by Lish McBride
I suppose I should have just been happy that my dad wasn’t Darth Vader.
The Inferno looked exactly the same. I don’t know why I expected it to look different, but I did. Someone should at least have put up an “Under New Management” sign or something. Ezra met us at the door. For once he didn’t pick me up and whirl me around—the crutches got in the way of that. But he managed to kiss me on the cheek, and then he told me I owed him towing fees for his car.
“Take a gander at the staff,” he said. “Recognize anyone?”
I did. I recognized some people from the battle—people who had fought on our side. And there were some others, staff I knew by face and not by name, who were conspicuously absent.
“Regime change,” Ezra said. “Alistair is cleaning house. Speaking of which…” He turned to lead, giving Cade and me a little come-hither crook with his hand. Out of habit, I’d been heading toward the elevators, down into the pits, so to speak. But that’s not where Ezra was taking me. He was leading me through the maze of the restaurant, weaving around tables like walking with crutches was second nature. Cade and I were led to a secluded booth in the back of Purgatory. Alistair sat alone on one side of it, his sleeves rolled up, his hair slightly ruffled like he’d been running his hands through it. Papers covered the table. A few stacks had begun to emerge, but it appeared that Alistair was still sorting the majority of it.
“Venus apparently didn’t even have an office,” he said without looking up. “What a ridiculous way to run an empire. Luckily, what with your handiwork marring much of the downstairs, I need to remodel anyway.”
“It’s not like it’s a regular company,” I said. “It’s the Coterie.” I felt like those three words answered a lot of questions. But maybe they meant something different now. Something better.
Alistair waved Ezra away. “Tell someone to bring us food. Not you. You go get off that leg.” He waited until Ezra complied before continuing. “The Coterie is more like a giant corporation, and as such, organization is even more necessary. The head of the Coterie is basically the CEO of a company that owns several other businesses.”
“To me the head of the Coterie has always seemed more like a deranged despot covered in the blood of her own people than a stiff in a suit.”
“Despot, CEO, there are a lot of similarities.” Alistair finally looked up. He stared at Cade and me, his hands folded together, the fingers loosely interlocking. He leaned into his folded hands so all I could see was the top half of his face as he peered at us. “How are you feeling, Mr. Halloway? Better, I hope?”
“Much better.” Cade fingered a bruised spot on his ribs, unconsciously, I think. “I’d like to thank you for your part in my rescue. Things would have ended poorly without your aid, I understand.”
I winced inwardly at his choice of words. Yes, of course Alistair’s role was pivotal, but you don’t admit to the head of the Coterie that you’re indebted to him. It’s about as safe as filling your pants full of chum and jumping into shark-infested water.
Alistair waved it away like it was nothing. “Forget it. Let us not hamper our new relationship with such debts and tallies.”
Warning bells chimed in my ears. “New relationship?”
Alistair leaned back into the booth. I didn’t like the expression on his face.
“No relationship,” I said firmly, my hands gripping the edge of the table. “My pact was with Venus. She’s gone. Therefore, so is my pact.”
Alistair pulled a file out of one of the neat stacks and tossed it in front of me. “Your paperwork clearly states that you belong to the Coterie. Read it, if you like.”
“I do like,” I said, opening the file. Cade leaned over to read it as well, even though we’d been over it a hundred times. I’d always assumed that Venus was the Coterie, that the pact was null and void without her. A stomach-twisting shudder went through me as I read. I didn’t have to search for long. Alistair had highlighted all the relevant bits, which I felt was very organized of him.
“As you are no doubt discovering, your pact clearly says you belong to this organization, which I now embody.” He said it calmly, still comfortably at ease on his side of the booth. I wanted to smack his serene face.
My hands were shaking as I handed the papers to Cade. “I guess I always thought Venus and the Coterie were one and the same.”
“Yes and no,” Alistair said. “Like I said, she was the CEO—or the despot.” He smiled a tight-lipped smile. “But the company doesn’t lose its assets when the CEO steps down, just like the country doesn’t lose its resources when a despot has been tumbled.” A waiter appeared with a basket of rolls and drinks, earning a smile from Alistair for his effort. “To be completely honest, your pact paperwork is littered with vague terminology like this. Had we met prior to you signing it, I would have recommended a lawyer. I’m assuming you didn’t have anyone look at it?”
I shook my head.
“All the local nonhuman lawyers are Coterie owned,” Cade said.
Alistair nodded sympathetically. “Look, I feel bad for you two—obviously you were bullied into an unfair arrangement.” He pulled a piping hot roll out of the basket. “But I would be stupid not to make use of all my assets.” He tore the bread slowly before buttering it. “I am not stupid,” he said, his gaze meeting mine. “Ava, I’m sure you came in here thinking you were a free bug, and I do apologize for crushing that dream, but I’m afraid that I’m not in the position to be magnanimous about this. So far things have been going smoothly, but as word gets out, that will change. The head of the Coterie is a tempting position, and many will try their luck and come at me. Things will get messy. I need to be prepared for that.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but Alistair stayed me with a hand. “We’re still in the early days.” He tapped one of the larger stacks of paper next to him. “I am, as Ezra might have mentioned, cleaning house. Despite her … charms … Venus had some very loyal followers. I’m giving some of them a chance to switch alliances. A few of them will refuse. Still more of them are too dangerous and unstable to even consider.”
