Octavian's Undoing (Sons of Judgment)

by Airicka Phoenix

  There was a single moment of silence as Septimus peered down at Riley. He was doing that thing where he was staring off into some unknown gap in space and time. At long last, he blinked and his gaze came into focus. He faced Octavian with an absolute deadpan stare.

  “She will not ascend in this life for she will die before it happens.”

  Then, in the same smoky manner he’d arrived in, he vanished, leaving the room ringing with his final words.

  “You’re not going to die,” Octavian repeated for the hundredth time as he walked her home.

  Riley said nothing. She watched the steady rise and descent of her feet as they ate up concrete. The streets were filled with only the crunch of her heels on snow. Octavian’s treads were as silent as a jungle cat’s. But his anger roared like a rolling inferno, eating up everything around them with relish. Riley couldn’t muster the strength to be angry or even scared. She knew it would hit her in the morning, once she’d slept off the exhaustion plowing her into the ground, but at that moment, she just felt defeated.

  She was going to die.

  Truth be told, she had no idea where to even begin with that. She supposed she ought to be scared, terrified even, but she felt oddly disjointed from her body. The sensation was so surreal.

  “Riley.” Octavian stopped her with a gentle hand on her elbow. He turned her to face him. “Don’t listen to him. I won’t let you die.”

  “I don’t think either of us has much say in it,” she murmured.

  His grip on her tightened. He gave her a light shake. “Listen to me. I swear it.”

  She raised her eyes to his face, so much determination and sorrow stared back at her. “Promise me something?”

  He nodded. “Anything.”

  “If I do die… hear me out!” she said when he growled warningly. “If I do, watch over my dad. He really doesn’t have anyone else and…”

  “You’re not going to die.”

  She smiled at him, even though she didn’t feel it. “I’m going to really try not to.”

  His hands found her face and framed it. The gloves were warm despite the chilly air. “I have a lot of plans for us, Riley. I’m not letting you walk away until we’ve done them all.”

  Raising a hand, she rested it over his and leaned her cheek into it. “Yeah? Like what?”

  With his free hand, he pushed hairs back from her temple and tucked them behind her ear. “Like seeing you walk towards me in a beautiful white dress, your hair a red cape around your shoulders. I want to see your face every morning and one day feel our children growing inside you.”

  Riley felt the tightness in her chest as his words warmed her. “You’ve certainly thought this through thoroughly.”

  He offered her a slight grin. “It’s all I think about.”

  She closed her eyes, turning her face into his palm. “What if you’re never able to touch me?”

  “I will,” he said with absolute conviction. “Don’t worry about that. Right now, you just worry about where you want to wear that white dress.”

  Her eyes opened and focused on his face. “Can I pick anywhere?”

  “Anywhere you like and I’ll make it happen.”

  Riley smiled. “On a beach with white sand.”

  Grinning, he slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side as they continued onward toward her apartment. “Mom will like that.” He paused. “Speaking of… I do need to meet your father one of these days, you know so it doesn’t seem like a big surprise when I ask for your hand. I’m old fashioned like that,” he said when she glanced up at him.

  Chuckling, she rested her head on his shoulder. “I don’t think he’ll care.”

  “I think he will.”

  Riley shrugged. “How about dinner this weekend?”

  “I’ll be there.”

  Chapter 28

  Octavian’s tactic to deter her mind from thinking about the giant pink elephant in the room worked long after he’d dropped her off at her apartment door. She even managed to forget about it as she prepared for bed. It was fine until she opened her eyes the next morning and it dropped on her like a freight train.

  Body trembling uncontrollably, Riley turned onto her side. She drew her knees up to her chest and stared across the room, frozen.

  She was going to die.

  Yeah, everyone died. It was kind of a given and people died every day, but to know… to be given only days, possibly weeks… there was still so much she wanted to do. How could she have such little time when she was only nineteen and promised at least another sixty? She didn’t want to die.

  Maybe Septimus was wrong. He had to be. No one knew for certain when a person would die. Nineteen year olds didn’t just die. The guy didn’t even give her a date or how it happened. He was probably just messing with her head, or he got her mixed up with her mother’s new daughter. That made sense. It also nearly made her feel better, except with that new found logic came a surge of anger. How could he be wrong about something like that? How dare he drop something that big on her head and then vanish from sight? Didn’t he realize what he’d done? Didn’t he care? What kind of person did that? Maybe she’d ask Octavian to help her find him. If she could just talk to him, she could get some information, maybe a timeline. She was also almost certain that once she found him, he’d see he’d made a mistake or maybe, he’d know someone she could talk to and get it fixed. There had to be a way to cheat this nonsense. People cheated death all the time, NASCAR drivers, lion tamers, lawyers. She just needed to find the right person to talk to.

