Key to Fear

by Kristin Cast

  Aiden unbuttoned his suitcoat and rested his hands on his waist. The tailored black suit expertly fit his lean form and made him look older than his nearly eighteen years. “It’s nothing bad,” he paused. “At least, I don’t think you’ll think it is.” He dug the crusty toe of his boot into the finely manicured lawn. Those dirty things had to be attached to his feet.

  Elodie spotted Blair’s red heels coming their way with Cath Scott at her side. Elodie held up her hand to Aiden. “I know it’s a funeral,” she said, “but there are people here who can help us figure out what really happened to Aubrey.” Elodie chewed her bottom lip. “This might be my only opportunity to talk to them.”

  And I have to do it before I lose my nerve.

  Aiden surged in front of her. “Elodie, wait, I—”

  She didn’t wait for him to finish. Instead, she pushed away from the cocktail table and marched squarely in the path of Cath and Blair Scott.

  You’re braver than you think. You’re braver than you think. You’re braver than you think.

  Cath cocked her head, but never lost her pleasant smile as Elodie planted herself in front of the duo.

  For once, Elodie’s legs and arms and face were all doing exactly what they were supposed to. “Hello, Dr. Scott, Ms. Scott. I’m Elodie Benavidez, Lead Nurse in the downtown MediCenter’s Long-Term Care Unit.”

  Blair’s lips thinned and she blinked at Elodie long and slow.

  Elodie held her head with pride. Wallflower no more. She deserved answers. She deserved to talk to these women.

  Blair pressed the back of her hand against her mouth as she yawned.

  And Elodie deserved to talk to them no matter how annoyed or bored Blair Scott seemed. “I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate what you do. I love my job, and it’s because of your unit’s expertise, Dr. Scott, that I’m there.” She’d decided, in the seconds it had taken her to intercept Cath and Blair, that she should start off slow. There was no reason to cause a scene or make a bad first impression.

  Elodie’s stomach flip-flopped. She was beginning to sound like her mother.

  Aiden’s earthy scent encircled them as he shuffled up behind Elodie. Cath glanced past Elodie’s shoulder at him, her eyebrows arching and eyes brightening. “Miss Benavidez,” she said, shining her smile back on Elodie, “meeting you is an absolute bright spot in my otherwise gloomy day.”

  Elodie blanched and shifted from one foot to the other. “Oh, yes, I’m so sorry about Director Holbrook. He was a good man.” She hadn’t known Holbrook, or even ever met him, but it seemed like the right thing to say. Especially because Cath, unlike the majority of the people in attendance, actually seemed saddened by the loss—the complete opposite of Elodie’s own mother, who had practiced her Lines of Bereavement during the thirty-minute ride to the Holbrook estate.

  A bot whirred by carrying drinks, and Blair leaned over and plucked a cup of sparkling orange liquid off the tray. “Ellie, I have to say, I am loving how bold you are.” Her lips curled from behind the rim of the glass.

  Elodie felt Aiden stiffen behind her. “Blair,” he growled in warning.

  Elodie’s eyes went wide. “You can’t call her Blair,” she whispered sharply over her shoulder.

  Blair cocked her hip. “Oh, Denny can call me just about anything. Can’t you, Denny?” she teased.

  Denny? Elodie’s eyes ping ponged between Aiden and Blair. They had the same thick lashes, round eyes, and full cheekbones. Their lips were the same, too, the corners upturned in a constant state of mischief, although on Blair it felt a bit more like contempt. They looked so much alike, with their dark skin and tight curls. How had she not seen it before?

  And how could Aiden not tell her that the women in his life were two of the most powerful people in Westfall?

  With a sigh, Cath clasped her hands. “This isn’t the play yard, you two.” She offered a polite grin to the passersby gawking at the iconic Scott duo before casting that sunbeam of a smile back on Elodie. “I do hope I see you again soon, Miss Benavidez. Aiden doesn’t bring enough friends around.” She waved her goodbyes and headed over to a nearby cluster of beckoning attendees.

  Blair tapped a taloned finger on her glass, her nailbed raw and red. “That would be because I”—she pressed her palm against the high neck of her perfect dress—“his dear sister, am Aiden’s best and only friend.”

