Chapter 34
“That fucker,” Rina snarled as she dragged Gunnar to his feet. “You alright?”
“Yeah, I’m good.” Gunnar coughed a few times, rubbing his throat.
“Shit,” Rina muttered as she paced, diving into Russian for a slew of more creative cursing. She rubbed her face a few times. “Theodore was sure he’d been careful and covered your steps. All the news about Audrey being burned alive, you as the prime suspect.”
Gunnar chuckled. “Yeah, that hellfire attack in the middle of the night took out a whole damn city block trying to get to her for being a terrorist. The ESC was a shitshow over it. Then I was a high-profile case right after the change, freedom granted from a tribunal.” He sighed. “Figured this was about as far as we could get from all that. Maybe we should have taken that job shoveling sand in the Sahara.”
“Maybe,” Rina said with a half-laugh, but her scent was distressed, and Gunnar couldn’t blame her a bit. “All this though . . .” she kind of trailed off, lifting a hand.
“He’s lying. My guess is he found out I was alive, so he sent those two out here for an excuse to check in. I was in his prison for ten years, down deep in solitary holding, nothing but sustains and the dark.”
“Heard of those places,” Rina muttered. She shuddered, her scent ripe with a fear he’d never tasted from her before. “Virtue is . . .”
“Innocence told me enough. Kushiel led the Velvet Emporium purge.”
“When the Accord passed banning non-consensual soul feeding, it also allowed for punishing transgressions committed prior to the Accord.” Rina scoffed. “No matter all the Aperiens, hybrids, and dusters that fed carefully or had never hurt or killed anyone. Or how many might have died without sneaking a bite. Part of all this, being out here so far away.” Rina sighed, and she suddenly smelled old and very, very tired. “I wanted to protect her and her brother. To have a place where we could all exist, even if the rest of the world didn’t want us.”
Gunnar grunted. “Not sure Innocence is worth the trouble, but I’ll admit he’s grown on me a bit.”
Rina laughed. “Yeah, he does that.”
They sat in silence for a minute, the only sound Rina’s tapping boot. The general noise from the tavern below, packed with train day patrons and the other residents of Nizhny milling around minding their own business, scratching out a life that had no clue was under threat.
“I don’t think he knows Audrey’s alive,” Gunnar said, rubbing against the discomfort in his chest. “But he means his threat, about rallying a tribunal, and he’ll come after Nizhny with everything he can if it comes to that. I can’t ask you to pick me over that, Rina. Over everyone else in this damn town. I’m not worth it.”
Rina closed her eyes, leaning her head back with a long sigh. “No, you’re not. One person might be enough, but . . .”
“I’m not that person, not for you.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Can you promise me something?”
“I’ll keep her safe, Gunnar. Audrey’s one of us.”
“Alright.”
“You’re not going to tell her, are you? Not even say goodbye?”
He tried to imagine the moment. How she’d scream and cry for him, probably talk about loving him all over again, and he wasn’t sure he’d be strong enough to walk away from that. Easier not to think about it all. If he was lucky, Kushiel would send him back down into a hole, and he’d sink down into nothing.
“Better she doesn’t know. She gave up everything to get me out. She throws her life away for me again, it’s just the same shit all over.”
“I think you’re an idiot, for what it’s worth,” Rina said, and then she had one arm around his shoulders, pulling him into a tight hug before he could stop her. “But I won’t let her follow you. I’ll call in my favor to Theodore, if that’s what it takes.”
He patted her back, the whole thing awkward, giving her a stiff nod as he turned to leave, his mind racing, trying to figure out if he might see her just one more time before he left, without her knowing. . .
No, too much risk. He’d walk downstairs, tell Kushiel they’d leave in the morning, convince him the best move was for them to both go to the train so the angel could chain him up and keep watch so Gunnar didn’t change his mind and run.
After all, that’s what vileblood did, right? All the bad things.
Like leaving Audrey behind without having the balls to say goodbye.
Gunnar didn’t look back at Rina, just shut the door behind him. Ignored when Aster called his name when he reached the bottom of the stairs. Inhaled the familiar scent of the tavern, wondering if he’d remember it a few years down the road. Then he frowned, because he didn’t smell the angel anymore. Must be waiting outside, and Gunnar stuffed his hands in his pockets and stepped toward the front door.
Paused, because he smelled Audrey. Not an old trace from her coming to the tavern, no this was fresh, but she wasn’t here. He frowned, then cursed under his breath. Late lunch, she’d said. Aster called his name again, but he shoved outside, cursing at the falling snow, thickening by the second.
A hundred different scents assaulted him, the open market slowing down because of the weather, train visitors milling around with the Nizhny residents. He scanned fast, looking for white wings and a short human girl he’d know at a glance, but nothing. He inhaled deeper, searching, then caught what he was after.
Audrey, Kushiel. They’d both been here, right on the station entry way, within minutes. Innocence as well, he realized. All three scents tangled together. And three sets of fresh prints headed up the rails, away from town, north.
Then Gunnar smelled the blood.
He chased after the scent, breathing in heavy clouds as he rounded the station’s corner, toward the wolf pack dens—empty, since the pack stayed away on train days—and there was Innocence, crumpled against the white building.
“Hey,” Gunnar snarled out, sliding on the ice to his knees, grabbing the man by the shoulders and giving him a rough shake. Innocence hissed in pain, blood flowing freely from his broken nose and slit lip. Gunnar slapped his cheek a few times. “What the fuck happened?”
He swatted at Gunnar’s hand. “Gods, I think he broke both my legs.”
Yeah, they both bent the wrong way at the knees, bone gleaming between torn flesh and fabric. “Where’s Kushiel?”
The incubus’s eyes flared bright, but his scent was floundering, a breath away from passing out. “He ignored me. Eyes only for you, Gunnar dearest.”
Innocence coughed, leaning heavily to the side. Gunnar held him up by his shoulder; his lungs sounded wrong. Might have broken ribs, too.
“Came back down, all smug. Then . . .” Innocence wheezed, head falling back on the wall. “They saw each other as soon as she walked in, and I have never seen an angel as shocked. Audrey ran. I followed, tried to stop him . . . but . . .” He gave a bitter laugh. “Just a duster, me.”
Gunnar snorted. “You’re a fucking idiot, thinking you had a shot against an angel. He could have killed you. Surprised he didn’t.”
Innocence chuckled, the sound pained. “Yes, well, it is quite irritating feeling obligated to be brave. I do think today fills my quota for the next century or so, hmm?”
Gunnar glanced north, wondering why the fuck Audrey didn’t run toward the market. Probably didn’t want anyone to get hurt. Shit. “Can you get yourself to the station?”
“Really, Gunnar, I thought you were a smart ma—that hurts, you barbaric shit!”
Gunnar hauled Innocence up anyway, because he didn’t have time, but he couldn’t leave the fucker here. If he saved Audrey by leaving Innocence to die after he tried to buy her time, she’d never let him live it down. “He chased after her? North?”
“Yes,” Innocent grunted as he carried him to the station. They were drawing attention now, a few shouts coming from the market, members of the Clan running toward them. E watched from his station, his brow creased, and Gunnar swore his eyes glowed, molten metal in the distance. Gullin stood next to him, apparently returned from his latest trip. “Walking, of course, the prick he is.” Innocence hissed in pain as Gunnar shifted him so he could kick open the tavern doors. “Gunnar . . .”
“Yeah, I know I’m just a duster too, but fuck if I’m letting him hurt her.”
Gunnar called to Aster, who already ran over, and helped Innocence sit against the entryway wall. The incubus caught his wrist, his expression furious.
“Go get your girl, Gunnar.”