  God, what was she thinking? This was ridiculous and insane. She was so screwed. This was going to happen and she had nothing planned. Funerals cost a fortune and she was pretty sure there was no secret insurance plan her father hadn’t told her about. Granted, she didn’t want anything fancy, just a few friends, maybe Daphne, the boys, Liam and Kyaerin, Of course Octavian and her father. Daphne would probably bring her brothers, which was fine. Maybe Gorje, but she doubted he’d come. The guy could barely look at her.

  I need a list.

  Determined not to let another moment of her precious seconds go to waste, Riley rolled out of bed and took up a pen and pad. In quick point form, she wrote:

  1. Make up w/dad

  2. Tell Octavian I love him

  3. Hang out w/Daphne

  4. Thank Liam & Kyaerin for hiring me (a nice card)

  5. Make sure all bills get paid

  6. Get dad a job

  7. Find someone to care for him

  8. Find Mom (maybe)

  9. Write a farewell letter

  She stared at her list, her heart heavy in her chest. It didn’t seem like very much, but she knew it would be impossible to see all those people and know it may be the last time. What did one even say? Oh it was so great to know you, but now I’m going to die so… see ya on the other side!

  She couldn’t tell them. They’d think she was insane, well, except for the Maxwells. They’d get it, and possible throttle her for thinking it. Octavian would certainly not take her farewell lightly. No, she would have to be sly about it.

  Setting her notepad down on the nightstand, she got up to track down her father. But a full search of the apartment turned up his absence. Riley checked her watch and puzzled over this new bit of mystery. She was positive he’d been home the previous night before she’d gone to bed. She recalled the buzz of the TV show he’d been watching. It was gone now which indicated he’d gotten up early and left, which was a surprise in itself. He usually didn’t get up until noon and when he did go out it was usually to the corner store for smokes.

  Curious, but not overly concerned, she went for a shower instead. She had no work until that evening, but she was determined to make as much of that morning as possible.

  She called Daphne the moment she was clean and dressed. The girl picked up on the third ring.

  “Yellow, yellow!”

  Riley stifled back a snicker. “Hey.”

  “
Hello! I was just thinking about you,” Daphne said cheerfully. “Well, I was thinking how I needed to clean the bathrooms, but I planned on thinking of you at some point today. You rushed the process.”

  Without fail, Riley laughed. “That’s me, totally impatient.”

  “Clearly!” Daphne huffed. “So, what are you doing? What are you wearing? Is it lacy?”

  Rolling her eyes at the other girl’s playful teasing, Riley carted the phone into the kitchen. “I was thinking we could do something.”

  “Ooooh, I love doing something. I do something all the time. What do you have in mind?”

  “How about a movie?” She hadn’t seen one of those in ages. “I know it’s early, but I have to work tonight. You pick. I’ll drive.”

  “There’s that Miley Cyrus one that looks really good.”

  Riley had no idea who that was, but agreed.

  Twenty minutes later, she was in the car with Daphne and her enormous oversized purse in the passenger’s seat chatting a mile a minute about how her brother, Derek, tore down her Hannah Montana poster and how she’d been devastated because it had been signed by Miley Cyrus and irreplaceable. What Riley didn’t understand was why this Miley person would sign a poster featuring someone else? Why hadn’t Hannah Montana signed it? It made no sense. But Riley didn’t think she wanted an answer to that question so she kept quiet.

  “I got it on eBay for like twenty bucks.”

  “I have a poster of two cats playing with yarn,” Riley said when Daphne finished.

  The other girl gave her an odd glance, but didn’t comment.

  They pulled up in the parking lot of the theater and got out. Daphne’s excitement seemed to amplify the closer they got until she was literally skipping like a five year old on her way to the ice cream truck. They got all the way to the kiosk only to find out that movie was no longer playing.

  “Aw!” Daphne moaned, shoulders drooping as she stared at the other titles on the board. “What do you want to see?”

  Riley stared at the names. They could have been written in Russian for all she recognized. “Uh…”

  “Riley?”

  Riley turned at the sound of her name. Her eyes widened as she recognized the man cutting through the crowd towards them. “Reggie?”

  He grinned at her. “Hey, what are you doing here?”

  Riley jerked a thumb over her shoulder towards Daphne. “We’re here to see a movie. What are you doing here?” Her gaze shot past him. “Is—”

  “No, he’s working tonight so he’s still sleeping. I came to see the new Bruce Willis movie. I love that guy.” His gaze moved to Daphne, missing Riley’s dejected face. “So, who’s this?”

  Remembering her manners, Riley stepped back to introduce them. “Reggie, this is Daphne Caldwel. Daphne, Reggie Maxwell. He’s my…”

  Reggie stepped forward, a charming smile on his face. “Riley’s dating my brother.”

  Daphne’s eyebrows went up at this new bit of information. “I didn’t know you were dating anyone.”

