by Sarah Fine
Cacy shook her head and held her hands up, begging him to understand. “Only since the fund-raiser. And I’ve done everything I could—”
“You should have told me!” He stalked toward the door, his heart pounding with fear for Galena. Death could come for him, fine, but he had to protect his sister. He reached the door and stopped. What the hell was he supposed to do? He was up against things he couldn’t even see.
When he turned around, Cacy was right behind him, pale but determined. “I understand that you’re mad. But don’t leave, Eli. If you go out there, you’re going to die.”
He touched his chest, the place Cacy’s gaze kept drifting to. “Based on what you just said, I’m going to die no matter what I do.” Eli wondered why he wasn’t terrified. Maybe because it didn’t seem real. His heart beat against his hand, steady as ever.
She winced. “Please. You might have some time. You’ll be safer if you stay here. I have to go back to Moros, or maybe . . . I don’t know. I have to do something.”
“Didn’t you tell me he’s the one who Marked me for death? What if he does that to you?” Even through his anger and confusion, Eli’s concern for Cacy got the better of him.
She touched his face. “Moros can’t hurt me. Not . . . not too much, anyway. But I’m going to ask my brother for help first.”
“You think Dec can do something?”
“No. I’m going to Rylan. He’s the Charon. Our leader. He can go straight to the top if he thinks Moros has abused his power.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“No. You’ll be safer here. No one knows you’re here.”
Eli took her face in his hands. “Do you really think I’m going to sit here and wait? You’ve told me my sister is in danger. You’ve told me I don’t have much time left. Plus—both Moros and your sister know I’m here. He told me where you lived, and she showed up at just the right moment to help me get into the building. They practically shoved me into your arms.”
Cacy closed her eyes and laid her hands over his. Her grip was strong. “I’ll deal with Aislin later. I’m not going to let this happen, Eli. I bargained with Moros for Galena’s safety. He’s broken a vow. He will pay.” She wrenched herself away from him and pulled her phone out. “But you’re right. If they know you’re here, you should come with me. We’re taking a company car.”
Had she just said she’d bargained with Moros for Galena’s sake? Was that why she’d looked thrashed when she left the bar? “What did he do to you, Cacy?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m all right. But we bargained fair and square, and he cannot renege like this.” She punched a button on her phone and put it to her ear. She ordered the car and gave him her hand. “It’ll be here in a few minutes.” Their fingers laced, both of them holding on tight. “Ready?”
No. Not at all. But never in his whole life had Eli backed down from a challenge. And this time, he had Cacy by his side. “Yeah.” He pulled her close and kissed her. “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
After what felt like hours, the elevator doors finally opened. Cacy hesitated, peering in carefully to make sure no one was waiting to ambush Eli.
“Hey,” he said with a nervous smile as they stepped in, “seems like I could just as easily be struck down by natural causes. I think I nearly died of a heart attack back in your apartment.” He winked, but Cacy knew it was for show. Ever since she had broken the news to him, he’d taken on an air of quiet desperation that made her ache. Unlike any normal person, he hadn’t received the news with horror or fear. No weeping, complaining, or raging about how unfair it was. Just concern for his sister. And for her.
It made her all the more determined to find a way to save him. He wasn’t fated to die. She knew it. Moros had completely double-crossed her. And based on what Eli had said, she would bet her fortune that Aislin was in on it.
Cacy tucked her arm in Eli’s, staying as close to him as possible as the elevator descended. “First, that’s not funny, and second, that’s not how it’s going to happen.”
“No?”
Cacy shook her head. “You have to be fated to die before a heart attack or some other natural cause could kill you. So if the Kere have gone rogue, they’ll have to bring about your death directly, with their own hands.” The elevator arrived at the lobby, and Cacy peeked out the doors, then led Eli into the lobby. “Which means they’re going to come after you. And they’re going to have to come through me.”
“Whoa.” He came to a full stop in the middle of the room. Strains of classical music floated in the air, along with the sound of water flowing in a fountain in the corner. “You’re not going to endanger yourself for me. It’s not worth it.”
