Blue Ruin (The Phoenix Series Book 1) Page 20

  Max screams at him to stay with them. She materializes in front of him. He shoves her away and continues to barrel through his bedroom doorway. Furniture had been destroyed, now lying in a heap of broken beams. Curtains are singed and crumbling with each passing wind from a cracked window. Blinds are broken and on the floor in a tangle of string and plastic. Tasseled bed sheets give way to blood stains, smeared across the cotton linen.

  Kyle falls to his knees. His broken scream shatters the memory.

  “Ghosts murdered her.” He clenched his wine glass in his hands until Maura thought it would break. “The Keep had discovered a human knew of the magical world.” He smashed the glass against the wall. Wine trickled into the mortar between the bricks like blood.

  “You killed him. The one who murdered your wife,” she said.

  Kyle’s jaw clenched.

  “That’s why you have powers only Keep officials possess.”

  “He kept saying he had only done his job.”

  When visions of Kyle beating the man with his fists flashed into view, Maura jumped. No magic. No spellbound weapons. Just a man’s blinding rage.

  “Hell,” she started. “I’m afraid of going to Hell…”

  His eyes were softer, his stance relaxed.

  “…for all of my sins.”

  “I didn’t take you for a religious person.”

  She averted his gaze. “Cerridwyn speaks to me sometimes.”

  “What does she say?”

  Focused on the flicker of the candle at the table, Maura remembered the times where exhaustion brought down the walls that kept The Void quiet. Cerridwyn's voice, a dark whisper, would break through the silence.

  She locked gazes with Kyle. “I can’t be saved.”

  Chapter Thirty-One: Fractures

  After the call that Liam was on his way, Maura and Kyle left the restaurant. They stopped off at Liam’s apartment to grab a few things and then drove to the cottage. The ride lasted for an hour. During that time, Kyle had explained how he rented an apartment closer to town and used the cottage as a vacation home. Maura tried to ignore his thoughts about how the house had been bought with Theresa in anticipation that they would start a family together.

  They pulled onto a pebbled driveway in front of a white stucco home. Dark brown wood beams framed the corners of the structure. Blossoming flowers lined windowsill flower boxes. Tiny solar lights, angled beside the blue stone path, lit the walkway in the dusk hours. A small tree, surrounded by dozens of tulips, stretched its shade across the small front lawn.

  The home whispered sanctuary.

  Kyle and Maura took their things into the home. He pointed out the small, yellow living room with its blue couches and light wood furniture. To the right of the front entrance sat the kitchen at the corner of the house. It had a table for six, updated electronics, and antique mahogany cabinets. They passed a closed bedroom door and walked to the guest bedrooms that lined the narrow hallway toward the end of the house.

  Maura settled into the pale blue room, set up her mirror in the corner beside a fireplace and straightened the silver iron bed against the window. Its white sheets and pillows would make it hard to smoke in bed, but she was willing to hang out the window.

  An hour later, Liam arrived and they moved into the kitchen where Kyle gathered mugs. Liam and Maura sat at either end of the table.

  “We have a lot to discuss,” Kyle said, setting down a tray of coffee between them. “First off, we need to talk about you getting a new Illusion.”

  Maura took a long sip, ignoring Kyle’s suggestion.

  Liam looked between the two of them. “As long as she stays here no one should recognize her.”

  “Walking around with the face of a supposed dead person isn’t the problem. Why don’t you tell him,” Kyle said.

  She sighed, putting the mug down. “I threw Heidi’s body onto the dance floor at Viper.”

  Kyle raised and lowered his eyebrows, taking a sip.

  Liam choked on a laugh. “W–what?”

  “I’m already fucked as it is.”

  “You didn’t have to make things worse.”

  Maura narrowed her eyes at him. “Adrian knows I’m not dead, even if I kept my Illusion on Heidi.” She ripped her collar down to show healing fang marks. “I didn’t die.”

  Liam paled. He placed his hands over his face and dragged them through his hair.