  “It’s very recent,” she lied.

  “Riley’s full of secrets. I swear I learn something new every time we talk.” Daphne smiled at Reggie. “It was nice to meet you, Reggie.”

  She extended her small hand, but she could have offered Reggie a python for the way he leapt away from her, smacking into the ticket counter. Riley and Daphne winced simultaneously at the collision. The girl behind the counter scowled at them, but Reggie didn’t notice. He was too busy staring at Daphne as though death himself had materialized before him. Actually, he probably would have preferred that.

  “Are you okay?” Riley asked.

  He’d gone unnaturally pale and he seemed frozen in place.

  “Reggie?” She went to him and touched his arm.

  Reggie flinched, jerking away from her. but he seemed to realize he was making a scene as he quickly straightened. “I… I have to go.”

  “What? But—”

  He was already disappearing through the crowd, leaving Riley and Daphne looking after him in bafflement.

  “I swear he’s not normally that jumpy,” Riley said as the made their way into the theater with their buckets of popcorn and drinks. “He just really doesn’t like hum…people,” she quickly amending, realizing how close she’d come to the truth, “touching him.”

  “Germaphobe?” Daphne guessed.

  The found their seats and sat.

  “Yeah, something like that.”

  “That’s too bad.” Daphne set her drink into the drink holder. “He was really hot. Don’t you think so?”

  Riley had always known Reggie was beautiful, like Gideon and Magnus and even Liam. They were all breathtakingly gorgeous, but she never took much notice. In her eyes, Octavian outshone all of them. He was the perfect man, so it was interesting to hear someone else say it, even if nothing could ever happen between them.

  “I bet his brother’s hotter, right?” Daphne dug her elbow into Riley’s side. “So, tell me about him. What’s his name?”

  “Octavian,” she answered automatically.

  Daphne quirked an eyebrow. “He’s not really number eight, is he?”

  Riley frowned. “What?”

  “Well, Octo means eight.”

  Riley had never heard that before. “No, he’s the eldest of four.”

  Daphne’s eyes widened. “Four? Wow. All boys?”

  Riley nodded. “Reggie’s the youngest.”

  “And the other two?”

  “Magnus and Gideon. They’re twins.” She stopped, not sure if she was allowed to be talking about them. What if she was breaking some kind of Caster law? She bit her lip.

  “Trippy names. So what’s Octavian like?”

  “Amazing.” The word blurted out before Riley could even control herself. “He’s incredible, kind, caring, funny and absolutely gorgeous.”

  Daphne laughed. “Don’t hold out on me now.”

  Riley blushed. “Sorry.”

  “No, no, it’s all good. You sound like you really care about him.”

  She thought of what Octavian had told her the previous night as he’d walked her home. She thought of being with him forever and everything in her swam in a warm sort of bliss before she was seized with a cold reminder that she didn’t have forever. She might not have tomorrow.

  “Hey, you okay?”

  Blinking back the sting of tears, Riley forced a smile. “Yeah, sorry.” She cleared her throat. “I care about him a lot.”

  Thankfully, Octavian was put aside as the movie started. Riley sat back with her bucket of popcorn and tried not to think of anything but that moment.

  By the end of the movie, Riley was a hundred percent positive she hadn’t been paying attention, or the movie ended on a really bad cliffhanger that she didn’t understand, because when the screen faded to black and the lights came back on, Riley had no idea what she’d just seen.

  “What did you think?” Daphne bounced up the center aisle towards the door, her riot of orange curls dancing around her shoulders.

  Riley faltered. “It was okay,” she replied hesitantly.

  “I thought it was awesome.” Daphne skipped to the doors and waited for Riley. “So what’s the plan now?”

  Riley glanced at her watch. “I have to get ready for work.” And hopefully talk to Dad before that.

  Daphne puckered her bottom lip. “Aw, we were just having fun.” Her brows scrunched. “Where do you work again? Maybe I can come hang with you before shift—”

  “I have a ton of running around before, but definitely another time.”

  Still sulking, Daphne agreed as Riley drove her home and said goodbye.

  Back at her own apartment, Riley dumped her coat and purse on the counter and strained her ears for the slightest noise that her father had returned. There was no sound, but that could only mean he was sleeping.

  Kicking off her shoes, she went to his room, pressed an ear to the door before knocking lightly. “Dad?”

 
; Silence.

  Riley frowned. She knocked again, harder. “Dad?”

  Deciding against knocking a third time, she reached for the knob and turned. The room opened into absolute darkness and a silence that didn’t really belong, that felt unnatural. The air was thick, like something inside was sucking it all in, leaving none for anyone else. Across the room, the windows had been heavily covered so not a single shred of light could penetrate the solid wall of black, keeping whatever waited inside hidden. A sensation of dread washed down her spine, prickling all the little hairs on her arm and the back of her neck.