My blood chilled as I anticipated where he was going with this. “You want me to burn out the rats.”
“Yes,” he said, his eyes dark. He sighed and pushed the basket of bread toward me, but I didn’t feel hungry anymore. Not that it mattered. I would need to eat anyway. “I know you won’t believe me, but I will be a different leader than Venus.”
“Different isn’t always better,” Cade said.
“No, it’s not,” Alistair said, his uneaten roll resting on a plate in front of him. “But I feel I have things to offer you that she would not.”
“Like?” Cade asked. My throat felt thick, making talking difficult.
“Ava, you and your team have received back pay for your services—don’t argue,” he said, before I could even open my mouth. It was going to be hard to get a word in edgewise with Alistair. “It’s your money. You’ve more than earned it, and you will continue to draw a paycheck while you remain in the Coterie. What you do with it now doesn’t concern me. Burn it if you wish, though I think that would be a tremendous waste, and it certainly wouldn’t change how you earned it. And wasting the money won’t bring those creatures back, Ava. It won’t assuage any guilt you have festering in the corners of your soul. I suggest you use it to rebuild your bookstore. Even with good coverage, insurance won’t handle everything. If that doesn’t appeal to you, you can donate it wherever you see fit. That’s all I will say on the matter.”
He handed me another file.
I didn’t open it—I was afraid to see what was inside.
“It won’t bite, Ava. It’s not an assignment.”
“What is it, then?” I asked.
“Think of it as an offering—a little something to try to make up for not releasing you from your pact.”
“I don’t want it,” I said automatically.
I got an amused twist of lips and a single raised eyebrow. “Not taking it will
do nothing to me, Ava. It won’t change your situation; just like taking it won’t make you more indebted to me or the Coterie. Take it or don’t. Simple as that.”
Yeah, right. I opened the folder. Alistair was telling the truth—it wasn’t an assignment. I picked up a battered and worn piece of paper which looked like it had been folded, stored, shoved into pockets—all the things you do with paperwork that you have to carry your whole life. It was a birth certificate, and whoever forged it had been smart enough to make it look like it had seventeen years of wear.
“I used the birthday Lock gave me. From what I’ve been told that probably isn’t the real one, and if you wish, I will try to discover what the proper one is. Someone had to deliver you, Ava. There were witnesses.”
It was weird suddenly not knowing when I was born. When was my real birthday? Logically, I didn’t think it mattered, but logic and people don’t always mix. For some reason not knowing my birthday made me feel a little unfinished. I pushed the birth certificate aside until I could deal with it later. Underneath that was a passport, a driver’s license, a social security card … and they all had my name on them. And underneath it all were a few pamphlets for college.
“It’s only been a week,” I said. “How did you do all this?”
“Strings, Ava. I’ve been doing some major marionette work.”
“Why?”
He smiled and took a bite of his roll. “One reason would be to keep you happy. I realize I can’t buy your loyalty, Ava. Our short time together has told me that. However, I would like to keep you from actively trying to sabotage things.”
The waiter returned with our food, setting a thick steak in front of me, and I took a moment to put my napkin in my lap while I thought through what Alistair said.
“There are other ways for you to accomplish such things,” I said.
Alistair was straightening his own napkin. “I need you legal—it makes you less noticeable and situations largely less sticky if you have all the trappings of a regular human. As for college, education is something I prize. My employees are encouraged to better themselves. I know you won’t believe I’m doing it for altruistic reasons, so I will tell you that doing so will only improve my assets. I don’t want pawns, Ava, I want a well-organized, functioning machine.”
“You want samurais, not farmers playing soldiers.”
Cade snorted and Alistair nodded. “Exactly.” He looked down the aisle, and when I followed his gaze I saw Lock. My friend had a few battle wounds of his own, but he still looked pretty good. As he got closer, the air shivered and Bianca appeared. She was holding on to Lock’s arm in a possessive manner that I didn’t quite like. I attacked my steak with the knife. I was too forceful, and some of the vegetables slid over the lip of the plate and onto the tabletop. Smooth.
Bianca leaned up on her toes and kissed Lock on the cheek. He seemed surprised, but pleasantly. Alistair made no move to slide into the booth, so Bianca stole a chair from another table and pulled it over to us. Lock stood rather awkwardly near the table for a moment, clearly unsure as to whether he should leave or not. He wouldn’t look at me. When Ezra shouted for him, he fled in obvious relief.
Alistair picked up a knife and fork and sliced into his steak in a genteel fashion. I was not surprised to see that it was rare. “I won’t pretend that you’re not an important part of my new world order here, Ava. Nor am I going to pretend that you’ll love me every second of the day. I’m your boss. Such feelings are natural. But I will ask that you at least pretend compliance when you’re around.”
“I’m pretty sure my paperwork does not say that I have to play nice.”
“No,” Alistair said, “it doesn’t. But the more you play along, the less you actually have to work.”