  “He knows I’m an immortal. There aren’t many of us running around out there. I’m sure he can figure out who I am.”

  Kyle cleared his throat. “You’ll need a new Illusion, Maura.”

  “And what good will that do me?” She looked between the two of them. “I have an Illusion and then I go to the ball. The Keep knows Maura Leroux isn’t dead. Adrian knows I’m not dead. No matter how many Illusions I cycle through, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m still being hunted.”

  Then no Illusion.

  She met Kyle’s gaze.

  It doesn’t matter now, does it.

  Her head pounded with the thought that Adrian had cornered her.

  “We need to know where we stand,” Liam said.

  Kyle placed a hand over Maura’s. His touch jolted the collected memories from the day. You need to tell him everything.

  “Tell me what?” Liam said, his glare burning.

  Maura cupped her hands around the mug, concentrating on its radiating heat.

  “Heidi told Adrian that Maura Leroux's venom was in Henry Bach's neck.” She held up a hand when the pressure of Liam’s words invaded the air before they were spoken. “Adrian knew about Beth Hollings. He just knew she was the one running his case. He went to the Riley’s that night anticipating that she would be there too. His intentions weren’t to find a Leroux, but to find her.”

  “To kill you,” Liam said.

  “The forward momentum of his case would come to a standstill. When he tried to kill me, he discovered he couldn’t lose even if I didn’t die.”

  “How?” Kyle asked.

  “Her fangs,” Liam replied.

  “He took a sample of my venom with the intention to plant it in a crime somewhere if I lived. The Keep would uncover that I was an Abysmal and come after me. Adrian just thought I was a Siren, and with my life on the line, he’d come to my aid. All I’d have to do was find the last Leroux for him since Heidi didn’t have access to the restricted files. But I did. He just wanted to get me in trouble.”

  Maura stared at the table. She couldn’t fathom the idea that Adrian had been one lucky step ahead. With no suspicions that she was the last Leroux, he’d stumbled into a gold mine. She cleared her throat to break apart the thoughts. “Heidi contacted Aegis and from there she could keep an eye on me. Adrian then invited me to Viper. He knew I was too smart to go unarmed. Henry was the only dealer on the east coast with access to antidote. And there Adrian had it, his crime scene. My venom in Henry’s neck.”

  Liam’s neck tightened. His fists clenched to the pattern of his breathing.

  “Then I went to Viper and we had a chat. Tempers rose, and he bit me. He’d take the jail sentence for murder and have Heidi convince the council not to execute him. That’s what he thought would happen. Then I didn’t die. That planted the idea that I was an immortal into his head. The next day, The Keep confirmed any suspicions Adrian had regarding me being Maura Leroux.”

  “He found you by accident,” Liam said.

  “He was just trying to save his ass.”

  Liam sat tensed. His eyes blazed with his rage. Maura couldn’t tell what it was from or where or who it was directed toward. Not wanting to pry his mind, she sank into the chair not knowing if it was because of her.

  “Where do you stand with The Keep?” Kyle asked.

  “They're on Adrian's side. He's been paying them off for years according to Heidi's memories. Dimitri and Sayer will tell the public that I murdered Henry Bach, show the evidence, and neither the public nor other Keep officials will question their decision.”
<
br />   Kyle blew out his lips, combing a hand through his hair.

  Maura sighed. “Now that they both know Maura Leroux is still alive, they won’t stop until they have a body.”

  ***

  Maura spent an hour locked away in her room, smoking through a pack, drowning herself in a bottle of wine, contemplating her fate and the fates that intertwined with hers. Liam and Kyle’s. The world slammed onto her shoulders. No running. No hiding. Adrian was closer than ever.

  She walked into the kitchen. Kyle sat at the table, a pack of cigarettes to his left and a newspaper sprawled out in front of him. He pushed out a chair with his foot. Maura took the offer.

  “Are you alright?” he asked.

  She nodded, taking a cigarette and lighting it with a Flare. “Where’s Liam?”

  “He said he was going for a run.”

  She took a long puff.

