Chapter 13 #2
“She’s lying. The buyer has nothing to do with Therell or his disappearance—and neither do I.”
Dante’s grip on the guns adjusted, and he lowered them to his sides. He shared a look with Cal. The pair carried on an unspoken conversation with their eyes as Bria stared hard at Max.
“I had a bad feeling about you,” she murmured. “Orange eyes from the toxins. Silver hair from the meds. You were one of his, weren’t you? A child of the Fifth Trials and the Father. An abomination.”
He replied through gnashed teeth, “I have no father. And anyone who calls that man Father is as insane as he was.”
I looked between them, wondering what the hell she could be talking about. But whatever seed of truth she’d planted had grown something poisonous in his eyes.
“Fair.” Her gaze roamed over his wet frame one more time before she turned to her men. “We’re done here. No more bodies, no more drops. I say we wrap things up and move on to the next partnership. In the meantime”—she turned to look back at me—“get rid of them. For good this time.”
“Wait,” Dante whispered, eyes still locked on mine. “Give me one reason why I should believe a word you said. Who are you?”
I’d changed so much in the last few days, and it felt like there was nothing left of my former self, but I had to find a way to make him trust me.
“I worked as a surgical assistant in the heart of the Flooded Fissures. Bria bought artifacts that I swiped from dead patients. I’m sure you’ve received them over the years.
One day, our business took a darker turn, and I started smuggling something more magical than stolen relics. ”
“The Archetypes?” Dante tilted his head to the side, and I could see some kind of realization in his eyes.
I nodded. “I’m the donor.”
A gun went off twice, echoing over the canal and the countryside. My eyes slammed shut, bracing for the bullet. But after a few racing heartbeats without pain, I dragged them open.
My first thought was Max. But he was there beside me, between me and the threat. He’d moved in a blink, pressing his form around me like a shield.
Silence followed the shots, both of us still breathing. Max lifted me by the waist, holding me still against him. We turned together and realized the true target.
Bria was sprawled across the damp ground, two holes gurgling blood from her chest. I pressed a hand to my heart absentmindedly, shocked I wasn’t similarly filled with lead.
“Bria…” Her name slipped from me. I felt like my heart was collapsing at the sight of her dead in the dirt.
“Dante? What have you done?” Cal murmured.
“Bria can’t be trusted. If the buyer asked for Therell and we delivered someone else, all our heads will roll unless we right the wrong immediately,” Dante explained. “We tell the men she betrayed us, and in the meantime, we shut down everything until we get word from the financier.”
Dante noticed my shaking and tucked his smoking guns into two shoulder holsters. “Let’s get you on the boat and warmed up. We’ll talk more when you’re not about to freeze to death.” His gaze slid to Max. “Perhaps we can help each other, since Bria was trying to screw us both.”
“That depends.” Max nodded to the houseboat. “Where are you headed?”
Dante replied, “We head to the River Split to pass on our goods. Some go north to the territories, some to Valveron. It just so happens I need to send some information to someone in the city.”
“Your financier?” Max asked.
Dante smirked. “We’ll talk more on board.”
I looked down at my former friend with a burning tincture of emotions brewing in my chest. All the answers continued to hang just out of reach. She knew where my mother had been taken, who the buyer was—who Max was—and all that information had been destroyed with the pull of a trigger.
I wasn’t sure what was worse, the sting of her betrayal or the shock of her death. Either way, Dante wasn’t responsible for the loss of her. She’d been dead to me as soon as she’d put my mother’s life at risk.
“You’re as pale as the moon, Nina,” Max spoke into my head. “Save your good heart for the ones who deserve it.”
I stealthily wiped a tear from my eye before he noticed. “I’m fine,” I told him, even if I wasn’t. Dante and Cal and the other dealer still watched from afar.
Max whispered into my thoughts, “Stay by my side tonight. He might have spared us, but they’re black market dealers. They sold their morals long ago, along with anything else they could get their hands on.”
“When it comes to morals, neither of us really has a leg to stand on, Max.” Not to mention, we were in the middle of nowhere. Options were slim, and I was soaked to the bone.
“Give us a minute?” I requested.
Dante bowed his head in agreement before turning toward the boat, snapping at Cal and the third man to follow. Before they left, Dante tossed us the chain and rope. “Get rid of the body. We’ve cleaned up enough for you.”
When they were out of listening range, and we were alone, Max asked, “What did you want?”
I pulled the Forge die from my pocket, twisting it until I found the rune I’d manipulated earlier that day. “To use this without them noticing.”
I siphoned the strange power stored inside the die and let the distinctive Archetype of a Forger bloodline fill my bones.
Water, which covered everything near the canal and beneath it, became malleable to my influence.
I concentrated on Max, careful to focus on his clothes instead of his body—distraction could be lethal for him—and removed the moisture from the material.