Chapter 24
Ursuline was coming with me.
Joy rushed through my veins fast and fierce, and I blinked, my eyes stinging from the sheer emotions rocketing through me.
I could barely process everything that had occurred in the last few minutes, but as the car wound down the long drive, I reached over and threaded my fingers through Ursuline’s.
They were here.
That was all that mattered.
“Where to?” a low voice came from the driver’s seat, causing me to look forward.
A handsome man sat in the front seat, lithe and humanoid, dark black hair and profile full of sharp edges.
His brown skin held an unusual pallor, which made me wonder what kind of monster he was.
Most of Ursuline’s connections seemed to be other monsters.
Given the frigid reception so many humans gave, it made sense they’d band together in communities.
“Sofia’s house. At least for tonight,” Ursuline responded, squeezing my hand again. “Then we’ll most likely head to the Spires for a spell while we figure out where to go.”
Questions swirled inside, ones begging to burst free.
The car zipped onto the main road, and the Triton Manor disappeared in the rearview.
A breath escaped me, relief saturating through me.
Even though I didn’t believe we’d escaped unscathed, that Triton would let us run off without pursuit, at least we’d pulled off the initial departure.
“What changed your mind?” I asked, glancing between Ursuline and the driver, unsure what they were willing to share around him.
“Jaffar is well aware of the goings-on in the city,” they said with a wan smile. “And he’s got a pulse on far more than I ever could. It’s safe to talk about this around him.”
I let out a small laugh. “Good to know.”
Ursuline drew in a short breath before responding, their features growing dark.
“After you mentioned Alpha Blue, I looked into what they’ve been up to lately.
There’s been a rash of monster disappearances related to them, all involving sea dwellers.
I believe Frederick’s using his newfound connections to round up anyone who’s escaped New Atlantis. Anyone who isn’t under his thumb.”
Oh gods. My stomach rioted, and I swallowed hard to force the bile back down. Jason would’ve been under threat no matter what option I chose.
“Fucking asshole,” Jaffar said from the front seat.
They shook their head, a flash of torment in their eyes.
“So, several factors led to me taking the leap. I don’t trust my employers to be truthful about my family’s safety any longer.
And the Alpha Blue line is something I cannot be complicit in.
Aiding Triton in kidnapping my own kind is reprehensible. Then…there was you.”
My heart fluttered, adding to the complex mix of emotions brewing inside me. “The thought of leaving you was breaking me.”
They caressed my side with their tentacle, and I shuddered from the contact. They were by my side, escaping with me.
“You two are giving me a toothache,” Jaffar called from the front seat.
Ursuline’s lips curved in a sexy smirk, and they opened their arm.
I leaned in against their side, and their tentacle curled around my waist, keeping me in place.
The heat from their body, the scent of brine and currants, and the rise and fall of their chest with their steady breaths all soothed me.
I soaked in the feel of them, the fact they were here by my side, when I’d believed it would be an impossibility.
Yet, the news about Alpha Blue and Triton’s plans only reaffirmed the plan to leave.
That stirring in my gut, the sense of unease had been on target.
If I’d stayed, he would’ve used the connection with Alpha Blue to round up monsters, ones who’d escaped his clutches down below. The thought made me queasy.
“And Jason is going to check on my family,” Ursuline murmured. “He leaves for New Atlantis tonight.”
“Sofia is okay with harboring us?” I asked, even though I trusted Ursuline to have crossed their Ts.
Jaffar let out a laugh. “Sofia’s spent a lifetime getting monsters out of bad situations. Same with Cillian. We all contribute in whatever way we can. And we’d do that and more for Ursuline.”
They stilled—I could feel it with how I leaned against them. “I don’t need more,” they said. “I’m not going to put anyone in danger.”
“Would it kill you to accept assistance?” Jaffar said and jerked a thumb back in our direction. “Tell them, Elrich. They’ve offered pro bono legal help to all of us, have been there for pickups, to transport monsters in need time and again. Yet they think they deserve to live in torment.”
Guilt was a hell of a thing, and Ursuline had worn the mantle for a long while.
“I’m just grateful you’re here,” I said, squeezing their hand again.
I basked in their warmth, in the movement of the car as we sped toward a new destination.
