Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-One

Anora and the Queen’s Ransom

Shy picks me up at one that afternoon. When I shut the door of his Jeep, he offers an easy smile, and yet I feel his tension. It corners me, stealing my breath, and I can’t help asking, “Are you okay?”

He seems surprised by that question. “Yeah. Why?”

I shake my head, trying to form words. “I just thought I’d ask. You know, after last night.”

His smile broadens, and it reaches deep into my heart. “I’m more than okay after last night.”

I blush and look away, though I know he’s not being completely honest. I can feel that he is troubled. Like tendrils of smoke, it surrounds me, caressing my skin. It makes me want to touch him, to feel his energy deep in my bones, because somehow, I know it will comfort us both.

The thought keeps slicing through me, sharp and startling. Something changed between us last night, and it didn’t even start with the kiss. My dreams suddenly make more sense.

I know his soul.

He was my calm in all the chaos.

It was the last thing I wanted to feel for a shadow knight, especially after Chase.

Why do I feel this way now? Was it Samael’s incense or seeing Shy in his Valryn form that created this connection? Both make me uneasy.

“What about you?” he asks.

“Huh?”

“What about you?” he says again. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I breathe. “Sleepy.”

He smiles. “Me too.”

He puts his Jeep in gear, and we start retracing Lily’s steps. While Shy drives to our first location—a beach called Peter’s Point—he explains Jacobi’s plans to gain access to the security office to review footage from the day before Lily died.

“By gain access—”

“I mean he’ll probably hack the server.”

I shake my head. “How in the world did he learn how to do that?”

“You can find anything on the internet.”

I still don’t understand why we can’t just go back to Samael and ask her to trace Lily’s soul again. It seems like the fastest way to get what we need, and without wasting more precious time. Plus, I could ask Samael if she did anything to my brain last night when she lit that incense.

Peter’s Point is uneventful. It’s a small peninsula with several parking spaces for vehicles and boat trailers. A road curves around, offering access to various camping, fishing, and swimming areas.

Shy and I get out and walk. It’s hard not to reach for him. My body feels magnetized, and every time I bump him, an electric current shudders through me. Our fingers brush, but he never slips his hand into mine. I try to ignore the way it makes me feel—like this is all temporary, like it’s an act.

Is it an act?

Did I fall for the same trap Chase set?

I shake my head. A kiss doesn’t mean you’re together, I remind myself.

“Did Lily like the lake too?” I ask.

“Not really. She hates—hated”—the correction makes my chest ache—“not being able to see her feet when she swam.”

“Why do you think she was here?”

He’s quiet a moment and then looks around, squinting against the bright sky.

“I think she was probably meeting her boyfriend here.”

I can’t help thinking about last night.

“You mean she was meeting him in secret?”

Shy doesn’t say anything.

“Was there something wrong? Was she not allowed to date?”

“Something like that.”

I know he’s not telling me everything, and it’s just another reminder of why I need to keep my wits about me when I’m around Shy. I slip my hand in the pocket of my jacket. Thane gave me the necklace Lily had given him. You know, just in case you don’t find anything tomorrow, he’d said last night before dropping me off at my house.

And it’s looking like we aren’t.

Shy and I walk the loop around the lake and then get back in the Jeep. After, we head to June’s, and when Shy parks, I feel a resurgence of his anxiety.

“What’s wrong?”

He looks at me quizzically, as if he can’t figure out why I asked.

“Nothing.” He pauses, rubbing his hands on his thighs. “I can go in alone if you don’t wanna come in.”

What is he hiding?

“No, I want to come in. I could use some coffee.” I feel like the walking dead.

He nods once, and we head inside.

I’m familiar enough with June’s now to expect several kids from Rayon High to be here, but I don’t expect them to look up all at once when we enter. I don’t like it, and I have a feeling it is because the star of the Nacoma Knight football team has arrived.

Shy places his hand on the small of my back, sending shivers up my spine, and guides me to the counter. We order two coffees, and after the transaction, Shy asks the barista, “Hey, man, did you happen to see Lily in here about a week ago?”

