by Ellie Margot
She continued her path closer to him until her chest was inches away from his.
Allison snapped her fingers to bring his attention upward.
“Speak,” she said.
“Yes,” said Guy.
“Did you believe he was in danger?” Allison asked, tilting her head.
Guy swallowed. He didn’t look away. “If Riette doesn’t like you, you’re in danger.”
“So, Frank needed to fear for his life?”
“I would have been worried if I were Frank,” said Guy.
Allison closed her eyes, and Guy slumped back. She turned and walked toward Mekhi and Corin. Allison leaned in and narrowed her eyes. Riette could still see them glowing from where she was.
“Did you see Riette threaten Frank?”
Mekhi tried to turn away, but his face showed the strain of being unable to fight the current that he was under.
Sweat formed at his brow.
“Don’t fight it,” said Allison. “It only hurts you.”
“Yes, she threatened him,” said Mekhi, and then he slumped forward, gasping for air he couldn’t find fast enough.
Allison looked at Corin and raised an eyebrow. Corin nodded as her cheeks turned pink and she looked down. A tear left her eye and rolled down her cheek.
Allison looked at Riette, and the glow from her eyes made the otherness she possessed all the more real. Riette checked herself for fear but found none.
Rage was chewing through her veins and pulsating on her shoulder as the flames appeared at her hands.
She looked at Cassian as Allison turned around and headed for the same aim.
When Allison stopped in front of Cassian, Riette’s jaw clicked with the pressure she had it under. She waited for him to damn her as the rest had.
“Did you see Riette threaten him?”
Cassian looked down at Allison and gritted his jaw. Then he looked at Trinity. Something was exchanged in just a glance. They both did a slight nod that Riette could see.
What the hell?
Riette bit the inside of her cheek and braced herself for what she knew was coming.
“No.”
What? Riette let out a sigh, and the flames at her fingertips all but went away.
“No?” asked Allison.
“No, she protected us, but she didn’t threaten him,” said Cassian.
“How can your story contradict all of the others?”
“Because I know her. I know if he did try to hurt us, she would act accordingly, but she wouldn’t kill Frank without him attacking her, or one of us, first.”
Allison narrowed her eyes again. “You sound so sure.”
“I am.”
“Enough to risk your life?”
“If it came to it, yes,” Cassian said. “She wouldn’t do this. And even if she did, she would own up to it. I know that.”
Allison cleared her throat and blinked her eyes. When she turned around, Riette saw the glow had almost faded from her eyes.
“Let me see the body,” said Allison, and Tommy started to leave the room. He adjusted the sword and guns strapped to his massive back as he walked.
“Don’t you hurt him,” warned Ella.
“He’s dead,” Allison said. “I don’t think he’d minds anything at this point.”
“His body needs to be perfect for the funeral. I couldn’t—”
Her words were cut off by the sound of Tommy returning with the body and laying it on the floor in front of Ella’s feet.
The quickness of the action stopped everyone in the room. One second, Tommy was shuffling out, and in the next, the body was placed at Ella’s feet.
Ella turned with a sob and buried her face into Billy’s chest.
Trinity made a noise that sounded like the product of a cry being forced into a whimper.
Riette watched as Allison walked closer to the body.
Chapter 21
Allison stood above the body, and her eyes glowed green as she cast her glance down on what remained of Frank.
His body looked altogether the same, except for his eyes that remained open, staring up at a heaven Riette knew he would never see.
His mouth was closed, and his expression was tight, as if he had been gritting his teeth when he met his end.
Despite the emotions that raised in Riette, she stayed quiet. The entire room did, save for the sobs coming out of Ella and the soft cries that left Trinity, even with a hand raised to her lips.
Riette looked from the scene to see Billy watching her from the other side of the room. He wasn’t alone in his perusal. Tommy and Mandy also watched her, but their eyes glowed like their counterpart.
Tommy’s were a purple-hazed gray color, and Mandy’s were red.
Her small stature and delicate features made her look like a doll come to life, one that had been drawn over in crayons by a crazed child.
Riette stood her ground. She lifted an eyebrow at them, and Tommy smirked back at her. She would have smiled if the occasion didn’t smack of something quiet and wrong coming.
Riette’s eyes found Cassian’s in the crowd. He gave her another expression she couldn’t read, and she turned her gaze away.
She didn’t know what he had planned with Trinity—if he fulfilled their bargain or betrayed it—but she knew if it hadn’t been for his support, she might be in handcuffs right now.
Riette also knew that those cuffs could still be coming, and she wondered if she could burn them off if it came to it.
Allison lowered herself to a squat, and her glowing eyes looked over Frank’s still features.
“What does he say?” asked Ella. “I can’t bear not knowing.”
“Say?” asked Riette. “He’s dead.”
“I don’t think he’d say much of anything, unless gas escaping counts,” said Mekhi, but he stopped when he heard Corin whimper beside him.
Corin’s skin was ashen, run through with gray, and she swayed as if she was going to meet the floor with her face.
