Page 61 of The Duplicity of Thieves

So much has happened, and I’ve been too fucking stupid to put it together. I see why Killian never let me in on the secrets. I don’t think he knew them all himself. Turns out Kate kept heaps of things from me. That’s why she hid me away. If I can open the Grimoire, I’ll bet the answers to the rest of my questions are kept there.

As I walk home, I find myself fidgeting. Aedon didn’t seem thrown for a loop when I barged through his house and then just left. I like that. Do I think he’s psychotically obsessed with me? Yes, I have no doubt about that, but he let me walk away again. Not in a ‘thank the Universe you’re leaving’ way, but in a ‘not again’ way.

The manuscript in his apartment definitely wasn’t intentional, but it has the Fates written all over it. I know there was only ever one copy. The story of Pandora’s Box flips through my mind. The box was always real. It’s sitting in the museum, which is curious. Somehow, I’m connected to it and so is the book.

The Tartarian exhibit in the museum is too coincidental. It was a slap in the face. The drawing of The Leviathan isn’t Nyx and Erebus. It’s the Davös Hoyas, the king and queen of the fucking monsters. I smile to myself at the revelation. I’ve finally managed to figure something out. In my mind, monsters were myths, but every day that passes they become reality. It’s honestly exciting.

Kate read me a depiction of them in the damned story over and over again, almost wisping it in shadows right in front of me. I didn’t recall it until I saw the papyrus book. Killian would always get uncomfortable when Kate would speak about the Mondurians. He always said she was filling my head with nonsense.

Even though I still have a zillion questions, I’ve found out more than I even thought possible. It’s a relief from the constant loneliness that’s plagued me, even though Vivian never left me alone. Aedon hasn’t given himself up. He said he wasn’t an orphan, and I don’t think his entrance into my life is a coincidence. It’s another act of the Fates, but I don’t understand their end goal.

The night that Killian and Kate died they were protecting me and their secrets. Even Killian admitted they were there for me, but they must have been there to take something else, too. If the two of them were willing to sacrifice their lives, it must be pretty fucking important.

It isn’t even here, Kate had said.

Whoever is looking for this grimoire doesn't know who has it, and that gives me the upper hand. I need to tell Stafford about it all, but one thing that I need to know before I approach him is the truth about that night we ran. The only person that saw it was Vivian. We never mentioned it again, and now that is going to change. It’s time we talk about the past.

The streets are busy. I pass the infirmary where she works, and there is a line outside the door. Someone always needs healing. She should be off work today. I walk up to her flat and catch a glimpse of her laying out on her deck, basking in the sun.

She pulls down her sunglasses. “Jo?”

“Hey, Viv.”

“You haven’t been at your apartment for the last few days. Are you back at work?” Her brows furrow. She’s worried, of course. Always a sister first.

“Not exactly. I’ve actually been trying to enjoy myself.” I blush without meaning to, and this elicits an immediate reaction from her. She bolts upright.

“What kind of enjoyment?” She leads me inside and pours me some concoction from the fridge with fruit floating in it. It won’t hurt to tell her. Good news first, bad news later. The rest can wait.

“Remember the guy from the club?” I know she does.

“The romantic one? He came to my work looking for you. I told him to take a hike,” she admits.

I grin wide. “I know.”

“It killed me, literally killed me. I was dying inside. I’m going to guess he found you.”

I blush. “He did.”

“Did you have sex with him?!” she squeaks. My blush turns from pink to red. “You did! Tell me everything.”

I tell her as much as I can while excluding the museum.

“So he’s rich?” She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.

“So am I,” I point out.

“No one would ever know it because you won’t move out of that disgusting apartment.”

“What is it with you and Stafford? Always complaining about it. I like living there. I’m comfortable in Remnant territory. Everyone leaves me alone.”

She rolls her eyes. “Because they’re afraid of you.”

I’ve never openly discussed the work I do. I didn’t think Vivian would approve. She doesn’t ask, and I don’t tell.

“We all know what you really do. It doesn’t take intelligence to figure that out. Don’t look so shocked,” she continues. “I know what Bella does late at night, too. It was only a matter of time before I figured out how you two really know each other.”

“She told you what I do?” I make a mental note to punch Bella in the face.

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