  Shock muzzled Elodie, sizzling against her tongue.

  Aiden rolled his eyes and, with a smirk Elodie assumed only little brothers could pull off, said, “Good thing I feel sorry enough for you to be your best and only too.”

  A warm smile played around Blair’s lips like a bee around a bloom. “Well.” She sucked in a breath and it was gone so quickly it might not have been there at all. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m off to find some munchies that won’t make me bloat. I’m famished, but there’s not an inch of extra room in this dress.” Blair waved goodbye, her fingers twitching like spider’s legs.

  Elodie felt Aiden’s gaze pressing against her, but she couldn’t stop staring at the empty space the formidable Scott women had left in their wake.

  He cleared his throat. “That’s what I was about to tell you.”

  And if he had, maybe Elodie would have had the wherewithal to ask the Scott women her questions, instead of standing there like lawn furniture.

  Aiden shifted uncomfortably. “What can I say? I have a successful family.” He forced a chuckle and shoved his hands into his pant pockets.

  “Anything else you think you should share?” Elodie threw out.

  “El!” The familiar voice smacked against her back.

  She stiffened. She’d completely forgotten to look for Rhett.

  “There you are.” Her fiancé’s golden eyes beamed down at her, so much less hollow against the bright navy of his suit. “I was looking all over for you before the service, and then I ran into some of the guys, and your mom, and . . .” He trailed off, his steady gaze flicking to Aiden. “Who’s this?”

  Aiden’s lips pursed. “Aiden. Aiden Scott.” Had he taken a step closer to Elodie?

  Rhett rocked onto the balls of his feet. “Scott? Like, Blair Scott’s little brother?”

  Aiden’s chin tilted toward the sky. “Exactly like.” If only he’d been so forthcoming with Elodie . . .

  Another bot whizzed by. Elodie wished she could grab on and ride away from these men and this service and her unanswered questions—away from Westfall. “But Aiden was just leaving,” she said, “so—”

  “I’m Major Rhett Owens.” He rocked to his heels and back to the balls of his feet. “Elodie’s fiancé.”

  Elodie’s teeth dug into her bottom lip. If she was lucky, the subduction-zone earthquake the Pacific Northwest had been waiting for would happen right at this moment and the ground would split and swallow her whole.

  Aiden let out a strangled sort of grunt. “Fiancé ?” His brows arched toward his mohawk. “Huh.”

  Rhett slipped on his most smug grin. “Actually, El, Gwendolyn was talking about showing you some flowers she saw during the procession. Something about table settings . . .”

  Oh, great. Her mother and Rhett were now on a Gwendolyn basis, the name her mother reserved for special relationships. Whatever that meant.

  Rhett shrugged dramatically. “It’s best to leave all that decorating nonsense to the ladies. Am I right?” He waggled a brow in Aiden’s direction.

  Elodie could have puked all over her new shoes.

  Aiden went rigid. “I didn’t realize you were engaged.”

  She clamped her chattering teeth as she searched for an explanation.

  Luckily, Elodie didn’t need her voice when Major Owens was around. “The Key came to me with the suggested match,” he began, rubbing his hands together. “I thought about it, and, at the time, said to myself, ‘Rhett, you’re nineteen, she�
��s almost sixteen. Good genetics, okay connections. She can’t marry until her eighteenth birthday, but you should lock it down. Can’t let her turn into an old maid.’”

  Aiden’s lips twisted and he glanced down at her, wide eyed, before turning his attention back to Rhett. “An old maid? Oh, gosh, no. Wouldn’t want that.”

  Elodie tamped her hysteria with a sharp clap of her hands. “Rhett, I am really thirsty. Would you mind getting me a drink?”

  Rhett aimed and fired a pair of finger guns in her direction. “You got it, babe.” He bobbed his wide chin in Aiden’s direction before heading off to find a drink, and, if Elodie was lucky, a different group to entertain.

  “So, El,” Aiden said, as he mimicked Rhett’s rocking motion. “Anything else you think you should share?”

  There was nothing to share about Rhett and her. Elodie grimaced. Just thinking of them together was awkward. She couldn’t talk about this with Aiden. She could barely talk about it with Astrid. She needed an out.

