“Don’t leave behind any evidence,” she said, getting out on the other side. “I want you to clean the back seat when we get home and put this car into the garage and out of view. Replace the interior if you have to, but be discreet.” Her voice fell out of range.
The driver dragged me out of the car, and my head flopped forward so my hair curtained my view. He immediately lifted me into his arms and carried me a short way. I smelled freshly cut grass as it hissed beneath his shoes, and I could see the blue sky through my hair.
“Dump her bag before we get home. I don’t want her things in my possession,” Lenore continued.
My bag!My boots were in there—the boots with the tracking device. Why did I have to go and change into my sneakers? Because I planned on walking home, not getting carried to my death. How would Keystone ever find my body? Tears welled in my eyes when I thought of the last time I’d seen my father. I couldn’t bear to think of him going through this all over again. Never having closure.
“Be sure you pay the caretaker extra for his cooperation.”
Extra. Despite Lenore rambling on about coincidence, this hadn’t been a chance meeting. She had planned this. Perhaps she had Christian watch over her to keep us apart. But what if she’d made him an offer? One he couldn’t refuse?
The driver placed me in something soft and padded, and it took a minute to realize I was in a coffin.
Lenore hovered over me, the sunlight in her hair. “It took me a little time to learn about you, Raven Black. Or should I say, Raven Graves? Your poor mother was so young. I thought it was only fitting that you two were buried together, so imagine my surprise when I found your headstone next to hers. We paid the caretaker to exhume the coffin—it’s amazing what humans are willing to do for money. I’m curious about the burned remains inside. I removed it, of course. I’m not a monster. You really went out of your way to fake your death, didn’t you? What a grim irony that this is where you ended up after all.” She locked eyes with me. “Speak, Raven. You can’t move, but you can speak.”
A growl escaped my throat. I wanted to tell her exactly where she could go and what I was going to do to her when I got out, but at this point my only chance might be reasoning with the wench. “You gave me all that advice. Don’t you want to mentor me? I thought your purpose was to empower women.”
“Not you, Raven. You’re the last person I want with power. All those women and men you arrested today were bad apples—unfit for leadership. Oligarchs run this city, and their time is coming to an end. There are stronger women who will assume their roles, and I’ll see to that. In another life, you could have been one of those women. But right now you’re the only thing that stands between me and what I want.”
“Christian? You called him weak.”
“And he is. But I know how to manipulate him. You don’t. You squander that power, and that simply will not do.”
“Why not kill me? You could send Keystone the body. Otherwise, they’ll be looking for me.”
A smile touched her pink lips. “This is so much more suspenseful, don’t you think? I don’t like blood on my hands. Never did. That’s why I didn’t kill Christian. You won’t die either, Raven. Well, probably not. I’ve never buried a Mage before. I’ve heard even bones can regenerate, but maybe that’s just an urban legend. As long as you still draw breath, there’s still hope. A Mage doesn’t have to breathe. It won’t be comfortable, but that’s not something I can help. My burying Christian made him who he is today. You don’t deserve to die, and someday you’ll thank me for this. You’ll see that the only way we truly grow is to suffer.”
It made me wonder when she had suffered last.
“Don’t do this. I’m not your enemy. But if you put me in the ground, you better spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder, because someday I’m going to claw my way out of here.”
“That I don’t doubt. But all that hostility you have will fade, darling. Otherwise, Christian would have tried killing me. But he hasn’t, because he knows I gave him a gift. And he also gained enough perspective to realize that emotions are a weakness. This is something you’ll have a lot of time to reflect on.” Lenore tidied a loose lock of her hair before reeling me in with her gaze. “Set your internal clock, Mage. In thirty minutes, you’ll have forgotten our conversation. You won’t remember seeing me in the car, speaking to me, any of the things we talked about, or my driver carrying you to the grave. Your last memory will be stepping outside the White Owl and crossing the street to the donut shop. Goodbye, Raven.”
“Don’t do this! You can’t just leave me here!”
“Coffins are more luxurious than they used to be. You have a nice pillow and lots of padding. Poor Christian. He had none of these luxuries.”
The casket closed, and I heard something turn and click on the side.
Oh God, the casket key.
Immersed in darkness, I felt my limbs tingling, and the feeling returned. My heart pounded against my rib cage as the coffin lowered. I immediately thrust my hands upward at the lid and pushed with all my might. I cursed and cried as I punched against the coffin lid. Despite the padding, I was certain I’d bloodied my knuckles. The heavy sound of dirt thumped against the lid of the coffin, and reality began to sink in.
“Do you hear me?” I shouted, my voice trapped inside the small space. “I’m going to make you regret that you didn’t kill me.”
I could almost imagine her laughing, because it was Lenore who would have the last laugh. She’d scrubbed my memories of the entire affair, and the clock was ticking. It was only a matter of time before I’d be trapped in the dark with no memory of how I got here.
Fear evaporates when you’re fighting for your life. But when you strip away the element of danger, you’re confronted with that fear. I was going to suffocate in this coffin, and it would be a slow and agonizing ordeal. As my life flashed before my eyes, I went completely still and slowed my breathing.
Conserve your air.
Even if I had consumed Lenore’s blood, she would’ve still charmed me. And I had doubts that I could break out of the heavy weight of earth above. This wasn’t a movie. How exactly did all those undead zombies punch through their coffins and climb through two tons of dirt?
Stupid filmmakers. Think, Raven, think.
How long would it take before Keystone realized I was missing? Christian might wait until dusk before worrying. He knew how I liked to go off and do my own thing.
I shut my eyes.Oh shit.Eventually Christian would go searching. And his first stop would be the White Owl. Then he’d run into Houdini and realize that I’d kept that a secret from him. Lenore would continue to work him over like putty until he didn’t know up from down. He’d give up looking, thinking I’d deceived him somehow. All the possibilities made me cover my face.