  Kyle looked up from the Mundane paper. “I know someone who could help you.” Kyle pushed a small piece of paper across the table. “He’s expecting your call today, tomorrow, a year from now, whenever.”

  “A priest?” She read the name and telephone number.

  “To the Mundane and Mystics, he’s Father Brady.”

  “And to us?”

  “You know him as Jesse.”

  Jesse. The name registered. Images of the night her soul had been split in two sent numbness through her limbs. She remembered how exhausted she was after hours of being submerged, of listening to the same chants, and cycling through the same pain of fire.

  “Maura?”

  “Right. Thanks, Kyle.” Her attention turned to the television in the other room. She stood at the sound of the reporter’s monotone voice.

  “Tomorrow night marks the 500th anniversary of The Keep,” the reporter said. “I'm here with Commissioner Sayer and Head Councilman Dimitri at the location where the century’s biggest bash will take place tomorrow night.”

  Maura gripped the back of the couch. Adrian’s party. “I need to go alone.”

  Kyle cackled. “You must be mad.”

  “I can’t outrun The Keep and Adrian at the same time. If I don’t go, I have the deaths of innocent young lives on my soul.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If I don’t show, Adrian will go to Mystic Academy.”

  Kyle jammed his hands in his pockets and began pacing the small living room.

  Maura didn’t have any thoughts. She didn’t waste time trying to outsmart fate. Her hours were numbered now. No amount of planning would save her. Doomed from the start, she knew what they needed to do now. “We need to prepare.”

  ***

  Maura, Liam, and Kyle sat quietly at the kitchen table. A film of sweat blanketed Liam’s skin.

  Maura knotted her fingers against an empty glass. Her eyes lowered to the table. “I'm going alone tomorrow night,” she said, her gaze connecting with Liam’s for a split second.

  “It's too dangerous,” he said.

  “He can't use one without the other,” she said. “Liam, you need to stay behind. I'm not asking.”

  He sat back, staring out the window. “You can't always get your way.”

  “Don't be a–”

  “I'll go,” Kyle interrupted.

  Liam turned his attention to Kyle, Maura shrinking into her chair.

  “Liam’s right,” Kyle said. “It isn't safe to go alone. But she's right,” he faced Liam. “You can’t go with her.”

  “Fine,” Maura said before Liam could object. “But, I need you to realize something. I’m not getting out of this. All of The Keep will be there along with Adrian. We need to prepare.”

  “Prepare for what?” Kyle asked.

  “In my room there’s a box beneath my bed. Inside are potion vials, pictures, and Death’s Noose.”

  Kyle nodded.

  She slid a small black plastic bag across the table. “You burn them.”

  Kyle clenched the bag in his fist and stuffed it into his pocket.

  Liam slammed his fist on the table. Dishes rattled. A bouquet of flowers wobbled.

  Maura stood. “I need to go for a run.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two: Juliet's Pill

  “Father, there is someone here to see you.” Abraham’s voice pulled Jesse from his writing. “She’s waiting for you outside.”

  Jesse took his glasses off to see the young dark-haired boy standing inside the office. “Well, tell her to come in, son.”

  “The gargoyles won’t allow her to enter.”

  He stilled. Criminals, murderers, even Vampires were allowed into the church to seek salvation. Only the damned had to barter their way in. He internally smiled.

  Jesse left the office and walked down the center church aisle to the hum of choir singers at a late night practice. Nearing the wide church entrance, he saw the crossed spears of two gargoyles blocking the door. A tall, slender woman stood on the other side of them. She wore a loose black scarf over her head that hid her red hair and a matching shawl that concealed her arms.

  She peeked over the glistening silver spears. “Your gargoyles won’t let me in.”

  He rested a hand on each of their shoulders. They retracted their weapons and turned to stone. “Ah, a carrier of many sins. These trusty beasts won’t let in blackened souls.” He threw on a smile and offered her a hand. “But I will.”

  She walked in on her own.

