Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
I was so annoyed Britannia and Soda liked each other. It was like being the third wheel in a whole new bizzarro teledrama. “So, you and Britannia were friends? I mean, are you friends?”
“Friends sure, lovers more so.” Soda’s smile lit up her eyes. It was obvious she’d been in love with Britannia at some point.
I silently screamed, imagining them in bed.
I walked over to the bar and poured another inch of bourbon, then slammed it back.
It was going down smoother now, but I’d have a wicked hangover if I didn’t get food that wasn’t cookies.
I did not want to imagine Britannia’s tongue down Wald’s throat, but of course now that was all I could see.
Britannia came out of the bedroom and poured herself a vodka. She tossed back the entire contents of the glass, then poured another, and turned toward us. Her jaw was rigid, and her eyes glassy as she drank the second glass and pressed the back of her hand to her lips. Her eyes locked with Soda’s .
“Oh my Goddesses,” Soda trilled and jumped up, running into the bedroom.
My breath caught in my chest as my brain caught up. Something terrible had happened. My skin went cold, and time slowed. Britannia stared at me, tears glistening in her eyes. “This is all your fucking fault.” Then she turned away to pour herself another vodka.
I tore across the room and froze at the bedroom door. Soda was sobbing over Wald’s chest.
He wasn’t hers.
He wasn’t anyone’s now. That choked me.
I approached the bed slowly, sobs caught in my throat like balls of white bread.
I reached out to touch him, but I couldn’t make myself do it.
The red and black claw marks were gone. I mean not gone, but there were ghostly scars where I knew they had been.
He’d been healing. What the hell had happened?
He couldn’t be dead. Not Wald. He’d promised.
Was I more upset that my ticket to normalcy was dead or my future boyfriend?
“How?” I asked, my voice cracking. Soda ignored me and sobbed louder.
I crossed my arms, running through the What happens next ?
options. I touched Soda’s bare shoulder.
Her skin was softer than any skin I’d ever felt, including Wald’s.
That revelation made me angrier, or sadder, depending on how you looked at it. Wild irrational fury ripped through me.
“Get off him,” I said, grabbing her arm and yanking her up. She weighed far less than I did, but the muscles in her shoulder flexed with power. I stepped back as she stood, her turquoise eyes wet with tears.
Of course she was the kind of person who looks fabulous when they cry. For a split second, I was glad Wald was dead. I was being unkind, but she was the ex, and she’d slept with Britannia, and Wald was dead, and I was now ranting in my head. “How can he be dead?”
“He’s not dead. He’s passed,” Soda replied with a choked sob, then turned and ran out of the room. I sprinted after her, catching the edge of a flimsy muslin piece with a rip that was surprisingly satisfying under the circumstances.
“You aren’t going anywhere,” I said, getting around her and barring her way to the front door. Her eyes flashed. I mean really flashed with gold sparkly stuff. I let go of her and stumbled back. My hand tingled where it had touched her dress.
“I need to go meet a client. Call me, Britannia. Nice to meet you, Harlan. Good luck,” she said, flitting to the door with a wavering smile that had nothing to do with sincerity.
Britannia gave her a half-hearted wave as she slid onto the couch taking a sip of vodka.
I poured myself a double bourbon while eyeing the cherries and choked up as the fire touched my lips.
I couldn’t bear to eat a cherry. Not now.
Maybe never. I set the glass down. Getting drunk would be a bigger disaster.
There was a dead man in the next room, people still trying to kill me, and the police looking for me.
Drinking wasn’t going to solve my problems. Maybe nothing was going to solve my problems. Tears stung the corners of my eyes, and I rubbed them away.
Crying wasn’t going to help either. I turned to Britannia.
Considering her as my salvation meant my life had hit another level of bottom.
“What the fuck did you mean about this being my fault? None of this is my fault—it’s YOUR FUCKING FAULT.”
Britannia glared at me. “I didn’t seduce him after he’d been cursed. I didn’t drain his life by kissing him. Touching him. Letting him touch me. Letting him lick me.” She had the audacity to smirk at me, but she drowned it with more vodka.
What she said sank in. Oh my God. Had I actually killed him by kissing him? “But Soda said Wald is not dead? I don’t understand. He was healing. How could he suddenly be dead, or passed, or whatever?” I was starting to cry.
Britannia kept her eyes on her glass. “We don’t die like you do.
The connection to the corporeal form is lost. Wald has passed over like Agatha.
