by Beth Ryan
“Let that be a lesson,” he said. His words reverberated through me, though he wasn’t paying me any attention at all. He held out the gun toward the Fischer girl. She took it with two fingers, holding it like she’d never seen anything more abhorrent in her life. “Those caught tampering with the security system will not get a trial within our ranks. We cannot afford mercy in the face of dissent. I am the one who stands between you and those who would see our institution crumble. I stand as judge, jury, and executioner.”
He paused, and in the place where horrified silence should have fallen, a thunderous applause arose. He waited for the uproar to settle again. While those around us cheered, I watched him toe the servant’s corpse. Rhys’s head lolled to the side, glassy eyes seeing right through me. Beside him on the floor, Ivonne whimpered but did not protest the treatment. She hadn’t moved from her spot, and her wine red dress was soaked almost black with blood at her knees.
“Ad Mortem,” Eisley shouted suddenly, fist raised to the air.
The responding roar from the crowd had Cooper jerking in surprise.
“Sine Circa!” the entire gathered force cried out. Even Ivonne, sitting with the cooling body of her faithful servant beside her, murmured the words.
Cooper and I glanced at each other, both repeating the phrase I’d read etched into the back of the statue’s neck the night before. I wondered if he knew what it meant.
Before the roar had died down, Eisley was already turning away. He snapped a finger at Leanna, who stood at the edges of the crowd with tears in her eyes. She jumped and then hurried forward as he pointed at the corpse. Her whole body trembled even as she got to work cleaning up the mess the old man had made.
21
Ivonne cried. Even as Leanna hurried to make the corpse disappear, the Kingsland heiress remained kneeling beside it, clutching the dead servant to her chest. Her brother came up behind her, trying to pull her away. She would not be moved.
“This has been a great loss for my daughter,” President King said as he came up to Cooper and I. He sounded weary. He closed his eyes for a moment. Then he turned back to us. “I trust you understand that she is going to need some time to recover from this.”
“Yes, sir.”
I was startled by Cooper’s sudden respect and his apparent calm. I stood beside him with Ivonne’s muddy heels clenched in my hands, at a loss for what to say or how to help.
“I cannot change the laws for the sake of one dead servant. She will have until midnight to recover. Then a choice will be made between you, with or without her input.”
President King strode toward his daughter. With strength I hadn’t known he possessed, he picked her up in both arms and carried her deeper into the house. He didn’t seem to care about the blood that transferred from her dress to his white shirt, or her thrashing as she screamed at him to put her down. Her voice echoed down the wide staircase long after they were gone.
I watched as the gathered members of the Lemniscate wandered away, each one refusing to look at the man whose death they had witnessed without protest. I memorized their faces, swearing to myself that I would take them all down from the inside. Just as soon as I figured out how to get Cooper out of here with only eight hours left.
Joshua was the next to approach us. He nodded to the staircase and was halfway up it before I realized he wanted us to follow. I grabbed Cooper’s wrist and tugged him along, respectfully pausing beside Rhys before walking around him and up the stairs.
The path Joshua took through the mansion was a winding one, and when he finally stopped beside the doors that led to our rooms, he turned to face us. With the serious look he wore, I knew that whatever he was about to say would be profoundly important to hear.
“I don’t like either of you.” He was looking directly at me as he spoke. “Selection criteria shows that you both have the mentality we desire. Make no mistake in believing that this is enough to earn a place at my sister’s side. My father married three times before my grandfather was satisfied with his partner. Do you understand?”
I did understand. I always had. Even if I managed to get Ivonne to choose me as her partner, I could still be killed at any time. Sudden assassinations weren’t saved for the servants.
I nodded. Cooper remained silent. There was a ghost of dread in his features.
Joshua didn’t wait for him to respond before continuing.
“Good. What Rhys was doing, what he risked his life to accomplish, mattered. I cannot stand by and pretend it didn’t,” he whispered. He was looking at me again. He had to know who I was, how I’d ended up tangled in this mess. He wouldn’t be saying these things in front of me otherwise. “As it is, I’m not certain my sister’s constitution can withstand another death.”
“What would you have us do about it?” Cooper asked, and suddenly I understood that this was more than a talk about keeping Joshua’s sister away from harm. This was a blackmailer informing his target exactly what he wanted accomplished next, and Cooper was cooperating.
“Exactly what you were doing before,” he answered.
“But—”
“Before I leave you to yourselves, there is something I want you to think on.” His voice lowered, becoming more threatening than it had been when he’d alluded to killing us. “If the Lemniscate wealth was as endless as its citizens believe, there would be no reason to keep it from them. So ask yourselves this: just how far would you go to keep what little you have left?”
“To the death,” Cooper answered immediately. “Without regard.”
His voice was quiet, but Joshua heard him nonetheless. The man I was beginning to see as the most dangerous and powerful person on the planet pinned Cooper Hall with a dark look. Cooper was made translucent under that gaze, as though Joshua could see every facet of him from that single response.
“The Argentinians arrive in one hour. Your suits are in your rooms. Don’t be late.”
He stepped back into the shadows of the hall, gone before either of us could think to stop him. I turned to ask Cooper what the hell I’d just been witness to, but stopped when I realized he was shaking.