I should be terrified. I didn’t know Sofia’s house or where we’d head next or even what we’d do after that, but with Ursuline at my side, I felt invincible.
I’d get a job—whatever one would take me—and help as we made ends meet together.
As we started a new life far away from here.
That reality sent a silent thrill through me, one I couldn’t deny.
As if those once-impossible dreams were now within reach.
Except, we had a massive hurdle before we got there. The Triton family.
“He’s not going to let us go quietly, is he?” I murmured, the realization crashing down.
Ursuline let out a bitter laugh. “Oh, never. Frederick Triton will chase us down to every corner of the world. He doesn’t like to let possessions out of his grasp.”
My stomach dropped. And yet, despite the reality that the Triton family would continue to haunt us, I wouldn’t be by myself. And that fact settled something deep inside me, offered a resolve I’d been searching for my entire life. “What can we do?”
Ursuline chewed on their lower lip. “I’m still searching for some answers on that.”
“You know you won’t be alone,” Jaffar offered from the front seat. “And we’ve all got connections.”
“You more than others,” Ursuline commented.
“This one is deep in the politics of Peregrine City.” They separated our hands and beckoned me in.
I scooted in and pressed my body against theirs.
The contact soothed me at once, and by the time they started carding their fingers through my hair, the relief rushed through me so hard I was shaky.
I should’ve known more about who ran Peregrine City, but my entire life had been about following orders.
Trying to appease parents who’d never approved of anything I did.
However, Ursuline had connections to a whole other world than what I’d grown up in, and one that seemed infinitely more interesting to me.
Ursuline’s fingertips strummed out a melody on my scalp, competent and relaxing at the same time. Fuck, how were they here with me?
The reality still hadn’t settled in, even as we zipped through familiar streets of the city. We’d gotten far enough from the Triton manor that I didn’t fear immediate pursuit, but my pulse hadn’t calmed.
“What will you do about your apartment?” I asked. Surely Frederick knew where Ursuline lived. He’d send men there the moment he discovered they’d abandoned their position.
That they’d run off with me.
“Already in progress,” they said. “Charles and Theo are moving my belongings over to Cillian’s for the time being. Bastard has plenty of room.”
“You planned for everything, didn’t you?” I breathed out. At least they wouldn’t have their space overturned, lose all they had.
Their lips curled into a smirk. “I never planned for you, sunshine. You were the curveball in this, the impetus of my escape.”
My chest squeezed tight. As much as I’d feel guilty if anything happened to their family because of this, I couldn’t be upset that they’d left. They’d been trapped for so long that they hadn’t known anything else. Ursuline had sacrificed everything and deserved a chance at happiness.
And I selfishly didn’t want to be apart from them either.
We drove past the bright lights of Haven Diner, and I half expected Jaffar to pull in there, even though that wasn’t where Sofia lived. Still, the place was so unabashedly her from the brief interactions I’d had that I associated it with her on instinct.
“Can you drive around the manor afterward?” Ursuline asked Jaffar. “Update me on where he’s dispatched his people?”
The comment sent a shiver down my spine. Here I sat, basking in safety, but Ursuline was in attack mode. Maybe this was why my parents viewed me as worthless.
Except when I was with Ursuline, I didn’t feel that way.
For those incandescent moments, I was useful. Wanted. Desired.
I didn’t regret leaving Arielle or the Triton family behind in the slightest. After seeing her lack of care, the slip behind the mask, I couldn’t view her in the same light.
Couldn’t pretend she was the person I’d first thought her to be.
And the more I learned about the Tritons… a shiver rolled through me.
“You okay?” Ursuline asked, tender concern reflecting in their eyes.
I swallowed hard. “Just…the escape settling in.”
Their lips thinned into a hard line. “I won’t let anyone harm you. We’ll find a way to survive, Elrich.”
The unspoken hovered in the air between us. Even if we had to run forever.
My parents wouldn’t let this drop, and unless Ursuline found a loophole, a way out of their contract, neither would Frederick.
“Okay, kids,” Jaffar said, pulling to a stop in front of a massive two-story house.
“This is where I let you off.” It wasn’t a mansion like the one we’d left but still carved a unique space in the neighborhood.
The deep purple clapboard siding, the black roof, the wide arched windows that glowed with a hazy, homey light created a remarkable sight, a place as unique and inviting as Haven.