Page 86 of Redeemed
Those silver filaments grow even fainter.
Still, they’re strong enough to make my choice an obvious one. “Thank you, Arawn of Annwn. It’s not yet my—”
My words are cut short when the world around me jerks like a single shudder of a 9.0 earthquake. When I regain my balance, I’m back on the beach. It’s dark, the moon overhead a slender sliver of light. The place smells of chemicals and smoke and as far as I can tell, the beach is deserted except for police tape blowing in the steady breeze.
Hugging myself against the chill, I start to walk.
Chapter Thirty-Three
David
THIS IS THE part where I want to say,And they lived happily ever after.
I can’t say that, though. Not yet.
In my bones I believe Connor will come back to us. Sitting in that hotel room with its weird orange wall, I’m having trouble connecting my bones to my conscious thought.
And Trajan? He’s not connected to anything at all.
I’m on one bed, he’s on the other. Normally I’d try to babble my way into cheering him up. Not tonight. His stare is so distant I’m not sure we’re in the same universe.
I mean, he’s been through a lot. I picked up some scuttlebutt from Sheena and Brodie. He’d claimed a new level of authority by turning a human, but the dude he’d turned ended up being staked, likely by one of Betancourt’s minions. In turn, he’d staked his maker, the kind of action that doesn’t come with an emotional price tag.
You don’t know what something like that is going to cost until you have to pay the bill.
And in the middle of everything, Connor goes up in smoke. Or at least he did a good impression of it. If I close my eyes, I can see the firebomb on repeat. My gut hurts, my body aches, and I desperately need a shower.
But I can’t leave Trajan alone.
“How did you get rid of the elves?”
I startle so hard I all but levitate. “Um, what?”
“The elves. Why didn’t they follow us back here, demanding the Princess’s body?”
It’s a good question. I reach back for who did what, when and try to come up with an answer. “I believe Sheena told them to fuck off.”
There’s a pause before he answers. “And they did?”
“Maybe?”
“How much longer till sunrise?”
I check my phone. The weather app gives me a precise answer. “Forty-seven minutes.”
“Because they might try to break in and stake me in retaliation.”
Shit. Hadn’t thought of that. “Abby and Cliffe went back to Sheena’s. I guess they could help me stand guard.” No way could I stay awake all day. Not after the night we’d had. “Or maybe I can track down Marcus.”
My cousin booked a separate hotel room, making noise about moving to LA permanently.File under: Deal with later.
“No. We need to reach out to them somehow and negotiate a truce. I can’t spend the rest of my…life waiting for an elf to strike.”
I chew on that for a minute. “Elves are such assholes.”
His expression doesn’t change but I sense a weak attempt at a laugh. “Of course,” he says, “Connor’s the one who knows how to get in touch with them.”
Knows? Knew?Getting lost in the verb tenses helps me deflect the pain. “Then we’ll ask him when he gets back.”
