Page 72 of Absentia Mori

“So, there I am, fucking shit up, pulling out drawers and throwing his papers all over the floor when I spot an old book. It was hidden in a false bottom in one of the cabinets. I was drawn to it for some reason. I knew it was important, so I took it and hid it. To this day, I still have it. Not even Aries knows.”

Riot crosses his arms and shifts forward. “What’s in the book, Lib?”

My heart races. “Everything. Including the reason why some pass over to the After while others remain stuck here as ghosts.”

“You’ve known this whole time?” Atlas shouts, poison rings swirling like lightning bolts in his eyes.

“Relax,” Mordecai growls. “Did you really think she was going to trust you with this after you humiliated her in front of all your initiates?”

Atlas snickers. “Wait, weren’t you three supposed to be keeping tabs on her? I don’t recall seeing you in the ritual room that day.”

Fabien clenches his fists. “We weren’t allowed in. Senior members only.You know this.”

Maureen slams her fists on the table and everyone collectively flinches. There’s a storm simmering below the surface. Her power is too much. I’m suddenly worried about her.

“Enough,” she hisses. “Lib doesn’t owe us anything. We should be grateful she’s telling us now.” Her gaze softens when she looks back at me. “Go on.”

I blow out a deep breath. “Okay, bear with me. The Poison War was bloody and cutthroat. In order to win, my family made a bargain with the devil. A deal that we are all still paying for now. Because of this, when someone dies from poison, they don’t cross over to the After. Their soul remains here forever.”

Maureen’s breath hitches. She shakes her head. “No, that can’t be right. Bailey didn’t die from poison, and she’s a ghost. And what about Silas? He passed on after he and Jessamine ingested it. Even Daisy Thorn passed on to the After, after poisoning Poe, Grim, Saint, Raine, and herself.”

I knew these questions would come. It’s taken me a long time to figure it out myself. “Thorns aren’t affected. Daisy was able to pass on because of that. It was part of our bargain. Bailey is a Bishop. Her ancestors have their own curses. Bishop women are forbidden to enter the After. And as far as Silas goes… I don’t think he passed on. I think he’s hiding.”

Everyone stares at me in stunned silence.

A shrill cry startles us as Villette comes barreling into the parlor room. Before I can turn my head, she knocks Mordecai out of the way and throws her arms around me. “Lib! You’re alive. Thank the raven, you’re alive.”

“Lettie,” I breathe as I hug her back. Her sweet scent envelops me, reminding us all that there are still some good people left in our world. This beautiful girl wouldn’t hurt a fucking fly.

Before she can fire her questions at me, Maureen stands from the table. “We’ll bring you up to speed later tonight, Lettie. Right now, I want all you boys to agree to a truce. No one leaves this house unless we leave as friends.”

My heart flutters. I’m so grateful for my raven-haired friend. If anyone can turn enemies into friends, it’s her.

But I’m terrified that it won’t be enough this time. Mordecai, Raithe, and Fabien aren’t as quick to forgive. I wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t.

The thing about truces is they usually only appease the ones who have the least to lose. Not the ones who already lost.Not the man with one eye.

But when Libra looks at me with those haunting blue-green eyes, silently pleading with me, I unravel and give in.

I shake their hands and agree not to retaliate. From the looks of their clenched jaws, this isn’t an easy pill for them to swallow either. But Nocturnus boys don’t say no to Maureen Blackwell. To their queen.

She nods and faces us all. “Ruina nostra salus…Our ruin is our salvation.”

Fuck, I don’t miss this cryptic Nocturnus shit. I’m starting to think losing an eye might be worth not having to attend one of their creepy rituals ever again.

But there’s an insecurity festering inside me as I watch the ease with which Libra interacts with all of them. She’s been partof this world her whole life. Guys like us were never allowed in these spaces. They are the rich and privileged, and we’re just three scrappy nobodies from the poison fields.

She says she wants nothing to do with her old life but it suits her so well. What if she grows tired of slumming it with us?

Mordecai and Fabien seem to echo my feelings with their shrunken postures, their hands shoved into their pockets as we sheepishly watch our girl laugh and banter with her old friends. What if all we have is Absentia Asylum?

I nudge Mordecai and nod toward Libra. “We aren’t good enough for her.”

He grits his teeth, the vein in his neck pulsing. “I don’t care. She belongs with us.”

Fabien rubs a palm over his buzzed head. “She’s always been ours.”

Libra glances over at us and flashes a smile. And fuck me, it makes my belly flutter like I’m a fucking teenager again. The same way it fluttered when I saw her step out of her father’s limousine all those years ago when they visited the poison fields.

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