Page 25 of Original Sins (Dark Odyssey 6)

It’s now eight at night, and I was just starting to worry about her. I’m guessing she probably had to go to a few places today since she left so early. I feel guilty for it, but Cordelia always comes through when she has a plan.

Her heels click against the concrete as she makes her way to me, and I rise when she approaches and her.

She sets her little Prada purse down on the table next to my sketch pad, and worry fills me when she glances around the place to make sure no one is listening.

Cordelia trusts her guards with everything, mostly because she’s always getting up to no good and would rather tell them what she’s doing rather than give them a reason to stop her. Or rather, give them a reason to lose their jobs if either my dad or her mother finds out.

The fact that she has to check we’re alone means this really is a secret we have to keep to the death.

“What, Cordelia? You’re worrying me.” I bring my hands together and try to calm my racing heart.

“Let’s sit.” She motions to the chair I’d just rose from.

I sit, and she lowers opposite me. “Okay. Let me start by saying of all the things I’ve done, this is by far the most dangerous because not only will it piss your father off in the worse way possible if he finds out, it will damage his name and embarrass him to no end. That’s if you follow through on what I have planned. On the way back here, I contemplated telling you. I almost didn’t. I was going to lie to you and tell you we’d have to find some other way, but then I realized if I were you and I had to marry a man who beat me, it would be enough for me to do anything to escape. That is why I’m going to share my idea with you.”

“Oh, Cordelia, thank you. But it sounds like it’s going to be dangerous.”

“Because it is. It is, Evie.” She blows out a staggered breath. “I found a guy who can help. He’s the best of the worst type of character imaginable. Most of what we’re going to pay him will be for his silence. He can get you a legit fake passport with a biometric chip that will accept whatever name we give you.”

My bottom lip drops. “Really?”

“Yes.”

That sounds like something from some spy film. “Jesus.”

“Evie, running from your father is going to take something like this. He lost Dante, and that nearly made him go crazy. How do you think he feels knowing for all his power he still hasn’t got the guy who killed his son?”

She holds my gaze, and I feel awful for thinking of leaving him. “I know it tears him apart.”

“It does, and it will when you go too. Last night, when I spoke to him, I could tell he was adamant that he could magically fix the situation with a word to Peter. He’s not thinking that any normal person wouldn’t lay a finger on you because of whose daughter you are. He’s completely overlooked the aspect that he’s given Peter so much power.”

She’s right. That’s exactly it. This is the first run-in I’ve had with Peter, and it wouldn’t be the last. It was clear, too any further encounters would see him issuing so much more violence my way, and he wouldn’t think twice about hurting me because he’s not scared of Dad the way everyone else is. He’s more scared about what he could lose. At the same time, he thinks he’s untouchable because my father values him.

“That’s the passport sorted. My guy can also get you to France. I suggested France because it might be easier to get there. Obviously, Italy is out of the question.”

“Yes, it is.”

“The problem is the money. We’re going to need to come up with two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”

My lungs burn with the breath I’m holding. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. That’s pocket change to my father. Me though? No.

Dad gives me a monthly allowance of two grand. If I need anything more, he buys it for me.

Cordelia is the only person I go out with, and her friends are my friends, but because I don’t live in the mall the way they do, I probably have around ten to fifteen thousand dollars in there. My last big spend was to buy material and stones for my dress.

Fifteen thousand isn’t anything close to what I need.

“Jesus Christ, Cordelia,” I choke out.

“And, that’s just to pay the man to get everything done. You’re going to need money to live on when you get to France as well. I can help you with that. I’d like to think that we’d stay in touch somehow.”

“Of course we will.” I nod. “I have fifteen thousand.”

“And I have fifty. I can give you fifty.”

“My God, Cordelia, that’s too much. I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“You didn’t, I offered. That’s from my savings account. The rest of my money is in my trust fund. I could get the lawyers to maybe take another fifty, but that’s going to be suspicious. I just put the deposit on a condo in Colorado, so if I’m asked, or your dad looks into my accounts, I can say the money went toward that in some way.”

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