Page 162 of Veil of Death and Shadow

My thoughts flickered to my conversation with Thorne only a few hours ago, and I turned to Kieran, trying not to panic. “Doesn’t that mean . . .?”

Down the hall, it appeared that Benson had finally incapacitated the other two guys, though it wasn’t clear if they were dead or just unconscious, as they made their way over to me.

“Yeah,” Kieran nodded, “it does.” He cursed, then let out a frustrated sigh. “When Thorne wakes up, his memories—from both his life and his afterlife—will all be gone.”

31

MAREENA

Present Day

“Why?” I shook my head, crawling away crab-style from Thorne and the corpse. My body was shaking, and it felt like if I stood up too quickly, I’d only come tumbling back down to the floor, though I wasn’t sure if that was due to the blood loss or because I was on the verge of a panic attack. “Why did he do that? Why would—” I took a deep breath and tried to regulate my body’s response, focusing on the flare of pain in my arm, letting it ground me. I looked up, searching Kieran’s face. “I don’t understand?”

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Thorne, it’s that there’s no getting to the bottom of his decisions unless he wants you to.” Kieran picked up the reaper’s unconscious body and tossed it over his shoulder, then he grabbed my hand, helping me back to my feet as much as his foothold in this world would allow. “Let’s get your friend and get the feck out of here before we run into any more issues, yeah?”

I nodded, then ran my tongue over my lips to bring moisture back to my mouth. “Okay. You got the keys, right?”

“Who’s she talking to?” Benson One muttered to Benson Two. They’d made their way back during the chaos, looking a little rumpled but uninjured for the most part—and judging by the light in their eyes and the subtle curves to their mouths, they’d actually enjoyed that unexpected interruption to the rescue mission.

Fucking Wrath recruits.

“Don’t know,” Benson Two said, “but it looks like she took the third one on her own.” They both shot me an impressed look. “Not bad, Rina’s friend.” Apparently they hadn’t bothered memorizing my name either. “Maybe you should consider pledging to our house. Might fit in better than you think.”

They spoke about House of Wrath as if it were a fucking frat house. And, honestly, if they were true representatives of the larger whole, it probably was.

Swallowing my frustration, I ignored them and opened the door that Kieran had unlocked.

Sora shifted awake as we spilled into the room, and I felt some of the tension ease in my chest. She was okay, she was alive. This room must’ve been sound-proofed because the chaotic battle in the hall clearly hadn’t woken her.

“Mars?” she asked, her eyes wide with shock that then quickly bled into panic. “What are you doing here?” Her gaze dipped to my arm. “Oh my god, are you okay? What happened? How did you find me?”

I grabbed the ring of keys hanging on a coat hook and started the tedious process of figuring out which one actually opened her cage.

“I’m okay, it’s okay,” I said, convincing myself as much as her, as I moved from the third key to the fourth. “We’re going to get you out of here and then we can answer questions. Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

A cursory glance showed that she had a few bruises and cuts, and judging from the way that she seemed to be favoring her right side, I had a feeling that leg was injured. Hopefully nothing worse than a light sprain.

“Yeah.” She sniffed; her expression stiff. “I’m okay.” Okay was relative of course, and I could tell from the way her voice wavered and the tears clinging to her dark lashes that okay definitely did not mean good. She offered a small, tight smile. “Nothing we haven’t been through before.”

Also not the most comforting words. At the hands of Blake, we’d been through quite a lot, which meant there was a pretty big range of shit they could have done to her in the last twenty-four hours.

I shoved the possibilities from my thoughts.

“We’ll—” My words broke off at the sound of a click as the lock tipped open. I sighed with relief and swung her crate open. Placing her left arm around my shoulders, I had her lean as much of her weight on me as she could, guiding her out. “Let’s get out of here. Sound good?”

She grunted. “You have no fucking idea how good.”

The hall was silent, and Sora’s eyes widened at the sight of three bodies scattered on the floor. I gave her arm a gentle squeeze, and we stepped over them, wordlessly retracing our steps back to the entrance.

But when we reached the base of the staircase, two men came bolting down the last few steps, expressions twisted in first surprise, then rage.

“Go,” Benson said, a devious grin twisting the corners of his lips. “We’ll take care of them and meet you back at the rendezvous.”

The men looked downright giddy at the promise of another fight.

Well, they weren’t going to get one from me.

Sora and I side-stepped their grunts and shoves as the four men locked in a battle of limbs and blows.

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