Page 138 of A Debt of Darkness

“It doesn’t have a small red stone on the back cover?”

He nods again.

“Fuck.”

Henry stares at me and I don’t like it. I’m not sure what he’s thinking, but whatever it is, I don’t want to find out. There’s little choice and a horrific sense of dread washes over me, leaving me desperate for a way out of the mess I’ve created.

“It’s probably a coincidence,” I mumble.

“Coincidences don’t exist around prophecies, Ivy.” Ryan steps in front of Henry, his expression soft and surprisingly understanding. “If you think you’ve seen the book, now would be the time to tell us where it is.”

His gaze is too much to bear and I turn away, staring at the lilies on the pond, trying to lose myself in the painting I adore but refuse to ask Henry to move. The ridges and valleys that make up the swirls of paint have become harsh and unfeeling, crinkles standing like immovable objects as they make their presence known. There’s no safety or serenity in the tranquility of the picture—only the turmoil and danger of what lies beneath the surface of the lily pond.

“My bedroom.”

Henry moves toward me, and when I meet his gaze, I see the confusion in his eyes. Their blue matches the muddledmurky color surrounding me and I sink into them, hoping Henry will help me through the disorder threatening to overwhelm me.

“Back home.” I gaze at my fingers. “It’s not home. Not anymore.” I move my eyes down to stare at my feet. “In L.A. It was a birthday present when I was five or six.” I arch my neck and roll my head back.

“We’ll go get it.” Ryan tips his head back and leans against Henry’s desk. “We know how to get into your room in L.A. Don’t look surprised, Ivy. Henry didn’t leave you unprotected and we made plans. More than one, actually.”

My eyebrow arches and Henry shrugs his shoulders.

“We might have needed to get to you. For your own safety.”

My eyebrow goes higher.

“Or the wedding might have been delayed or something.”

Henry doesn’t look remotely disturbed and it’s another thing we’re going to have a grown-up conversation about. As soon as possible. Right after this awful meeting has finished.

“Do we have to?”

“It’d be helpful,” Emmanuel says. “If only to stop it falling into the wrong hands.”

I roll my eyes and drop my head into my hands. “I’m not sure exactly where it is.”

“We’ll find it,” Ryan says.

“You’re not going through my room like it’s full of worthless shit.”

The silence that descends is deafening as Henry’s sheer annoyance drowns out the sound of almost everything else. My chest grows heavy as the weight of his disapprovalpresses down on me and his glare never wavers, fixed on me while he tries to decide what to do.

“You’re not going with them.”

“I’m not staying here.”

Emmanuel flicks his head between the two of us as our perfectly polite disagreement threatens to turn into a war of words. One neither of us wants and both of us wants to win.

“It’s too damn dangerous, lea.”

“Staying here hasn’t been safe, Henry.”

His jaw ticks and his rage threatens to boil over, until he crosses his arms and leans his weight on the desk, sliding next to Ryan. He’s thinking, weighing up the risk of taking me against the risk of leaving me here. Debating which is worse with himself, uncertain if leaving me unguarded is more dangerous than bringing me out into the unknown.

“Do you think she’s ready?”

“No,” Ryan says, “but we weren’t either. She’s got a point, Henry. We might be better going together and you can watch her yourself.”

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