Chapter 24
24
This is a crazy idea. And maybe a mistake.
The door swings open the moment I knock.
“What are you doing here?” Rafe asks coldly.
“I think we may be able to help each other.”
“That’s unlikely,” he says, deadpan. But he opens the door wider and lets me in.
What am I doing? Should I really tell him? He’s the last person in this place I can trust, but also, he’s not afraid to break the rules. I’m gambling on his drive to help Hypatia being strong enough that it will outweigh the rage he’s about to feel toward me.
“I have connections who may be able to help us get to Hypatia.”
He moves so quickly I don’t even have time to blink before I’m pinned against the wall, his hand pressed over my heart.
“Connections? To the Inquisitors? That does not sound good, Weed.”
My heartbeat thunders under his hand. I can feel how strong he is, and I haven’t forgotten what he said last night, about how a Sire can end someone’s life with Ha’i to the heart. Rafe’s a mercurial one all right, saving my life one moment, threatening it the next.
I’m also very aware of his closeness to me and his hand pressing into my breast.
“Get off me, creep. I’m offering to help you.” I try to shove his arm away, but he’s strong, and it doesn’t budge. The realization of my own weakness only makes my heart beat faster.
Maybe he will hurt me.
I try to push him away again, and the vulnerability of feeling so trapped causes my panic to rise. “Let me explain.”
He releases his hand, and I manage to swallow my instinct to sob. I glare at him. “What’s your problem?” I try to yell it, but it comes out as more of a squeak.
He looms over me. “What connections do you have to the enemy of my people, the abductors of my cousin?” The steel accusation in his eyes sends terror shooting through my limbs. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking that my not reporting the scoundrels from last night is a sign of softness. They are useful to me, and they are my kin. You may be a Maker and a Sire, but you’re still a weed. The Inquisitors, and anyone connected to them, are the enemy. If you are in league with them, I will hand you over to the Guard without hesitation.” His voice lowers menacingly. “Or I’ll just take care of you myself.”
Though he is no longer touching me, the air is thick with his threat. I’d been fooled by sleeping in his arms and in his bed. Rafe is clearly not my friend, and telling him anything may have been a lethal mistake. Unless I can convince him that I’m not a traitor and that I really can help Hypatia. Though I don’t know if that’s true. On either count.
I take a deep breath. “If you give me the chance, I’ll explain everything.”
Well, some version of everything.
“Fine,” he replies, straddling a chair. He folds his arms over the chair back and stares at me, unblinking. “Talk.”
I sit on the edge of his couch and tell him one of my in-case-of-emergency-break-glass prepared explanations—that I was sent here without any understanding of my family’s affiliations and that I’m starting to realize my trip to Italy was orchestrated as a setup all along, and that I’m only realizing now that I’ve seen the picture in Michael’s office that I have been being used as a pawn, but that I have not known about any of it until now.
Even to my own ears, the story feels as flimsy as single-ply toilet paper, but I put my all into selling it, and Rafe must buy at least some of it because he doesn’t immediately start threatening to kill me again.
“So, what you’re saying,” Rafe responds, in an as yet nonhomicidal tone, “is that you can direct me to the people who sent you here so that I can find where they’re keeping Hypatia and rescue her?”
“Yes… but I need you to take me off the island with you.”
“No chance.”
“I need to learn how my family is actually connected to all of this.”
He sneers. “You expect me to help you after what you’ve just admitted?”
“Do you have any other leads? I can’t ensure that I can get you to Hypatia if I’m not with you.”
“You can simply tell me where she is, and I’ll do fine on my own.”
“I don’t know where she is,” I admit. “But I can try to find out if I have your help. I care about Hypatia too. We can get her back if we work together.”
Rafe stands and begins pacing the room, talking as if to himself. “For hundreds of years, the Guard has protected the Makers from discovery by the Inquisitors. Now, for the first time in centuries, our enemy is taking risks, working with traitors in our society, and doing things that might finally lead us to them.”
He stalks toward me, staring, as if my eyes hold the answer to a riddle. “Then you come out of nowhere claiming to be able to bridge the gap.” He scratches the stubble on his jaw, still staring. “I need to think about this more. Leave me.” He begins pacing again as if I’m already gone. No indication of what he’s planning, no assurance that he won’t turn me in to the Guard. All I can do is hope that taking this risk was the right move.
I realize only after I’m halfway to my own room that I’m still wearing his jacket.
It’s difficult to focus during my classes when I know Rafe could decide to blow my cover—or plot my murder—at any moment. In Alchemical Arts Studio, I completely miss the instructions for how to mix a pigment so black that it swallows the light. In Testaments, I’m too agitated to follow the analysis of the history and family tree of Chorus’s mother, Psalm.
