“She’s not okay,” Jenny said viciously. “And it’s your fault.”
“My fault? I didn’t start the fire.”
“You seriously didn’t smell the magic in the theater?”
“What are you talking about?” There had been something off about the fire, but I’d been too worried about Elizabeth to pay close attention.
She crossed her arms over her chest but didn’t say anything.
“Jenny, if you noticed something, please tell me,” I begged, but she remained mum.
*
The burn unit waiting room emptied out as the night went on. I curled up in one of the chairs but couldn’t sleep. Around two, Talbot tapped me on the shoulder. “I found him.”
I worked a kink from my neck and the wraith scar twinged. “Where is he?”
“Outside,” he replied. “He won’t come in until he talks to you first.”
I followed Talbot to the parking lot, where a man in an oversized coat, heavy for this time of year, stood smoking a cigarette. The man’s jittery movements made his shadow dance.
When the streetlight cast his profile into sharp relief, it revealed the scar marking one side of his face. His right profile was elegant, handsome even, but his left side looked like someone had slammed it into a hot waffle iron.
My footsteps slowed. “I know him,” I said to Talbot in a low voice. I held up the emerald frog on the chain around my neck. “He gave me this.”
“Why?” Talbot said. “How?”
“I think he knew my mother.”
“Don’t pester him about it,” Talbot replied. “He’s skittish enough already.”
To prove his point, the man wheeled and walked in the opposite direction.
“Hey, wait up!” I sprinted over to him and grabbed him by the arm. He was still wearing the same mangy fedora and the black trench coat he’d had on when we’d first met.
He put up a hand like he thought I was going to hit him.
“Please,” I said as soothingly as possible. “I need your help. My girlfriend”—I cleared my throat—“my ex-girlfriend has been hurt, pretty badly. Please help her.”
“Your eyes,” he said. “Your mother’s eyes.”
I desperately wanted to ask him about my mother, about how he knew her, but I knew if I did, he’d run.
“Will you help her?”
He nodded.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
His throat worked. “No names,” he finally croaked. “Just get me into her room. Can you do that?”
I used a handy little obscura spell on the scarred man and me. Talbot opted to wait in the hallway to play lookout.
Elizabeth had a private room. Everything was cool and dark and still, including the figure in the bed. She was covered in bandages. The only sound in the room was the hum of the machines on one side of the bed. The IV made a plopping noise and the scarred man flinched.
Under her layers of bandages, Elizabeth was still. So still that I panicked. “Is she…?”
“She’s sedated. For the pain,” he said.
I exhaled shakily.
“Now get rid of the obscura spell,” the scarred man said. “It’s making me itchy.”
I didn’t bother to object. I needed to keep him happy so he would heal her. I reversed the spell on him but left mine in place.
He was so nervous that he was practically tap-dancing. The injuries to his face must have occurred in a similar fire.
“Are you okay?” I asked. “If this is too much for you…”
“You are kind,” he said.
“You say it like it’s a bad thing.”
“Sometimes it is,” he said. “But I’m fine.” He seemed to be telling the truth. His hands were steady as he reached for Elizabeth’s limp ones.
“Leave us,” he said. “Come back in fifteen minutes. Not a second less.”
“You won’t hurt her?” I was reluctant to leave, because after all, what did I really know about him?
“I give you my word that no harm will fall upon her while she’s under my care,” he said.
The pledge reassured me enough that I did as he asked and joined Talbot in the hallway. I tapped him on the shoulder and he jumped, since the obsura spell still rendered me invisible.
“Damn it, Nyx,” he whispered. “You scared the hell out of me. Anything yet?”
“He kicked me out,” I said. “Are you sure about this guy? He told me to come back in fifteen minutes.”
“He’s the best healer in Minneapolis,” Talbot assured me. “If he can’t help her, no one can.”
I paced until the clock ran out and then ran back to her room.
“She’s awake,” I whispered.
“I did my best,” the scarred man said, “but there was a lot of damage to her face.”
“I don’t care,” I said. “She’s better, right?”
He nodded. “Much.”
Elizabeth still hadn’t looked at me and I realized my obscura spell was still in place. I broke the spell and approached her bedside. He had removed the bandages. The blackened skin and bubbling blisters were gone, but in their place was a large purple scar that ran from cheekbone to chin.
“Nyx, what happened?” she asked.
“There was a fire,” I said. “You’re in the hospital.”
“Fire?” Her gaze cleared as she remembered. She put a hand up to her cheek. “I want to see.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea right now,” I said. “You need to rest.”
“Bring me a mirror or I’ll get out of bed and get one myself.”
I stomped into the bathroom and yanked the small mirror off the wall. It had been bolted into the drywall and it left a gaping hole.
I carried it to her bed and held it up in front of her.
She looked into it for a long moment. “I’ve seen enough,” she finally said. The spark of mischief in her green eyes was gone, stamped out by fate.
“I don’t care what you look like.” I meant it, but she took it the wrong way.
“Just go.”
“You don’t mean that,” I said. There was a burgeoning sense of dread in the pit of my stomach, which told me she did mean it.
