Chapter 12 #2
“Okay, so I know my sister’s grieving, but something’s not right with her.
Every time she’s with Russ, she’s this… shell of a person who barely talks and hardly knows what’s happening around her.
I’m worried he’s doing something to her, and not just because he somehow managed to be in the right place at the right time to get a position at Pythia then, within months, hook up with the owner’s daughter. ”
Her concern was legit. The asshole hadn’t thought twice about dicking with Grayson, so the idea that he was messing with Sofia wouldn’t be much of a stretch.
However, it could also be argued that Russ’s interference with Grayson was the act of an insecure douche trying to ensure a good impression.
Either way, Grayson was all about being Cass’s sounding board, and to that end, he decided to play devil’s advocate.
“Okay, let’s say he is—”
“You don’t agree?” Her question was sharp with hurt and outrage.
“I didn’t say that. But there are tons of undercurrents in this whole situation, Cass.
If we don’t want to accidentally sink your sister’s relationship, or what’s left of your relationship with your family—which, if we confront him, is what will happen—then we need to tread carefully.
” He glanced over and caught her mutinous frown, a silent indication he was right.
“So, if Russ is actively working Sofia, why?”
Cass sighed. “The most obvious would be to get in good with my parents,” she said with a hint of defensiveness.
“To what end? He could climb the company ranks by using the same trick on his higher-ups.”
“Not necessarily,” she said, reflecting.
“His magic is all about manipulation, but there are those, like Oracles, whose powers naturally block that kind of control. And with the types of mages at Pythia, a good majority rely on that kind of natural shield because their inherent powers don’t like outside interference.
Hard to predict what the future holds if someone’s messing with your reality. ”
Good point. “Okay, so this natural shield—I’m assuming your parents and Sofia all have one.”
“Some level of one, yes, but Pythia has a Key on retainer who ensures that my parents and most of the C-suite mages can’t be influenced.
It’s a requirement by Pythia’s board, to guarantee impartiality.
” The last was said with heavy sarcasm. “Not that it stops greed, but it looks good to the public.”
“What about Sofia? Does the Key’s work include her?” he asked.
“I would think so.”
“If you had to rate Sofia’s natural immunity, where would she fall?”
If a Key was bolstering natural shields, the spell’s foundation would only be as strong as the natural immunity of the mage.
“If we put me at the top, Mother and Yaya would fall next, then Sofia, then my father.”
“So, if he spent months working on her, he could get through.” Like a beetle burrowing through wood. It would take time, but eventually Russ would get in.
“You’re not making me feel better here, Grayson.”
“It’s just speculation, Cass.” He held out his hand and waited until she took it, then he gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Maybe it has nothing to do with Pythia. What if she’s having second thoughts about her engagement?”
“One could only hope,” she muttered. “Unfortunately, I think Sofia’s determined to see it through. Either that, or my mother is riding her ass so hard Sofie can’t walk away.” She was quiet a moment. “If Russ is influencing Sofia, can you break it?”
He thought about what it would take to reverse what was basically a long-term emotional curse. “Maybe,” he offered cautiously. “But depending on how deep it’s set, there may be lasting scars.”
“Shit.” The air in the car grew heavy with worry.
There wasn’t much he could say or do right now to reassure her, so he decided to switch subjects. “Back at the cemetery, when you saw Cole and Dana, something happened.”
Her thumb swept over the back of his hand as she took her time answering. “It wasn’t anything specific, just an impression, and not a very clear one at that. It’s probably nothing.”
He wasn’t sure he agreed, because if she was getting visions around Cole, then something was up. Still, she was clearly reluctant to elaborate, and he wanted her to feel safe enough with him to share. “Maybe, but tell me anyway.”
She shifted in the passenger seat, lifting his hand so she could cross her legs then resting his hand back on her thigh. “I get the feeling Dana’s at the center of something… big. I just can’t pin down what the big thing is. It’s like this…” She waved an arm around. “Vague possibility.”
Dana, not Cole? he wanted to ask, but instead said, “I’m not sure I’m following.”
She continued to brush a featherlight touch over his knuckles. “You know how a snail’s shell swirls outward from a center point?”
“Yeah.”
“Think of Dana as the center point, and the impact of her actions are a line of dominos that follow the spiral pattern.”
Okay, that was a visual he could follow. “So your feeling of ‘something big’ is based on how large the snail shell is?”
“Not exactly. I mean…” Frustration made her voice sharp. “It wasn’t a real seeing. More like a snapshot, there and gone.”
“Okay, so what’s worrying you?” When she didn’t say anything more, he risked a glance to find she was biting her lip. “Cass, this is your area of expertise, so no judgment here, okay? I’m just trying to understand.”
“Sorry, it’s… I’m…” She pinched her nose and blew out a breath. Then she dropped her hand and tried again. “Right, so each ring appeared to connect to people I know. At least, I think they were. The further out it went, the harder it was to make out who and what I was seeing.”
His grip on the steering wheel tightened as he picked up on her word choice. People, not person, which meant more than one. If Dana was the connection point, he could guess at least one, maybe two people.
“I’m going to assume one of those is Cole, and since he was all but bragging about bagging a bigwig for Pythia, another would be Russ?”
“They were the two smallest swirls,” she confirmed. “Likely because they’re the two with the most direct contact with her.”
He felt an uneasy sensation creep in. “Who else?”
Her thumb stilled, and her hold started to tighten. “In ascending order from there, it was Sofia…”
Grayson would put down good money that was because of her connection to Russ.
“Then my mother…”
The person behind Pythia.
“And then Yaya, and then you.”
A rogue thought created a crack for doubt to slither through, but he refused to give it voice because he could be completely off base. He could tell Cass was frustrated and struggling to put whatever she was seeing into words.
As if she’d heard an echo of his musings, Cass kept talking. “Which might just be me projecting, considering where we were and why…”
He didn’t like the pinch in his chest that her defeatist tone triggered. “Were they the only ones?”
“No, and that’s the thing. I could swear that it was Isa, Dev, Locke, and Rory on those far rings. Which makes no sense because where would any of them be connected to Dana?”
Those were not the names he’d expected, especially one of them. “Rory? Like Zev’s Rory?”
“Yeah.”
“Huh.” He wasn’t sure what else to say. Cass had a point about the lack of connections. It would be more understandable if it was Cass sitting at the center, but Dana? Yeah, he wasn’t quite sure what to think about that particular detail.
Cass sighed. “I don’t know what it means or if it means anything at all.”
He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “There’s not much we can do right now, so let’s get through the rest of today before we worry about what might be coming.”
She didn’t let go of his hand but remained quiet as they continued to her parents’ house.
As he drove, the air around her slowly shifted as her grief sifted back in.
She turned to stare out the window, and his heart stung at the soft sniffles she tried to hide.
He brought her hand to his mouth to brush his lips over her knuckles, a silent offer of support because there was nothing he could say to ease her pain. Her grip tightened.
When he drove through the gate at Spanish Elms, she finally spoke, her voice husky with tears. “Thank you for being with me today, Grayson.”
It was all he could do not to pull over and gather her into his arms, or better yet, turn the car around and avoid the impending interaction with her family altogether because he didn’t need Cass’s magic to know things could go sideways easily.
Instead, he stated with simple honesty, “No place I’d rather be, sweetheart.”