26. Scarlett

I wait a little while,and then, when I’m sure Lyssa is asleep, I slide out from her octopus-like limbs and have a quick shower in the awful motel bathroom, washing away the evidence of what we’ve been doing for the past hour.

I wish I didn’t have to. I wish I could walk around with her scent still on me, comforting and heady. Because this is the last time I’ll have her all over me like this.

The last time.

After I dress, I grab together my shit and pause to look down at her one last time. She’s out fast, the mild sedative I slipped into the water keeping her well under.

I could do it now. Easy mark. Cut her throat or slide my stiletto blade into her heart like all the rest. But I don’t. It wouldn’t be…

It wouldn’t be fair.

I turn away from her, away from the horrible guilty knot that’s getting tighter and tighter in my chest, and pull out my phone. The tracker signal pulsates strong and clear, showing me exactly where Aurora Verderosa is right now.

Still out shopping for wedding stuff, it seems.

I couldn’t believe it when she walked right up to me in that cafe. It was fate, I decided then and there. I’d been going back and forth in my own mind, wondering whether to come clean to Lyssa, beg for her help…

But then, like a sign from the Universe, the very woman I was looking for strolled up to me. Invited me to her goddamn wedding. Hugged me, so that slipping a tracker into her large, oddly unstylish handbag, was easy as pie.

And she’s still wandering around Chicago now, as Grandmother’s haunting ultimatum replays in my mind.

Grandmother had a gift for me, and I knew I wasn’t going to like it. But I still wanted my vengeance. And one way or another, I planned to get it. Carefully. Slowly, if need be. But I would put Adam’s killer in the ground, no matter who they were.

I just had to be sure, first. And if it was Grandmother who gave the order…

“Ah, that must be my sweet little Scarlett,” Grandmother’s saccharine voice rang out from the sitting room as the elevator doors opened on her penthouse. “Don’t be shy, dear. Come let me lay eyes upon you.”

For a moment my head swam, and I heard myself muttering under my breath, “Grandmother, Grandmother, what big eyes you have.” But I headed on, into the sitting room where Grandmother reclined in her high-backed wing chair like a queen, tented fingers pressed to her pursed lips as she studied me with reptilian focus.

“Ariadne said you had a gift for me?” I forced the words out, keeping my tone neutral.

Careful. Ariadne’s warning still hung in my ears. She knows.

“Indeed I do, dear girl.” Grandmother rose and crossed the room to where I stood rooted. “The gift of loyalty, Scarlett. Of true loyalty and devotion to this noble sisterhood you find yourself in.”

I had no idea what she meant.

Her bony fingers feathered along my jawline, and I fought not to recoil from her touch. “You’ll do anything I ask to prove yourself,” she murmured, not a question but a statement of certainty that made my skin prickle with foreboding. “Won’t you, Scarlett?”

“You know I will.” The words only fueled the anger that had become my constant, simmering companion. But I forced them out, meeting Grandmother’s dark stare. “So…what is it that you want from me, Grandmother?”

A slow, satisfied smile split Grandmother’s lips as she withdrew her hand. Turning, she crossed to an intricately carved credenza and retrieved an electronic tablet. She tapped it on, bringing up the feed in the torture rooms here behind her bedroom, the one that she used as some kind of sick entertainment as she watched her trainees punish each other.

And as Grandmother offered it to me, the tablet’s weight seemed to magnify, so that it sagged in my hands.

“Look at it,” Grandmother commanded with glacial calm. “Let us understand each other fully, Scarlett.”

I lowered my head and looked. There, staring up at me with terror-glazed eyes, were Mom and Dad—bound, gagged, and clearly at the mercy of their captors, four of those highly-trained male guards that hovered around the high-rise all the time.

