Chapter 62
Chapter Sixty-Two
Desmond
“Lols?” Desmond asked when he exited the apartment to find her huddled at the base of the stairs. “What are you doing here? I thought everyone agreed not to go anywhere alone with Dryvius—”
Lola tipped her red-rimmed gaze to him, and Desmond’s heart faltered.
“What’s wrong?” He flew down the stairs and dropped beside her, the stone cold beneath him.
“I’m trying to convince myself not to go inside. And don’t yell at me for coming here alone. Eston is down the street.”
Desmond hated that he was relieved by that. “Why can’t you go inside?”
“Because I came here to find you, and I’m not supposed to.”
Desmond stilled. “Why not?”
Lola sniffed, fingers twisting through the ends of her hair. “Because we had our one night already.”
“Fuck that,” Desmond said, and Lola laughed. “We can have as many nights as we want.” She sighed, wiping a tear from her cheek, and Desmond asked, “Is this about Nico?”
“Yes and no.” She sighed.
Laughter peeled out the open window above, and Lola smiled up at it.
Her mother and siblings were upstairs with Myrella.
She’d been shaken up since Valyrie told them the truth about what happened to Nico, and Siena was proving to be a thorough distraction while Lola and Emmeline had to attend a dinner and show with Rocarri and the competitors tonight.
“Yes and no how?” Desmond prompted.
“It’s about how empty his death has made me feel.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve filled my life with so much adventure and passion, but when it mattered—when I got that letter that Nico was gone and Roremar was accused—I was alone.
” Her gaze dropped to her boots, fingers still twirling those blue-tinged locks.
“It was all empty. I’m happy with the work I’ve done here and the things I’ve achieved, but when I stopped moving, when I needed someone, I was alone.
It made me wonder if I’m really happy at all.
” Lola sighed, her nose scrunching in a way that Desmond had seen a thousand times and yet each one felt different.
This one was so regretful, it was a fist through his chest. “Yesterday when Valyrie told us the truth about Nico, I guess it brought all those feelings back up. And my family being here complicates it all.”
Voices drifted down from above, and each looked like it hit Lola with a force. Tears welled on her lashes.
“And you don’t know if you want to go up there because of those feelings?”
“I don’t know if I should,” she corrected. “I’m so removed from them.”
Desmond nodded. He knew her well enough to know that he couldn’t force her into the room upstairs. Lola lived loud, but only when it was genuine. Right now, the loudest feelings were the sad ones, and she needed space to let those out.
“Okay,” he said, standing and holding his hands out to her.
Lola took them, and he pulled her up, her warm skin against his sending a jolt through his body. Her floral and berry scent was familiar, the perfume mixing with the subtle but stubborn, acidic note of paint that always clung to her.
Desmond swiped his thumbs across the back of her hands, reluctant to let go. “Let’s go on a walk. There’s a tavern in the Sixth District that keeps chalk on the tables and the walls are open for drawing. I found it a few nights ago. We can stay there until you’re ready to go upstairs.”
“Weren’t you going somewhere?” Lola asked.
Truthfully, he’d been about to head to the event he thought she, Roremar, and Emmeline were at. Not that he needed to, but he’d wanted to feel useful.
Here, he did.
“Nowhere important,” Desmond said. Casually, he swung an arm around her and turned her toward the moonlit street.
He dismissed Eston, and for once—maybe because he saw how upset Lola was—the man didn’t argue.
Desmond’s attention was on alert around every corner.
Valyrie had given them vague descriptions of what Dryvius looked like.
She hadn’t seen him in the city or at the trials so far, but who knew how he would have changed in the thousands of years since the Angel selected him as her Fate of Chaos and Revelry. If he was even in the same body.
He could be anyone.
When they arrived at the Sun Serpent’s Den, it was overflowing, which didn’t help Desmond’s nerves, but he vowed to both remain vigilant and cheer Lola up. The neighboring tavern had live music and the den on the other side discounted incense, so the three combined for a street-wide festival.
Perry, Rian, and Khasson were at the center of the crowd, pouring from endless bottles of wine. Perry puffed on a cigar, smirking at the pair of them.
“Night off?” Desmond asked when they approached his table.
“Rocarri’s show ended early,” he explained. “Figured we’ve only got a few nights left.”
Khasson cut in with a raise of his glass. “May as well celebrate them.”
A woman with a jasmine tattoo tracing over her shoulder and down her cleavage was perched in his lap, but Khasson wasn’t paying her much mind other than his hand running over her hip. The table before him bore an assortment of cakes, cheeses, and fruits she kept trying to feed him.
Perry’s and Khasson’s words were a dismal reminder that so many of these men could die the day after next. Perry gave him a heavy look that said he knew it, and when Desmond looked closer at the crowd, the discomfort was clear on their faces.
It was too fucking late from Desmond’s perspective. They should have stood up to this weeks ago, but no one had.
“Your father have any luck getting information?” Desmond asked Perry.
“Not yet. But I reminded him how much he stands to benefit if I win. When we left the party, he was escorting the Chancellor to a private incense den, his treat.”
“And where’s Rore?”
“Back to the cell with his guard.”
Eavesdropping, Rian scoffed. “What a joke.”
“Keeping up appearances,” Perry said, twisting his cigar between his fingers. “And our darling?”
“She’s decoding the scroll,” Lola answered, masking her sadness a bit but not enough that Desmond couldn’t hear it.
Perry nodded and dropped his voice. “By the way, I stopped by the Archives today and checked out one of private sectors. There’s some information on Points of Constellation. I didn’t have much time to dig, but it could be worth it.”
“I can go tomorrow,” Lola said. “I told Emmeline I’d look into some stuff for her.”
“Not alone this time,” Desmond warned.
Lola nodded solemnly, not bothering to fight back.
Desmond clapped Perry on the shoulder. “Let us know what you learn from your father.”
Lola nodded at Perry, then pulled Desmond into a quieter corner where they had plenty of room to draw their grievances.
She was quiet for a while, sketching whatever came to mind, but after a couple drinks, she blinked those unique, Lola-blue eyes up at him. “Thanks for this, Des.”
He clinked his glass to hers. “Grief can feel empty, Lols, but you’re never alone. When you want me, I’m here.”