Mekhi propped her up with an arm around her shoulders.
“I could fill books with what you don’t understand,” said Ella.
Allison looked up quickly from her position. “That’s enough.”
“The dead can speak from their realm for a small window of time after their passing,” said Tommy. Riette could see him biting the inside of his cheek from the way his skin was gathered.
“She can speak to the dead?” asked Riette.
“No, the dead can speak to her,” said Mandy. “To all of us, but Allison has the strongest dose. It’s not like he’s talking or nothing. It’s like he left a recording.”
“But—” Riette started.
“I can’t hear shit with all of this noise,” Allison said without looking up. Her eyes were still focused on the corpse. “Leave. All of you.”
When she did look up, her gaze zoned in on Riette. “Don’t even step outside of the house until we’re done here. None of you.”
Cassian crossed the room and took Riette’s elbow. They walked out behind Ella, Billy, and Trinity. Trinity kept her eyes faced downward, and there was still color in her cheeks.
“She can’t see your powers again,” he whispered.
“I’m not trying to show off,” said Riette.
“She’s already seen too much.”
“I know. Fuck, I hate this place.”
“Yeah, next time we’re staying at a quality establishment,” said Mekhi. “No slumming.”
“What do you know about slumming?” asked Guy. “Before me, you all didn’t have a pot to piss in.”
“Why would we pee in pots?” asked Corin.
“More importantly, why did we not know that there were people who could speak to the dead?” Riette asked Guy.
“I can’t be expected to teach you all of the things. Ella wasn’t lying about how little you guys are hip to, all right?”
“Well, when you saw their glowing eyes, you could have mentioned it.”
“Before
or after you were choking on your own foot in your mouth?” Guy asked.
“Leave her alone,” said Cassian. His voice was comprised of grit and stones.
They walked into the entryway and stood on one side, with Ella and her people on the other.
Riette closed her eyes. She smelled the earth and the forest again as if she were outside, and the tattoo burned hotter on her shoulder. She could feel the cloth of her shirt burning away as her skin seared through it.
Riette took a deep breath and tried to regain control, but there were too many things running through her mind to quiet it. She tried to take in more air but couldn’t. There was a weight on her chest that prevented it.
She felt Cassian beside her before she opened her eyes to confirm it. When she did look up and see him there, she couldn’t say anything because Allison had entered the room.
Her eyes weren’t glowing anymore, and Tommy and Mandy were at her sides.
“Show me your sign,” she said to Riette. “Now.”
Riette turned, and Cassian was the first one to see her back and the lack of the clothes that shielded it.
Her tattoo, the new lines still cutting through the old, was on full display.
“Shit,” Cassian whispered like an utterance on the wind.
Allison walked closer, claiming the distance between herself and Riette.
When she got within an arm’s distance, she reached out, and her fingertips grazed the tattoo.
Her touch felt like icicles being run across Riette’s skin, and she almost arched her back and hissed at the new sensation. It was like being touched by the dead, by a grave two months into a deep winter.
“She didn’t do it,” said Allison. She stepped back and walked to stand between the two groups.
“What?” exclaimed Ella. “You can’t believe—”
“It was poison. Made to look like a power surge, neither of which could be done by her mix.”
“You saw her yourself,” said Ella. “Whatever power she has surely is enough to do the damage inflicted on him.”
“She’s earth and fire, though it looks like the fire has all but taken her over, and there’s something else in there fighting for release,” Allison said. Her brow was pinched as she considered Riette. She shook her thoughts loose in a physical act.
Allison faced Ella, her hand on her hip. “It was one of your employees.” She paused to look at Trinity. “Or someone else who has something in them they shouldn’t.”
“You can’t know that,” said Ella.
Allison made a noise like a hum before saying, “You would be awfully surprised at what I know.”
A shadow crossed over Ella’s face, and the color left it, leaving a palette of gray and green it its wake.
Tommy crossed his arms with Mandy on Allison’s other side. He found Riette’s eyes, and his brows lifted as he watched her.
The heat was the first sign that something was wrong.
The clicking in Riette’s ears was another clue.
Riette stepped back. She should have felt relief when she was acquitted, but the fire roared back to life harder when Allison had released her touch on her.
Flames burst to life in her hands. A ball of fire hovered above her right hand, and shots of blue flames ran through it.
Cassian grabbed Riette by the arm to put her in front of him, with his back to everyone else. He walked her back until they were out in the hall, just out of the line of sight of the rest of the group.
He went to touch the flames, but Riette pulled her arm back.
“No,” she hissed.
Cassian swallowed. “Let me.”
“What if—”
Cassian grabbed her hands and pushed the fire between his palm and Riette’s. There was a hiss of seared skin, and Cassian closed his eyes at the feeling but said nothing.
The fire slowly went away like a candle dying out. Riette gasped for air, and Cassian was doing the same.
In the moment before he released her hand, things between them felt like they used to be. But then the moment was gone, and it left Riette without the words to fill the silence between them.