I popped a piece of broccoli in my mouth while I mulled that over. Cade, apparently making intuitive leaps that I couldn’t, pieced it together before I could.
“Bait and switch,” he said.
Alistair gave him a small smile. “Bravo.”
When it was apparent to them that I was still in the dark, Alistair pointed at the caulbearer with his steak knife. “Bianca.”
I stared at Bianca, and I think I can honestly say that she would have happily kicked me in the shins if we’d been alone. The feeling was more than mutual.
“Everyone will expect him to make you his Owen,” Cade explained. “So he’s going to pretend that’s the case, but really it will be Bianca.”
I tilted my head, trying to envision Bianca as Owen. It was a strange visual. Bianca seemed like an odd choice to me. She didn’t seem on par with Owen—she wasn’t scary. Which I guess was the point of hiding her. I would look scary, while she did the … what exactly would she do?
“I don’t understand the subterfuge. If you need a heavy because Bianca isn’t up to it, why not simply pick one?” Bianca stiffened, but I ignored her. “Why make everyone think it’s me?”
“Man, you’re thick,” Bianca mumbled.
“What I need right now is loyalty. No one besides the drove and a few others knows what Bianca can do—think of all the meetings she can sit in on, all the information she can gather. Unseen. Unnoticed. I have enough enforcers. What I need is someone to suss out the people who won’t try to stab me the minute I turn around. You can’t do it—you’re too young, no one will trust you, and you have all the subtlety of an ox in an opera house.”
“Harsh,” Bianca said. “Gee, Ava, can firebugs burn? Because that was definitely a burn.”
I flipped her the finger. Everyone ignored us.
“You will work as a distraction because Venus has been using you as punishment for years. Your team has a reputation, and people are already scared of you. It makes more sense to trade on that than wait for people to be afraid of Bianca, which would undoubtedly take more effort and violence than is strictly necessary.”
“Yeah, no one’s going to be scared of her,” I said. “She looks like a damn pixie.”
Instead of flipping me off, Bianca blew me a kiss. If I didn’t dislike her so much, I would have found it funny. Okay, it was still funny. Damn.
I took bite of my roll. “So you want me to be a veil for the veil?”
“Yes. There will still be blood loss—there’s nothing I can do about that. The least I can do is make it necessary. This is the best-case scenario.” Alistair poked the file containing my paperwork with an index finger. “When the time comes, pick whichever college strikes your fancy. I chose options that are close so you can stay at home with minimal commute. Most of them also have online options. I will cover your books and tuition. I will also check your transcripts and get updates from your professors. You will maintain a 3.0 GPA at the very least—though I expect more of you—and you will supply me with your schedule so we can do our best to accommodate it. I don’t like to be disappointed, Ava.” He slipped a red strip of beef into his mouth. “Now I recommend that you eat your steak before it gets cold.”
The conversation was clearly over.
I LEFT Cade at the table with Alistair and Bianca. I might not entirely trust them yet, but I didn’t think they’d do anything to Cade, since Alistair clearly wanted me on his side. Besides, I needed to talk to Lock alone. I cornered him an empty hallway. He was leaning against the wall close to the men’s room door, looking good, if a bit tired and scuffed up in his Purgatory uniform.
He picked at his shirt. “I guess this is the last week I’ll have to wear this,” he said. “With us getting back pay and actual wages, I won’t need the extra job.”
“That’s definitely looking at the bright side of being hired thugs.” I held up my hand to stop his lecture before it started. I didn’t need it. Not today. “Why are you hanging out in a hallway?”
“Just in case Ez needs help, I’m supposed to stay nearby, but he doesn’t want me to go into the actual bathroom with him. As if I haven’t already seen everything.”
“We should still have some boundaries,” Ezra shouted through the door.
I pulled him away from the bathroom. “I never got a chance to thank you,” I said. Sparks flew from my fingers and drifted down toward the floor. I stomped them out. “You know, for that saving-my-life business and stuff.”
Lock rested his head on the wall, his gray eyes assessing. “You are really bad at this.”
“I really am. Can we skip past the part where we talk about squishy feelings?”
“No,” he said. “Not this time. I told you, you can’t always skip to the end.”
“But I really want to.”
“I know you do.” He reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, a strangely intimate gesture. “Sometimes we have to do the hard stuff.”
“You sound like Cade.”
“There are worse things.” He ran a hand nervously through his own hair. “So, Ezra and I were talking, and since we don’t have to work in the restaurant anymore, we were thinking about moving out by you guys.”
“I haven’t agreed to anything!” Ezra shouted. “I don’t know if I can give up my city-boy lifestyle.”
Lock ignored him. “We’d help out with the bookshop rebuild. Hang out more. Maybe a lot more.” Lock looked at me expectantly and I froze. I’ve never felt more like a deer in headlights watching the eighteen-wheeler as it barrels down at me. I needed to say something. My brain remained an extremely helpful blank.
“For the love of all that is—you’re both ridiculous, you know.” Ezra continued to shout through the door even though we weren’t acknowledging him. “Absolutely ridiculous. Ava, Lock is asking you out on a date. Now tell him yes so I can stop listening to this awkward mating ritual of a conversation.”