I said nothing as we exited the shop, the door closing behind us with a soft chime, the noise quickly swallowed by the quiet of the street outside. Although my attention was already elsewhere.
Reaching into my pocket, I pulled free the torn fragment of paper. My gaze settled on the symbol etched across its surfaceas the final pieces of recognition slid into place. Doing so with a clarity that left no room for doubt.
Torin glanced toward me, his expression sharpening as he took in the shift.
“You know where she is.”
I didn’t look up immediately, my focus remaining on the marking for a moment longer before I answered, my voice calm, measured, and absolute.
“I do.”
I folded the fragment between my fingers before lifting my gaze to the street ahead.
“Get the plane ready.”
A brief pause followed, just long enough for the weight of what came next to settle fully into place.
“We have an Enforcer to see.”
23
WHEN THE DARKNESS ARRIVES
ELIZA
The last place I expected to find myself was here again. Sitting in yet another demonic club beside yet another Enforcer, wearing a dress I hadn’t chosen in a place I barely understood. All while pretending, at least on the surface, that everything hadn’t just fallen apart.
At least this time, I wasn’t on his lap, which, considering everything else, felt like a small mercy at this point. Not that there were going to be any more laps in my future. Not after Wye… No, Oblivion, I had to stop thinking of him as Wye. As if this would help, I thought dryly. Because honestly, it felt like nothing could at this point.
My fingers curled slightly against the fabric at my thigh as I stared out over the shifting mass of bodies before me. The music pulsed low through the space while ever-changing lights caught against skin, glass, and movement in a way that made it all feel unreal. It was as if I had stepped into something that existed just slightly out of sync with the rest of the world…which, I supposed, I had.
The last few hours blurred together in fragments, disjointed pieces that refused to settle into anything coherent. After Kiki had left me alone in that room, I had done the only thing I had been capable of doing…I had cried.
Not gracefully or quietly, but in a way that left my chest aching and my head spinning. The kind of crying that came from something breaking rather than simply hurting. And when that had finally passed, or at least dulled enough for me to function, I had moved on to the next stage of whatever this was. Which, apparently, had been food.
There had been more of it than I could have possibly needed, rich and indulgent in a way that should have been memorable. Yet I could barely recall tasting any of it, as I had eaten simply because it was there. Because it had given me something to do that didn’t involve replaying the look on his face when I left.
After that, everything blurred into nothing, or at least it felt that way, because the next thing I remembered was waking up in that same room. The light softer, the silence heavier, and a dress laid out neatly across the bed as though it had always been there, waiting. I hadn’t questioned it, hadn’t had the energy to. Instead, I had simply sat up, looked around the surprisingly modern room and started getting ready.
This didn’t take long, seeing as my hair was a lost cause anyway, thanks to it drying in a mass of waves that made it look shorter. Normally, I would have wished for my straighteners, but, as I said, I was just going through the motions right now. Besides, who did I have to impress?
No one.
Not anymore.
After dressing, I had smoothed the fabric into place without really looking at myself. My fingers traced absent paths over the delicate lace that clung to me in intricate patterns. The deep red material was both soft and striking, fitted close throughthe bodice before falling into a lighter, flowing short skirt that moved with every step I took.
I hadn’t thought about where I was going or why it mattered, not by that point. Because it no longer felt like I had much choice in any of it, which was how I had ended up here after Kiki had come to fetch me. Then shortly after I had arrived, Bo had sat down next to me, making me hiss,
“Where have you been?”I asked quietly, his small frame slumping slightly as if he were exhausted.
“Explaining just enough,” he replied cryptically, his tone making me frown, as there was something careful in it now.
“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked, looking around as if I half expected to turn around and find Walder looming over me. Thankfully, he was yet to show, and if I were honest, I was kind of nervous for when he did.
“It means I told him what he needs to hear and nothing more,” he replied with a grit of his teeth, making realization dawn.
“You left out the part about Oblivion, you mean,”I bit out, and he narrowed his eyes at me, looking around before telling me,
