Chapter 12
twelve
Kit
For the first time in years, Kit didn’t recognize a building in Skadra.
Although, calling the ritziest, flimsiest skyscraper in the city a building felt like a disservice to whichever overpaid snobby architect designed it.
Its curved glass glinted black under the city lights and the Sky Road veered rather than soared over it. Absolute overkill.
Kit strained his neck to ogle it. It wasn’t that he never went to the nicer sections of the city.
He did. In fact, he was sure he’d flown along the flow of traffic more than once around that monstrosity structure of glass.
But he’d never bothered to look at the businesses with the eye of a consumer because he couldn’t afford a damn thing.
“How’re you gonna afford this, missy?” he hissed at Gentry, annoyed that she’d been typing away on his burner and hadn’t spared the hotel a glance.
He wasn’t sure when she’d swiped the damn thing, and all attempts of him snatching it back had been met with an absent-minded shoo’ing gesture, and a tightening in his throat.
Apparently, the Favor considered even a small scuffle a violation of his contract.
She was still fixated on his cell phone, her fingers flying. “I sold my location out, remember? I’m probably the richest person you know… Starting now.” She tapped on the screen one last time and Kit peeked over to see a banking app transferring funds to another account.
He rubbed his eyes, shocked when the absurd number of commas remained the same. But he bit his tongue. The girl was full of it enough already.
Gentry then led him into the lobby, the long auburn wig she was wearing so seamless that he’d almost not recognized her. He resisted the urge to readjust the awkward beanie she’d shoved on his head.
More foolproof than illusion magic, if a little less impressive, she’d muttered at the time, her eyes faraway.
It made him wonder how much research she’d poured into learning magic despite having no magic herself, but that was beside the point as he watched her charm the hotel receptionist with all the aplomb of a spoiled aristocrat.
She even gave a tinkling laugh after demanding room service, as if the world weren’t after her head.
Within two minutes of Gentry of pressing his phone against the payment terminal, they were given an apartment on the second-from-top floor.
The ride in the elevator was a smooth one but long, and Kit, stunned, followed his former target into the nicest apartment suite he’d ever been in.
A fully stocked kitchen leading to a large bed with a huge flatscreen.
“I asked for their smallest suite,” Gentry said as she sat at the kitchenette’s bar and immediately pulled out her laptop, “so that no witches can sneak in and murder me. Go ahead and take the bed. I’ll be up for a while.”
Feeling very much like a disregarded pet, Kit sat on the edge of the bed.
He sank a few inches into the incredibly soft mattress.
He eyed the TV remote but decided that, symbolically, he’d be resigning himself as her pet witch if he turned a game on.
If Samar or any of the other Jumpers saw him like this, they’d never let him live it down.
Besides, he couldn’t sit on his hands while the Jumpers dealt with the Weavers. Somehow, he had to help them, but he couldn’t do that while Gentry held two Favors against him. If he tried to leave, then the demonic girl would tear the Favor and he’d be her puppet once more.
So? Get her to use the Favors quickly and then you can take her out. Problem solved, his practical side whispered.
That was one way to handle things, but Kit’s stomach twisted at the thought.
God, but he wished he’d snapped her neck when he’d had a chance, before she’d become a person in his eyes.
Things would’ve been so much easier. He remembered how he’d comforted her in the street.
Gentry had been thrown off her game in Skadra; Kit had recognized the tightness in her skinny shoulders, the slight tremor in her hands.
Gentry was a smart girl, but no one was infallible. There had to be a way to trick her.
Stealing the Favors would at least take away her power over him, give him some room to check in on Visha and the Jumpers. The city could then take care of Gentry for him. She wouldn’t last long on her own.
As the Favors would steal his very breath away if he harmed her, Kit needed a way to retrieve them peacefully. And for that, he’d have to understand his target better.
Mind made up, he stood up and sat at the barstool next to her. “What’s the plan?” He tried not to sound too curious as he watched the laptop screen change every few seconds.
Damn, but she worked fast. He was considered a fast draw when it came to spells, but he didn’t think he could compete with that.
“I’m trying to find my father.”
He hadn’t expected that answer. “Your dad is in Skadra? How does finding him help? Is he rich?” Her being part of the wealthy class made sense with how she handled the lobby receptionist.