We stood facing each other in the dark hall. I opened my mouth—to say what, I didn’t know. That was when Cooper stepped forward.
It was a small move. A single half-step I might have missed if it weren’t for the rustle of cloth. I could feel his warm breath ghosting against my collarbone as he leaned into my space. In the darkness, his brown eyes had turned black. His pupils were only a few shades darker than the irises surrounding them.
He spoke my name. His voice was so soft, I almost didn’t catch it. I doubted even the cameras could hear what he’d said.
“Nate,” he said again, and any attempt at demanding an explanation died in my throat. I tensed, waiting to hear what might come next. “I need—”
He cut off and reached forward, dipping his hand into my coat pocket. He pulled out the gun I’d taken. Then he disappeared, with the sharp click of the door closing behind him.
I stood there in the dark and empty hall, staring at where he’d been only moments before. I felt like I’d lost something, though the only thing he’d taken from me was his own gun. I clenched my jaw and ripped my gaze away. Turning my back on the wooden barrier between us, I slipped into my own room. The door snapped shut behind me.
The afternoon sun was a distant glow, tinged blue by the forcefield that lined the property. It was starting to sink down into the trees in the distance. Midnight was fast approaching.
The glass that separated me from the outside world also reflected my own image. I glared at the reflection, jaw still clenched tight. I needed Cooper away from here. I needed to find a way past that forcefield, and I needed to make sure he made it all the way back to the city without getting caught.
Above all else, I needed a cigarette.
I pulled the carton out and propped the window open. The evening air blew in. It was crisp and untainted by the pollution that blanketed the rest of th
e country. It smelled like rain. It tasted clean. It was unbearable.
I sucked every last ounce of poison from the cigarette. The fresh air made the burn in my lungs all that much sweeter. The nicotine that crawled through my airways made it easier to think. I savored the feeling, letting the smell remind me of home.
Then there was nothing left but the filter. I pressed the glowing end to the smooth surface of the sill. The charred patch I left behind was the smallest form of rebellion I could get away with.
It wasn’t enough.
I wanted to growl out the frustration I was pushing down. I wanted to smash my fist through the glass pane. I wanted to march across the hall and demand answers that Cooper couldn’t give. I wanted another cigarette.
The things I wanted had never been good for me.
Resigned to this fact, I closed the window and tucked the carton of cigarettes back into my pocket. As I pulled my hand out, I felt the sharp sting of something slice my finger.
I yanked my hand away on instinct, a pained noise escaping me. Sucking on my index finger, I emptied my pockets onto the bed beside the suit I had no intention of putting on. The cable and my credit card came from one pocket, and my glasses and scalpel came from the other. A drop of my blood gleamed on its blade, but my injury took the back burner when I saw the slip of paper that fluttered to the floor.
I snagged the thing off the carpet. The paper was long and narrow. The back side was blank. There were creases in it, from being folded over and over again. When I turned it right side up, three sentences were typed out in black ink.
Keep your promises. Mind your hands. They’re always watching.
I frowned at the paper, the tension in my jaw increasing. The memory of Cooper’s hand slipping into my pocket was only a few minutes old. The crease lines on the paper made the instructions seem much older.
These were the instructions that the blackmailer had promised in their first letter. Words that Joshua King, who’d had an entire car ride to iron out little instructions like this, wouldn’t have needed to write down. This was the information I’d been missing all along.
22
I closed my eyes, pulling as much information from that scrap of paper as I could. A knock at the door almost broke my concentration. I clenched my eyes shut tighter. I finally had the missing puzzle piece, the corner edge upon which everything else would be put together, and it still wasn’t making sense. Whoever was at the door could wait.
I ran through every memory I had from the moment I met Cooper Hall. With Joshua holding the place of the blackmailer, I imagined Cooper receiving the letter that had led him to me. Gun in his pocket and fear in his eyes, he’d consented to an illegal procedure that was punishable by death. He’d spoken the words that would bring him to the Lemniscate. He’d killed a man, and threatened my life as well, all to keep Joshua happy.
For whatever reason, Joshua hadn’t had a chance to speak to Cooper during that car ride. Perhaps there were cameras in the transporters as well. Perhaps someone else had been in the car with them. Either way, Joshua wasn’t the only one involved in this convoluted plan. He had an accomplice.
The knock came again. Again, I ignored it.
Subtlety wasn’t Cooper’s strong suit... He’d managed to flash his gun at the cameras twice within twenty-four hours, after all. That, I realized, had to be when he’d slipped the paper into my pocket as well. Unlike the first note, which I’d only gotten ahold of because I had access to his profile, this time, Cooper meant for me to have the information I needed. He’d given me the clue without drawing attention to it, and he’d been smart enough to use the gun as a distraction.
The knock came a third time, a quick and impatient rapping. I glowered at my reflection in the window. I was close to figuring everything out. I wanted more time to pull on the loose threads that were unraveling. I wanted to consider the reason behind Cooper’s efforts to give me information and what promises he could have made to Joshua that would need keeping. I needed to know what Joshua was planning and who his accomplice was. I had no idea why Cooper Hall would need to watch his hands.
