone here was going to feel the brunt of my annoyance, and the man inside the building was the most obvious target.
Overhead, the clouds had begun to churn again, and the rain was falling harder. Soon the raindrops took on a more menacing sound, and I looked down to see quarter-sized pellets of hail bouncing off the sidewalk by my feet.
“Last chance,” I warned. “Open the door and leave, or stay and die. I don’t care.”
“I’ll call the police!”
“Mortal law has no bearing here.” I almost laughed at the absurdity of his threat, but the situation was serious enough that I remained poker-faced. “The police can’t help you.”
“I won’t go.” Yet he didn’t move away from the door. For some reason this idiot thought I was bluffing.
