Chapter 18 #2
“So we need your help, Canon,” she continued. “To know if Thomas wants anything…dangerous.”
His shoulders sank. “You mean you need my gift.”
“Yes,” she said, almost an apology.
He cleared his throat, straightened his shirt—two officers were approaching; Vasilios would want him to be calm and presentable. “Of course. We’ll head home as soon as they release us here.”
On the drive back to Sonora, Cadenza called Drostan about the shooting.
Canon heard the conversation from the back seat, despite the phone not being on speaker—Drostan had never grasped how to adjust his volume over phones.
After she got off the phone, she filled in the gaps in his understanding of what she called earthsong and the world of the Norroways, and she and Reyna explained about the safe and the oracles.
Oracles. Is that what Vasilios had been referring to?
“I’ll find out what Thomas wants for you.
But you need more than someone to hand off to.
You need a distraction,” he pointed out, as the hills flashed past them.
Reyna was driving, taking the newer bypass, as he would’ve done.
Cadenza, he reflected, would’ve chosen the old Highway 108.
“You said yourself, Thomas seems to know when you use the earthsong. He’ll know as soon as you start—you won’t have time to open the vault, let alone get the oracles away. ”
Cadenza made a face in acknowledgement. “Yeah, that’s a problem.” She muttered something in Italian to herself.
“I’ll keep him busy,” Canon said. “Away from the performance. Then after Reyna has the oracles, I’ll slip away. She hands off the oracles to me, I get out of the building, and we all meet back here.”
Reyna glanced at him in the rearview mirror. “Keep him busy how?”
Canon gave a tight smile. “I’ll think of something.”
By the time they arrived at Norroway Auto, darkness had fallen.
Which means Taran will be awake. Canon shut the car door, wishing either the drive had been longer, lending him more time with Cadenza, or shorter so that it would still have been light when they arrived.
Drostan met them at the showroom door, pulling each of them into a bear hug. “Are you sure you’re all alright?”
Taran rushed in from the back room and swept Cadenza into his arms, her feet leaving the floor. Canon wrenched his eyes away, but a growl followed him.
“I thought you said you could keep her safe?” Taran was glaring at him.
Canon narrowed his eyes. “Believe me, whoever let this guy slip through will be fired. I’ve already spoken to Vasilios about it.”
Taran started to say more, but Cadenza laid a hand on his cheek, redirecting his gaze to her. “I’m ok. Let’s go from there.”
Drostan clapped a hand on Canon’s shoulder, eyes soft. “I’m glad you’re safe too, lad.”
Canon’s throat thickened. Drostan had been so supportive of his career, cheering him on, letting him take whatever hours he needed to run the campaign. More than just a good boss, he’d been a friend. And tonight, Canon was going to break his heart.
Because if was going to help Cadenza, Thomas Learmonth couldn’t have any secrets to leverage over him. He had to confess to spying. The spying that earned him the gift that they now needed to use, against the person who had granted the gift in the first place.
He sighed, tired. How had he managed to get himself in this predicament? But if they discovered the source of his gift through any means other than his own freely given admission, they’d never trust him again. And as he’d told Cadenza, he wanted to be transparent. To lay all his cards on the table.
He faced Drostan, bracing for rejection. “Before we go any further, I need to tell you where I got this gift.”
Reyna waited for the snap. Waited for the thread that pulled her to Canon to break and unravel—just like it had with Noah and every man before him since the heartbreak that had nearly extinguished her. Waited for the snap because Drostan’s heart was breaking, and every fracture showed on his face.
“I made this deal before I knew you. Before I knew how to play Stramash or make a decent cup of tea.” Canon gave Drostan a watery smile.
“I know that’s not an excuse. I took what Learmonth could give me in pursuit of my own goals, and it was selfish.
I’m so sorry, Drostan. I hope you’ll forgive me, but I understand if you want me to go. ”
Reyna moved to stand behind the old man’s chair. She placed a hand on his shoulder, her palm warming as she transferred comfort to him.
Canon crouched next to the chair. “Drostan?”
Why hadn’t the thread snapped yet? Canon had been spying on her friends. That was despicable. But that spark of attraction still tugged at her. She searched Canon’s face.
He’d told them himself. No one had accused him. No one had suspected him. Canon could have kept his secret and got on with things. But he chose to come clean.
That was…brave. And honest.
Unlike Noah, who had lied and not come clean.
Drostan’s jaw worked back and forth before he heaved himself out of his chair. He grasped Canon’s shoulders and stared him in the face. “If you make it up to me with this. You help Reyna and Cadenza, however they need it.”
Canon’s gaze reached past Drostan’s shoulder to rest on Cadenza’s face. “Always.”
Reyna sighed at the implication in his words, but the thread held. The spark stayed lit. Alright, Mr. Richards, she thought. Seems you get one more chance. Don’t blow it.