Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

Shy and the Offer

The day starts off wrong.

I wake to my phone going off like a tornado siren sounding in the dead of night, tearing me from sleep. I sit up straight in bed, heart racing, and check my phone: Pick me up at Temple, 5, it says.

Roth.

There are no other details—a why or where we’re going.

I glance at the clock at the top of my screen—4:00 a.m.—and scrub my face with the palm of my hand, unable to discern if the feeling in my stomach is alarm from being woken so suddenly or dread.

I don’t want to be alone with Roth. He’ll want an update on the Eurydice, and I don’t have much I want to offer. In the time since Council, Anora has become my prime suspect. I’m positive she lied about being from Chicago, thanks to her mom’s slip at lunch, and she recognized my scythe, which means she’s seen it before, and at the mention of Chase Lockwood, she stayed silent—I would have been more convinced she didn’t know him if she’d said so. I might not completely trust her, but I’m willing to listen to her side.

I’ve been told to hand everything on the Eurydice over to Elite Cain, but I can’t bring myself to do it. It could be because it’s Anora and the thought of telling anyone about her feels like betrayal. Or it could just be that I don’t like Roth and I think he wants the Eurydice for his own purposes, but I’m just not sure what those purposes are.

One thing is certain—Anora doesn’t like or trust what she thinks I am, which means if I were to hand her over to the Order, she won’t trust them either, and if she’s going to rid the world of Influence’s hold, we need her on our side. We need her to believe we really will protect her.

Charon knows I have to—there’s no telling what sort of damage her distress will do to my body. Her anxiety already has my chest in knots. More unanswered questions: Why do I have a connection to this human? Is it one-sided? I’ve seen little evidence that she feels the same. Things would probably be a little easier if she did. I wonder if I should ask Jacobi to look into the Eurydice’s history, but that might open up more questions I’m not ready to face. It seems that for now, I’ll just have to suffer on my own.

When I arrive to pick Roth up, he’s standing outside Temple. He throws his bag into the back of my Jeep and says, “Airport.”

“You’re leaving?” I try not to imbue my voice with too much excitement.

“Dad’s taken a turn.” He delivers the news colorlessly—as if he were reporting the weather.

My heart pounds, like it’s asking to exit my body. I don’t have anything to say. I already thought through all the repercussions of Maximus’s death. I glance at Roth. His jaw is set, and he stares straight ahead. I manage a whispered “I’m sorry.”

And I am—for all of us.

“How long will you be gone?” I ask.

“Depends on when he dies,” he says. I flinch, and he continues, “While I’m away, I expect updates on your progress finding the Eurydice. I know Elite Cain told you to report to him, but I’m telling you different.”

“I can’t ignore Elite Cain’s orders.”

Roth laughs mockingly. “Even if he plans on stripping you of your title the moment I’m gone?”

“What?”

“Elite Cain and your father don’t like that I’ve appointed you to search for the Eurydice. And they don’t respect me as successor. The moment they have cause, you’ll be a knight-in-training again, your threads ripped free.”

I don’t doubt that. I suspected as much when the only orders I was given were to report to Elite Cain. I hadn’t been given access to the archive for files on the Eurydice or the Chase Lockwood investigation. I am, essentially, at a disadvantage compared to the other knights appointed to do the same job.

“Why did you choose me?” I ask. “To search for the Eurydice?”

“Because you have something to prove,” he says. “Look, Savior, I know your aspirations. You do this for me and I’ll give you everything. That position as commander? Yours, tomorrow if you like.”

“You just said Elite Cain and my father would strip me of the title you gave me.”

“Tomorrow, my father might be dead, and I’ll be the new luminary,” he says.

I shake my head. “I don’t want to owe you anything.”

“Oh, come on, Shy. You’ll be like your father. Better even. The luminary’s guard.”

Roth knows me better than I care to admit.

“Did you offer Chase Lockwood the same thing?” I ask, coming to a stop in the passenger drop-off lane at the airport.

“Excuse me?”

“Chase Lockwood—you offered him the same thing, didn’t you? In exchange, he was to report only to you about the Eurydice.”

“Oh, Savior,” he says, offering a humorless chuckle. “You want me to be the bad guy, don’t you?”

“If the shoe fits, Roth.”

He laughs again, opening his door and grabbing his bag. “You’re smart, Savior. But if you’re as brilliant as the elites claim, you’ll consider my offer and change your attitude to your future luminary. I don’t expect an answer now, but I won’t ask again.” As he retreats, he calls back, “Reports, Savior. You don’t want to be on my bad side.”

I don’t exactly want to be on his good side either.