He was right. The hallway got crowded, and if the loaded stares I received in the arena were bad, these drilled through to my bones.
Sick of it.
I was goddamned sick of being treated like a pariah.
“Bruce.” A tall, brown skinned man approached my father. His eyes were green and his brown hair had been cut short, close to his scalp. He moved like a panther and wore a black sports jacket with a snake emblem. Epsilon.
Ava trailed behind him, her wild hair free and flowing, untamed. Two more Epsilon members joined her. One of them was the poisoner. His blond hair was like Ava’s, long and unruly. He tied it back at the nape and slicked the frizz with grease. He must be Rus, and his companion, another male, Val. Val’s hair had been shaved off.
Cash’s energy exploded from his body and hit me like a wall of heat.
Shocked, I checked him. His aura rarely made a public appearance. It’s what made him a great hunter. When he wanted to, he could move like a ghost, quiet, fast and lethal. Coupled with his undetectable aura, he was a formidable opponent, even to soul sensing people like me.
Cash’s stony gaze pierced Rus with the force of an arrow. The man had the decency to look worried.
My father turned to his friend. “Pontius.”
“Dinner still on for tonight?” Pontius glanced at me with curiosity.
“This isn’t over.” Bruce pointed at me and then stepped away.
I narrowed my eyes at our friends in Epsilon, still standing close by, eyeing me off in return.
“I know you’re behind the poisoning.” I thrust my chin at Rus.
Ava glanced at her mentor and my father talking, then rounded on me. “It’s no secret we don’t like you.”
“Are you admitting to breaking the terms of the Ludus, Ava?” Cash’s voice had the calmest tone, deathly smooth.
“What would Bruce think?” I knew she looked up to him.
In response, she leaned in close and lowered her voice. “Who do you think told us to do it?”
I gasped. Air solidified in my lungs. Why would he want me dead? He wanted me to fail, to breed, to be his catalyst, not die. This confession cemented Cash’s declaration: I wasn’t to blame for the serum… just some other part of Urser’s plan.
A small smile spread across her cocky face. “Next time, you won’t be so lucky.”
“You won’t be so lucky when I’m done with you,” I replied. Oh, great, Roo. Just great. Act like a third-grader, why don’t you?
She laughed cruelly. “You? What can you do? You can’t even control your power. Half of it is locked away inside you. And being Nephilim, you’re not even strong enough to handle a librarian’s touch.”
“Goddamn it.” Rus slapped her across the shoulder. “Idiot.”
Fuck, she was right. I hated her, but she was right. If I had full access to The Book of the Dead, I could rewrite everything! I could control the demons inside me.
Cash sized the two up, calculating his odds.
“See you at eight.” Bruce spoke to the Epsilon group. With his words, he showed his back, dismissing them. He gestured with his hand down the hall where it was less crowded. “Roo-Roo, a word.”
Bastard. When he used that name, he wanted something. Probably another soul-sucking demonstration at dinner. My heart beat faster at the thought of sharing a meal with those people.
I wouldn’t do it.
I wouldn’t put myself within reach of those people again. I didn’t care if it was the duty of a royal. Royal my ass. They poisoned me in public. They’d have no qualms with doing it privately.
Cash’s warm hand landed at the base of my neck, instantly soothing me. I almost melted into him. Instead, I inhaled and followed my father to the quiet spot. Cash followed immediately behind, never leaving my side.
Bruce noticed, glared, then ignored him.
“I will not go to another dinner,” I said to Bruce. “I’m done.”
That amusement flickered in his eyes again. “Good. Because you’re not invited. This is for your brother’s betrothal arrangement only.”
The air expelled from my lungs, and I let it ride out, long and slow through my teeth.
“Considering his feelings for you, it’s best you stay away from the apartment for the night, anyway.”
“Lincoln’s feelings?” I frowned. “Because I saved his life?”
“You embarrassed him.”
“But I saved his life!”
