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“I would leave her for you,” Orson growled. “Don’t you want what she has? You wouldn’t have to work—”
“I have to go.” I couldn’t deal with this, all of this.
I didn’t let him answer as I sprinted the few feet toward my door, the brittle box clutched to my chest.
How did he find this? I can’t even believe he remembered it existed.
Locking myself in the house, I collapsed on the foyer floor, splaying my legs out in front of me to lift the lid off the ancient hatbox again. Happy, shimmering tears filled my eyes as I began to remove the items inside, one by one, my fingers electrified with each memory as I fingered each one individually.
I had seen his endless texts and suspected that those missed calls had been from Elijah, too, but this time capsule spoke to me more than anything he could have ever said in words.
In my mind’s eye, I saw us, so much in love, sitting by the giant sleeping spider tree next to his stables, placing every single item into the hatbox.
“Shall we put that hideous hat inside it also?”I heard Elijah jest, pointing at the silly, frilly bonnet my mother had bought me only a week before.
“You wouldn’t dare if you wish to spare yourself the wrath of my mother,”I had replied.
“My love for you is salve for any pain your mother might inflict upon me, and I cannot bear to see that abomination upon such a glorious crown.”
I started to laugh as my hands curled around the crumpled, ruined bonnet, no longer recognizable after so long under the earth. My giggles turned into full-blown sobs, and I buried my hands in my face.
Who had I been kidding to think I could stay away from Elijah? I’d been an idiot to even try.
Chapter26
Elijah
“It’s time to confront Orson,” Ash informed me after breakfast the next morning.
He was getting antsy to return to MacShire. But I wasn’t ready to make my move.
“No,” I said, sensing his displeasure at my answer. “I can’t yet. I don’t know for sure that Orson planned this, despite what he’s done with the Verity Gang.”
“Then what am I doing here?” Ash demanded. “I didn’t upset my life to stand around waiting for you to make a move. You need to do something, Elijah. Eventually, you’re going to lose the element of surprise, which is about the only advantage you have right now.”
“I need to get all my ducks in a row before acting,” I insisted. “I only have one shot at this, Ash. Unless you’re going to keep sending me men.”
Ash regarded me warily. “You’re starting to sound like you’re not sure you’re going to act.”
It was a thought that had crossed my mind before, but that had been when I hadn’t known about the trafficking. I couldn’t let Orson continue to run my good name through the mud like he’d been doing. But I still had to consider the position I’d already put Abby in.
“I just need more time,” I sighed, knowing what he was going to say without Ash saying it.
I’d already had more than enough time.
To save himself from saying something, Ash didn’t return to my suite that evening. A text message informed me that he had taken a suite of his own next door and would come back in the morning. The demon shifter was giving me space—probably because I was getting on his nerves.
I didn’t blame him: I was getting on my own nerves with my lack of decisiveness. So many things were running through my mind, none more than if Draven had delivered the package to Abby.
I sent Ash’s other guards out for the night, too, not wanting the weight of other people around while I forced myself to decide.
I couldn’t wait around for Abby to come back. She had clearly made her choice in Orson, but going after him might mean endangering her now. That was a risk I wasn’t willing to take, no matter how much that pissed off Ash.
At the same time, the more I sat around making excuses, the worse the Verity Gang became right under my nose, and Ash was right—I risked exposing myself sitting in the middle of Pario City. Moreover, if Orson had anything to do with my fate out there on the battlefield, it could not go unanswered.
Groaning, I rubbed my temples and continued my endless pacing of the hotel suite, the size of it seeming to shrink around me suddenly. I wanted nothing more than to shed my human skin and make a break for the great outdoors for a run to clear my mind.
That always helps,I thought, the notion tempting me, and I moved toward the door, but as my hand touched the knob, a now-familiar sensation pulsed at my chest.