Too much had passed, but she liked that for a second, it felt like she truly had her friend back.
“It was almost pretty,” said Allison, “in its own way.”
Both of them turned. Cassian’s hands were in fists, and Riette, feeling more in control, readied herself for a fight.
Allison watched both of them. There wasn’t anyone with her, though the rest of the group could be heard talking in the adjacent room.
“I know about Samantha,” said Allison.
Riette opened her mouth to speak, but Allison raised her hand.
“I’m not in it and have no intentions of joining whatever problems are following you. I wasn’t kidding when I said I wanted a world of difference between me and anything that has to do with—well, any of this.” Allison lowered her hand. She spoke to Riette. “Why are you here?”
Cassian touched Riette’s arm and shook his head.
Allison noticed the exchange. “Fair enough. I guess I shouldn’t ask questions I don’t want the answers to, but I know you must have your reasons.”
Ella cried out from the other room, and all three turned to look.
Allison turned back toward them. “Look, I’ll handle her, but I think it’s fairly clear that you can’t be here anymore. Whatever reason brought you here notwithstanding, there will be trouble if I leave before you do.” She looked toward Cassian for a second before looking back at Riette. “I’ll give you both a minute and a head start.”
Allison turned to leave, but Riette stopped her.
“Thanks.”
“For what?”
“For not trying to drag me out of here.”
Allison shrugged. “I make my own bad decisions and leave others to theirs, unless I’m dragged in to clean up a mess.”
“What are you?” Riette asked, taking a step forward.
“A part of a group that’s all but gone,” Allison said. She paused a second before continuing to where Ella was. “Maybe for good reason,” she added.
Chapter 22
“I’m fairly certain that I should be afraid of her,” Riette said after watching Allison walk away.
Cassian stared where she left as well. “Safe bet. She reminds me of someone.”
Riette looked at him, and his face was still, but she saw the ghost of a smile on his lips. “I’m not like her.”
“I mean, she’s a bit cooler, but the biting, angry, powerful thing? You can’t say there aren’t similarities.”
“I’m one of a kind,” said Riette, turning away.
“Thank goodness,” said Cassian, and she elbowed him in the ribs softly.
Riette took a step forward but then stopped. “You think I’m cool, huh?”
“That’s what you lock in on?” asked Cassian.
“I just thought it was about time that you admit it. I thought you had lost all of your sense.”
Cassian nodded slightly. “I’ll leave that alone since I know you’re reeling from almost being hauled away.”
“How kind of you.”
“That is what I’m known for,” said Cassian. Riette turned to leave, but he stopped her by playing a hand on her arm. “Are you okay?”
Riette nodded but didn’t say anything.
“Riette...”
“I just think Allison is right. I need to leave here. We need to get our shit and figure this out from outside of this place.”
“What about the book?” he asked.
Riette stopped. “We’ll get it, even if we have to break in later.”
“Not exactly what I had in mind.”
“You never have the fun stuff in mind.”
Cassian rolled his eyes, but they shared a small smile that Riette knew she hadn’t seen in too long.
With that, they walked back to the main room, and without pausing, Riette started to go up the stairs at a quick pace.
She could hear Ella yelling behind her, but the three glowing-eyed creatures kept her at bay while Riette and the others followed.
They made it to the room, and again, Riette thought about knocking on Alex’s door and asking him to leave with them, but she didn’t. She knew she would be dragging him into something he probably wouldn’t want to deal with either.
She wasn’t sure she even wanted to anymore.
When Riette entered the room, she walked to the bed and looked through it to make sure she hadn’t left anything.
She turned toward the others as they entered and stormed over to Guy. “My bag?”
He handed it to her, and she jerked it from his hands before putting it on.
“Easy now. I could have lost a finger.”
“I could have lost my fucking life down there. Big thanks to all of you all.” Riette tried to keep her anger in check, but thinking about how they all turned on her had been brewing under the surface.
“Hey, you know I have your back,” said Mekhi.
“Do you?” she asked. “It looked like you all were eager to call me a fucking maniac down there.”
“Exhibit A in progress,” said Guy. Riette looked at him. “What? You have an angry streak. Besides, you saw the one made of magic and hotness. We didn’t have a choice.”
“Right, she did her magic woo-woo craziness, and my mouth opened and shit came out,” said Mekhi.
“Yes, bullshit. All of it.”
“You did threaten him,” said Corin.
“And he didn’t threaten us?”
Mekhi walked over to Riette and put his hands on her shoulders. “Take a breath. You know I would bring a tsunami in this bitch for you and drown the lot of them. You’re family.”
“It didn’t feel like it,” said Riette.
“Look, I know that it was a shitty situation, and frankly, I feel a little violated by Miss Dark and Glowy—”
“How about Ms. Night Light?” offered Guy.
“Whatever we call her, it wasn’t ideal, and I’m weirded out by it, but we’re through it, and frankly, I never want to see this place again. Please and thank you.” Mekhi took his hands from Riette’s shoulders but tensed when he heard a noise behind him.