“Oh?” Angelique asked, the smile never leaving her lips.
“What is it?” Magnolia Blue asked.
For a moment, Amma was silent. Then she reached down and scattered the cards.
“What’s wrong?” Link asked, because he’d known Amma long enough to recognize when something had her rattled.
“What did you see?” Liv asked, looking almost as worried as the Seer.
Amma pointed at Angelique. “This one’s trouble, sure as the day is long and I’m livin’ in the Otherworld.”
John put his arm around Liv. “So we can’t trust her?”
“She’ll take you to the Ravenwood labs like she told you,” Amma said. “But I can’t see what’ll happen after that.”
“Did you see Rid?” Link couldn’t stop himself from asking.
“Do I look like your personal crystal ball, Wesley Lincoln?”
He swallowed hard. “Sorry, ma’am. I had to ask.”
Liv pulled at the strings tied around her wrist like bracelets. “And there was nothing else?”
Amma sighed. “Like I told you before, the cards don’t always tell you what you want to know. The rest is up to you to figure out.” She straightened the bottom of Necro’s leather skirt like it was one of her good church dresses. “Now I have a glass a sweet tea and a game a gin rummy to get back to. You take care, Wesley. And don’t forget what you promised me.”
Link shook his head. “I won’t, ma’am.”
“Then I’ll be seein’ you. And if you disappoint me, I’ll be payin’ you a visit or two down here. So don’t.” Amma closed her eyes, and a second later, Necro drew in another sharp breath, followed by one of the worst coughing fits Link had ever seen—not that he was surprised. Channeling someone like Amma couldn’t be easy.
Sampson rushed to Necro’s side and rubbed her back.
“I’m okay,” she choked.
“You don’t look like it,” Sampson said.
Floyd handed her friend a bottle of water, and Necro took a huge swig. “Better?”
“Yeah, thanks.” Necro slumped against the wall, looking exhausted. “Are you sure that old lady wasn’t a Caster?” she asked Link.
“A hundred percent,” Link said. “Maybe two hundred. Amma was more Mortal than I am.” He couldn’t stop staring at Necro. Now that Amma was gone, he felt the sadness of losing her all over again.
Ethan’s gonna kill me if he ever finds out about this.
“What did she say?” Necro asked, closing her eyes.
Angelique stood up and strode over to a carved table that was probably Magnolia Blue’s desk. The Cataclyst hopped up and sat on the ancient wood like it was the hood of a car. “Big picture: The Seer said you can trust me to take you to the labs.”
Necro seemed to sense there was more to the story and looked up at Sampson. “And after that?”
The Darkborn frowned. “She wasn’t sure.”
“Oh, please,” Angelique said. “Let’s not get bogged down on the details, here.”
It didn’t matter to Link. If Angelique knew how to get to the labs, he was going with her. He approached the Cataclyst slowly, trying to get a read on her—as if he had any chance of seeing something Amma couldn’t. “Tell me the truth, Angelique. Can we trust you after we get to the labs?”
A mischievous smile tugged at the corners of her mouth like she was thinking about something funny. “Of course you can’t. But that’s why I’ll be the one to do what needs to be done once we get there.”
Link was afraid to ask the next question, but someone had to. “What is that, exactly?”
Angelique looked him dead in the eye, and a vicious smile spread across her lips. “Kill them all.”
CHAPTER 18: NOX
What Is and What Should Never Be
Nox broke off the kiss and pushed her back, out of breath.
But the moment they weren’t touching, an inexplicable sadness washed over him. He stared through the bars at the girl he’d risked his life to save.
The girl he loved.
Ridley.
The girl watching him wasn’t the Ridley Duchannes he met in that game of Liar’s Trade a few months ago—and years before that on a beach in Barbados when they were kids. This girl was a different kind of predator. She tracked his every movement—stalking him the way he had watched her the first time he laid eyes on her.
What did Silas do to you, Rid?
Do you even know?
Nox had to find a way to reach the girl he fell in love with, even if it meant losing her. “Rid, you’re talking crazy. You’re with Link.” He hesitated, dreading the next part. “You love him.”
It was about the third time he’d tried to say it, but it didn’t seem to be sinking in. Part of him wanted to shut the hell up and pull her mouth back against his.
The rest of him knew the truth.
Not like this.
I don’t want her this way.
Ridley said nothing. She moved closer to the bars again, never taking her eyes off him. The way she was looking at him—biting her lip, with those sleepy eyes beckoning him.
Every cell in his body told him it was real—
She isn’t thinking about Link, you idiot. She wants you.
She closed her eyes.
“Three.”
She slid one arm around Nox’s neck.
“Two.”
She found her way through the bars with her other hand.