My heart thrummed. Despite all the unknowns facing us, how at any minute this temporary bliss could be dashed, I’d take this one beautiful moment.
The subway car screeched to a halt, but Ursuline shook their head. “Next stop.”
Once a few people had shuffled off, it zipped forward again in a cacophony of whines and screeching metal.
“Do you miss the paintings you left behind?” Ursuline asked.
I chewed on my lower lip. “A little? They represented pieces of my journey to get here. And I had one very clear source of inspiration.” I met their gaze, and their eyes softened.
Ursuline brushed a thumb across my lower lip. “If I have it my way, you’ll have the opportunity to create thousands more.”
“What does that entail?” I asked, hope stirring inside me. I ached for a future with them, more than I could express.
Before Ursuline could answer, the subway slammed to a halt at our stop, and they let out a sigh. “Let’s go. Starlight Diner is a block away from here.”
Disappointment thudded in my chest, because once we stepped outside, the cozy bubble of conversation vanished. Nerves returned, along with the awareness that Triton’s men would be prowling the city. Waiting for us.
The sign for Starlight Diner stood out at the end of the block, navy blue and white, and the silver accents on the exterior of the building glinted in the sunlight. Ursuline and I walked along at as fast a pace as possible—not that we’d be able to relax even in the diner—but I wasn’t sure if the desperation was for cover or answers.
A little bit of both.
A heaviness settled over me, a foreboding I couldn’t explain. We were walking into bad news, but the ever-present danger of our current situation rolled in like storm clouds. My phone sat heavily in my pocket, turned off for the moment to avoidtracking. I’d also avoided checking it because I didn’t want to see the messages my parents were guaranteed to have sent.
The only thing they cared about was business, and I’d botched their biggest deal.
I stepped in front of the Starlight Diner, and when I opened the door, the casual murmur of conversation mixed with the scent of berries and bread. The interior featured a navy-blue ceiling studded with softly glowing yellow lights, like stars, and the black vinyl booths with their silvery, almost mirror-esque tables created the perfect ambiance.
It didn’t take more than a moment to spot Jason in the back, his preferred spot when he was out in public.
He hunched deeper than normal, his tentacles twitching as he stared at the surface of a mug. My heart thumped hard, and I reached over to interlace my fingers with Ursuline’s. Whatever he had to tell us, I could guarantee it wouldn’t be good.
“Jason,” Ursuline announced as we stepped up to the booth.
He looked up at last, his face stricken. “I ordered teas.”
I slipped into the seat across from him first and placed my hands around the porcelain mug, clinging to the warmth. The furls of steam tickled my nose.
Ursuline didn’t touch their tea. They withdrew their hand from mine and balled theirs into fists, the whites of their knuckles visible. “What is going on?”
Jason’s brow line drew together, his black eyes filled with pain. “They’re dead,” he said without preamble. “You asked me to check on your family when I went down…”
Ursuline’s shoulders stiffened. “But I just got a letter a month ago.”
Oh no.
The pieces started to click together, far too fast.
Jason shook his head, one of his tentacles twitching. “It wasn’t written by them…”
“The Triton family,” I completed the sentence, my gut churning with acid. “That was why they were trying to keep you from going below.”
“Oh gods,” Ursuline choked out, their eyes widening, and their whole body locking up like they were in rigor mortis. Like they’d died a little bit with their family. “Everyone?”
“Mining accident,” Jason said. “Your parents and younger sibling got caught. Jaris…didn’t want to go on without them.”
Oh fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Bile rose in my throat. Ursuline sat beside me unmoving, as their whole world crumpled apart. They’d sacrificed years of their life to servitude under Frederick’s hand, and the family had known all along they were stringing Ursuline along.
A newfound rage kindled inside me, one that warred with the anguish that emanated from Ursuline, that dwelled in my chest at everything they’d lost. At the way their loyalty had been betrayed.