My head snapped up. “You—” I choked out, and then swallowed, breathing hard. “What do you want? Money? I’ll get you anything, just please?—”

“Money?” Grandmother let out a peal of laughter, cruel mirth making her face screw up in delight. “Oh no, Scarlett. As I said, this is about loyalty…and you’ll prove yours through obedience, like any good soldier. That is my gift to you, you see. To make you understand the value of loyalty.”

“But I am loyal,” I insisted.

Taking the tablet back, she leveled me with a look of cold appraisal. “Please don’t treat me like a fool. I know that you have been tempted by a particular…deserter. I know you have been meeting with her regularly. In secret.” Her lips curled with disgust.

“You want me to kill Lyssa? I’ll do it.”

“You can’t.”

“I can—I will, I promise, I’ll?—”

“You’ve tried,” she said flatly. “And failed. Several times. I shall send Ariadne instead. No. I want you to do something else for me. Something easier, since you’ve been unable to prove yourself so far.”

And then she told me what she wanted: Aurora Verderosa.

“You want me to kill Hades’ fiancée?” I burst out. It seemed even more impossible than killing Lyssa. For one thing, I’d never get near the girl.

“No,” Grandmother said coldly. “I want you to bring her here, to me. The killing of her is a pleasure that you don’t deserve, Scarlett.”

I felt sick, then. “But?—”

“I’m not asking.” Grandmother’s tone left no room for argument. “You’ll do as you’re told, or your parents’ lives are forfeit. And you wouldn’t want that on your conscience, now would you?”

I found myself agreeing, just like the obedient soldier Grandmother wished me to be. Because in the end, she had given me no choice—not if I wanted to keep what little family I had left alive.

“I will kill Aurora Verderosa myself,” she said, “and with her death, I’ll destroy this wretched Styx Syndicate from the top down. This Hades, as they call her, will only be able to blame her Wolf, as soon as she realizes it was you who took her fiancée. And then she and Lyssa will destroy each other—and the whole Syndicate in the process.”

I wasn’t so sure. But Grandmother only smiled at the fleeting doubt that crossed my face.

“You don’t think so?” she asked. “Wait and see. Love is a terrifying thing, Scarlett. And losing it? Cities have been destroyed over less. I think it will be very interesting to see, one way or another. And it is what I desire. Understand me?”

“I understand.”

“And you will obey?”

“I will obey.”

For Mom and Dad…for my family, I would do what needed to be done. I would follow orders, just like Lyssa.

Even if it meant forsaking every last shred of my own humanity along the way.

I’m close to my quarry now, watching the pulsing dot as much as I watch the street. She’s right around this corner…

I’ll have to deal with the bodyguards, of course. Find a way to incapacitate them, or at least distract them. Then once that’s done?—

But as the signal’s source comes into view, my belly flips over with dread. It’s not Aurora Verderosa, walking down the street, stopping here and there to look into windows.

It’s Mrs. Graves. Mrs. Graves, holding that old-fashioned, too-big handbag as she window shops, the bag I slipped the tracker into.

No...

Oh God, no. I’ve failed. Failed again—killed my parents as surely as if I held the knife myself?—

Realization drenches me in an icy sweat. Aurora must have offered to carry Mrs. Graves’ handbag for convenience, since they were both so weighed down already with bags.

I turn, dazed, and go back around the corner, my first instinct to get back to Grandmother’s house as fast as I can, to battle my way through all those guards—through Ariadne, too, since she’ll be there of course—and save my parents…

No.

I choke out a sob as I realize it’s futile. I might be able to get through a handful of them on my own, but not all of them. Maybe if Lyssa were with me?—

Lyssa.

I’m near hyperventilating as my mind races. I could go back to the motel right now and wake Lyssa, slap her awake, tell her everything. Beg for her help.

She wouldn’t help me. Why would she? She means to kill me, I know that. Despite the intimacy we’ve shared, I know it doesn’t make any difference. Her orders are to kill me, and she follows orders to protect her family.

Family…

A memory sparks in my mind—Lyssa’s rare openness as she spoke of the woman who’d been a mother to her. The soft, indulgent smile on Mrs. Graves’ face when she looked at Lyssa in the cafe this morning.

