“I don’t. I’m hoping to get lucky.”
I glare at him.
“There’s no reason you can’t stay here, Sophia. This is dangerous.”
“We’re in this together,” I say firmly.
He sets down the malivite and lifts a long, hooked staff off the wall. The moment he does, symbols ignite across the stone bordering the silver.
“What language is that?” I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.
“Interesting.Thatis ancient leprechaun, and it says, ‘Where the mind lies, there shall ye go.’”
“So you just think about where you want to travel and that’s where it takes you?”
“Let’s hope.”
He dips the staff into the silver and stirs, muscles bunching with the effort. The silver swirls slowly at first and then picks up speed until it seems to shatter into a million spinning stars, a galaxy trapped in the spin cycle.
With a last grunt of effort, Seven casts the staff aside. I get an eye-popping view of it flying back into its cradle before he grabs my hand and pulls me and the stones into the tunnel. My feet hit a squishy floor as Seven lifts the stones from my grip and breaks into a sprint, tugging me forward. We’re surrounded by galaxies of shimmering silver, stars that cascade on either side of us while whispers of the dead drift through the air around us. Unfortunately, I can clearly see them growing closer to our heads with every step. The tunnel is getting smaller!
Seven’s luck tingles through my hand, and a rush of energy fills me. Ducking, I move faster. I see the light now too. It’s dim but flickering like a candle in a dark room. We leap through the narrowing portal and land in a squat on a rough-hewn stone floor. The same breathlessness and disorientation I’d experienced before floods me, but Seven still has my hand and his luck bolsters me. I pant through it.
“You’re late, Mr. Delaney,” a raspy voice says.
I raise my head to see an elderly man in a black trench coat, his face deeply lined in a way that suggests he’s never genuinely smiled. He bares his teeth and they’re stained indigo—he’s been drinking blue iron.Fuck.Our luck won’t work directly on him. Beside him, three brutish-looking men with equally blue smiles surround Saul, whose skin is more bruised than not. He’s unconscious and barely breathing.
“For a moment, I thought we might have to send your friend back to you in pieces.”
ChapterEighteen
“Hearst,” Seven says through his teeth. “I have what you want. Give me Saul.”
“Show me.” Hearst points his chin toward the case.
Seven places it in front of him and enters the code to unlock it. As he lifts the lid, he slips his hand inside. He’s finding the real malivite, slipping the rubber band off. He does it all so seamlessly. Hearst has no idea what he’s dealing with when it comes to Seven. He’s not his father. Yes, he’s as powerful, but Seven has a heart, and that will always make all the difference.
He tosses the piece to Hearst and then turns the case around to show him the rest of the stones. Hearst pulls a magnifying lens from his pocket and inspects the stone.
“That’s more than we agreed upon,” Hearst says. “There will be no additional payment until our proof of concept.”
I desperately want to know what that the concept is, but I keep my mouth shut. We’re so close.
“Consider it an act of good faith,” Seven says. “To make up for the misunderstanding.”
Hearst nods. “Am I to assume then, that you’ll be taking your father’s place at the helm on this project while he’s indisposed?”
Seven nods slowly, deliberately. That’s right, don’t say a word. Don’t give him anything that might lead to a bargain. “Now give me Saul.”
Hearst waves at his three goons, and they unchain Saul and dump him unceremoniously out of the chair.
I run to him and squat at his side, inspecting him for implanted blue iron. I don’t find any, but the injuries at his wrists and ankles tell me he’s been cuffed and chained with it. “He’s clean.”
Seven closes the case and pushes it across the stone toward Hearst, then joins me next to Saul.
Hearst lifts the case, a dark chuckle rumbling from his lungs. “Pleasure doing business with you, Delaney. I look forward to arevolutionaryfuture.”
Only when he’s gone and we’re alone in the room do I ask Seven, “What the hell does that mean?”
