Chapter 48 - Dom
DOM
No wonder this place is always so deserted. I tried not to grimace as I took another sludgey sip of coffee. The Rosewood Diner was a short drive from town, but it felt like stepping through a twisted time machine.
Every second I had to sit in this diner was torture, and I was starting to suspect The Oracle knew that. That they got off on making me sit around and waste my time.
I frowned, draining my mug. I might as well get some caffeine out of it.
“Another cup?” The waitress ambled over with a murky gray pot in her hands.
Nodding, I slid my cup over to her, letting the sound of her pour fill the silence.
“You sure drink a lot of coffee,” she muttered under her breath, as if she wasn’t the one who’d offered it to me in the first place. I simply nodded, saving my frustration for the people who’d actually earned it instead of taking it out on this poor waitress.
But she wasn’t making that easy. She squinted at me openly as she gave me a once over. “And you’re dressed way too nice for this place.”
“Yep.” I muttered, taking back my full mug and lifting it toward her. “Thanks, Aria.”
She threw her hands up in the air as she walked away, muttering something about how “talkative” I was, and I let out a sigh. I’ll leave her a good tip.
After tonight, I hoped I’d never see this place again. It had been a pain in the ass to arrange this meeting with The Oracle, and the fact that I had no idea when they’d be here made every second in this squeaky booth agonizing. I hated being off of my home turf, and I hated feeling out of control.
That restlessness started to eat away at my resolve. Was this really the right thing? Sending Kiera away?
As I forced down another swig of the primordial coffee brew, I couldn’t help but shake my leg under the table. Of course it’s right.
I needed her out of my house if I had any semblance of a chance of holding onto my sanity. Seeing her face around every corner, hearing her laugh echo down the halls, watching her draped over Spencer and Leo… it was enough to make anyone homicidal.
Besides, the farther away she was from me, the safer both of us would be. History had proven as much. That was the one thought that kept me anchored. I’d suffer the indignity of waiting in this time capsule for that safety.
As Aria finished refilling her pot of sludge behind the counter, a bell dinged over the entrance, announcing a new arrival. My head whipped up as a figure in black glided through the door, the hood of their sweater draped low so only their slick smile was visible.
They walked toward me with no hesitation, like they already knew where to find me.
As they approached my table, they rolled up a sleeve to reveal a sword piercing a hand on their forearm.
Nodding, I took another swig of sludge as they took a seat in the booth behind mine, sitting back to back with me.
Aria made quick work of ambling over, refilling my cup before setting down a fresh one for our new guest. “Is there anything else I can getcha, sweetheart?”
“Just the coffee’s great,” they purred. “I should be out of your hair pretty quickly.”
Once Aria was out of earshot, I grumbled over my shoulder. “Where’s your boss?”
“Just us tonight.” The messenger took a sip of her coffee with a satisfied sigh. “Now tell me, what concern of yours is so important that it merited another meeting?”
The fire already burning in my chest flared at that. I had requested a meeting with The Oracle, not another one of their lackeys. I had half a mind to chew this bitch out and storm the headquarters myself.
But I couldn’t risk this going south — not until Kiera was far away from Valemont. So after all the dodged calls it had taken to get here, I’d have to settle for what I could get.
“I need an extraction.” I cleared my throat.
“For whom?”
The red-headed nightmare squatting in my house. “The asset. It’s no longer safe for her to harbor in Valemont.”
“Why not?”
I bristled. It was a standard question, to be fair, but one they clearly already knew the answer to. It wouldn’t stop them from asking, though. Their organization prided themselves on leaving no stone left unturned. Something about information being the most lethal weapon of all.
Nosey fucking bitches.
“I was able to confirm your previous report.” I gripped my mug. “Zeus is moving dangerous resources within Valemont. They must know that she’s close.”
They hummed, pleased with the intel. “Have they made any advances on the asset?”
It was hard not to scoff. “No.”
“Do they know about your project?”
“...No.” I frowned, unhappy with the direction these questions were taking. The house had nothing to do with what Zeus wanted.
The messenger took another sip of coffee, weighing the next question carefully. “Your interest in protecting the girl intrigues me. Is the nature of that concern purely professional?”
The tension in my shoulders ratcheted up at that. “Of course it is.”
It has to be. If we have any hope of making it out of this alive, I can’t consider any other possibility.
“I’m not worried about the girl,” I cleared my throat. “I’m worried about the shares. If he knows, Isaac will go to any length to get after her. And if he finds out she’s in my house…”
I didn’t want to think about what would happen. All I knew for certain was that my family had already ruined her life once, and I would die before I let it happen again.
The messenger let that statement hang in the air, a small metal spoon clinking against ceramic as they gave their coffee a stir. “An extraction won’t be possible.”
“Not possible?” My grip on the coffee mug tightened, whitening my knuckles. “What part of ‘unsafe’ are you not understanding?”
“Extractions are a last resort.”
“What would you have me to do then, throw her back to the wolves?”
“No.” Their tone was a bit too amused for my liking. “You will hold onto her.”
“You’ve gotten far too comfortable telling me what I ‘will’ do.
” I growled, hardly trying to conceal my frustration anymore.
“I work with you birdbrains because you’re good at what you fucking do, but don’t get it twisted: I’m not some glorified babysitter you can order around.
I need her gone so I can focus on the mission. ”
“Kiera is the mission.” The messenger replied coolly. “She is far too important to set loose where the others might find her. And so long as your location is uncompromised, the manor is the safest place for her to be.”
I gritted my teeth as the messenger polished off the last of their coffee. “You will protect her. And you’ll do so with discretion.”
“And if I don’t?” I lobbed half-heartedly, raring to get under their skin.
“Then you’ll finally get that meeting you so desperately want with my employers.”
With that threat delivered, the messenger plopped a wad of cash down on the table and walked out the door, not sparing me a backward glance.
The door had hardly shut behind them when my coffee mug went flying after them, shattering in a spray of ceramic and sludge against the front door. It was all I could do to control the rage coursing through my veins.
I wanted to storm after them, to rip off their stupid fucking hood and pummel until they tasted copper. But as fond as I was of pushing my luck, I knew that would be a death sentence. Like it or not, The Oracle’s word was final.
I would have to protect, to resist every urge I had to destroy us both.