When I get to the Sire lab, Rafe is conspicuously absent, which only heightens my anxiety. It doesn’t help that Gloria—the recruit who always monopolizes Michael during Foundations—is apparently the other Sire who was captured last night, and she’s recounting the tale of her rescue by a heroic masked stranger to a rapt audience.
Mbali must have heard about my own Carnevale adventure, because she hugs me and utters something that sounds like a prayer in a foreign language. Today her long locs are wrapped into a large bun on the top of her head, and she’s wearing a jumpsuit in a patterned fabric of royal blue and sunshine yellow. She notices my attire too, eyeing my jacket, which she clearly recognizes. Why, oh why, have I not taken this gravdamn thing off already?
Rafe barges into the room and grabs my arm. “Come with me.”
“Hey!” Mbali exclaims sharply. She grasps his wrist and squeezes gently until he loosens his grip on me, though he doesn’t let go. “You need rest,” she whispers to him. Clearly, I’m not the only one who’s noticed he looks like compost.
“I will when I can,” he replies.
“Has there been any news about Hypatia?” she asks. He shakes his head gravely, and she leans in to give him a quick embrace, pressing a kiss to his cheek. Rafe closes his eyes and momentarily rests his forehead against hers. I wonder again about the nature of their relationship.
“I have reached out to the Matriarch to see if she can help in any way,” Mbali says. Her snake necklace slithers with the vibrations of her voice. I’ve seen it move many times, but now I realize, for the first time, that it’s a real living snake. Goose bumps break out over my skin.
“Thank you,” Rafe says with sincerity. Then, to me, less aggressively than before, “Let’s go. We need to talk.”
He practically drags me out of the lab and through the halls to the Summer wing, his fingers burning hot on my skin, the buzz of our contact never diminishing. I feel the metal of his rings pressing into my wrist––his Sire diamond and the bone ring that reminds me that above all else, he is a Guard, sworn to protect the Makers from people like me. My heart beats fast with trepidation. I have no idea how this conversation will go, and I know it could mean the end of the line for my mission.
When we arrive at his room, he finally releases me and lets the door swing shut behind us. I slept peacefully in this room last night, yet now I feel like I’m trapped in a cage with a wild animal. I shiver as I recall the helpless feeling of him pressing me against the wall, and I stay close to the door.
Rafe starts talking, his words clipped and precise.
“I questioned the other Sire who was rescued, and she had no useful details about her captors or even about her rescuer beyond him wearing a full-face harlequin mask and no guild stones. I just finished with Bram and Yvette, and they’re clearly just pawns who know nothing. With this ridiculous lockdown, I can’t properly deal with Leo. I need to do something, and right now you’re my only option.” He does not sound happy to admit this. “We’re bound to the island until the perceived threat has receded, so we’re going to have to sneak off. I’ll plan our departure for after May Day, which will give us some time to prepare.” He paces the room, his gate matching the intensity of his voice. “The Beltane bonfire after the hoverjoust opening games will be the perfect distraction for me to steal the supplies we need, and we can leave the next morning while everyone is still too hungover from the festivities to take notice.” He stops his pacing to glare at me. “You will use the time between now and then to find out where Hypatia is being kept so that we can retrieve her. Are you sure you can do that?”
I nod, though I’m not at all sure. I’m still not even one hundred percent sure the Families have her, but that, at least, I can probably get Mom to look into, if nothing else.
He continues. “You’re also going to need training. You need to learn how to defend yourself from those who should be weaker than you. To at least be able to put up a fight, even if it’s just from me having a tantrum. You’ll train with me daily until you’re more useful than a frightened bird.”
“ Me train with you for weeks? Sure, us spending time together won’t make anyone suspicious,” I say, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
He grins coldly. “No one has ever questioned me spending quality time with a pretty girl.”
“No way,” I retort. “I’m not pretending to be one of your sex bunnies.”
He makes a sound that might be a laugh. “Don’t be so sensitive. You think people will be suspicious if we spend time together, and I’m providing a perfectly adequate explanation.”
“I’m not the fling type.”
He rolls his eyes. “Fine. Would pretending it was something more serious make you feel better about your misplaced morals?”
I cough in surprise, and once I gain control of my vocal cords, I say, “You don’t really seem like a fan of monogamy.” There’s a bit too much squeak in my voice.
“I’m not.”
“It’s a terrible idea,” I say. “Everyone knows you hate me; it will just draw unnecessary attention.”
“We’re surrounded by virile youth. The easiest part of this entire plan would be suffering through pretending to be… better acquainted. Anyway, people already saw us arrive back from Carnevale together, and I’m sure they noticed you spent the night.” He smirks, but it’s really more of a sneer, and I can tell he dislikes this idea as much as I do. “Not to mention, the fact that you’ve come back to my room twice since then, after spending an entire day wearing my jacket.”
