Chapter 11
The Blame Game
Dodger
The elevator feels like a pressure cooker, all four of us crammed into the tiny space with tension thick enough to choke on.
Harper stands rigid beside me, his jaw working while he fumes in stony silence.
Marlow’s plastered against the wall, keeping as much space as possible between him and the pissed wolf.
I think Iggy is hiding in Marlow’s shirt.
When the elevator finally dings at our floor, Harper’s out before the doors fully open, stalking down the hallway with long strides. The rest of us trail behind reluctantly, keeping a safe distance.
After fumbling with my key card and letting Marlow and Iggy inside, I’m about to retreat to safety when suddenly Harper’s next to me.
“Excuse us for a moment.” That’s the only warning I get before he’s pulling me into his own hotel room and shutting the door behind us. This won’t be pretty.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Harper explodes the instant we’re alone, whirling on me with fire in his eyes.
“Do you have any idea what you just did?” He doesn’t wait for my answer, already pacing the length of the room.
“You were supposed to stay back where it was safe. You had some protection as long as Rowan thought you were dead. And now—” he cuts himself off with a harsh laugh that contains zero humor. “This is a fucking disaster.”
“It wasn’t supposed to happen like that,” I protest, my voice sounding small even to my own ears. “I was just trying to watch your back—”
“Watch my back?” Harper stops pacing to stare at me incredulously. “By revealing yourself to the very man who’s been hunting you? You practically gift-wrapped yourself for Rowan!”
“I didn’t mean to—”
“Of course you didn’t mean to!” He throws his hands up. “That’s the problem! You didn’t think this through. You took a stupid risk, and it blew up in our faces.”
“I’m sorry. But I couldn’t just sit back while you went to meet with him alone. What if something happened?”
“I can handle myself,” Harper growls. “I’ve been doing this job for years. I don’t need a necromancer with zero training and even less self-control risking everything because he got bored in the hotel room.”
That stings. “I wasn’t bored, and we took precautions. No one was supposed to know we were there. Marlow was with me. We were invisible.”
“Until you weren’t!”
I shift uncomfortably. “There was a... complication.”
“A complication,” he repeats flatly. “You mean the hell-beast that appeared out of nowhere and terrorized the café?”
My cheeks burn. “That wasn’t intentional.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Harper sighs, anger seeming to go out of him. He suddenly looks so tired. I almost miss the yelling. “The damage has been done. We can’t undo Rowan seeing you. I’m guessing faking your death won’t work a second time.”
Harper bangs on the wall with his fist. “Marlow!” I hear a faint clatter from the other hotel room. “Get in here.”
I watch Harper fume, unsure how to make it better.
Maybe I can’t. Even though my worst nightmare came true and Rowan found out I’m alive, even though I’m in danger and I ruined everything I did to keep myself safe when I faked my death, I don’t regret spying on Rowan and Harper.
Because if something had happened to Harper, I don’t know how I’d live with myself, being safe in the hotel while he got hurt.
“Seriously, get your ass in here.” He bangs on the wall again. “I know you’re listening.”
I’d love to ask what Rowan was talking about in the café when he said Harper knew what necromancers were capable of, but I don’t think he’s in the mood to share his tragic backstory right now.
Harper wasn’t on the force when the necromancer attack pinned on my brother Jonathan happened, the one that made Brighton scared of my kind.
He moved to Brighton four years ago, so the attack had already happened.
Since the city didn’t allow necromancers inside even on visitor days, Harper’s incident with a nasty necromancer must have happened earlier.
Either that or when he was tracking down a fugitive.
“Harper, Rowan had something to do with the necromancer attack.” Rowan used the attack to become chief of police, and he spread fear and pushed his own agenda, but I hadn’t known he was there for the attack blamed on my brother.
And five years later he held me prisoner.
Did he know my brother? There was more to the story, and he was involved somehow, I could feel it.
Harper’s shoulders tense, but he doesn’t answer me, rapping on the wall with his knuckles again.
“I think Rowan’s guilty,” I continue. “He was there for the attack, then he holds me hostage. Now he’s threatening you. Don’t you see the pattern?”
“It’s not that simple, Dodger.”
“It seems pretty simple to me. He’s hiding something.”
“Rowan was hurt in the attack and isn’t even a necromancer.” Harper finally turns around, shaking his head. “And there were multiple witnesses, not just Rowan. All with the same story.”
Oh. Damn it. I thought I was onto something. I sink down onto the hotel mattress. Did the witnesses see my brother? Did they see him call the dragon? How is that possible?
After a knock on the door, Marlow enters with Iggy perched on his shoulder. The demon’s eyes dart between Harper and me, clearly sensing the tension.
“So...” Marlow says, dragging out the word. “That went well.”
Harper gives him a withering look.
“Rowan knows you’re alive now.” Harper growls at that, and Marlow talks over the sound. “No point in dwelling on why or who’s to blame. There’s no time to waste. You need to get a handle on your powers.”