“But where is he? How did you get him out of Ashgate?”
I cross my arms over my chest. “I told Godmother I was their third. I said I was you.”
She gasps, her fingers flying to her lips. “But—”
“Yeah, she’s holding it over my head like an acid bomb. One slipup and my reputation, what’s left of it, is toast. I don’t need to tell you how unfortunate that would be for Seven and me.”
“Fuck, Sophia, I’m sorry. I never meant for you to do that. How… how did you even know?” Her voice comes out breathy on that last part, and her cheeks redden.
“I didn’t know it was you if that’s what you’re asking. Both Patrick and River kept their bargain.” Not that they had a choice. A bargain can’t be broken, not without killing the fairy who breaks it. And although we are experts at finding loopholes in our deals, River is too upstanding of a person to try. “I went to visit River in Ashgate, and he told me there wassomeone. I knew that someone couldn’t come forward, so I pretended to be you. Godmother accepted it and moved him to a safe house.”
“It takes all participants involved to break a bargain made by three.” She sounds breathless.
“You’ll need to find Patrick, then bring him to this address.” I pull out my phone and show it to her. “You should go now, before you lose your nerve.”
Her eyes widen and she grabs her phone, her thumbs flying as she enters the address. “Thank you, Sophia.” She squeezes my hand. “Thank you.”
Dr. Bonheur chooses that moment to waddle into the kitchen. “Now, now, no need for tears!” he says when he sees Evangeline’s face. “Your brother will be as good as new in a day or two. I’ve loaded him with enough luck to be sure of that and taken care of those nasty wounds. Nothing to worry about but making sure they don’t happen again!” He holds up a hand before Eva or I can say a word. “I don’t want to know.” He reaches into his bag and withdraws an invoice. “My bill.”
I glance at the paper. The header readsPipes and Things Repair and Replacement. The line item simply saysHouse Callwith an amount in the five figures. Discretion is key, Eva had said. If someone found this, they’d never know Seven had seen a doctor.
Bonheur gives as both a little wave and then heads toward the door with his big black bag. Once the door is closed behind him, I move for Seven’s bedroom.
Eva grabs my elbow. “Don’t tell Seven, okay? Not now. He has enough to worry about.”
“Okay. But Eva, I’ve spent a lot of time bluffing over the years, and the truth is always better.”
She holds up her phone with the safe house address, hugs me, and all but runs for the door.
ChapterSixteen
By the time I return to Seven’s side, his hair is wet from a shower and he’s standing in front of his closet in nothing but a pair of green boxer briefs. The blood is gone but there are cuts and scrapes marring the muscles of his back, although they all seem to be healing now. When he hears me come in, he turns to look at me and I notice a gash under his left eye. Nothing is worse than the line of black stitches up his sternum though. I cringe when I see it.
“What are you doing out of bed?” I ask. “You need to rest.”
“I need to go to Ashgate and confront my father about what he promised Rayrcore. Where is this malivite mine? How much am I supposed to bring them?” He’s thumbing through a row of slacks as if he’s trying to decide which to wear or which will hurt the least when he puts them on.
“It’s the middle of the night. Ashgate is locked up. You won’t get in until the morning.”
He pauses for a second, staring aimlessly into his closet. “Right. We’ll go to Dad’s office instead. There’s got to be something on his computer, some clue to what I’m supposed to do.” Seven glances over his shoulder at me. “They didn’t believe that I don’t know what Chance promised them. I think they thought I was working with him, that we were swindling them.”
I close the space between us, and it’s a good thing because when he turns back to his closet, he stumbles. I wrap my arms around him from behind, steadying him. “It’s late. You’re in no condition to face this right now. It can wait until tomorrow.”
He heaves a sigh and leans back into me. “They have Saul, Sophia.”
“I know. Aside from Godmother, you are the most powerful fae in Devashire… when you’re healthy. I don’t know how they captured you—”
“It was an ambush.”
“It won’t happen twice.” I grip his shoulder and place a kiss on the bare skin of his back. “Rest. Recover. A plan will come to us tomorrow.”
He releases the pair of pants he’s gripping and hangs his head. “We don’t just need to save Saul; we need to stop Rayrcore. I don’t know why they want this malivite, but it must be incredibly valuable if they’re willing to kill for it. This isn’t going to end with one shipment.”
“I don’t think so either,” I say. “The night we discovered what your father was doing, the last thing he said to me before he passed out was that the murders were part of something far bigger than him. He alluded to the same thing when I interviewed him in Ashgate. This Rayrcore thing, it has to be related, and it wouldn’t be a jump to connect it to the murder either.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know. I can’t put it together, and as hard as I tried, they wouldn’t share much about it while they were… b-beating me.” His voice cracks slightly, and I hug him tighter from behind, pressing my cheek into his back. It’s all I can do not to lose it and melt into a pile of tears over what they did to him, but the last thing Seven needs is to have to comfort me right now.
“I’m here. You’re okay,” I say confidently.
