Chapter 47 #2
Avery nodded, and even Gina looked sympathetic. “That’s a good point. I’ll continue trying to get Shafer to talk,” Avery said with another sigh.
“River? You’re not hungry?” Gina murmured, frowning down at my plate of food.
I shrugged.
“I suppose there’s nothing else to add,” Avery said, then snapped his mouth shut when Gina cut him off.
“Everyone out. He’s stressed.”
The table began to clear immediately. Peter Earl was the first to shoot out the door like his ass was on fire. As embarrassed as I was, I stayed seated, rubbing my eyes. Gina continued to murmur to me.
“Do you need anything?”
I shook my head. “Just sleep. I’ll be fine.”
Gina nodded sympathetically. “Of course. We’ll leave you alone after this. I’m so sorry to keep messing with your routine.” She looked around me at Avery. “I told you children thrive on schedules.”
My cheeks flamed. I suddenly wished I could dissolve into a pile of goo and disappear into the earth.
“Lucy?” Avery’s voice drew my attention. I blinked to adjust my vision, surprised to see Lucille standing in front of her seat, fiddling with her bracelets. She blinked her raccoon eyes, her lips twisting into a tight grin.
“Holy Crusader,” she said softly. “I hoped we could speak alone.”
“Hope is a pointless emotion,” Gina said flatly.
I snorted at that, and Gina shot me a grin, like we were in on a joke together. I hid my eyes behind my hand.
Avery pinched the bridge of his nose. “What is it, Lucille?”
“Well,” she cleared her throat. “Now that things aren’t working out so well with the Iron Maiden, I was hoping…perhaps…”
Gina laughed suddenly before leaning back in her chair. “You want to be in his private collection, do you?”
I blinked as Lucille’s desperate gaze darted to mine for just a moment. I almost felt sorry for her. She’d been one of Avery’s most devout followers for as long as I’d been around, at least. She let her own son be a test subject for this medication, not knowing if it’d kill or disable him.
It was despicable, and that was exactly what Avery wanted. He liked ruthlessness. He valued blind loyalty, like the Iykos. Anything less than that was not acceptable.
“My affinities are strong. I…I would be a great asset–”
“We don’t need any more fire-starters, Lulu.” Gina sneered. “Besides, we have River for that. The Maelstrom has long been able to wield fire better than anything I’ve seen from you.”
“That’s not the affinity I was referring to,” Lucille said through clenched teeth. “The pain I can cause–”
Gina rolled her eyes, effectively dismissing her. Lucille looked genuinely hurt, her gaze jumping from me to Avery like either one of us would help her.
“Lucy,” Avery said gently. “The…your affinities aren’t needed.”
“But they’re rare,” Lucille said, her eyes glassy.
“Not as rare as you think,” I muttered.
Avery pointed to me in agreement.
Lucille took a step toward the door, but stopped, warring with indecision. Her jaw worked for a moment, but she ultimately decided not to speak. She backed out of the room, discreetly trying to wipe her eyes.
“I hate her,” Gina said flatly as soon as the door closed. “She’s so useless.”
Avery shrugged. “She has resources I need, that’s all.” He stood, then stretched before buttoning his suit jacket. “It’s too bad about her son. I’d always thought she should’ve just let Harper remain Key to that Chain. Her fire’s strong enough to melt glass.”
I raised my eyebrows slightly. I knew Lucille wasn’t the real Key to that Chain.
“Imagine if she’d been that boy’s mother instead.
” Avery sighed. “Harper’s mother had a similar affinity to Gina here.
” Gina glared, and Avery chuckled. “Not as powerful as you, sunshine. She could only summon lightning in sporadic bursts. They argued it was an affinity for electricity. That is an affinity I would’ve liked to collect. ”
Gina and Avery set off to Avery’s office, and I slipped outside, breathing in a sigh of relief. It was cold, but at least my lungs could expand again. I’d taken two steps toward the stairs leading down to the snow, when the clearing of a throat caught my attention.
I glanced down to the left of the stairs, and rolled my eyes.
Lucille stood in the shade of the trees that lined the lodge, smoking one of her fancy cigarettes.
I took the steps lightly, pausing at the edge of the shade patch while Lucille gestured for me to draw closer. I sighed dramatically, but stepped into the shade until I was blocked by the branches hanging over head.
“Probably shouldn’t smoke down here,” I muttered, looking into the branches.
Lucille rolled her eyes, now, taking another drag from her cigarette before holding it out to me.
I scoffed, nodding toward her designer purse, tucked under her arm.
No way was I touching my lips to something she’d just had in her mouth.
She rolled her eyes, putting her cigarette back between her lips, then pulled the cigarette pack out of her purse and tossed it to me.
I took one, lighting it with the tip of my finger, then stuffed the rest of the pack into my back pocket. I took a long drag, nodding in appreciation. Lucille only bought top notch shit.
“What do you want?” I asked finally. A nearly full pack of cigarettes was worth at least ten minutes of my time, as long as she didn’t try to fuck me.
“Interesting isn’t it?” Lucille said, nodding toward the doors. “They’re just…so in love after all these years. A decade in prison didn’t even touch them.”
I stared at her.
“They’re not in a Chain, you know.” Lucille went on, then took a dramatic drag. “Crazy how people can be so in love when biology planned otherwise.”
“Get to the point,” I snapped.
Lucille snorted. “Losing your Chain fucks with you mentally. People aren’t meant to only be with one person. It’s not natural.”
I sighed, then dropped the cigarette into the snow, stomping it out.
“You’re such a brat,” she sneered, her eyes on the lost cigarette. “But you’re not stupid, River. You’ve figured it out, haven’t you?”
I bristled at her use of my name, but narrowed my eyes at her. What the fuck was she going on about?
Lucille leaned forward, her eyes looking a little manic.
“They’re not in a Chain together, River.
Avery’s Key is dead. He’s known for a while, but I think it was confirmed within the last year.
He’s been acting strange. Distracted. And Regina’s Links died when she was a kid.
Brothers. Car accident. She’s been nuts ever since.
They’re together because they’re trying to build one of these new wave Chains, putting Links and Keys together and hoping it all works out. ”
I blinked at her. “So…where are you going with this? I don’t need to be told they’re crazy. I live here, unlike you. I’m around them all the time.”
Lucille stepped in closer to me, and I took a step back. Her floral perfume was stronger than the cigarette smoke.
“Why do you think they hold onto you so desperately? You’re like them, River. You don’t have a Chain.”
I scoffed. “I don’t need a Chain–”
“Listen to me,” Lucille hissed, her smokey breath fanning over my face and pissing me off even further. “Why hasn’t Avery looked for your Chain?”
“Because we’re not looking for new cult members,” I deadpanned.
Lucille took a long drag. “It would be leverage over you. It would improve your affinities. Why doesn’t he do it? Why keep you from testing? Where’s your Chain, River? Why don’t you find them?”
We stared at each other for several seconds. I grew more and more pissed the longer we stood here, but Lucille had a point. Avery hid a lot of things from me, things I mostly understood, but this? I’d never bothered to go down this trail of thought.
“How would I do that?” I asked quietly.
“The academy does testing,” Lucille said darkly. “That’s how the fucking Phantom snatched my son from me.”