The Book of Betrayal
The Last Oracle Book Five
Melissa McShane
Copyright © 2019 by Melissa McShane
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover design by Alexandra Brandt http://www.alexandrajbrandt.com
For Julie,
because if it’s Portland, there have to be rhododendrons
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Helena’s Movie List
Acknowledgments
About the Author
1
Gray clouds filled the sky to the west, filtering the light of the setting sun and turning the new greenery lining the freeway even more lush and vibrant. Lightning, vivid and white, cut a jagged scar against the dark background. Wind lashed the car window, doing its best to push the car out of its lane, and carried the clouds tumbling toward us. It was hard not to feel we were outracing the storm, but I couldn’t think of a better vehicle to win that race than Malcolm’s Jaguar, slung low to the ground and purring like a cat.
“Did you know big cats can’t purr?” I said. “Lions and tigers, I mean. I read it somewhere. And small cats can’t roar.”
“Is this apropos of a conversation I don’t remember?” Malcolm said.
“Just thinking about your car’s engine purring, and how a real jaguar wouldn’t. We’re not going to go rolling head over heels, are we?”
“Not with as low a profile as this car has. Are you afraid?”
“With you driving? Never.” I leaned my cheek against the cold window glass and eyed the clouds. “Maybe a little afraid of this dinner.”
Malcolm laughed. “Ashamed of me, or of your family?”
“Neither. I just want them to like you, and you to like them.”
“I promise to like them and to be at my most likeable. I hope they don’t think I’ve been avoiding them. It’s been months since you told them we were dating.”
“I’m sure they won’t think that.”
Malcolm changed lanes and exited the freeway, coming to a smooth stop at the top of the ramp. “I’m looking forward to your mother’s cooking. I’ve only ever had her leftovers, and the real thing is sure to be spectacular.”
“She’s making lasagna. It’s my favorite. You will love it.”
He briefly put his hand over mine and squeezed before putting the car in gear and moving forward. “This is because I’m older than you, isn’t it?”
“No. Maybe. It’s stupid.”
“Nine years isn’t that big a difference. Remember that old fellow what’s-his-name in African Queen?”
I laughed. “All right. I just can’t help thinking my parents are going to think it’s weird, when the truth is I never remember your age except when your birthday rolls around. And they’re not going to think it’s weird.”
“Your birthday is coming around in a few weeks.”
“I wish we could celebrate publicly.” I let out a long, frustrated breath. “Maybe I should just tell the Board of Neutralities the truth. They seem to have faith in me, and I can’t help feeling I’m betraying it.”
“Don’t,” said Malcolm. “If they find out about us, you will certainly lose Abernathy’s, and possibly your life. I haven’t given up hope that you’ll figure out an exception to the Accords. And since you won’t let me break up with you—”
“What, and make decisions for me ‘for my own good’? I told you that’s what people in bad romance novels do.” I rested my hand lightly on his for a moment. “Does it still bother you that nothing in the Accords would punish you for being in this relationship?”
“Of course it does. That’s unfair if nothing else is.”
“And everything about the Accords is unfair.” I sighed again. “I’ll keep looking.” The truth was, I was discouraged. The Accords, the rules that governed all of magery and the Neutralities, said clearly that custodians of Neutralities had to maintain impartiality toward the two factions magery was divided into. They were just as clear that a custodian dating a Nicollien or an Ambrosite qualified as extreme partiality. But I loved Malcolm, and he loved me, and the thought of giving him up filled me with horror. So deception, and secrecy, were the order of the day.
I directed Malcolm through the last few streets and into my parents’ driveway. The rambler-style house, with its beige brick façade and creamy white trim, looked drab this time of day, gloomy and gray. Even the rhododendrons, with their glossy green leaves, looked dispirited and droopy. I came around to Malcolm’s side of the car and took his hand. “Ready?”
He looked down at me with an amused smile and a flash of his wonderful dimple. “Morituri te salutant, Helena?”
I slugged him in the shoulder. “I am not preparing to die, Malcolm!”
He kissed me quickly. “Then smile like it’s a party, and release your death grip on my hand.”
I knocked rapidly on the door before pushing it open. I might not live here anymore, but old habits were hard to break. “We’re here!”
“Come in,” Mom said from the kitchen. I pushed the door open farther and was greeted by a wave of hot air scented with tomatoes and herbs and half a dozen kinds of cheese.
“The smell alone was worth the drive,” Malcolm murmured, helping me out of my coat. I hung his coat and mine on the hooks just inside the door, then took his hand again and led him into the living room, where my dad was just getting up from the couch. Jake, my brother, followed him a bit more slowly.
“Dad, this is Malcolm. Malcolm, my father, Roman Davies, and my brother Jake.”
