Chapter 37
As soon as Bennett’s taxi rolled out of sight, I turned into the wind and marched toward Old Town, where the Covingtons’ townhouse sat.
I walked in a freezing rain that melted the snow on the ground into a gray soup that seeped through my shoes until my toes hurt from the cold.
Hands shoved deep into the pockets of my school’s blazer, I tried not to think of the words Bennett had spat at me as he’d left.
He was only afraid for my safety, but his version of keeping me safe was selling my soul to the darkness.
I kept my gaze straight, trying not to look at the lumpy shapes huddled against buildings or in doorways, or the fact that I had barely escaped becoming one of them.
As I turned onto Easton Drive, my fingers drew out the key in my pocket and I hurried toward the basement entrance to the Covingtons’ townhome, eager for respite from the cold. The door still squeaked when it opened, as it had the first time we’d entered.
Branded into my memory was that night that I had entered with Rush, clutching him in the darkness.
When touching him had felt like a cruel joke.
When I’d still thought he was nothing but a bank account with a bad attitude.
As my fingers curled around the key in my hand, my eyes briefly drifted shut.
The Covingtons lived in another world, and even though I held the key to his house, I felt no closer to that world than I’d been when I’d spent the night on the street as a girl.
I was only here because I believed my brother was right, that both the Empire and those against the Empire would be looking for me, and going home was not an option. Evie would worry, but she’d be safer if I stayed away.
From the bottom of the tall steps in the main entryway, I peered up to where the stairs turned and vanished over my head.
The house smelled like ash, a sharp, disturbing smell.
The walls in the drawing room were scarred black, but otherwise, nothing about the place had changed.
No furniture had been moved; apparently no attempts had been made to salvage what was here.
Rush had told me the house would eventually be repaired but that construction likely wouldn’t start until the summer.
A dark chandelier hung on the landing above, like a giant spider dropping from the ceiling. I climbed slowly, noting each creak in the wood like it was a gunshot in the street. Later this year, Rush would climb these steps to bed.
It felt strange to rise to the sleeping quarters, as if this place were my own. As if I belonged here. But every step was an intrusion, and I felt like a thief, stealing the air as well as the space and safety of this empty house.
I found Rush’s room again, the first room to the right of the stairs. Only slivers of silver light peeked out from the edges of the curtains, faintly illuminating the bed and desk and pair of chairs beside the card table.
Who had played cards with him here?
My eyes drifted to the bed.
Who had shared this space with him? It was no mere rumor that Rushland Covington enjoyed the way he affected women.
The students at Cardan Lott made it no secret that the propriety they hid behind meant little more than words to them.
Rush was wealthy, attractive, and cared little for the rules.
My stomach churned as I tried to shove away the unpleasant thoughts pounding against my mind like unwanted guests.
Butterflies tumbled in my stomach as I lay slowly down on the soft mattress.
He’d slept here.
His phantom presence in the bed made it hard to fall asleep, but eventually, I drifted into a light sleep.
When I woke, sunlight streamed in through the cracks beside the curtains.
I felt like I’d been dragged up from the bottom of the river.
After a discouraging peek at the very empty pantry in the kitchen, I made my way up to the study, thinking of the night we’d discovered the stones.
In the doorway, I stopped short. The shelves were entirely empty. Scraped clean of even a speck of dust.
The duke had been here, taking what he knew was most valuable. Hopefully, the duke had taken all he wanted and wouldn’t return, but I’d have to be careful.
The day was blustery, and the sidewalks sloshed with a sloppy mixture of leftover snow. I set my face with a determined scowl, imagining no one would notice the dirty state of my school uniform or the bags under my eyes, and made my way to the hotel Fairfax stayed in when he came to Treston.
The front desk informed me that Lord Fairfax was out but that they would give him a message. My message was brief: We passed. Find Myth.
As the man scribbled my note, I eyed the black telephone on the wall. I’d never used one, but I asked if I could. The man graciously acquiesced.
I asked to be connected to the headmaster at Cardan Lott.
The hotel man standing beside me eyed my uniform and gave me a quick nod before returning to his business.
Headmaster Vaughan’s voice crackled through the line. “Hello? This is Casper Vaughan.”