“But I do. I never want to see you again,” she said evenly.
“Elizabeth, please don’t do this,” I said.
“I don’t love you,” she continued. “I never loved you. It was all to save Alex.”
She was telling me exactly what I’d feared most.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. I already knew she didn’t love me, but I wanted to help her anyway. I hadn’t been able to save Amalie.
“You never once thought the same thing yourself?” she asked. “After everything? I betrayed you to your aunts, lied to you since the moment we met. You don’t think it’s possible? You’re so full of yourself. You think because you’re gorgeous, that I couldn’t be faking it? Well, I was.”
It was the cruelest thing anyone had ever said to me, but her words held an undeniable ring of truth.
“I’ll leave you alone,” I said dully. “But if you ever need anything…”
“I won’t,” she replied.
I took the mirror with me and as soon as I was out of her room, threw it against the wall. The sound of shattering glass brought an orderly running.
“Sorry, it slipped,” I told him. “This should cover it.” I handed him a hundred-dollar bill.
He pocketed the cash and went off to find a broom.
The scarred man put a hand on my shoulder. “She could change her mind.”
“She won’t.”
I dug the rest of the cash out of my pockets and handed it to him. “Thank you.”
I didn’t wait to see where he went. I made it back to Talbot in a daze. “We’ve got to get her out of here.”
“Out of the hospital?”
“Out of the city,” I answered. “Hell, maybe out of the country?”
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
??
?The Fates had a hand in this somehow,” I said. “She won’t be safe here. She hasn’t been safe since she met me.”
“What can I do to help?”
“We have to get her out of the city. Tonight.”
My plan was a simple one, but there were two very crucial factors that had to work or it would fall apart.
He nodded.
“Let’s go find Alex.”
He was hunched over in one of the orange chairs. For a minute, I thought he was asleep, but when he heard our footsteps, he sat up and wiped his eyes.
“Any news?” he asked.
“Where’s Jenny?” I hedged. Alex was unpredictable, but he was our only hope.
“She went home to get some sleep,” he said. “Tell me what’s going on with Elizabeth.” His voice had taken on a ragged tone.
Talbot and I exchanged glances.
“She’s much better,” I said. “But we need your help, Alex.”
We outlined the plan: Get a car and get Elizabeth out of town. The Abernathys were wealthy, so money wasn’t an issue.
“Do you think you can do it?” I asked.
His feet tapped out a jumpy tune on the faded tile.
“Alex, maybe Jenny…”
His gaze sharpened and the tapping stopped. “Not Jenny!” he yelled. Then, in a softer voice, he added, “I can do this, Nyx. We have a place in—”
“Don’t tell me,” I said. “This is good-bye.”
“What about a car?” Talbot asked.
Elizabeth’s red Lexus was too conspicuous. So was my purple Caddy. I could buy something, but nothing was open this time of night and my gut told me to get her out of Minneapolis. I was stumped.
“I have a car,” Alex said softly. He jumped to his feet, suddenly galvanized. “I’ll go get it. I have the keys and everything.” He gave me a mischievous grin. “Elizabeth doesn’t know I took them.”
He started to rush off, but I stopped him. “No, Alex,” I said. “It might raise suspicion if you go. Talbot can get in and out of there without anybody noticing. Right, Talbot?”
“Right,” my friend said.
Alex handed him the keys. “It’s in the garage,” he said. “I bought it right before I”—he gulped and continued—“before Gaston kidnapped me.”
For the next hour, the only sound was Alex’s tap-dancing feet as we waited. Finally, Talbot came back. “It’s parked in patient loading,” he said. He handed Alex the key.
“Take care of her,” I said to Alex. I held out my hand. He grabbed it and then folded me into a tight hug.
“Thanks, Nyx,” he said. He slid something into the pocket of my leather jacket.
“What’s that, Alex?” I asked.
He was already in the corridor leading to his sister’s room. “Just a little thank-you,” he said. “Are you coming to say good-bye?”
I shook my head. “Already been said.”
“I’ll go with him,” Talbot said. “I can manage a cloaking spell, so that the night shift won’t notice them.”
My throat was too tight to speak, so I just nodded.
I stayed in the waiting room, waiting breathlessly for the sound of an alarm, but it was quiet.
Talbot came back into the waiting room. “They’re gone,” he said in a low voice. “Alex said he’d get a message to you when they made it out safely.”
“Thanks for everything. Let’s get out of here,” I said. “Now.” I was barely hanging on. I didn’t want to lose it in public.
Elizabeth hadn’t even said good-bye. I didn’t blame her. I went back to my apartment and wallowed. She had helped to fill up that hungry, hollow feeling inside me, but now she was gone, and I was alone.
Chapter Nine
It had been three long days since Alex and Elizabeth had stolen away like thieves in the night.
“I need a drink,” I said to Talbot. Which was convenient, since we were sitting on stools at the Red Dragon.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” he replied.
“Elizabeth is gone, her face is permanently scarred, and it’s all my fault.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Tell that to Elizabeth,” I said. “She never wants to see me again.”
