Chapter 23
Twenty-Three
Asher
Elodie walks back into the laundry room with Salvatore’s hand wrapped around hers and an obvious flush reddening the light golden skin of her cheeks. I waver on my feet as her gaze settles on me.
There it is again—that flash of sadness, the tension locking her stance.
I know where it comes from now.
Every time she sees me, she’s been mourning another version of me. I might as well be a memorial to the best friend she lost years ago.
It’s hard to wrap my head around the idea that me and any Elodie Devine were not only friendly but incredibly close, no matter what she’s said about how different her life was.
I can’t imagine the Elodie I saw during most of my school years giving half a fuck if I died, if she even noticed the charity case was gone.
But that only makes me all the more sure that the woman in front of me is telling the truth. From the moment I noticed her staring at me on the green with shock widening her eyes, I knew something was different. This pull I’ve felt toward her—it only started then.
So, the original Elodie would have been my match too, if she hadn’t been murdered? I hate to think how she’d have reacted to the news.
Cole should be glad this Elodie’s supposed snubbing is the worst I’ve faced.
Now, she keeps her attention on me even though her posture stays tense.
I accused her once of being sickened by the sight of me, and maybe I wasn’t far off. Sick with guilt and grief.
Her mouth manages to form a small smile. “I guess we should talk too?”
Cole stiffens as if he’s about to protest, but I speak first. “Yes. I think that would be good.” I glance at the door closer at hand. “Why don’t we go in my room? It’ll give you a little more space. I can understand if you need that.”
The smile turns wry. “The storage closet is a little tight.”
The moment I’ve motioned her past me into the room, my stomach twists with the fear that I’ve miscalculated. Elodie steps into the still-small-but-not-suffocating space, and her eyes immediately mist over.
She blinks rapidly as she takes in my narrow bed with its rumpled covers—why the fuck didn’t I make it for once?—the tiny desk in the corner with my ancient laptop, the shoulder-high bookcase, the dented closet door.
She runs her fingertips over the books stacked haphazardly on the shelves. If I had any remaining doubts, they vanish seeing the one she eases out.
She holds the picture book in both hands. Her expression as she gazes down at it erases any embarrassment I’d have otherwise felt at the discovery.
“Your mom gave this to you in this reality too,” she says quietly.
I sit down on the edge of the bed, because that’s the only place to sit other than my desk chair and I assume she’d be more comfortable there. “Yeah. I told you that? I mean, the other me.”
She nods and sets the book back on the shelf. Noticing me sitting, she hesitates and then swings the chair around from the desk so she can put herself back at my level.
When she looks at me again, there’s so much sadness behind her eyes that it makes my throat ache.
Her hands squeeze together on her lap. “I really am so sorry. I wasn’t trying to be mean about keeping you at a distance; I was just so scared that I might really hurt you again… It seemed safer if I could push you as far away as possible.”
The ache expands alongside a pang of sympathy. “Elodie… You don’t need to apologize. I have no idea what it was like to see me after everything that happened, but it must have been so hard. I was a little confused, but I wasn’t that bothered. I had a feeling there was something more going on.”
She lifts one eyebrow. “Your brother doesn’t see it that way.”
I raise both of mine right back at her. “I hope in the world you came from, I didn’t follow his lead in every single thing either.”
The smile that crosses her face is bright enough to set off an answering glow through my whole body.
Fuck, how amazing would it have been to have had this girl in my life from the start?
“No, you didn’t.” Her gaze slides back to the closet.
Her next words come out even quieter than before, cautious of the figures waiting just outside the room.
“I’m sorry for prodding you in Divination class.
Mostly I was frustrated with him, but I know…
You’re planning on joining the void defense forces, aren’t you? And I assume you haven’t told him?”
She knows me so well, understands me so well, when I’ve barely scraped the surface of who she is.
I tip my head. “For the same reasons as the other me, I’d bet. I don’t imagine any version of Cole would approve of that plan.”
“No, probably not in a million parallel universes.”
When she looks at me again, her expression has softened.
“Have you been… okay? It seems like the two of you are getting along all right, besides that subject and me. But I don’t know how I’d have survived those years at Luminary after you transferred over without being able to turn to you.