Their bond was undeniable.

I thought fate had served up Aurora Verderosa to me, but maybe I have the next best thing right around the corner.

Part of me recoils, screaming to turn back before it’s too late. Mrs. Graves is an innocent. I might have fooled myself into thinking killing Syndicate members was acceptable, but to harm her would be unforgivable, a line I can never uncross.

But then I think about Mom and Dad, bound and terrified, at Grandmother’s cruel mercy. If I fail this mission, they’re dead.

I can’t let that happen. I won’t.

And as I peek around the corner again, I see something that hardens my resolve. Mrs. Graves has no bodyguards with her. She’s easy pickings.

With a deep, steadying breath, I paste on my most disarming smile and approach her, praying she doesn’t glimpse the darkness flickering behind my eyes.

“Mrs. Graves!” I call in a bright, friendly tone. “Hi, there! Do you remember me from the coffee shop this morning?”

She turns, wariness flickering across her expression before softening into polite recognition. “Why yes, you’re Lyssa’s friend, aren’t you? Ruby, if I recall correctly?”

Playing the part of the sweet girl-next-door is second nature to me now—the same act that fooled so many hardened Syndicate members.

Even Lyssa.

I let my smile broaden another few molars, eyes crinkling with false innocence. “That’s right. Ruby. Fancy running into you again—wow, you look like you’ve got quite the haul there again!”

Glancing down at the shopping bags weighing her down, Mrs. Graves lets out a soft chuckle. “You could say that. These wedding plans are turning into a bit of a production. Aurora has gone back home but I wanted to take a last look around, make sure there weren’t any other options we might have missed.”

Her eyes crinkle with undisguised affection, and a pang of guilt lances through me. She truly cares for her people.

But so do I. I care for my parents. And I can’t let sentiment cloud my judgment. With a reassuring smile, I step closer.

“Here, let me give you a hand with those bags.” I reach out, gently relieving her of one overladen tote. “Wouldn’t want you tuckering yourself out before the big day.”

Relief washes over the older woman’s features as the burden eases. “You’re very kind, dear. It seems Lyssa surrounds herself with good people these days.”

I force myself to maintain my easy demeanor, and give a demure laugh. “I do my best. Now, where were you headed? I’d be happy to walk with you a ways.”

Shifting the remaining bags to a more comfortable position, Mrs. Graves gestures down the sidewalk with a grateful nod. “Just this way, if you’re sure you don’t mind. I was planning to meet the town car in ten minutes, just a street away. It’s not far.”

I follow her lead, every step carrying me closer to the point of no return. This gentle woman deserves so much better than the cruelty I’m about to unleash upon her...but what choice do I have? My parents’ lives hang in the balance.

I can’t lose them. Not after Adam.

“Why don’t we take this alley?” I say, grabbing her elbow and steering her.

She tries to pull away, puzzled. “I don’t think so, Ruby—that’s not the way I—” Her eyes go wide as she looks down between us to the knife I’m pressing into her side.

For one breathless heartbeat, our eyes meet, and I watch hers slowly rounding with a dawning sense of betrayal as she recognizes the danger in my stare.

“Don’t scream,” I murmur. “Just keep walking. We have someplace to be.” Mrs. Graves stiffens, and she takes a breath, until I press the knife harder into her. “I’ve killed any number of Syndicate members much tougher than you,” I tell her. “Don’t make me kill you, too. If you come with me…” The lie is difficult, but I get it out. “…you won’t be hurt.”

She doesn’t believe me.

But with a resigned slump of her shoulders, she nods. For a moment, I almost feel sorry for the woman…before the memory of Mom and Dad’s terrified faces rushes in. I need to see this through, no matter how much it costs me.

I know Lyssa will come for me. I know she’ll kill me. But as long as my parents are safe, I can go gladly to my grave.