“Like any Player worth his salt, he would rather die than admit weakness. I don’t know whether to be proud of you for showing strength, or to punish you for disrespecting our House and the rules of the game.” He shot a scathing look at Cash. “You obviously didn’t use your two weeks together for training.”
“Fuck you,” Cash snarled.
My father clicked his tongue in a superior, disapproving way. “So uncouth. Roo, stay out of the apartment tonight. I expect you back in the morning.”
Then he walked away.
Cash wasted no time in pulling his cell phone out to dial a number, watching me. Thoughts collided behind his eyes until someone answered. “Jed, meet us at the cafeteria in two minutes.”
Why all of a sudden did Bruce accept my independence? Why let me stay at Cash’s. He owned my body, he’d said it on numerous occasions. While Cash had a plan, I was even more confused than ever.
Jed met us at a corner cafeteria table.
Between Bruce’s shock acquiescence, and my flashbacks of being poisoned, my stomach was in turmoil. Cyanide was more than a memory. I could actually taste its bitterness in my mouth. I refused to eat the food, instead content to glare at groups congregating at other tables. With the remainder of the second trial suspended until tomorrow, and little else to do in the underground, most came here to feed.
The creepy goth girl from Astraia House with precognition watched me with spectacular interest. No more hiding behind black painted fingernails in her teeth. Her four friends gave me occasional glances, but she never took her attention off me.
“I’ll get you some food,” Cash said, bringing my awareness back to him. “You should try the Lamb Brisket. It’s nowhere near as good as Ma makes, but Jacine said it’s not bad.”
I sensed an attempt at cheering me up. I liked meeting his mother and enjoyed her cooking even better. But it was no use. I wouldn’t eat here.
“How about I get you a bowl?” He got up to leave.
I stopped him with a hand to his wrist. “Can’t I eat back at your place? Less chance I’ll be killed there.”
“The food is all from the same place, Roo. Eat.”
“Yes, you should eat.” Jed approached our table.
“No,” I replied then shrugged. “You can’t blame me.”
“You’ll go hungry then.” Cash waved for Jed to sit down.
“Would you eat at the place you were poisoned, Jed?”
“Uh, I don’t think you have a choice, Roo.”
“Yes I do. I’m going topside to get something later.”
Cash slapped his palms on the table. “Not on your own, you won’t.”
“You don’t own me, Cash.”
“I don’t care.”
“Yes, you do care, Cash. You care so much you think you can tell me what to do and say.”
A dangerous intensity crept into his voice. “You know you can’t go out in public without a guardian. That’s not my rule.”
“I should come back later.” Jed rose halfway to standing.
“No!” I yelled at the same time Cash said, “Sit down.”
Cash returned his glower my way. “Why are you arguing with me?”
I glared back. “You tried to stop me from helping Lincoln.”
“No, I tried to stop you from hurting yourself. I don’t give a flying fuck about Lincoln.”
My fist slammed on the table. “I do.”
He exhaled, shaking his head. “Why? I told you, he’s not—”
“Don’t say he’s not my real brother. I
know. I’ve been reminded ten times over. There’s no need to patronize me.”
“So, why? Help me understand.”
I pressed my lips together because I couldn’t tell him. I didn’t know. Maybe I was a sucker for my father’s use of familial words, or maybe it was the gift horse Lincoln left on my bedside table when I was comatose. Bruce didn’t fight for him, so I did. Every soul deserved a chance at happiness.
“There are more important things for us to be doing, like figuring out how the hell we’re going to stop those names on the list from being crossed out.”
Jed picked at a spot on the table. “Names on a list?”
I took a deep breath. We hadn’t told Jed, yet. When I relayed what I’d found, his expression darkened.
Cash moved to stand next to me. “If we weren’t wasting time on Lincoln, I wouldn’t have to spend the evening with the Tribunal pleading your case. We could be working on the list, or preparing you for the next trial.”
“I’m not apologizing for saving him.”
Cash’s head shot up, eyes speared toward the cafeteria entrance. I followed his gaze and regretted it.
