Chapter 20 #2
She grabbed my arm. “I’ll warn you once more.
If you leave with him, neither me nor Max could help you if something happened.
Damien is my brother, but… there’s something twisted inside of him.
He hurts people, and he doesn’t take no for an answer.
Do you understand? Even the ladies at Ronny’s are afraid of him. ”
I swallowed. He seemed so cordial and polite, his words so polished. I’d never have guessed he was sadistic. “I promise, I won’t leave with him tonight. Just trust me.”
She released my arm and took a long swig of her drink. “Your funeral.”
Damien was stepping through an archway leading to a different room when I found him. I followed him into a bar area. “Damien?”
He turned at the sound of my voice, a gentle smile gracing his lips. “Nina. Did you need something?”
I played with the length of my hair, snatching his attention. “I was wondering if there was a way I could see you again. I’m sure you’re very busy, but…”
“Oh, I’m flattered,” he said with a wide grin. “Truly, you are a beauty. But I don’t hook up with my brother’s girls.”
“I’m not Max’s anything.”
He squinted. “Does Max know that?”
“He’s with one of Ronny’s entertainers right now,” I hissed with more venom than I’d planned.
“Someone sounds bitter.” Damien grinned. “Is that why you came here tonight? To get back at him?”
I dared a step closer to him, letting the scent of Elli’s perfume on my neck envelop him. The proximity had me trembling, and I had to clear my throat to still my words, losing confidence quickly.
“Not at all. Just making things clear in case you were interested.”
The pleasantries dissolved then. His smile went from warm to wicked. “How about tonight, then? I have room in my car and a few hours to spare.”
Tonight… That was too soon. “I… shouldn’t leave Elli.”
“I understand,” he said, pulling something from his back pocket. He slapped a card against my chest. “That’s my card if you’re ever looking for me. Come alone, though. The address is on the card, but it’ll require a drop of blood.”
Blood.
Don’t you dare bleed for anyone but me.
My smile was tight against my cheeks, trying to hide the thoughts animating my face. “I’d rather not bleed around a bunch of Cursed.”
He laughed, showing off his teeth. “Smart. Here.” He pricked a finger with his canine and pressed the bleeding digit to the white card. His blood spread across the stiff paper. “That should do it.”
My pulse was slamming in my ears now, and I hoped he mistook my fear for nerves. I tucked the card into my dress for later.
“See you soon, Nina,” he murmured, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “I’m staying for another drink, in case you change your mind.”
He slipped off to the bar. I took a full breath when I was alone again, not even daring to look at the card until I was back with Elli.
“Well?” she asked.
I held up the business card. “I got something.”
“A card?”
“Not just any card. It’s magical. Or engineered, though I don’t see Damien getting something like this from the Academy.”
I showed her the card, where the drop of blood had spread into invisible grooves, forming red letters and a diagram. I’d seen something like this before, on the night this all began.
“Damnit,” I whispered, staring at the red-faced caricature over a street address.
“What is it?”
I showed her. “I found this same card on a dying beggar in the Fissures.”
“So?” she asked, clearly not following. “The beggar was also carrying Max’s dice.”
Her face shifted through several emotions in a moment.
Confusion, concern, shock, then anger. “It was Damien, then. He must have taken Max’s dice and given them to someone, trying to keep Max out of the way while he built up this new business.
It’s not just the opium. He’s taken over every front business Max worked with. ”
“And if he was responsible for stealing the dice, I’d bet he’s not pleased about Max returning so soon. I highly doubt he’ll tell us anything.”
Elli nodded, rubbing her temples while she processed the information. “You’re sure it’s the same card you found on the beggar?”
“Unless someone else uses engineered blood cards, yes. I’m sure.”
“You know the worst part?” She held the card over the burner used to cook the opium, letting it catch fire. “Andre makes those same cards for lots of us. Helps us hide our more illicit businesses.” She sighed. “I came up with the idea for him. Thought it was clever.”
“You are clever,” I told her. “You’re the smartest Cursed person I know.”