Cacy stomped her foot and yanked on his arm. “You don’t get to say what’s worth it to me,” she snapped. “That’s my decision.” She rounded on him, got up on her tiptoes, and kissed him fiercely. When she pulled away, he looked a little stunned, as did most of the other people in the lobby. “Now get moving.”
Eli didn’t argue, to her relief. But his gaze swept the lobby with a cold vigilance that hadn’t been there before. His thoughts were transparent to her. Before, he’d thought he might simply drop dead from a brain aneurysm, but now that he knew his death would come violently—and soon—he was going to fight back.
She led him out of the front doors of the apartment complex, nodding at the guards and pushing Eli ahead of her toward the bulletproof limo at the curb. The guards stepped out on either side of them, reading Cacy’s tension and scanning the street for threats. “Thanks, guys!” she called as the driver shut the door behind her.
Eli sat next to her, looking with amazement around the black leather interior of the limo. He rubbed his palms on his jeans. “Are you sure your brother won’t just toss me to the sharks?”
She leaned her head on his shoulder. The clean, masculine scent of him filled her up and she pressed in closer. “Don’t worry. Rylan will be all over this. He’ll go straight to the Keepers of the Afterlife, and they will destroy Moros. The Kere can’t get away with this—Marking people who aren’t fated to die is strictly forbidden.”
Eli tensed as they passed a crowd of men on the sidewalk at the edge of the canal zone. But they didn’t even look up as the limo chugged down the ramp and deployed its water jets. “I thought you and the Kere worked together. Like a team.”
Cacy scoffed. “The Kere only work with us because they have to. Thousands of years ago, they reaped and delivered the souls themselves. But they demanded payment for their work, and that came with a few conditions.”
“Ferrys.” Eli’s eyes were fixed on the canal, assessing every potential threat.
“Yes. We split the payment and the work with them, but they’re ruthless and greedy. If they can marginalize us or make it seem like we can’t control the empire, the Keepers of the Afterlife might decide we’re just useless bureaucracy—that the death industry should be left to fully inhuman creatures like the Kere. But Rylan won’t let that happen.”
Eli pulled out his phone and smiled as he read the screen. “It’s Galena checking in. She’s home safe from her lab.”
Cacy kissed his shoulder. “Tell her to stay put, all right?”
Eli nodded as his fingers tapped at the screen. Cacy’s heart squeezed painfully as she watched him swallow hard and type I love you. He blinked a few times and stuck his phone in his pocket. This had to be hurting him.
A uniboat raced by and sideswiped the limo, which swerved into oncoming traffic. The driver yanked the wheel back just as an amphibious bus passed. Eli gripped the seat hard and cursed under his breath. “Are we almost there?”
“It’s right up here.” She pointed to the fortified skyscraper in front of them, the tallest in the city. The headquarters of Psychopomps Inc. and all its subsidiary holdings—the banks and cover businesses through which the gold coins flowed a
nd were converted into local currency. All Ferrys and Kere had accounts, and Psychopomps managed their money. For a small fee, of course. The Kere resented it, but they had never been organized enough to set up an alternative system. They were too busy reveling in their wealth and causing chaos and pain.
The limo pulled up at the curb, and the driver popped the roof hatch and offered Cacy his hand. She ignored it and leaped out onto the small dock. “Hey guys, we need cover.”
The burly armed guards looked surprised at her request but obeyed. The offices were in the safest part of town, and Ferrys were supposed to be protected. But with the upheaval of the past week, Rylan had posted guards, which was fine with Cacy as she ran side by side with Eli through the glass doorway of the tower.
Cacy breathed a sigh of relief as soon as they hit the air-conditioned interior of the lobby. “We’ll be safe here. A Kere attack here would be in blatant violation of the treaty.”
She waved at Shauna, who was staffing the front desk, and pointed to the special elevator that ran to the Charon’s office. It was the only way up. “Is he in?”