“Great.” Bitterness twisted my mouth out of shape. “Just what I need.”
Jacine walked toward us, swaying her hips, clicking her heals. All heads swiveled her way. I had to admit, she was hard to ignore. Perfect body, perfect face. Jealousy speared through me when I caught Cash and Jed’s eyes glued to her approach.
Her eyes were for my mentor only. “My quarters in five, hunter.”
“Can it wait?” he asked rudely.
“No.” She sniffed, looked fixedly at me, and then turned around and left, seductively sashaying as she went.
I snorted. She and her perfect ass can bite me. “We don’t have to do what she says.”
“You weren’t invited, Roo,” Cash said, then turned to Jed. “I won’t be long. Don’t let her go anywhere.”
My jaw hit the floor.
“Stop gawking, Roo,” Jed said as Cash walked away. “She’s the boss. If she wants to shake her perfect ass in his face, then she can. He has to go.”
I shot Jed accusing eyes.
“What? She’s hot. We’re not blind.”
“What the hell has gotten into you all?”
He shrugged. “She’s the Goddess of Love.”
Oh for heaven’s sake. I stood up. “I’m going above ground to get some real food.”
“Didn’t you hear Cash? He said not to go anywhere.”
I shrugged. “He can tell me to my face instead of talking over me and acting like I’m not here.”
Jed scratched his ears. They poked out from under his auburn hair. I used to find it adorable. He’d been my probation officer for three years. When half the town stayed away from me because they thought I was a witch, he’d been my friend. Even before we knew we were both part of the Game. Now, he was irritating me as much as anyone.
“I’m coming with you,” he said, standing.
I slid him shifty eyes. “Suit yourself.”
I left the room, not caring that the goth girl from Astraia House followed me with her eyes the entire way.
Chapter 28
“It’s odd,” I said to Jed as we walked down a busy street, away from the Ludus and the Opera House. “Why wouldn’t Bruce want me at dinner when he’d insisted every other time?”
The summer evening stifled and the harbor water lapped nearby. The night was perfect for a walk, and many people must have agreed with me, the walkways were packed full of commuters heading home after a long day at work. Passing by shop windows, it was hard not to catch the Christmas decorations. So much had happened in the past month that time had run away from me. I turned from the windows, back to Jed.
“I don’t know,” he replied. “But you can’t tell for sure he’s behind the assassination attempts. You only know what Ava said to you. Don’t let your emotions rule your judgment.”
“Jed.” I stopped walking. I couldn’t help the derisive tone that bled into my voice. “It’s dinner with Epsilon House. They’re clearly working together.”
“I’m not so sure about that, but I agree with you about not wanting you at dinner. It’s out of character.”
“What do you think is his character?” I asked and continued to walk. I was unsure of the answer myself. Bruce had been determined to have me live with him and abide by his rules. It was the one thing he’d made a big deal about—keeping me close for my royal duties. “I mean, does he have a history in this world? Is he the basis of some human myth, just like Jacine and Marc? Do you know? I don’t.”
I shoved my hands in my pockets and walked in silence next to Jed, also lost in thought. Or, perhaps he left me to sort through my messed up mind on my own. There were still a few things irritating me.
Like Jacine for starters. The Goddess of Love with her mitts all over Cash.
“Do you know who I am?” I asked Jed, out of the blue.
“What do you mean?”
“You know, like I just said: Cash is Orion the Hunter, or the Archangel Michael… whatever you want to call him. Ava is some warrior princess from Ursa constellation. Even Lincoln thinks he’s the God of War. Anyway, that’s what I’m talking about. Most people know they’re from a certain part of the Empire. They stick together in Houses. You have a map. I’ve never seen it, but I’m assuming you have one.” He nodded in the affirmative. “Right, so everyone has a map. But not me. Cash said he knows who I truly am but he won’t tell me. Marc has to do it.”