I blush and start to remove the offending garment.
“No,” Rafe says. “You’d better keep it for now.”
I pull it back over my shoulder. “Well, if we do this, is there anyone who would be upset? Maybe Mbali?”
“What does Mbali have to do with anything?”
“Are you guys, like…?”
“Oh, no. Absolutely not.” His face scrunches up. “I’ve been engaged to her sister three times since we were children. That would be extremely awkward.”
“You’re engaged?” I yelp.
“Not currently, no. But the Blood Crown and the Matriarchy of the Isles have been trying to form an alliance for years, and the coupling of their children has always been their favorite strategy.” He states this as if he couldn’t care less about such an irrelevant matter.
“But for the sake of our current discussion, I can assure you that, though I’m certain many hearts will be broken, there is no one who will be wronged by my involvement in a fake relationship with you.”
“But everyone knows that you hate me for being a weed—”
“Gravdammit, don’t call yourself that,” he snaps.
“Why not? You call me that all the time.”
“Yes, because I’m insulting you, but don’t demean yourself.”
“So, only you can demean me?”
“The point is that my idea is a good one, and you should agree with it. Not only will it help us get off this island, but you’ll be treated better if you’re associated with me. Don’t you want that?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, almost everyone besides you and your cronies treats me just fine. Besides, you don’t care how people act toward me. What is it that you’re really trying to get out of this?”
I’m right. He has an ulterior motive. But it’s Rafe, so he has no problem clearly explaining the way he would like to use me to his advantage.
“Rescuing my cousin is my top priority, but I won’t deny that this plan has an additional benefit for me.” Now I’m certainly curious. “Some moral crusaders have petitioned to have me removed from the hoverjoust league for bigoted behavior. I’m about to be promoted to captain of the team, and an alliance with you would demonstrate that—”
“Are you kidding me? Wouldn’t it just be easier to stop acting like a superior pig?”
He aims his eyeballs at the heavens. “They’re not actually coming from a place of morality; they just know that their own team can’t defeat me, so they’re trying to get me kicked off the league to improve their chances of winning.”
“Their motivations don’t matter if they’re right.”
He huffs dismissively. “Another reason it would be useful is that there are a few of my past partners who… don’t seem to understand that what we shared was a one-time thing….”
This boy is truly unbelievable. He wants to use me to keep his clingy conquests off his back and make him appear less reprehensible than he is.
“It sounds like you’ll be getting a lot more out of this than me,” I say.
“You want my help to get to the mainland, and this is the best way to make it happen. Are you in or out?”
“Would you even be able to keep it in your pants for that long?” I can’t believe I’m actually considering this.
“Honestly”—he thinks for a moment—“I don’t know.”
“Well, you’d better. I’m not interested in being the pathetic girl that everyone knows is being cheated on behind her back.”
“Understood. I’ll be respectful of your reputation. But we don’t tell anyone about this.”
“Nu-uh. I have to tell Georgie.” I don’t want to lie to my friend any more than I already have. I need her now more than ever.
“Unacceptable. If anyone knows, we won’t be able to control who else finds out. I can’t get us off this island with gossipmongers breathing down our backs. And I need to get off this island.”
“I trust Georgie.”
“I don’t, and for better or worse, we’re in this together.”
“Okay,” I concede. I mean, I totally still plan to tell her. I just won’t let Rafe find out. “But you need to act civil toward her. And make your friends be nicer too. I can’t be pretending to date someone who acts like my best friend doesn’t exist.”
“Fine,” he agrees through gritted teeth.
“And no more death threats.”
“Also fine.”
“And I have one more stipulation.” This might be pushing my luck, but I know that this plan might mean the end of my time at Genesis, so I have to risk it before I lose my access. “I need you to help me cure my grandfather’s cancer.”
Rafe’s expression hardens. “I’m sorry to hear that your grandfather is ill, but that’s not possible.”
“Why not? You’re in Bioscience and have access to their Testament, and you know how to use your Sire abilities for healing. You must be able to do something.”
He stares at me, quietly contemplative for what feels like a full minute before saying, “If we successfully rescue Hypatia, you can bring me to your grandfather. I will examine him and look at his medical information. I can’t promise anything can be done, but—and only if we rescue Hypatia, mind you—I will do what I can to help.”
I almost start crying in relief.
We iron out a few more details, but the awkwardness is getting overwhelming, and I’m anxious to be alone to think about what I’ve just committed to.
As I leave, Rafe says, “Get some rest, because after classes tomorrow, you’re going to need energy for our training.” Then he adds with a wicked grin, “And don’t look so miserable as you’re leaving my room…. I have a reputation to maintain.”
I roll my eyes and let the door slam in his face.