AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Like loan sharks, you mean?”
Christy shakes her head. “No. Not like loan sharks. The kind of debts they deal with can't be paid with money.”
“I don’t understand?”
“The Deana-dhe deal in information, insecrets. Most of the time the debt a person has to pay in exchange for the information they’ve requested isn’t of monetary value, it’spersonal.”
“Like what?” A chill runs down my spine at the thought of what Grim and Beast will owe them in payment of their debts, but my skin positively turns icy when Thirteen meets my gaze.
“Like asking a woman gifted in the art of herbal medicine to avenge the death of a beloved family member.”
“What?!” My heart seizes in my chest. “But I thought…”
“You thought I only came here to deliver the letters from your mother? I did, but I also came here to repay my debt.”
“No!” I shake my head, my thoughts scatter as I try to piece together what the hell is going on.
“Why?”
“Because that’s what I owe the Deana-dhe for giving me the name of the man who murdered my mother,” she whispers. “I wanted revenge, only now the Deana-dhe have found a way to get theirs. They used me to do that. I would never have agreed to the debt if I’d known what they had planned.”
“Then why did you?”
“The Deana-dhe don’t tell you upfront what they want in exchange for the information you seek, they cash in at a later date. A year ago, a few days before my grandmother died, I bumped into Arden in Dublin when I was visiting a friend. Only it wasn’t a coincidental meeting. It never is when it comes to those men.”
“Thirteen, no,” I say, shaking my head, my voice rising. “I don’t understand. If you really hated The Masks, why persuade me to stay? Why give me my mother’s letter? Why give her letter to them? Why tell me that you believe we belong together, that you believe in the legend, if all you want to do is kill them?”
“Who said anything about killing them?” she asks me, a slow smile pulling up her lip.
“What do you mean?”
“When they asked me to avenge the death of Michael, Arden’s father, your uncle, Iknewthey meant for me to kill The Masks, but your mother pointed out something very important to me in her letter. They didn’t use the wordkillspecifically, Christy. I’m not about to become a murderer for those bastards. I won’t.”
A rush of air leaves my lungs as I sit back in my chair, relief flooding my veins. “Then what are you going to do?”
“Not me, Christy.You.”
My heart literally stops beating as she gives me a knowing smile. “The other night you said to me that it didn’t matter if you loved The Masks because they’re going to die anyway, that you were going to kill them. I was confused at first, given what your mother wrote in her letter to me, but I’ve finally understood how this is all going to play out,” Thirteen explains, sliding her hand into her skirt pocket and pulling out a folded piece of paper, handing it to me. With my heart pounding in my throat, I unfold it and begin to read.