“Of course, Cacy,” Shauna chirped. “Go on up. I’ll tell him you’re coming.” She punched a button on her earpiece and turned away.
Cacy squeezed Eli’s hand as they hopped into the elevator. He was standing up very straight, and for the first time since being told he was Marked for death, he actually seemed a little scared. Eli looked out through the glass walls of the elevator as they ascended past floor after floor of the Psychopomps dominion. “Cacy, you know I’m not after your money, right?”
“It hadn’t occurred to me,” she said honestly.
He turned to look down at her, a sly smile on his face. “I guess you’re the only one it didn’t occur to. But I’m glad you feel that way.” The backs of his fingers stroked her cheek.
Cacy tilted her head up, and his lips were against hers in less than a second. His strong arms wound around her waist. She threaded her fingers through his hair as her body molded to the firm contours of his, and all she could think was, Alive. That was how he said he felt, and that was how he felt to her. Like nothing could stop him. Like nothing could get the best of him. Like he could go on and on. And he would. She would make sure of it. There was no way she was going to give him up.
Eli’s hand slid up her back as his tongue dueled with hers. Their uneven breaths were loud in Cacy’s ears . . . but not loud enough to miss the ding of the door opening or the awkward throat-clearing that followed it. They both froze in place, then slowly separated, and looked over to see Rylan at the open elevator doors, eyebrows raised.
“Shauna let me know you were coming up,” he said, his eyes wandering back and forth between Cacy and Eli. “Would you like to come in, or would you prefer to ride up and down for a while?” He gave them an indulgent smile, which crinkled the corners of his eyes.
“We were taking advantage of the moment,” Cacy said breezily, twining her fingers with Eli’s. She tugged him into the opulent suite but slowed as she noticed how much it had changed in the past two weeks. All her father’s tapestries were gone, replaced by abstract paintings in cool greens and blues. The curtains had been removed from the windows, allowing the piercing rays of the setting sun to fill the space.
Rylan looked around at his office like he was seeing it for the first time. “I guess it looks pretty different, huh?”
Cacy swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to keep her voice light. “A bit. But you’re the Charon now, so it’s yours.”
Rylan, dressed casually in khaki pants and a buttoned shirt with no tie, ushered them into the inner chamber of the suite, his personal office. He gestured for them to be seated, then stood behind his desk. “What can I do for you?”
Cacy glanced at Eli, who looked steadily back at her. “Eli’s been Marked. We think Moros himself might have done it.” When Rylan’s brow furrowed, Cacy added, “I’ve told him everything.”
Rylan gazed at her for a moment, as if taking in the significance of her statement. Then he sank into his desk chair and pulled his Scope from its thick chain. He brushed his thumb over it, opened it just wide enough to allow him to look through, and held it up, peering through the center of it at Eli’s chest. He winced and snapped it shut. “When did this happen?”
“About three hours ago.”
He pursed his lips and nodded. “Why do you think Moros did this? It could have been any of the Kere.”
“Because I saw him this afternoon. I spoke to him at Bart’s,” Eli said. He gave Cacy a sidelong glance. “He touched me, right where the Mark is.”
Rylan crossed his arms over his chest, flipping the heavy Charon’s Scope like a coin. “You sure it was him? Hard to imagine Moros hanging out in a place like that.”
“No, it was him.” Cacy sighed. “He was meeting me, all right? I went to ask him to protect Galena.”
Rylan caught his Scope in his fist. His elbows hit his desk as he leaned forward. “You went to Moros. After I told you not to.”
Cacy cringed, feeling more of a screwup than ever. She’d thought she was saving Galena, but it looked like Cacy hadn’t done anything but hand Moros the best way to hurt her. Why he’d want to do that confused her, but maybe he was threatened by her. Or maybe . . . oh God, what if he was using her to distract Rylan?