“Nice to meet you,” Dad said, extending his hand to Malcolm, then catching me up in a big hug. “Hope the drive wasn’t too bad.”
“The rain held off,” Malcolm said. “Though I enjoy driving in the rain.”
“I’ve heard about your car,” Jake said. “Vintage Jaguar, right?”
“1963 E-type coupe. It was my father’s. Would you like to see it?”
Dad’s eyes gleamed. “Louise, we’ll be out front for a bit,” he called out, and suddenly I was alone in the living room, blinking at the absence of men.
“Wait, I wanted to meet…they’re gone,” Mom said, emerging around the corner from the kitchen. “Boys and their cars.”
“Well, it is a very nice car,” I said, going to hug Mom. “I guess this means I have to set the table on my own.”
“Jake did it before you came. Without being prompted. Sometimes I don’t recognize my own children.” Mom put her arm through mine and drew me after her into the kitchen, where both ovens were working hard. “Food will be ready in about ten minutes. How are things?”
“Busy, but dull, if that makes sense. I have a lot of customers w
ho all want the same things.” I couldn’t tell my parents that I worked in an oracular bookstore, nor that most of my customers were capable of working magic to fight alien monsters invading our world. Fortunately, Mom and Dad were satisfied with my often vague answers.
“Dull can be nice. It beats tax season, which is what I’ve been wrangling for my business this last week. I want it over and done with.”
“I’m glad I have an accountant.” I also had Judy Rasmussen, who was a wizard with our accounting software and kept the books in perfect order for the accountant. I couldn’t begin to imagine how complicated Abernathy’s’ taxes were.
The door opened, and shortly all three men trooped into the kitchen, their noses and cheeks rosy from the chill in the air. “I’d be afraid to drive that,” Dad said. “The insurance premiums alone…”
“They are high,” Malcolm said, “but it’s one of my few indulgences.”
I figured his expensive suits, his heavy gold watch, and his hand-stitched Italian leather shoes were more necessities of his job running a high-end security company than indulgences, and held my tongue. Today Malcolm was dressed in khakis and a lightweight black sweater that did nothing to conceal his excellent physique. It made me think about getting him home so I could get him out of his clothes as quickly as possible. I blinked away the image and smiled.
“It’s nice to meet you, Louise,” Malcolm was saying, shaking my mom’s hand. “Your reputation as a cook has preceded you.”
“I hope I’ll live up to it tonight,” Mom laughed. “Roman, why don’t you pour the wine, and I’ll serve the salad and bread.”
It was the best meal I’d had in months: fresh, hot, crusty Italian bread with flavored oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping, a green salad rich with romaine and arugula, and the lasagna, pure heaven on a plate. I caught my mother’s eye once and nodded at her, chewing vigorously. She flicked a glance at Malcolm and raised one eyebrow in an expression that clearly said You done good, girl. I blushed and couldn’t meet anyone’s eyes.
“So, Helena wasn’t very clear on what you do. You…sell security systems?” Dad said.
“More specifically, my company handles the varied security needs of all its clients. That can mean alarm systems, but often it means private security personnel, bodyguards, transportation of sensitive material.”
“Your company?” Mom said.
“It’s an old family business. My brother and I run the organization. My mother is on the board of directors.”
“So your mom is still the boss of you,” Jake said with a grin.
Malcolm smiled back at him. “It never ends. As I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough.”
Jake shrugged. “I’m off to college in the fall.”
“Where will you go?”
“University of Oregon.”
“That’s my alma mater. I hope you like it.”
“I didn’t know that. I would have thought you’d go to Harvard or Yale or someplace like that,” I said.
“I was accepted to Princeton, but I decided I’d rather stay close to home,” Malcolm said, giving me a look that reminded me he had a calling in life that mattered more than his university education. Though I would have thought he could fight invaders anywhere. I wondered for the first time how long he’d been a magus. Undergoing the Damerel rites for the implantation of the aegis that let humans wield magic was dangerous, and I couldn’t imagine they’d let a teenager do it, but that was all I knew.
“So your mother, your brother…what about your father?” Mom said.
“My father passed away five years ago.”
“Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t—”
“That’s all right. It was quite sudden—he was only fifty-eight. But we remember him fondly, not sadly.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Dad cleared his throat. “Dessert, and then a movie? Helena tells us you’re a fan of classic films.”
“Yes, it’s what brought us together. The Philadelphia Story, wasn’t it? ‘Unsuspected depth?’”
I laughed. “That’s it exactly. I’d almost forgotten that.”
“It certainly made me see you in a new light.” His smile warmed me, and without any self-consciousness I kissed him lightly on the lips. It made his eyes light up, and suddenly I couldn’t remember why I’d ever been nervous.