“Oh, shove it. Considering your experiences with the Cursed, that’s a very low bar.
” She tossed the burned half of the card into the bowl.
I picked it up when she wasn’t looking. The address was still showing, and I was curious where it led.
“I’m not very good at being Cursed anyway.
I hate drinking from people just as much as Max does, but I don’t abstain completely like him. A little blood keeps the rages away.”
Tucking the card away in my dress, I asked, “How did you become Cursed?”
“I was born in a brothel, given to the orphanage, and they sold me to the Academy. Not much different from most of us, I suppose. And then they changed us.” She stroked the silver strand bleaching a pale path through her hair. “Did Max tell you anything about that?”
I shook my head. “Not enough to understand what he went through.”
Elli relaxed across the bench, propping her head up on the pillows. She took a long draw of the opium before letting the pipe slip from her lips. It must have hit immediately, the way her eyes fluttered shut and the tension in her body melted into the cushions.
She said, “I didn’t go through the same things as Max. He’s a few years older than me and Andre. Matured first, so he was the favorite lab rat.”
I don’t like being experimented on.
His voice replayed the memory in my head, and I understood why he had been so triggered when I’d used his dice on him. “What happened to him? Did my father have something to do with it?”
“That’s not my story to tell.” She offered the pipe to me. I complied with a shrug, taking a small breath.
It took effect quickly. Everything was suddenly lighter. My worries, my heart, my thoughts. I lay down beside her before I floated away, staring up at the soot-stained ceiling as the smoke formed faces in the lamplight.
“Don’t give up on him, Killer,” Elli whispered.
I sighed, letting an easy bliss fill every void in my heart. “He made his choice. I have to respect it—and myself. I won’t chase after a man who clearly doesn’t want me. He runs from my touch.”
She found my hand and squeezed it. “You want to know a secret?”
“Yes.”
Elli giggled before falling serious again.
“Don’t tell him I told you this, but Max despises himself.
He hates to be touched because he thinks women must hate to touch him.
Like it’s a punishment for them. He hates to be seen because he hates what the Trials did to him.
He pays the girls at Ronny’s to compensate them for being intimate with an abomination like him, though plenty of them would go to bed with him for free.
He believes that disgust is what he deserves. ”
“That’s ridiculous. He’s…” I shut my mouth, the smoke loosening my words.
“He’s… what?” She leaned closer.
I sighed again. My head fell to the side, looking at her. “He’s perfect. Everything about him. Scars and all.”
Her eyes glazed over, either from the smoke or from something I’d said. “I’ve waited a long time for someone else to see that, too.” She wiped her eyes, smearing her makeup. “Hells, we’re a mess.”
“We are.” I tried to clean up her eyes with my thumb. “Elli?”
“Yes?”
“How are we getting home?”
She giggled again. “Andre is coming in a few hours. He wants to show off his car.”
“He’s the one with the car? Like the new ones with the motors that go—” I made a putt-putt sound to mimic the sound of an engine.
“Yes, and don’t ask him about it. He doesn’t shut up about the thing.”
“That’s exciting. I’ve never ridden in a motorcar.” I relaxed beside Elli, talking about the events leading up to this night. How I met Max, how I lost my mother, how I shifted from a surgeon to an alleged Crown Killer, how I had adapted and survived.
I thought over the last several days, about how far I’d traveled in such a short time.
I missed my mother. She’d been with strangers for too long now, and I was no closer to finding her than I was the day she was taken.
Damien might be my last chance to find her.
If he didn’t tell us who he was working with, I could lose her forever.
I wouldn’t let that happen. I’d beat the buyer’s name out of him if I had to.
I didn’t know if this version of me—this angry, violent, unforgiving side that I’d encountered—was necessarily better than who I was before. But I liked her more. This version of me got more done. This version was stronger, more secure, less anxious and timid.
We lay there as the opium worked its magic, watching enemies form in the smoke, and plotting their demise—until the enchantment shattered with a loud boom.