Page 28 of Blue Embers
“Thank you,” I said flatly.
“You look like you need it,” Killian said.
I forced a smile. “You’re not supposed to say things like that to women.”
Killian chuckled. A sound I found incredibly comforting to hear.
“So about your long day,” he said. “Was it about your sister?”
I couldn’t bring myself to look at him after that question. I didn’t want him to see right through me and I knew he would the moment I raised my eyes and let the tears start. Holding everything back, I cleared my throat to ignore the real facts about Artemis and talk about a slightly different subject.
“I went to see her last night,” I said, focusing on what she’d told me rather than the fact that she was in a coma. “I asked her some questions and she finally opened up a little.”
“Really?”
“She told me that the Draak who marked her did it to save her life. She almost died and he was there for her, but he left as quickly as he appeared. He gave her the necklace so she could get us into the sectors. It was some kind of assurance that we’d be accepted. Specifically, he told her to find Fenris Bloodbourne in sector 1.”
“I know him. He’s the regent there. He tends to be somewhat elusive, though. He doesn’t appear publicly very much and he’s rather secretive. He’s a Blue, like me.”
“Do you know where he is? If we find him, he has to know who the necklace belonged to. Otherwise, why would it have had so much pull?”
“Fenris’s father was a Red. Diar Bloodborn, but he died over a century ago. Your sister didn’t tell you the name of the one who gave it to her?”
I faltered, thinking about the moment she was about to say it and instead fell unconscious. Tensing my jaw, I raised my coffee mug to my lips and took a small, careful sip. I wasn’t quite ready to talk about that part of the night and avoided it, clearing my throat to restart.
“She had a kid,” I said. “That’s why she almost died. It was the product of rape and she was trying to get rid of it. In the outer territories, good clinics are hard to come by, so she went to some back alley one and got screwed over. Our mysterious Draak saved her with his mark. She ended up having the kid while I was in boarding school and gave it up to some woman before she came back to me. I was too damn young to know any of that was going on.”
“She was taking care of you. Shielding you from things a child shouldn’t have to know.”
I nodded, touched by the fact, but also upset I couldn’t be there for a big sister that needed someone to lean on.
“I knew my sister was strong,” I said softly, losing my focus. “I just didn’t know how strong until last night.”
My voice cracked, a sure sign I was about to lose it. It took everything I had not to. Looking down at my coffee, I was gripping the mug with enough force to keep my hands from shaking.
“Ms. Grant,” Killian whispered across the table. “What else happened last night?”
“She…” I hesitated, concentrating on a voice that wouldn’t sound too pathetic and broken. “She was going to tell me his name, but she passed out before she could.”
A lie. A spontaneous lie to cover up the truth of the matter. My body couldn’t say it. Something in me hoped that if I didn’t talk about it, it wouldn’t be so real. I took another sip of coffee and pulled my mask down, looking up at Killian with another forced smile that I couldn’t imagine looked convincing at all. Killian didn’t smile back. He looked at me like he could feel the fissures in my emotions.
I was saved by the sound of Killian’s phone vibrating on the countertop. He stood and made his way toward it, reading something on the screen that seemed important by the way he was concentrated on it. I drummed my fingers lightly on the warm coffee mug, taking a moment to calm my nerves and prepare for the difficulties of getting through the night.
12
Killian
. . .
Glancing at my phone, I saw a message from a sender with no ID. It simply read,Heading your way. Have food ready. I’ll be hungry.
For a brief second, I thought someone had messaged the wrong phone, but then I remembered my request to Draven about Saxon. Perhaps the man had taken it upon himself to simply show up rather than contact me through less direct means.
Slipping my phone into my pocket, I turned back around to face Persephone. It pained me deeply to see her suffering. It affected me more to know she was holding back the true reason. I watched her stare blankly at the wall across from her, gently tapping her fingers on her mug. I’d never envied Reds much in my life, but at the moment, I wished I had their uncanny ability to read thoughts. As a Blue, I could only feel her emotions vibrating through her pulse in sporadic patterns, which told me she was upset.
I sat with Persephone until we’d both finished our coffee. We talked about the exhibit and about vague moments in our younger lives, but she avoided the issues she was facing at every turn, no matter how many times I tried subtly to direct her toward them. I knew it was something to do with her sister. I heard it in her voice. Saw it in her tired eyes. She wouldn’t budge, though. Eventually, I had to stop pushing. I could see her squirming internally and I didn’t want to hurt her by forcing something painful out of her. Humans were so complicated with their emotions. Their denial was thick and unyielding. I knew I’d figure her out at some point, but for the night, she needed rest more than she needed conversation.
“You’re tired,” I said to her, taking both our empty mugs to the sink. “I have spare rooms.”
