“It was always going to be risky,” Poe said. “And it’s okay to change your mind.”
I wasn’t afraid to change my mind. In a lot of ways it would make prefect sense. I was in a different place than I’d been a few months ago when I’d joined the first Hunt. I still missed June, was still angry that she’d been taken from us, but I was moving closer to acceptance.
And there were good things in my life, things worth protecting.
My conversation with Olivia had made it clear that my anger at Ethan Todd, my determination to make him pay, had come at a price: I’d distanced myself from my family, had left them to grieve alone.
I'd lost myself for a while too. I’d wasted time at Lushberry, folding shirts and hanging dresses when I really wanted to be in the kitchen making mille-feuille with crème anglaise.
And I had the three men who were sitting around me. I didn’t know what the future looked like for us, if there could even be one that made sense, but I knew I wanted to find out.
I knew I didn’t want to see them hurt or in jail because of me.
But yeah, this was still what I wanted: Ethan Todd buried deep underground where he couldn’t poison anyone else’s mind, where he couldn’t hurt anyone else.
And this time it didn’t come from a place of pain or even rage. It came from a place of quiet, calm certainty that the world would be a better place without Ethan Todd.
“What do you say, little bird?” Poe asked. “It’s your call.”
I took a deep breath. “I still want him dead. But only if you’re really up for it.” Our power dynamic had been all over the place since the first Hunt, but now we were partners — equals — in every sense of the word. “I don’t want to pressure you into something you think is a bad idea.”
“Fuck that,” Bram said. “I wasn’t going to say anything in case you’d changed your mind, but he’s been a dead man walking since the moment he took you.”
“A hundred percent,” Remy said.
“So we’re going to the city?” I held my breath, wondering if they would expect me to stay in Blackwell Falls.
Bram’s arms tightened around me. “We’re going to the city.”
37
MAEVE
The city wasbleakly beautiful in February, the holiday decorations long gone, spring still too far away to feel in the air. It was cold and damp, but there was still magic in the bustle of pedestrians and the ever-present honking of horns, the city lights and the steam that rose from subway grates in the road.
Bram pulled up to the valet outside the Bowery Hotel, a modest brick building in Lower Manhattan. It was obviously a high-end neighborhood, but the kind of subtle high-end that said once upon a time, grit and violence had reigned supreme. Glossy boutique storefronts stood beside restored brick facades, and scaffolding rose into the night like metal sculptures, as if the neighborhood was mid-transition from its hard scrabble past to the gentrified new money that was in evidence all around.
It was like the Butchers: violence under beauty, truth under lies.
We entered the lobby and I looked around with appreciation, taking in the ornately carved wood paneling, richly patterned carpets, and old-world lighting. The walls were covered in patterned wallpaper that should have clashed but didn’t, and luxurious red velvet draperies framed the windows. It was aplace frozen in time, a gentlemen’s club or a lounge for the wealthy in the1920s.
“Wow,” I said, slowing down to take it all in as we made our way to the front desk. A fire crackled from a marble hearth so big I could have fit inside it, and leather club chairs sat next to upholstered sofas with flirty fringe. “This is gorgeous.”
We signed in and were handed an old-fashioned key — an actual key, not a key card — attached to a red tassel.
“Enjoy the Presidential Suite,” the desk clerk said with a smile. “Your luggage will be up shortly.”
Poe took my hand and we headed for the elevator.
I looked up at him. “Presidential Suite?”
“Obviously,” Poe said. “Think we’re going to cheap out on our girl for Valentine’s Day?”
It took a second for his words to register. “Oh my god… tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day.”
I hadn’t even thought about it. I’d been too busy planning for the trip into the city, following the online chatter around Ethan Todd’s last-minute addition to Apex and the promised showdown with NYNancy (it wouldn’t happen of course — NYNancy wasn’t a real person — but the people online didn’t know that).
Remy laughed. “Now you’re catching on.”
