Chapter 8 #2
A wily smile pulls at his mouth. “Could not stay away from me, could you?”
A fake laugh bubbles up my throat. I know what I need to do to keep him on my side. To win everyone over. “Well,” I say sweetly, “I’ve never met a prince before.”
Milos bows gracefully. “I am honored to be your first.” He takes my hand, pressing a light kiss to my knuckles. “And how did you find your way back to me this time?”
I pause, swallowing. Instinct calls on me to look at Cary. Say his name. But I didn’t know if, technically, he’s allowed to bring a mortal here. Will he get in trouble?
Not that I’m worried about Cary being punished. It’s just that—I need him.
“I brought him.”
Milos’s eyes cut away from me. “Did you?”
I follow his gaze to Cary. He’s still as a statue. All but his jaw as he chews out, “Did you not want to see him again?”
With a sniff, Milos says, “Yes. But shame on you for abandoning your obligations to do so.”
“I have not abandoned anything,” Cary retorts coolly. “What about you, brother?”
Silence sits heavy between them. Gold flickers across both their eyes. I chew my lip, anxious, wondering how long it’ll last.
Milos breaks first.
He smiles at me. “Never mind how you got here.” His tone is carefree again. “The important part is you are here now.”
“Mmhmm,” I say, tempted to sneak a glance at Cary.
Milos squeezes my fingers. Soft, intent. “Come.”
He guides me across the room. Aminta is close on our heels. When I finally look at him, Cary is farther back. Eyes averted, face stiff. But he’s following us.
It’s oddly comforting.
When we reach the other side of the room, Milos says, “Is Aides not beautiful?”
We’re standing in front of a towering window framed in gold. Light warms my face as I look out. Milos is right. It’s breathtaking. A world I couldn’t begin to imagine existing days ago.
Below, flowers bracket the dusty trail Cary took me on. Where the blue river sings. Past that, rolling green hills. Groves of cypress trees. Then something darker I can’t fully make out, onyx and mountain shaped.
My eyes fall back to the garden. To its left, I see pieces of that structure I noticed before. Overgrowth covers it. Tangly vines, a scattering of vibrant flowers.
Milos squeezes my hand. I almost jump, surprised.
“What do you think?”
“Incredible,” I manage after another swallow.
Because it is. Even just this partial view of the underworld.
Dread stirs coldly in my belly. This place is much bigger than I thought. I need more time to roam and search.
I peek at Aminta’s tablet by her side.
“August?”
My eyes fly to Milos’s face. Most people would agree that he’s handsome beyond words. They’d probably say the same thing about Cary, if he wasn’t scowling every five seconds.
From the corner of my vision, I see him watching me. A flash of heat surges up my neck.
“You will come back again?” Milos proposes in a sweet, charming voice.
“Of course,” I say, half laughing.
I don’t have a choice. Not if I want to find London.
Milos’s head tilts and he stares at me like I’m a rarity. A diamond in a collection of pearls. “To see me, yes?”
My heart thuds. Does he know my plans? Why I’m really coming back? He made that soul disappear with a wave of his hand. What else can he do?
Then I notice his gaze cheating behind me. Something clicks into place:
Milos thinks I’m here for Cary.
Which is absurd. Ridiculous. I have to swallow my laugh before I say, “Definitely. To see you.”
Satisfied, Milos beams.
Aminta steps between us. Her cold gaze rakes over me. “They should go.” She lifts her tablet. “You said we’d clear half this list today.”
My stomach plummets. I can’t go yet. Cary told me that time moves at a different pace here. Slower. What if that means London hasn’t been judged yet?
What if he’s one of the souls Milos is meeting with?
Milos glowers so Aminta says, gently, “You promised, my prince. The labyrinth is getting full.”
That changes Milos’s mood. “Fine. If we must.”
He turns back to me. His silk button-down is a deep maroon. The color brightens his skin like the edges of a fire.
“You must come back soon.” His fingers coast over the back of my hand “For the celebration ball.”
“Celebration…ball?”
He smiles, nodding.
I quirk an eyebrow. “What are you celebrating?”
Coyly, Milos replies, “You, August.”
“Me?”
A blush tickles my cheeks. But Milos flaps his hand like it’s nothing. “I love any reason to celebrate. Right, Minta?”
For once, Aminta looks like a rose’s soft petals instead of its thorns. “Yes, my prince.”
Milos draws in so close, his scent surrounds me. Charcoal and conifer. “Trust me, it will be worth it.”
My head spins a little. He’s so much. But in a way I can’t seem to resist.
“Would you deny a prince?”
I hesitate. A party is the last thing I want to attend. But it’s another chance to get back here. To finish what I couldn’t today. Besides, when I glance over my shoulder to that spot on the white carpet where Leila was, a shiver ghosts through my muscles.
Denying Milos means I could end up like her.
“No,” I finally say.
Delighted crinkles form around his eyes. “I look forward to seeing you soon, August.”
A cold, inescapable quiet blooms between me and Cary.
In the elevator. Through the long room of statues and dancing flowers. Into the garden.
He doesn’t utter a single word.
I’m forced to double-time my steps to keep up with him. When I’m shoulder to shoulder with him, I ask, “Is Aminta a Deathless too?”
Eyes forward, he says, curtly, “No.”
“What is she?”
Milos clearly trusts her. Enough for her to always be by his side. To record the fates of souls. I need to know more about her. A way to earn her favor and get my hands on that tablet.
After Cary ignores my last question, I change tactics. “Is there something going on between her and your brother? I don’t want to assume, but, like. She seems very protective of him.”
His silence continues.
“And,” I go on, “if she’s worried I’m trying to get between them—”
Finally, Cary stops. “What happens here is none of your concern.”
His eyes are as gold as a wolf’s. Irritation is drawn into every precise line of his face. I stumble back, blinking.
“Did I do something wrong?”
Cary clenches his jaw. A soft breeze rustles through his hair. The ends stand up like when Poppy tousled them earlier.
I bristle. How did I let myself get used to that side of him? Or the one from the Meadows? He’s still that scowling, obnoxious boy I met at the pizzeria.
“Why are you like this?”
He lifts a thick brow. “Why are you?”
I snort, exhausted from trying to be nice to him. “You’re so—” I don’t finish, stomping ahead of him.
His heavy footfalls follow.
“Are you going to act this way when I come back for the party?” I grumble.
“You are not coming back.”
I whip around to face him. Fury races through me. “What do you mean?”
The sky frames him in burning pinks and golds. “You cannot return,” he repeats, like that explains anything. Like that one statement doesn’t cut me to the bone.
“Why?” I demand.
My hands shake. Every breath feels suffocatingly short. Cary can’t keep me away when I’m just beginning to learn more about Aides.
When I’m closer to getting back to London.
Cary stands taller. “There are rules—”
“I don’t want to hear about rules, Cary,” I groan. “I’m coming back.”
He looks down and shakes his head.
I shift on one foot, ready to walk again. “You can’t stop—”
Before I finish, he says, “A mortal can only cross over five times. After that, they are forced to make a choice.”
My voice goes small. “What choice?”