  In the light of the low ceiling vestibule, he made out the softness of her face, the light of her emerald eyes, and how the pain behind them hadn’t changed.

  “I’ve been expecting you, Maura.”

  She strained a smile. “So I’ve been told.”

  He gestured toward the office. “Let’s have a talk.”

  She walked beside Jesse down the aisle. Her gaze traveled through every crevice and rested on every darkened corner. She stopped at the first pew, and Jesse followed her gaze to the altar where a group of choir singers surrounded it. Her face twisted into indecipherable emotions as her eyes drifted to the statue of Elise. Jesse moved beside her.

  “You were here every night,” he said. “Praying.”

  “My prayers fell on deaf ears.” She turned her back on Elise. “You were the only one who heard them.”

  “Elise saved you.” He followed after her as she walked toward the offices. “She protected your soul from the Goddesses during the exorcism. She–”

  “You saved me.” She waited at his closed office door. “You pulled me from the water. Elise watched me drown.” Once the door opened, she walked into office and took a seat. “To be honest, I didn’t think you were still alive after all of these years.” She removed the shawl and scarf, and stuck them into her purse. Waves of red curls bounced around her broad shoulders. Lines of magic, black and silver, wound through her skin like rivers. The gravity of who she was rested in her appearance. It had his stomach flop a few times before settling when he took a seat at the desk.

  “I don’t know what Kyle told you, but I’m not here for a new mirror.”

  He chuckled. “I suppose a phone call would’ve been more convenient for such a minor request. What does bring you here?”

  “I need a pill,” she said. “Dealers certainly don’t carry it, and I know you’ve dabbled in Mystic Medicine since we were in Abysm. I’m willing to pay anything.”

  He loosened his collar. “What kind of pill?”

  “Juliet’s Pill.”

  “I can’t give that to you.”

  “Why not?”

  He looked around the room in attempts to find an answer that would suit her stubbornness. “The drug is not stable. There are risks. Risks that outweigh the benefits. My conscience prevents me from giving it to you.”

  “This is my last resort, Jesse.”

  “There are other alternatives.”

  “I’m not willing to kill myself. With advancements in spells, it won’t be long before The Keep discovers how to release souls from a body.”

  Jesse remained quiet, knowing h
e wouldn’t convince her otherwise. She came here knowing she’d leave with the drug. His words of concern would do nothing to change that.

  “Why do you stay?” he asked. “Why do you continue to fight him?”

  Maura looked up at him. Her face was vacant of emotion, but her eyes blazed with hidden feeling. Her glare stung. The silence burned.

  He sighed to release himself from her stare. “You have no reason–”

  “I have every reason to,” she interjected, a lick of venom in her tone. “Adrian can’t continue to kill–”

  “When did he become your burden to burn?” He shifted under her piercing stare. “For forty years, he’s chased you, and you him. Forty years you chose to endure.” He raised a hand when she opened her mouth to speak. “Not for fear The Keep will learn to uncage souls, no such intentions have been spoken of. You stay when staying is what Adrian wants – what Adrian needs.”

  Jesse thought she’d turned to stone. Her glare turned cold and sent ice along his skin. Her voice sounded as if it came from elsewhere, far away, spoken down the end of a long tunnel. “You didn’t let me drown.”

  Life crashed into her being again. Her lips twitched. Her eyes dulled in their intensity, warmed. “The decision to stay wasn’t my choice alone. You saved me.” She leaned forward, fingers on the desk. “Why? You condone killing myself, justifying it by saying I have no reason to do what I’ve done – that this isn’t my burden to bear. Then, why save me?”

  “You asked me to.”

  Jesse finds Maura praying. She murmurs to herself, too low for him to hear. He’s seen her before. Same pew. Same time. Same desperation etched into her face.

  Maura sank back in her chair. “This has nothing to do with why I’m here.”

  “You’re right,” he sighed. “You’re here to ask for help, help that I cannot give.”

  “Goddamnit, Jesse.” She held her head in her hand, rubbing her temple. “I’ve placed my life in your hands before, this time is no different.”