“Headmaster, this is Arivelle Mireaux. I passed the test, sir, but they’ve taken my dragon.”
The man beside me cleared his throat, trying to appear like he wasn’t listening and failing miserably.
Silence on the line. Then, “Merlon was here. So was the duke. I am afraid, Miss Mireaux, that…that your dragon has already been executed.”
“No,” I breathed, unable to process the words. No. In my heart, I sensed that Myth was still alive. I had much to learn about dragon bonds, but I doubted the bond could be broken without me knowing it.
“I’m sorry,” the headmaster said.
I passed the phone back to the hotel man and walked out.
Tears rolled down my cheeks and sobs shook my body as I made my way back across town.
Exhausted from hunger and the emotional toil of weeping over Myth, I fell asleep early that night.
I woke with a start to the sound of somebody ascending the steps from the main floor.
My blood lit like someone had tossed a match on oil.
I leaped off Rush’s bed and darted behind it, sinking down to my knees, heart hammering loudly in my chest. I tried to keep my breathing quiet by opening my mouth wide.
Rush had promised me that nobody would come here.
“Ari?”
“Vanya?”
I hopped up. She ran to me and consumed me in a hug.
“How did you know…?”
“Rush told me where to find you if…Ari, he left to look for you as soon as he heard you were out, and he hasn’t returned. I think he was…”
Shadows filled my mind. Men with broken pipes and dukes with secrets to keep haunted me. I pressed a hand to my mouth and fought back the worst of fears.
“My brother spoke with him just two days ago. He might know where to find him.” I stormed from the room, hunger forgotten for now. “Time for you to meet my brother.”
He’s dead.
The fear crept in, unwarranted, and latched onto my throat like a wolf to its prey.
Vanya insisted on buying train tickets, claiming her feet were too cold to bother walking all the way to my neighborhood.
As we rode across town, we spoke of Myth.
Though I kept my voice low and my words vague enough that a stranger wouldn’t question them, it was freeing to speak of Myth, finally. To tell Vanya everything.
“But now that you know, you’re in danger too,” I told her, though my words didn’t shake off her bewildered expression.
She swatted my words away. “Rebel princess, remember? I’m not afraid of the duke or his minions.”
My brows rose. “Even after what they did to me and Myth?”
“I’ll punch him square in the jaw the next time I see him.” She lifted her chin and gave a very ladylike grunt.
It felt good to smile, and we rode the rest of the way in silence.
When the train stopped at our destination, Vanya squeezed my hand. I gave her a thankful smile, glad she was with me, despite the fact that she should have stayed behind. My brother, I trusted, but no one else we might meet tonight.
We were crawling into the den of serpents.
I didn’t know exactly where Bennett would be at this hour, but we started with the last place I’d known him to be living.
A posh flat a few blocks over from my mother’s, where the neighborhood shifted from slum to sleek.
At least, it was sleek to me, before I’d ever entered the gilded halls of Cardan Lott.
Now, as we entered the stone edifice, it looked rather plain, with its moldering wallpaper and unadorned plaster ceiling.
I approached the bellman. “Is Bennett Mireaux in?”
The bellman eyed me narrowly. “Who’s asking?”
Vanya scoffed a little but let me answer. “His sister.”
“That’s what they all say, missy.”
My jaw dropped, and I tried not to dwell on his words. “I need to see him. I am Arivelle Mireaux, and I am his sister.”
Before the man could roll his eyes at me, Vanya stepped forward and slid a gold coin across the grease-slicked wooden counter. The man’s eyes lit up, and he cracked a smile that showed off his crooked brown teeth.
“Mr. Mireaux is at the gambling hall, The Phoenix, one block that way.” He lifted a hand and nodded at us.
I grumbled a thank-you and hustled out the door.
Vanya clung to my arm as we made our way down the street toward a brightly lit facade spilling plucky folk music into the streets.
A pair of women dressed in little more than girdles hurried through the doors ahead of a man in a crisp black suit. I shot Vanya a look.
“We can come back another time,” I said, assuming Vanya wouldn’t want to set foot in a place like The Phoenix. “When he’s at home.”
“Rush is missing,” she reminded me. “We’re going to find him.”
I nodded firmly and stepped through the doors.