With a huff of frustration, I tucked the warning into my pocket. Twilight was slowly creeping in, darkening my reflection in the glass pane. Time was running out, and whoever was at the door wasn’t leaving.
Checking that everything illegal was hidden away in my pockets once more, I yanked the door open. I was met with the frowning face of Ivonne King.
“Ivy?” I asked, another clue clicking into place.
The personal insignia at the bottom of the note tucked in my pocket came to mind. The Lemniscate infinity symbol, surrounded by leaves. Ivy leaves.
“Ivonne, if you please,” she reminded me. Irritation laced her voice, and I remembered Joshua’s outright laughter at her introduction the night before.
“Of course,” I said, half to myself.
If I hadn’t been certain before, this cemented things for me. Ivonne King, Ivy, was part of her brother’s scheme. Her personal signature adorned the warning note, and their initial handshake-turned-gentleman’s kiss had to be when Cooper had received it. She’d taunted Cooper about having a sister during our stroll earlier that day, and she was smart enough to pretend she didn’t care he existed either way when her father was around.
I wondered if she knew the details of what Joshua was up to. I doubted I would receive a straight answer if I asked, but I tried anyway.
“What exactly is your brother’s plan here?”
“Josh?” She scrunched up her nose, confusion playing out like a perfect act. I had to hand it to her. She really was a clever and deceptive woman. Still, she couldn’t fool me.
“Yes, Joshua,” I said, glaring at her. “I’m not an idiot. I need to know what you two think you’re doing.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Ivonne’s eyes widened, the baffled expression becoming all that much more convincing. She grabbed my arm and glanced toward the camera in the corner of the hall before tugging me out of the doorway of my room. “We don’t have time for this. Why aren’t you dressed?”
“If I’m going to die tonight,” I began, examining the tailored black pants and white silk shirt she’d changed into with a critical eye. It was the most masculine thing she’d worn and I had to admit the attire looked good on her. I sniffed, “I’m not doing it in some Lemniscate getup.”
The door across the hall opened, revealing Cooper wearing a suit matching the one sitting on my bed. The gun was in his hands.
“You aren’t going to die. No one else is going to die,” she assured me.
Her words sounded like a promise. One she couldn’t keep, considering the loaded gun behind her and the scalpel I was fingering in my pocket. This was how Cooper would escape, I realized. This was how I could get him out. As long as he played along.
“Don’t turn around,” I said, eyes on Cooper. I blinked, despite knowing that morse code would do nothing to communicate what I needed him to do.
He had to play the villain, to hold Ivonne at gunpoint and demand she help him escape. If we played our cards right, I would be able to get a swipe in with my scalpel right before he escaped and claim the role of Ivonne’s hero, the worthy future husband her father could approve of.
“Honestly, Nathan.”
She rolled her eyes and turned around. Cooper leveled the gun at her and I breathed a sigh of relief as she raised her hands in surrender.
“We’re leaving. Now,” Cooper said. I scoffed, unable to feel fear in the face of someone whose plans were never that good to begin with.
“Nathan, don’t,” Ivonne whispered through her teeth, and it was my turn to roll my eyes, putting my hands up as well.
“Are you going to march us through the front door?” I taunted Cooper, praying that all our history with complicated conversations and double speak would kick in and remind him I was still on his side. “Take us at gunpoint right past the Argentinians, her father, and the head of the Profile Depar
tment?”
“We’ll take the servant’s passage,” Cooper replied, and again I held back just how relieved I was.
We were on the same page, then. He knew his escape route and he had the upper hand. He waved the gun, indicating for Ivonne to open the wall beside his door, where Joshua had vanished less than an hour before. She slipped inside, and I followed, Cooper closing the hidden entrance behind him.
We walked single file. None of us could have stood side by side if we wanted to. I scanned the ceiling for cameras and spotted two. Ivonne was watching them as well, perhaps hoping to gain help from whoever was watching from the other side. If anyone even was. There still wasn’t any proof that the cameras actually functioned, aside from Ivonne’s note of warning burning a hole in my pocket.
We turned a corner into a darker corridor, the light of a single exposed bulb being all that stood between us and pitch black. If I actually felt like a hostage, I might have broken that bulb to gain the upper hand, but I needed Cooper out of the forcefield before I attempted to rescue Ivonne.
Halfway down the corridor, Ivonne whipped around, the whites of her eyes peering out from the darkness. It made her pupils darker in contrast, fathomless and unreadable. Behind me, Cooper lowered his gun.
“What the hell are you doing?” I hissed, keeping my voice low. My words only caused Ivy’s glare to become fiercer.
Cooper ignored me, holding his fists in front of him and then pulling them apart like he was drawing some invisible rope taut. There was a question in his eyes, directed at Ivonne
“Yes.” She replied, as though he’d actually asked her a question. “Some of the old passages still don’t have cameras in them. This is one of them.”
“What do we do now?” He asked, his hands twisting in some unfathomable pattern.
“We’ll have to go through the front gates. It’s more dangerous, but Rhys was the only one willing to risk his life to bring down the wards.”