“He’s right. Don’t listen to the myths, Roo. Despite what you think, or what you’ve been told, it’s all conjecture. The Gamekeeper is the only one who knows for sure who any of us might be. And he doesn’t tell. For all we know, the myths were made up by him in a drunken haze.”
“Do you really believe that?”
“All I know is we can’t remember the truth. We don’t all have the power to search our memories or past lives like Cash.”
His words struck me and I halted. Ava was right.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“We can’t remember,” I said.
“That’s what I said.”
“But what if we could remember?”
He narrowed his eyes. “I don’t understand.”
“I’ve been going about this all wrong. I thought I’d find the answers at the depository, but all I need to do is reach back into my own mind. I need to see the librarian.”
“Sorry. Still don’t get it.”
I shook him by the shoulders, grinning. “I have the Book of the Dead inside me. When I absorbed Petra’s grimoire, it tried to self-destruct, but it’s still there, and it has answers.”
“Where are we headed?” Jed asked, changing the subject. “There’s a nice restaurant at the end of the gardens.”
It was then I noticed we’d wandered away from the Opera House and into Royal Botanical Gardens. The life-force of nature infused me with warmth. I sighed and smiled, head tilted to the night sky. Those fake windows in the Ludus were marvelous, but they were no match for the real thing. I missed this fresh air, the buzzing electricity of nature. Ever since I discovered I could sense the auras, I found I could also feel life emanating from everything around me. Like that little pot plant at Cash’s apartment. Here it was magnified. The trees, the ants, the animals. It was all connected.
I thought of Wren. She spoke to animals, but her mentor wanted her below ground, working with the rest of Cetus in the depository. I frowned. The more time I spent here, following their rules, the more I had the urge to break them. To free everyone. If only I had the power.
My stomach clenched into knots, hungry, reminding me of Jed’s question about restaurant choice. I was about to reply when I saw a familiar person sitting on a park bench under the bright light of a lamp.
A despondent Marc mumbled to himself as he twirled something in his fingers. It looked like a tiny vial of something. He wore Cricket whites, zinc on his lower lip and a baggy gre
en cap on his head. I’d recognize that potent aura anywhere.
“Marc?” I said tentatively, stepping closer.
“Love?” His sorrowful eyes cleared when they noticed me. His fingers closed over the item in his hands, hiding it from view. “You have no idea how good it is to hear your voice.”
I didn’t care that Jed was with me that he would see my affection for the one person off limits to Players. I rushed to sit next to Marc and hugged him tight. “I missed you.”
“And I, you, love.”
His large hands tightened around me. I buried my face into his neck, smelling the forest and life within him. It was a scent I always smelled on him. I waited for his usual innuendo, or butt grab. But he did none of it. He held me tight. Respectable.
Something was wrong. I pulled back.
“We’ve been waiting for you to come back. The trials have started,” I said.
“Without me?” Incredulous, he blinked. “They couldn’t bloody wait a couple of days?” Then he drooped. “Doesn’t matter, anyway.”
“You’re not your usual jovial self. Did you lose a game?”
“Game?” He looked wistfully over my shoulder. “The bloody Game.”
“Yes, Cricket. Did you play a game?”
He came to his senses and glanced at his attire. “Oh, this game. No, love, I only played a spot to cheer myself up. Cricket always lifts my spirits. I changed my face to match the captain and then made him fall asleep in the change room. Done it before without a hitch. Just not tonight.” He sighed and placed his palms on his eyes. “I lost it in front of them all. A test match. Thousands of Simons at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Recorded for them to play on their Tele-boxes. Too wrapped up in my misery, I was. Just couldn’t hold it. My face changed back.”
That wasn’t good. Usually it was his job to hide the mistakes of Players from the world. Who would hide his mistake?
“Maybe we can break into the studio, or something. Erase the tapes.” I placed a gentle palm on his arm. “Or maybe the camera wasn’t on you.”
He gripped my hand fiercely with his own. Sadness consumed him, from his eyes to his aura. I couldn’t protect myself, it leaked into myself. My heart ached.
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