Chapter 44
Rory and her father pulled on their rented shoes at the rollerball alley while Sam stood in his socks. They didn’t have shoes big enough to fit his feet, and when he said he wasn’t playing, Rory wore him down until he reluctantly agreed.
He deserved more fun, and she was determined to give it to him.
When she and Cora were younger, their father would bring them to the rollerball alley on the weekends he had off.
Even though he owned his own veterinarian clinic, he and the other doctors that worked for him rotated out weekends to be on call.
It was the perfect activity for today.
Their names appeared on the screen after she typed them into the scoreboard and grabbed her ball. She wasn’t great at rollerball, but she wasn’t terrible either. Her first round knocked down a few pins, and her father, ever the athlete, made a strike.
“I still think you cheat,” she accused when he walked back to the bench.
Patrick smiled at her and shook his head. “You always were a sore loser.”
Leaning forward, she lowered her voice to sound threatening. “You haven’t won yet, old man.”
They both waited as Sam picked up the biggest ball on the carousel and stared at it. “My fingers will not fit.”
Rory stood. “I know. I grabbed this one because it should be heavy enough for you, but you’ll have to palm it.” To demonstrate, she slapped her hand on the ball and gripped it. “Try it.”
Sam snatched her wrist and examined her palm, staring at the Umbra Aeternum mark. His lips parted with a calculated stare. “How is this possible?”
He didn’t look happy. She lowered her voice to a whisper and said, “In the soulscape. We didn’t know if it would work, but it did.”
He dropped her wrist, and a muscle feathered in his jaw. Definitely mad. “And now Gedeon knows you are here,” he said, emphasizing each word.
“We don’t know that he already didn’t,” she countered. “This way, at least I’m immortal.”
“An immortal the Lux King knows how to kill.” Sam wasn’t just mad; he was furious.
“Why are you so upset?” she asked, throwing her hands up. “This is a good thing. You wanted him to marry me, did you not?”
“You did this without warning me,” he replied, and she saw his anger for what it was. Hurt. “I need to know these things to better protect you.”
“I’m sorry we didn’t tell you,” she apologized. “But I’m telling you now. Besides, Gedeon might not realize what’s happened.” She’d thought about it all morning. “He might not realize what the awareness is.”
“Why would he not know?” Sam asked. She could tell he didn’t believe her, but she had hope.
“I didn’t feel the awareness when I turned, and the only reason Caius knew what it felt like was because he felt it at the exact moment Gedeon inherited the Lux power. Gedeon probably didn’t feel it when he took the throne. How would he know what it is now?”
Sam looked thoughtful. “There is a chance you are correct.”
It was as close to a ‘Good job’ as she would get. She slapped her palm back on his ball. “Enough chit-chat. This is how you’ll have to hold it.”
She pulled back, and he mimicked her grip, walked to the lane, and threw it underhand. It arched high and landed with a loud thud, drawing the attention of those around them. The three of them watched the ball inch its way to the gutter and disappear through the back.
“You can’t lob it like that,” Rory said, managing not to laugh at the Angel’s irritation.
“Here,” Patrick offered as he got up and stood by Sam. “You’re going to let it roll off your fingers, not throw it.”
Sam looked determined, and Rory guessed he’d never been bad at anything in his life. She saw him observing other players as they rolled the ball down the lane, and when his ball returned, he picked it up, adjusted his grip, and released it with perfect form, knocking down all the pins.
She gaped at him. “Did you hustle us?”
Patrick laughed and clapped Sam on the back. “You’re a fast learner, son.”
Sam’s lips curled into a crooked smile, and Rory returned it tenfold. “I did not hurry you,” he told Rory. “I merely watched and replicated. It is simple.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I didn’t mean literally. It’s a—you know what? Nevermind. You’re hopeless.” She grabbed her own ball with a dramatic sigh.
Rory: two.
Sam’s aversion to fun: zero.
Rory sat with her father and Sam at the kitchen table, rubbing her stomach. The empty pizza boxes on the table were mainly Sam’s doing, but she put a pretty good dent in them, too.
“Sam, you don’t say much,” Patrick remarked as the Angel sat stoically across from him.
Sam was quiet, as always, before saying, “I have little to say.”
“I would love to hear about your job as a commander,” Patrick returned. “Have you always been over the Vincula legion?”
The Angel shifted uncomfortably, and Rory held her breath, hoping the question wouldn’t send him back into the foul mood caused by the Coopers. “No. I once led an army of Angels in the aether.”
Patrick awarded him with an impressed look. “That is nothing to sneeze at.”
Sam’s brow wrinkled, and Rory leaned over before he could say anything. “It’s just an expression. He didn’t mean to actually sneeze.”
He shook his head. “Mystics are strange.”
“Not here, we’re not,” she fired back playfully. “You’re the outcast.”
They prattled on, pulling Sam into conversations he probably didn’t want to be a part of, until her father stood. “I’m heading to bed. I didn’t sleep much this morning.”
Rory got up and hugged him. “I love you, and I’ll see you at breakfast.”
“I love you, too,” he said and turned to Sam. “Goodnight, Sam.”
Sam tipped his head and pushed back from the table. It was still daylight outside, but the sun would set soon. “Lauren and I change shifts tonight.”
She nodded. “I know the drill. Stay here, or I’ll die.”
Sam pressed his lips together, but the corners lifted slightly. “Yes. I will see you later this week.”
He left without another word, having never been one for goodbyes.
Rory’s phone vibrated with a text from Sera, and after going back and forth, Sera decided to come hang out since Sam was gone and Patrick was asleep. Rory stood and stretched, running upstairs to change into a pair of leggings and a hooded sweatshirt.
When she passed by her mirror, she stopped and surveyed her clothes. It was her butcher outfit, but it no longer meant that to her. Funny how things changed.
Rory rolled the tension from her shoulders and ran downstairs to wait on the porch. Excited to have a girl’s night, she reached for her phone, having forgotten to text Kordie about coming over. Neither of her girlfriends knew about her getting married, and she needed to tell them.
Earlier that day, she’d spoken with Dume on the phone and told him everything she’d learned, including Adila being on their side and why she couldn’t send Rory to Vincula at will. She also told him she married Caius, and she could hear his heart attack through the phone.
Despite them seeing each other every day, she hadn’t wanted to bring her friends down with more talk of her situation and held off on bringing it up.
But Dume often took people accused of crimes before the Scales of Justice, and she didn’t want him saying something terrible to Caius’ sister.
Dume might have a pure soul, but he was also protective to a fault.
He told her she needed to let the others know because they’d be hurt to learn she kept it from them.
If she survived Gedeon and reunited with Caius, Kordie and Sera would insist on throwing an outrageous wedding reception. She just had to tell them she was married first.
Before she could fire off a text to Kordie, a car pulled into the driveway, and Rory looked up with a wide smile. “Took you long enough!”
Sera parked and jumped out of her car with a grin. “I wouldn’t miss tonight for anything.”