| |
RED’S BROWS WERE PURSED together in a serious frown as her partner, a man I’d learned was named Atreus, spoke to her with frantic gestures. She shook her head, slapped her hand onto the table and leaned in close to him. She wagged her finger in front of his face, and I could see the flash of anger in her eyes.
And maybe even a touch of alarm.
I was tucked into a corner, hidden from sight. Literally. When Red had pressed me on the use of my angelic powers that night long ago, she’d neglected to mention invisibility. But if she had, I might have admitted that I hadn’t used it even once since I’d fallen to earth. I wouldn’t have been able to explain why though. It was still a mystery to me.
But things were different now, and using my powers to keep myself unseen had allowed me to follow nearly every move Red had made over the last several months. One by one she had dispatched her marks, each time yanking the heart from the men and then bringing whatever talisman was inside them back to her cave in the Elba Mountain. There was some sort of a shield protecting the entrance to the cave so I hadn’t been able to get inside to see what treasures it might hold. But I knew where it was, and when the time came, I would find a way to get to it.
My attention returned to the pair, both of them standing from their table in the Hotel restaurant and parting ways. I would have followed her, but for some reason I held back. The thin man slowed his steps, letting her exit the room ahead of him, then returning to his seat.
It didn’t take long for him to be joined by another man, this one with a totally shaven head and by contrast to Atreus, wide of chest and built like a brick wall. He had an air of strength, confidence and power, and the thin man responded to that, bowing his head and averting his eyes.
I wanted to hear their words, but I was across the room and too far away to listen. I carefully moved in their direction, mindful not to step too loudly. Unfortunately, just as I arrived, the big man stood, placed a hand to Atreus’ head in a sort of blessing, then turned and passed me quickly.
Before Atreus could leave as well, I engaged my magic and materialized before him, blocking his exit. My expression was cold and dark, and it only took seconds for the fellow to cower, shoulders drooping in resignation.
“I knew would you find me. I knew it was only a matter of time before I would be called to pay for my crime. You are an Enforcer, aren’t you?”
I had no idea what he meant, but decided to play along. “I am.”
“I was so close.” Tears glistened in his eyes. “So close to immortality. And to lose it all because of a simple witch.”
Now my interest was really piqued. I motioned for him to sit, then I took a chair opposite him, crossing my ankle over my knee and staring. He couldn’t know it, but I used my power of mental persuasion to urge him to talk. I could sense he wanted to tell his story, so it didn’t take much prodding to open him up.
“It won’t make much difference, I know, but I had no choice.”
“Why is that?”
He turned his eyes down to his lap, fidgeting with his bony hands. “Tabari had told her of Nassor. We could not allow her to find him, especially after the phoenix killed Tabari. We knew she would never have stopped, even with her informant dead.”
And that’s when it dawned on me, slamming into me like a freight train. He was talking about Alexia. “And so you killed the witch. Not Bennu?”
Atreus blinked several times, then moved his head side to side. “Bennu? No, she was gone when I arrived. The witch was just waking. She’d been knocked unconscious, but not dead.”
I was afraid I might get sick. And that thought just made the nausea swirl even stronger in my stomach. All those weeks of sickness, of Red’s suffering as the curse ravaged her body. All of that, and yet she was innocent of the very crime for which I’d locked her up. She hadn’t killed Alexia.
“I am ready. You may dispatch me as you will.”
I rolled my eyes, though he was still looking down and couldn’t have seen it. Sitting up, I folded my arms on the table and eyed him. “Not just yet. Tell me about the man you were just with.”
He began to quake, shrinking in on himself as if I were threatening to strike him. Then his eyes darted left and right as he murmured, “Please, sir. You may imprison me. You may kill me. But please, I cannot ...”
My hand reached out quickly, fingers encircling his neck and wrenching him up across the table so that his nose was just inches from mine. “Who. Is. He?”
Atreus’ face blanched, and his lip trembled. “That is Nassor.”
“The final mark?” Red had told me enough about her job that I’d long ago guessed that the last of her targets would probably be the one to have placed the curse on her.
My fingers released the thin man, but before he could scramble back to his seat, I slapped him hard to keep his attention. He whined and held his cheek but didn’t make any attempt to run.
“You’ve betrayed her then?”
He nodded, still shaking. “Nassor made me a bargain. I had only to lead the phoenix to each of the others and keep her from finding him. Then he would grant me immortality.”
“Does he have that kind of power?”
Atreus shook his head. “Not now. But he will. When he takes the other relics from the phoenix. But I didn’t know he intended to—” He slammed his mouth closed.
“What didn’t you know?”
“That he intends to steal her life. That is what will give him the power he needs. The power he wants. After Tabari’s death, he insisted I slow her down. That I draw out each branch of the mission.”
“Because?” My brows pursed together, and I waited, finally rolling my hand out in front of me to press him along.
“The curse. Each cycle of the curse is shorter. He wanted her at her weakest when she faces him.”
“And what is his plan now? How will he get to her?”
“I do not know.”
I reached for him again, but he deflected me, dropping to his knees. “I do not know! I do not know!”
“You’ve known everything else. How can you not know this? What did you tell Red?”
His arms were covering his head. “That he would meet her here in the Hotel. He will arrive in two days.”