Chapter 3 #2
I scoot closer to her on the couch, until I can feel Hound’s warm breath on my knee.
“I’m so sorry, Pen. For keeping it all from you.
For our fight the other night. For what you had to see at the docks…
I wanted to tell you all of this for years.
Humans just aren’t supposed to know. Our governing body has rules against it, and even if they didn’t…
” I never wanted you to be scared to be alive. To be scared of me. “I’m really sorry.”
“I get it,” she says quietly. “I mean, I don’t, but—” She pets Hound’s tail slowly. “I do. Why’d they kidnap me, though?”
“Their leader was trying to get to me. I’m still trying to figure out how he knew you were one of the only people I’d come running for.”
She smiles softly. “Thank you.”
“Always.”
“So that was the man you…” She can’t bring herself to say the word.
Killed. Murdered. Stabbed to death like a maniac.
I try not to think of Driscoll. I can’t let Penny see the visceral high that overtakes me when I think of killing the man who killed my father.
I don’t want her to fear me more than she already does.
“He was someone who worked for their leader. A really bad guy. He…” My eyes find her easel in the corner. Still wet with paint. I don’t know why I’m still trying to hold things back. This is Penny. My Penny. “He killed my dad.”
Her eyes snap to mine. “What?”
“Yeah.”
“You finally found the man who killed your dad?”
“Yeah.”
She sits back. “Big oof.”
“The biggest,” I say on a breath.
“Then I’m glad. That you…did what you did.”
Leave it to Penny to be the most selfless, supportive person on the planet. She was kidnapped yesterday, the entire fabric of her universe has changed, and she still has the ability to be there for me and my trauma.
“Unfortunately, it gets worse.” I think of Reid’s eyebrow dripping blood into his eye as he screams for me to run for my life.
Of Deacon towering over me, ice-blond hair the color of fresh bone, grin like a shark’s.
Of the enamel of Finn’s dark gray claws clacking together in sick glee.
Of the High Thane’s glowing, serpentine eyes behind his darkened hood.
I shake my head until the scar in my back stops aching.
Penny’s brows furrow. “What is it, Viv?”
“It’s not safe here anymore. Those people are going to keep coming after you as long as I’m in the wind. And I refuse to let anything else happen to you, so we have to—”
This time Penny doesn’t balk or quiver. “Leave?”
“Just until I figure out some things.”
When Penny stands, there’s a glint of determination in her eye. “I’ll get Hound’s leash.”
After Penny and I pull a bag of our things together, and I try Fiona twice to no avail, we slip out the fire escape with Hound.
There are only two cops dusting for prints around the back side of the apartment, neither of whom appear to be Brood, and once we are down on street level, we blend seamlessly into the morning rush.
If Finn and his men are looking for us, I think we’ve evaded them for now.
I hail us a cab and spend the whole ride with my eyes glued to the city streets, looking for Brood, forcing myself away from thoughts of the lingering pain in my body or what Deacon meant by me being drained in four months or where Reid could possibly be.
Penny holds Hound in her lap and worries her bottom lip between her teeth.
We cross the Erebos Bridge over the Chasm that bisects the city, and the sidewalks begin to sparkle, pressure-washed and pristine. Fire escapes and busted windows are exchanged for distinguished townhomes bedecked in holiday lights. We’ve made it North of the Chasm. Not too far now.
Fifteen minutes later, when we arrive at the Windsor, I force Penny to wait inside the cab while I scope the wide marble steps leading up to the entrance for signs of anyone who could want to harm us.
I know Finn doesn’t know where Harker is.
If he did, the Windsor would be swarmed.
But even if he finds the school somehow, I relax knowing Finn has no idea who I am.
My father’s identity—my identity—died with Driscoll. All Finn knows is what I look like.
After looping around the property twice, I determine there are no deviants to be seen.
Still, I can’t be too cautious. I hustle both Penny and Hound up the Windsor stairs, open the doors with my key, and urge them inside, where we find the lobby empty.
I fight the urge to think of the last time I was here.
Just two nights ago. What Reid and I shared. We’d only just found each other again…
I’ll always come for you. No questions asked.
His low voice. His lemongrass and soap smell. His warmth—
Not yet. I cannot break down yet.
I shake the thoughts from my mind and scan the wide, light-filled entry. The massive bronzed fossils that fill the lobby. The Windsor doesn’t open for another couple of hours, but I have no way of getting Penny into Harker without her own lymantrian coin, and without Fiona—
“Viv!”
Thank god. Fiona hurries toward us, her strawberry blond hair swaying as she walks, nutmeg coffee scenting the air around her. “We don’t have much time.”
Ice drips through me. “Are the Brood here?”
Penny pales. Hound begins to whine.
“No, no,” Fiona says. “But we need to get you back on campus before the Elders figure anything out. That’s why I couldn’t respond to your messages. I was at the Citadel…”
Before I ask what that means—what the Elders are trying to figure out—I need to know if Penny is safe here. Otherwise, I’m not going back. “Can Penny stay at Harker?”
Fiona swallows hard, her throat bobbing, her freckled nose pinching. I know the answer is no. I know the Elders would never allow a mortal on campus. In fact, given Fiona’s current body language, I’m beginning to fear there are consequences much worse than being denied refuge.