His form couldn’t hold him because he was too weakened by the curse, and our healing wasn’t enough.
The poison from the agents was in his system too long.
To you, he’s dead,” she said in monotone, then finished the vodka she was holding.
“Well, regardless of what I think, if he’s not dead, then why the hell are you upset? Better yet, why the hell do you care?” I jutted out a hip, challenging her—to what I had no idea, but the anger was blurring the despair.
“Because passed for him is going to be the same as dead. If Elizabeth gets the album, he’ll be gone for good.
Well, maybe… It depends on you, actually.
” Britannia appraised me like a race horse with narrowed eyes and pursed lips.
She moved around me as if I was suddenly interesting.
“I have a plan that will fix your problems and get Wald back to living, but you’ll have to help me,” she said. It was more of an order.
“Me? Help you? Wasn’t it your fabulous plan that landed all of us here?” I laughed, nervously rubbing my upper arm. I had no reason at all to trust her, but it wasn’t like I had plenty of options. Despite my sanity, I probably needed her plan, but I didn’t have to look desperate.
“Yes, you. First, we need to get Wald into the car,” she said, gesturing for me to rush into the bedroom .
I studied her for a moment, pondering my choices. “I’m not moving until you tell me what your actual plan is. Where would we be going?”
“Home.”
“Like Coeur D’Alene, home?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” I didn’t move. I was pinching my upper arm to look sour rather than nervous.
“Because Victoria is a special person.”
“I gathered that, but it doesn’t answer my question.”
“Because if you give Victoria the ring, which I know you have, then she can find a way to fix all this.” She nodded at the bedroom. It might have been a trick of the light, but I swore her eyes were glistening.
“Why should I trust you? You’re far more likely to sell me out to Elizabeth.” How did Britannia know I had the ring? My fingers twitched, and I played with the spaghetti strap keeping my hand close to the marble.
“Because I’m calling off my deal with Elizabeth. I’m exploring other options.”
Ah, I got it. She wanted to use me to broker a deal with Victoria, and she was going to use Wald’s body as leverage for it. I couldn’t see the why, but whatever she wanted, she wanted it badly enough to make a deal.
I crossed my arms over the marble. “Look, you got me into this mess. Give me one good reason why I would help you get whatever it is you want so badly. And while you’re at it, you can tell me what it IS that makes you SUCH A BITCH.
” I flipped my hair back and then returned my hand to my chest, so it was near the marble.
Britannia glared, her lips set tightly like she’d sucked on a lemon.
“I’ll overlook that because I might need you right now.
It’s a mutual need. Wald being passed helps my case to get Victoria to turn back time.
If we appeal to her, she’ll do it for you and for her precious son.
Why I need things fixed is none of your business. ”
“It’s totally my business. You killed my ex, your aunt, and I completely blame you for Wald.” I choked on his name and took a sip of bourbon. “Besides, the question wasn’t optional.”
She cocked her head, twisting a strand of hair that had a micro braid in it.
“Gentry loved me, but that was before I got the abortion. After that, it was never the same. He loved me, but there was this sadness thing, and it made me hate him. He never loved you, by the way, and he was glad you moved out.”
That should have twisted in my gut, but all I felt was the hollowness left by losing Wald.
I didn’t care what Gentry had thought. Besides, she was lying.
Gentry had loved me in his own twisted way.
“You’ve screwed me over enough. Get another pigeon to help you.
I’ll take my chances. Besides, I don’t have the ring.
” It wasn’t a total lie. The ring was still in the marble.
“Cut the crap. We both know you have the ring, or the Grigores wouldn’t have bothered with Wald, and Wald wouldn’t have told you to come here, and there is no one else who can help me with Victoria. If you want this fixed, then you need me.” She set down her glass. We both stared at it.
“No, I don’t. I can go to Coeur D’Alene myself. I don’t need you or anyone.” I sounded petulant. Flipping fantastic.
“You need me because I have the album. If you want it, you’ll have to come with.”
We had a minute-long glaring match. I don’t think I won. In a fair fight, we both knew I’d lose. I wasn’t getting the album from her without making a deal .
“Fine, I’m willing to help you, but if I do, let’s be clear who’s in charge. I am. I’m calling the shots. Got it?”
“Whatever. I agree. Now, help me get Wald into the car.” She turned her back on me and strutted to the bedroom.
Her promise was meaningless, but what else was I going to do?