I assume Shy knows the barista. He’s a short, round kid with glasses. His name tag says Jorden. “Maybe? She came in here a lot. It’s hard to say.”

“Was she talking to anyone you didn’t recognize?”

“No, not really. Just the same people.”

I watch Shy’s face, and he raises a brow. “Like?”

“You know, Thane Treadway and her boyfriend, Jake.”

“Thanks, man. Tell your dad I said hi.”

“Sure.”

Shy retrieves our coffees, but just as he turns around, two muscly boys approach. One has locs that come to his shoulders, and one is trying to grow a mustache, but it just looks like he missed spots shaving.

“Savior,” says the one with locs.

“Jeremy.”

The kid’s eyes slide to me, and he smiles, nodding. “This your girlfriend?”

“We’re actually pretty busy at the moment, Jeremy,” Shy says, handing me a coffee. He places his hand on the small of my back again and starts to guide me to the door.

“Sure, sure,” Jeremy says and then, “Heard you were backing out of the queen’s ransom.”

“We’re not backing out. It was cancelled,” I snap, frustrated that this kid would bring up something so superficial in the face of Shy’s loss.

The kid’s smile widens. “Who said it was cancelled, princess?”

Shy pulls me closer and directs me toward the door. Outside, he walks me to the passenger side of the Jeep. He’s never done this before. I want to tell him not to worry, I won’t disappear getting into his car, but I watch his face as he closes the door, and I know what Jeremy said has made him mad.

“You okay?” I ask as he starts his Jeep.

“Yeah,” he says. “Let’s get you home. I bet you want a nap.”

It’s something I feel he should say with a smile, but he doesn’t even look at me. He just backs out and heads to my house. Before I get out, he stops me.

“Anora,” he says. “I don’t trust Jeremy. Don’t go outside tonight.”

I start to laugh, but there’s something in the way he’s looking at me and the way he feels that makes me nod.

“Okay.”

Shy reaches across the console, laces his fingers through my hair, and kisses me. Everything about it feels perfect and familiar, and I wish I could stay like this forever. That it could just be me and Shy and none of the other things that seem to be conspiring against us. He pulls away and looks at me as if I’m everything he ever wanted, but then his expression goes cold and he offers me a tight “Be careful.”

* * *

It’s dark when I decide to leave for the graveyard.

I clutch Thane’s necklace in my palm, studying the pendant. It’s a flat circle with the letters L and T carved into the silver. It must be some sort of friendship necklace. It feels wrong to have it in my possession—just as personal as my poppa’s coin. I should have refused to take it, but I know why Thane gave it to me. Finding out what happened to Lily and her soul is more important. Besides, I’m partly responsible for this. I have to fix it if I can.

I take a deep breath, shove the necklace in my pocket, and climb out of my bedroom window. When my feet hit the ground, I come face-to-face with the hellhounds. They sit in a V, and I know they’re prepared to follow me, but if I’m going to keep any Valryn from realizing I’m gone, they’re going to have to stay put.

“Stay,” I say.

They whimper in unison, which makes me feel strangely guilty, but they lie down, resting their heads on their paws.

After a moment, I extend my hand, and the one closest to me inches forward until his wet nose touches my fingers. I scratch his muzzle and whisper, “I’ll be back. I promise.”

I grab my bike and walk it to the road. I cast one last glance over my shoulder. The hounds watch me, but they haven’t moved from their spots.

I head toward the graveyard. I can tell when I’m close because I can feel the energy of the dead growing stronger. I navigate the souls faster this time and approach the mausoleum. The door is still ajar, the lock broken from Thane’s handiwork. I start up the stairs when someone grabs me from behind.

I react, slamming my head into their face. Whoever has a hold of me lets go.

“Fuck! I think she broke my nose.”

I spin and run. The thread is trying to burrow out of my palm, reacting to my fear. No, I think. You’ve caused so much trouble already.

“Get her!” another voice calls.

Someone knocks into me, and I fall—straight through a dead person. Whatever they died from causes my head to spin, and as everything goes dark, I hear a third, familiar voice in the mix.

“Shit. Is she okay?”

Jeremy.

Then, nothing.