  “The fair started today,” she blurted.

  Aiden stopped rocking and tilted his head.

  Elodie seized the moment of his confused silence. “To celebrate the Key and their success against Cerberus.” She waved a hand toward the mass of people still meandering about the Holbrook estate. “Nearly everyone is here, so the lines should be short.”

  Aiden’s brow twisted. “What does that have to do with the fact that you’re engaged and didn’t tell me?”

  Elodie’s stomach tumbled. “Let’s go,” she said, wringing her hands. “Let’s just leave all of this and go.”

  Aiden studied her a moment before shrugging. “You know I’m always down for an adventure.”

  It had taken a lot for Rhett to forgive her for sneaking out of her house the night before, even though he had been called away to a clandestine work meeting. Guilt had led Elodie to make promise after promise. She promised him that he mattered. She promised she cared. She promised he was the sun and she the small planet orbiting.

  Her promises were empty. Her promises were lies.

  Now Aiden was behind her, his heavy boots crushing the grass, and for the first time, she couldn’t care less how Major Rhett Owens felt.

  XXXIII

  Elodie was quickly trying, and failing, to come up with a way to flee the Holbrook estate and the discomfort of both Aiden’s and her own most recent discoveries when Astrid Fujimoto’s impossibly long, high ponytail lassoed her attention.

  Elodie waved at her best friend just in time to stop Astrid from slipping into the Pearl’s open door and escaping without her.

  Aiden staggered at her side. “Whoa. She looks just like Thea.”

  And you look a whole lot like Blair. Funny how the whole sibling thing works. Elodie kept her snarky thoughts to herself. He wasn’t the only one guilty of keeping a relationship a secret.

  She chewed her bottom lip.

  Who Aiden was related to wasn’t a big deal. But being engaged . . . And to a guy like Rhett, who charged around saying whatever he wanted whenever he wanted . . .

  Elodie’s stomach squeezed.

  But being engaged shouldn’t matter to Aiden. Not if they were just friends.

  Astrid leaned against the side of the Pearl, twirling the end of her ponytail. “El, I was literally just messaging you. I can’t stay at this . . .” with her free hand, she motioned toward the guests still gathered on the grounds, “ . . .Westfall show and tell.” She tossed her ponytail over her shoulder and gave Aiden a once over. “You look familiar.”

  “Astrid, Aiden. Aiden, Astrid,” Elodie offered.

  Astrid straightened. “Like, the Aiden? I guess the mohawk should have given it away.”

  Aiden playfully hiked his shoulder. “Aw, you talk about me?”

  Astrid crossed her ankles and resumed playing with her hair. “You’re a Scott too.” She fanned the ends of her ponytail and dusted them against her cheek. “I’ve seen your mom and sister at a zillion functions, but have only seen you at, like, one.”

  “He doesn’t get out much,” Elodie said, shuffling into the vehicle. “If no one is getting in with me, I’m stealing this Pearl.”

  Astrid slid into the seat next to her. “What got into you?”

  Aiden crawled in and sat in the rear facing seat opposite Elodie. “I think it’s more like what came out,” he mumbled.

  Elodie gripped the armrests. “Just need a change of scenery. Can you program this thing to take us to the waterfront?”

  Astrid pulled out her holopad and began typing. “Sure, but the fair’s happening right now, so—”

  “Exactly.” Elodie smiled. “We’re going to the fair.” She attempted a nonchalant shrug. “I thought it would be fun.”

  Astrid and Aiden both wore the same confused expression.

  Elodie pressed herself into the seat. Maybe getting into a smaller space wasn’t such a great idea. At least Astrid was there to break up the round of questions Aiden must be ready to fire. “Hey, Astrid. I’m sure Aiden hasn’t been in an updated Pearl. You should tell him all about it.”

  As Astrid shimmied to the edge of her seat and began proudly explaining and demonstrating all of the new features she’d helped create for the plush ride, Elodie loosened her grip on the armrests and relaxed against the creamy soft upholstery when a line of text flashed into her field of vision.

  Incoming call from Rhett Owens.