You never had me. I haven’t seen you hanging out with anyone else at the academy. ”
An echo of the loneliness that’s so often gripped me while I walk through Luminary’s halls ripples up through my chest.
I manage a casual shrug. “I’ve kept in touch with a couple of people from Beacon. One friend I get together with every couple of weeks. At Luminary, I mostly just keep a low profile. It… It isn’t wonderful, but I’ve gotten by.”
She exhales sharply. “I hope Other Elodie didn’t hassle you.”
“Nope. She didn’t pay attention to me at all.” I keep my tone light. “I always assumed I was below her notice.”
The Elodie in front of me winces. “It’s been driving me up the wall playing along with her friends here.
Some of the crap they say… It won’t stay like this.
We’ll figure out why someone’s so keen on murdering me and deal with that, and then we can be open about the match. You’ll have me and the other guys.”
I shoot a doubtful glance toward the door. “I don’t know how much Byron and Salvatore will want to buddy up.”
Elodie waves her hand dismissively. “They’ll sort it out. They managed to live with each other and Cole without any additional murders, so I have every faith we can make a good union here too.” She pauses and offers me another of those heart-skipping smiles. “Better, because you can be part of it.”
I want to bask in the light of her affection, but my stomach twists harder.
I haven’t earned her devotion. She cares about me because she cared about some other Asher in a different reality, one who was actually there for her, who shared so many experiences and confidences with her…
Because, like me, she didn’t really have anyone else.
Now she has Salvatore Cosgrave leaping to defend her and Byron Worth hanging off her every word, and even my brother will come around eventually now that he knows the full story.
Our most powerful peers at Luminary and a renowned genius of divination.
And me, with my okay grades, mostly average skills, and a secret goal of going off to fight voids like I’m still a Beacon Prep grad.
How the hell do I deserve her?
What the hell can I even do for her? She’s spent this whole time putting herself through agony trying to protect me.
No, to protect the guy she sees when she looks at me.
The surge of uncertainty tangles my tongue. It takes me a few seconds to recover my composure, shoving my insecurities down as deep as they’ll go.
I have to be here for my match now, as much as I can be. Even if that’s not very much.
“If we want to get to that point sooner, we should probably go out there and figure out our next steps.”
“Right. Of course.” She stands up with a reluctance I don’t totally understand. Maybe it’s just that she isn’t looking forward to facing my brother again.
I can’t say I’m keen on that part either.
When we step out, everyone is still standing in the laundry room.
Elodie drops into her original chair and aims a pointed look at Cole.
“So. Can we get to the important part of the meeting where we figure out how to narrow down who’s trying to murder me—and already managed it once?
Hopefully it’ll be easier now that I can be more open, but you should be able to see why I didn’t share this story right off the bat. ”
My brother sighs but sinks into his own seat.
“All right. This is— There’s probably more we should talk about when it comes to your past, but you’ve all been in the house longer than seems wise already.
So let’s get on with the rest.” He rubs his hand over his face.
“Why don’t you start with that woman you were so interested in? ”
As the rest of us sit back down around her, Elodie hesitates and then presses onward.
“Right. She was someone who came up as a potentially dangerous person in my reality. I knew about her Wednesday meetings, but that’s it…
I just wanted to make sure it was the same person.
” She motions to Salvatore. “Show them the video.”
The mafia heir pulls out his phone while explaining how he happened to break into Kenneth’s bedroom and follow evidence to a coffee shop, a tale it looks like Elodie’s already heard. I guess the rumors about Salvatore’s disregard for the law aren’t exaggerated.
He shows us the security feed, and Cole’s jaw clenches. “That’s definitely the same woman we saw at the plaza.”
Elodie glances at Byron. “Do you think she’s also the woman you watched Grady Tadros get into a car with?”
I don’t know what Grady has to do with anything, but Byron takes the phone from Salvatore and replays the video. His face sets with concentration. “I only got a brief glimpse… I wouldn’t want to say for sure. But it definitely could be.”
Cole glances between them. “What does Mr. Tadros have to do with anything?”