Chapter 27

ORDELL

T he sun has set when I knock on Kaster’s door and tell him Orina sent me.

He lets me in without a flick of the eyebrows, almost as if he’s expecting me.

I’m not sure what I expected from his apartment, though. Minimalistic, clean lines maybe, but there’s a warmth to this place. A feminine touch. Orina’s influence. She helped him decorate this place. Did she pick out the cushions and the throws? The paintings on the walls and the potpourri in the emerald dishes on the coffee table?

Kaster leads me into the kitchen and indicates the kettle.

I shake my head. “Nothing for me.”

He drops a nod, his cue for me to continue. He knows I’m here because Orina sent me, and I can see the concern in his dark eyes and the shadows that make up all the questions that he wants to ask me but can’t. Atlas, his voice, isn’t here, but from what Orina tells me, Kaster can establish a mental connection with people if allowed.

This will be easier if he can speak to me. I hold out my hand. “I’m okay with you doing the mind speak thing.”

He arches a brow. Is that a hint of amusement in his inky dark eyes? He inclines his head and reaches for me, pausing before touching me, a question in his eyes.

“I’m sure.”

His touch sends a strange shiver across my arm, and a moment later, his voice is in my head.

Is she safe?

“Yes. She’s safe. She’s at Branwood and will be staying there for…Well, this is where you might want to sit down. I have things you need to know…things that Orina needs you to know.”

He leads me to the sofa, and we take an armchair each.

Go on.

I’ve never seen a resemblance between him and Laudon before, but I see it now, a shrewdness in his dark eyes that is all Laudon. That look tells me he’s suspected something and is now ready to be proven right.

So I tell him. I tell him about the curse, about who Hemlock and I are, and about Orina’s part in it all. I tell him about the fake Arabella and how she ended her life when we discovered her secret but not before she triggered Ezekiel, throwing him into a living nightmare. “Right now, Orina is trying to save him. Bring him back to us and then…”

You need her to fall in love with him. His tone is flat.

He doesn’t like the sound of that idea.

“Yes. Will that be a problem?”

No.

“Good.”

What do you need from me? I assume it’s something or you wouldn’t be telling me any of this.

“Orina needs you, and you can’t be there for her emotionally if you don’t understand who she is and what she’s going through. Secrets kill relationships.”

I’d never abandon Orina, he says , but there’s more you need, isn’t there?

“Someone tried to trick us. Tried to create a wedge between Orina and Ezekiel. Someone else knows what they shouldn’t.”

I understand. I’ll use my resources to put feelers out and keep an eye on any suspicious activity.

And that’s all of it. I’ve spilled a huge secret, a potential apocalypse, and he hasn’t flinched. “You’re taking this well. I expected more surprise.”

He smiles thinly. Nothing much surprises me anymore. The curse revelation isn’t a stretch. He wakes once every 100 years, after all, and repeats the cycle. The details, however…now those are surprising. He laces his fingers and sits forward . I’ll help with whatever you need because I care about Orina. But let me get one thing straight: If Ezekiel hurts her in any way, Loviator will be the least of his worries.

“Loviator is something we all need to worry about. Time is running out.”

He sits back with a nod. And I will lend my support to Orina, and to you all in any capacity I can.

I stand. My work here is done.

And Ordell…Tell her I’ll be waiting whenever she’s ready to come home.

The beast inside me claws at the cage I’ve put him in, screaming that we are her home.

I shut it down, because the only home we can give her is a grave.