  Elodie denied the call and turned off her comlink. She’d gotten lucky the night before. Gwen and Rhett had left her alone to sort out her feelings, as her mother had put it. But she didn’t think she’d get that lucky again. Rhett would not be happy about being sent for drinks and then stood up.

  Elodie pulled up the transparent gray messaging screen and sent a quick text to Rhett.

  The funeral was so sad. I had to leave. Going to Astrid’s. Call you later. Promise.

  He wouldn’t think twice about that. After all, his Elodie was the most sensitive girl in the world.

  XXXIV

  Energy sparked down Elodie’s legs with each passing mile in the Pearl. It had been years since she’d gone to the fair. Two, to be exact. Which is also how long she’d been with Rhett. It wasn’t a coincidence. Major Rhett Owens thought fun and playfulness were gateways to terrorism and malfeasance.

  Elodie shook her head, clearing all traces of Rhett from her mind. She was with her friends, and she needed a little time off from dealing with the disappointing drama that was her fiancé. The current priority was dealing with the fact that Aiden had been so affected by the news that she and Rhett were matched.

  Why hadn’t she told him? It wasn’t a secret. And the wedding was in only a few months, so Aiden would have found out eventually. Her mother would have insisted the entire Scott family be invited, and now she knew that Aiden would have been on the receiving end of her wedding invitation.

  Aiden leaned forward and motioned to the holopad sticking out of Astrid’s seat pocket. “You mind if I use that? I want to get us some fair tokens.”

  Astrid pulled out her holopad and handed it to Aiden. “A whole afternoon on Aiden Scott.” Her nose wrinkled with a grin. “I knew I went to that terrible funeral service for a reason.”

  Aiden’s fingers skipped across the screen as he pulled up the Rose Festival’s site and purchased tokens for the trio. “They should be in each of your accounts . . .” He tapped the screen a final time before looking up. “Now,” he said, and passed the holopad back to Astrid.

  Elodie slid her fingers along her strand of pearls. “Thanks, Aiden.” There was a small scratch on one of the smooth beads and she rubbed her fingertip against it. Luckily Astrid was with them. No matter how many things Aiden paid for, this could never be considered a date.

  Astrid tapped the screen a few times with her pointed, black-tipped nails before sliding it into the seat pocket. “You kn
ow, you could’ve asked Holly to get the tokens for you. She’d load them into each of our accounts.” She extended a long, slender finger and pointed to Aiden’s clear cuff. “And they’d push to our cuffs.”

  Aiden wriggled out of his black jacket and casually hiked his shoulders. “Either way I’m buying them and you’re using them, right?” he asked, stretching his arm along the back of the empty seat next to him.

  Astrid tapped her checkered shoes against the plush carpet. “It’s your life, Scott. Just trying to make it a little bit easier.”

  Dirt flaked onto the floor as Aiden crossed his ankle over his knee. “That’s what friends are for, right?” he said.

  Elodie’s palms went clammy. She brushed her hands down the pleats of her skirt. Could Astrid and Aiden be friends? They were from completely different worlds.

  Actually, that wasn’t true. Not with what Elodie now knew. Aiden and Astrid were from extremely similar worlds of wealth and importance. The Key would do, and had done, almost anything for the Fujimotos and the Scotts. Astrid and Aiden were more alike, had more in common with each other, than either did with Elodie. And, in circles like theirs, Aiden’s involvement in Eos would warrant a death sentence.

  Elodie’s fingers flew back to the small pearls ringing her collar.

  Why hadn’t she thought about that before? She never should have brought the two of them together. Astrid said herself that she’d only seen him at one function. Aiden didn’t have friends in high places, and, considering who he was, that had to be on purpose. The last thing Elodie or Aiden needed was the devilishly intelligent Astrid Fujimoto getting too curious about Aiden Scott.

  Astrid stared at him for a moment as she tapped her fingernails together. Rhythmic clicks filled the space like a Newton’s Cradle. “Yeah,” Astrid offered with a quick shrug, her brow smoothing. “What the hell, Scott? We can be friends.”

  Elodie let loose the stale breath stuffed deep in her lungs. “That’s saying a lot. Astrid’s not really big on the whole people-

  liking thing.” She forced a smile and added Keep Aiden on Astrid’s good side to her growing to do list.