“Maybe the time apart will do you both good,” Talbot said. “You need to think about things.”
“Like what?”
“Your feelings. You said yourself that Elizabeth is the spitting image of Amalie.”
My dead ex, killed by the Fates.
“You think what I feel for Elizabeth is nostalgia?”
“I think you don’t really know how you feel,” Talbot said. “And I don’t blame you. It’s not like you and Elizabeth have a normal relationship.”
“Yeah, thanks to my aunts,” I replied. I shifted in my seat and took a chug of my beer. “Deci warned me, but I never thought she’d do something this loathsome.”
“Your aunt Deci?” Talbot said. “I thought there was a cease-fire going on.”
“Not anymore,” I said grimly. “But that goes both ways.”
“Naomi isn’t involved in any of this,” Talbot said.
“I would never hurt Naomi,” I said. “But the Fates are up into their necks in it.”
Talbot had given up on me after the bartender had cracked the second bottle of absinthe. The last thing I remembered was closing down the Red Dragon.
My first conscious thought was that someone staring at me. I was right. When I opened my eyes, I was lying in a naiad’s lair with a naked Willow beside me. She was leaning on one elbow as she watched me.
“This is becoming a habit, son of Fortuna,” she said softly.
“What is?” I asked. My mind was still blurry with sleep and alcohol.
“You, using me for sexual comfort when you are drunk and in pain,” she said bluntly.
Then I remembered. Elizabeth’s singed flesh, her reluctance to look in the mirror, and how she had to flee Minneapolis.
I pushed away the thought and reached for Willow. “I’m sober now.”
She avoided my grasp. “But still in pain.”
“Yes,” I said. “Still in pain. But this helps.” I kissed her and she didn’t avoid me this time.
A naiad’s magic was as heavy and sweet as honey and the taste of her kiss lingered on my lips.
I drew her down until she lay across my body, but I could tell she wasn’t into it. “What’s wrong?”
She moved away from me. “A naiad was found murdered.”
“May she return to Poseidon on gentle waves.” I said the traditional words of mourning automatically. It was a naiad equivalent of “I’m sorry for your loss.” I was quickly running out of platitudes.
“Thank you.”
“You said ‘murdered.’ Are you sure?”
“She was torn apart from the inside,” she replied. “Like a bomb had gone off inside her.”
“Like the others,” I said.
“Yes, like the others.” Willow’s voice trembled.
“Talbot said there have been others from the House of Poseidon. We think it might be someone attempting to possess a naiad, but we don’t know why.”
“Possession?” she repeated. “But that has been outlawed.”
“I know,” I said. “But that doesn’t mean someone isn’t breaking the rules. The question is why?”
She threw my clothes at me. “You must go now. I have something I must do.”
“But…” It wasn’t the first time I’d been shown the door after a night of passion, but I had to admit, this ranked up there with the hastiest.
“We’ll talk more later,” she replied. “Leave now.”
“Promise me you’ll be careful,” I said.
“I promise!” she said. “Now go.”
I threw on my clothes and did the walk of shame with my Docs in hand.
I spent the next few days trying to drink away my feelings. I missed shifts at Eternity Road, argued with Naomi, and took a swing at Talbot. It didn’t change anything.
But finally, when I’d puked out the hurt and self-pity, I realized it was time to sober up or spend the rest of my days swimming in a bottle of absinthe. I needed to get the Fates out of my life, which meant finding Claire.
I spent two miserable days purging the alcohol from my system. I finally took a shower and got up the nerve to head to Eternity Road to see if I still had a job. And a best friend.
When I walked in, Ambrose looked up from the cash register. I paused in the doorway, uncertain of the welcome I’d receive, but he walked over, clapped me on the back and said, “What are you waiting for? My office needs dusting.”
I had to pass by Talbot several times, but he pretended to ignore me.
I ignored him right back. By lunch, he was giving me sideways glances like someone waiting to be asked to the prom.
“What?” I stopped dusting long enough to stare back.
“You look like shit.”
I nodded. “I have a hangover.”
He snorted angrily and turned away. He fussed with the fedora on Harvey, the enormous stuffed bear that never seemed to sell.
“You don’t get it,” I said. “I have a hangover. Which means…” I waited for him to fill in the blanks.
“You stopped drinking?”
“The incredulity in your voice is not reassuring,” I told him. “But, yes, I stopped drinking. At least for now.”
“What do you want?” he asked. “A parade?” There were equal parts anger and relief in his voice.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m a crappy friend.”
“Yes, you are,” he replied. “But I can count on you. Can’t I?”
I nodded.
Talbot tried to get me to talk, to tell him about my feelings, but I was so full of pent-up rage that I was afraid if I said another word, I’d explode.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” I finally said. “She never wants to see me again. She’s gone. Left Minneapolis. Can you blame her?”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Talbot protested.
“A fire of dark magic that injured my mortal ex-girlfriend? Yeah, that doesn’t sound like my fault at all.”
I tossed the lighter on the table. “Besides, I found this at the theater.”
“That doesn’t prove anything,” he said. “Naomi was there. Her aunt would never—”