We carried our little plates of tiramisu into the basement, where my dad’s shrine to the gods of entertainment lay. Surround sound, a flat screen TV filling most of one wall, leather recliners with plenty of cup holders…it was the most decadent way to watch a movie I knew.
Malcolm and I picked out a comfortable seat, and I curled up against his side the way I always did for movies. Though this was unlikely to end the way it did any time we watched a movie in my apartment, with the two of us kissing and taking each other’s clothes off as the credits rolled. I caught my mother looking at me again with that sidelong smile, and snuggled in closer to hide my embarrassment. “I still can’t believe you’ve never seen The Thin Man,” I said. “And you such a big fan of My Man Godfrey, too.”
“Well, as I recall, you had never seen Notorious until five weeks ago. That’s a much greater omission, in my opinion.”
“Helena’s never seen Notorious?” Dad said. “Louise, we’ve failed as parents.”
“The one you should see is Hollow Triumph,” Malcolm said. “Helena and I watched that recently—Paul Henreid in a double role, psychological noir…it’s not light watching, but it was compelling.”
“I’ll put it on my watch list,” Dad said, pulling out his phone. Mom dimmed the lights.
“Movie time,” she said, and the opening credits came up on the screen.
The Thin Man is one of my favorites, though I’ve always wished they’d given Myrna Loy more to do with her role and I’ve never gotten the appeal of Asta the dog. Malcolm chuckled in all the right places. When Nora Charles tells Nick she read he was shot in the tabloids, and my parents and Jake and I all said “It's not true. He didn't come anywhere near my tabloids” along with Nick, he nearly dislodged me, he laughed so hard.
“I have no idea who the real murderer is,” he said near the end.
“That’s all right, neither does Nick Charles,” Jake said. “Want to take a guess?”
“My money’s on Cesar Romero, but that’s just because he’s creepy in this part.”
“I forgot who the murderer was the second time I saw this,” I said, “so it was like seeing it for the first time again.”
“Shh, pay attention or you’ll miss it,” Mom said.
We watched the dinner party unfold, the unmasking of the murderer, and the final scene where Nick throws Asta into the upper bunk so he and Nora can sleep together. “Not that they could do anything but imply that,” I said.
“And you notice how they never move their heads when they kiss, in these old movies,” Mom said. “They just press their lips together and hold still. Very awkward.”
“I love old movies, but I wouldn’t want to live in one,” Malcolm said. His fingers curled around mine. “That was a really good one. But I can’t say I’ve ever seen quite so gin-soaked a movie. Odd how their code didn’t prohibit displays of extreme drunkenness.”
“It’s true.” Dad stood and helped Mom to her feet. Malcolm did the same for me. Handsome, and considerate, and funny, and polite…I wished I dared fling my arms around his neck and kiss him hard in a way that would have been wildly inappropriate in an old movie.
We went back upstairs to the living room, where Jake said goodnight and tromped off to his room. “He’s going to text that girl,” Mom said. “For hours.”
“Which girl?”
“Her name is Claudia and they’re in English together,” Dad said. “And that is the extent of what we know.”
“I don’t understand the appeal of courtship via texting, but it seems to work for him,” Mom said. “Remember before we had unlimited texting?”
“Remember before we had texting,
period?” Dad said with a grin. “Back in the bad old days?”
“I don’t know how I’d survive without being able to text people. So much better than calling and leaving a voice mail they might not get,” I said.
“I prefer it, too,” Malcolm said. “And it leaves a trail.” Which reminded me of why I never texted Malcolm anymore, not unless it was something banal that anyone might send to a friend. We’d agreed not to leave evidence on each other’s phones in the form of affectionate texts or voice mails.
“Well, back in our day, we were lucky to have voice mail,” Dad said, intoning the way he always did when he delivered one of his “kids these days” statements.
“They don’t want to talk about our day, Roman,” Mom said affectionately. “Would you like anything else? More dessert? Coffee?”
“Actually, we should be going,” Malcolm said, rising from his seat. “I have an early meeting tomorrow.”
“Well, it was wonderful to meet you, Malcolm,” Mom said. “I hope we’ll see you again soon.”
“I’d like that.” Malcolm shook my dad’s hand and hugged my mom, who made the most outrageous face at me over his shoulder. I struggled not to laugh.
It was pouring down rain when we left my parents’ house, a heavy, cold rain that beat down on my scalp like a thousand tiny frozen fingers. Malcolm’s car was chilly, and the vintage Jag might have been a wonder to drive, but its heating system wasn’t terribly robust. We sat in the driveway for a minute, me holding my hands over the vent to warm them. “I didn’t know you had a meeting,” I said.
“I do, but I might have exaggerated its earliness in my desire to get back to your apartment and practice kissing in a non-Hays Code-approved way.”
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