Gentry stopped typing and laughed. It fell flat. “My father never met a dime he didn’t want to gamble. No, he’s a piece of shit witch who sold me out to the Nethertons. He’s why I’m cursed.”
Kit felt as though someone had punched him in the gut. He’d never known his birth parents, but Nona, for all her flaws, had been a loving mother figure. He couldn’t imagine her betraying him. Ever. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
Gentry continued talking, “— I need his location because I remember him selling me out to a coven. The Nethertons must’ve paid a coven to curse me, to tie me to Drayer. Soul magic isn’t the type of stuff any witch off the street can do. I need names. Whoever did this must have a way to undo it.”
That wasn’t necessarily true; there were all sorts of curses that couldn’t be undone. But Kit didn’t have the heart to say that. “I’m surprised you don’t already know where your dad is, then.” If there was one thing he’d learned about Gentry, it was that her research was immaculate.
For the first time since they’d entered the hotel room, Gentry looked away from her screen at him.
Her green eyes burned with what he finally recognized as rage.
“He lives his life in debt. He only ever left Tunsa because he was driven out, so he rotates his gambling spots frequently. I have a list, but his pattern isn’t too predictable.
Even with the information I have, this will take a while.
” She gave him a soft look. “You look tired. Get some rest.”
Feeling thoroughly dismissed and even more lost than before they started their conversation, Kit sat on the bed.
Did he even want to steal the Favors back?
Visha had made her bed with the Weavers, and he had no plans beyond wandering cities as a nomad.
Gentry clearly had a future she wanted, plans he couldn’t comprehend.
Although her plans sounded eerily similar to his when he’d avenged Raja. For so long, he’d thought everything would be fixed if he could just avenge the older members of their clan and protect Visha and the others. But all revenge did was blind him to Visha’s greed.
But just because he didn’t love Visha anymore didn’t mean that he didn’t owe her. He couldn’t let Raja’s daughter die, not after he sacrificed his own life for Kit’s.
“Are you doing this for revenge?” Kit asked the question although the answer wouldn’t change his plans.
Gentry paused her typing for a beat. “Revenge would be nice,” she said without hesitation, “but I really just want my life back. When I was a kid, I chose to run cons with my dad rather than spend time with my mom and little sister. I’d like the freedom to make it up to them.”
Chills went down his spine at that answer. It reminded him of Mary and the others, and how he’d chosen to join the Jumpers rather than help them find their place in Skadra.
Kit lay down on the bed, nervous about his plan. Gentry kept typing at the kitchenette. He eyed her back. She was a small woman, her feet hardly touching the rungs of the barstool. He’d have to wait for her to sleep before searching for his cell phone and the Favors.
He glanced at the open window to see the pinprick glints of witches traversing the dark Sky Road. With a flick of his wrist, he shut the blinds. Then he whispered the most powerful protection spell he knew, the one he usually only used if he wasn’t alone.
The magic flowed easily out from his palms. His magic had recouped from venting and he no longer felt sick from magical poisoning. For the first time in a long time, he was at full-strength. He closed his eyes.
It was almost hypnotic, listening to the clicking of Gentry’s keyboard.
Kit kept his mind awake but his body still.
It reminded him of the many nights he’d lain in wait near the Redback hideout.
Watching. Waiting. Observing habits so that he could get his target alone for a fight.
He hadn’t played any dirty tricks as he’d faced each one of Raja’s killers on his own. Which was more than they had deserved.
An eternity later, the typing finally stopped. A chair creaked as Gentry finally left the one domain she had total control over. Kit waited for the bed to sink beside him, but it never came. Only her breaths gave the woman away.
She was sleeping on the floor.
Kit’s eyes snapped open. A frown carved its way across his face. No way in hell was he letting a lady sleep on the floor while he was on a soft bed. But he’d have to wait to correct that later if things went right.
Within minutes, Gentry was snoring, the sound melodic and adorable.
As silently as possible, Kit climbed out of bed.
He considered casting a silencer spell on the girl, but wasn’t sure whether that would somehow trigger the Favors into punishing him.
He couldn’t take the risk of harming a single hair on her head, or else he’d be the one unconscious on the floor.
It was time to free himself so he could save Visha.