Rylan nodded stiffly as Cacy’s eyes lit with realization. Rylan probably knew it all along—Moros wasn’t doing this to hurt Cacy. He was doing it to get to Rylan. She hung her head. Eli squeezed her hand.
Rylan sighed. “You let him touch you, didn’t you? You let that bastard touch you. Now he knows everything about you, Cacy. Your dearest hopes and worst nightmares. Your future.” He dropped the Scope on the desk and stared at it, then looked up at Eli. “I’m sorry you got dragged into this, Eli.”
Eli merely nodded in acknowledgment.
Cacy scooted to the edge of her seat. “Ry, I’m sorry about all of it. But no matter what stupid thing I did, this Marking can’t be right. It’s too convenient. Moros is abusing his power, and he has to be stopped.”
“Yes.” Rylan heaved a weary breath. “Yes, I suppose this is clear enough. It would be very convenient if Galena died, and it would only help facilitate that if everyone interested in protecting her was dead or chasing their tails.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “I hate to tell you this, Cacy, but Mr. Knickles was found dead this morning. Home invasion. I guided his soul a few hours ago.”
Their family lawyer? That harmless, hard-working little man? But he’d been privy to her father’s will—a will he’d changed the day of his death. “This has to be a conspiracy! All these people couldn’t be fated to die! Father, Debra, Peter, Mr. Knickles . . .” She looked over at Eli, her heart thudding in her chest. She couldn’t bear to add him to the list. Not yet. Not ever.
Rylan stood up and walked to the window. The setting sun bathed his tall figure in orange light and cast his shadow long and gray on the wall. “I’ll have to go to the Keepers.” He turned and shot a glance at Eli. “Moros can’t get away with this. I’ll arrange a summit. He’ll have to come and answer for his actions.”
He strode back to his desk, where he lifted his Scope and examined it. “I’ll go now.” His eyes landed hard on Cacy, filled with regret. “It’s going to take some time to arrange.”
It felt like a boulder had settled onto her chest. She knew what he was saying. Eli might not have that much time. Galena might not, either. She wanted to burst into tears, but that wouldn’t help anyone. “Okay,” she said, nodding. “All right.”
Rylan closed the distance between them and put his hand on her shoulder. “I’ll do everything I can to put this right. I’ll do it as quickly as I can. You have my word.”
She laid her hand on his. “I know.” She stood up. So did Eli. The look on his face told her he understood more than had been said. The weight
of the boulder crushed her heart.
Cacy hugged Rylan and let him walk them back to the elevator. He shook Eli’s hand with a grim look on his face and turned to Cacy. “I’ll check in as soon as I can and let you know what I’ve arranged. I’ll let them know about this situation, and it’s possible they’ll intervene immediately, but . . . they’re notoriously hands-off. There’s only one time in history they’ve actually taken action.”
Cacy nodded. That one time had led to the rise of one of the world’s largest religions. The hope that the Keepers would leave their thrones and directly intervene on Earth was exceedingly slim. They would be willing to punish Moros if they found him guilty, but they wouldn’t be willing to undo the deaths he had caused.
“Where are you headed now?” Rylan asked them as Eli pushed the down button.
Cacy glanced at Eli. She was hoping he’d come back with her to the apartment, but she knew he couldn’t. She wasn’t the only one who needed him. Eli took Cacy’s hand. “I need to go check on my sister,” he said. “I need to make sure she’s okay.”
Rylan folded his arms across his chest. “I’ll tell you what. Call her now. We’ll send a company car to bring her here. We’ll keep you both safe.”
The weight in Cacy’s chest lifted. That her brother was willing to shelter Eli and Galena, and go to the Keepers, meant he thought he had a strong case against Moros. But . . . “What about Aislin?” she asked.
Rylan frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Can you trust her? She insisted on guiding Peter and Deb with you, like she was afraid they would say something. You saw her with Moros the other night, how cozy they were. And she led Eli up to my apartment earlier. Right around the time he was Marked, or right after. She brought him right to me.”
Eli cleared his throat. “Cacy, I don’t think she—”