I drop my hands into my lap so I can give him an extremely skeptical look. “You want to waltz right through the front door?”
“It’s a weak point. Smartest way to go about this is to use it against them.”
Dani folds her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on top of them. The pose immediately makes her look younger, more innocent. Which of course she’s anything but.
“I could probably get in without much trouble. None of them know the part I played in Kilpatrick’s death. I told them the Butcher turned on me.” She gestures at the cut on her cheek, and she doesn’t need to explain any more than that. I can already picture her slicing into her own face, future scars be damned, just to sell the story. “You two, though… Orion, your face is all over town, and no offense, Val, but bluffing isn’t really your skill. They’re going to clock you as soon as you step inside.”
I shrug. That’s an easy enough problem to solve. “I’ll just cut them all down.”
Orion clears his throat pointedly. “Except you can’t kill everyone instantaneously, and the second they know you’re there,they could move Halle and Kelda somewhere else—or worse. So let’s save that for plan B, okay?” He sets the stylus down and sits back. “I think we can use my… notoriety to our advantage.”
“How is that?” Dani asks.
“Just like any other job,” he says, which isn’t helpful in the slightest. “You get them to look one way so they won’t see what you’re actually up to.”
I grumble a little, exasperated. “And whatarewe up to exactly?”
Orion waves my question away. “Patience. I’m just starting to pull this idea together, but if you rush my genius, it’ll all fall apart.” Leaning forward, he nudges the tablet toward Dani again. “Can you give me more details on this main room? Tables, chairs, exit points—anything you’ve got.”
All this roundabout, deception stuff is giving me a headache. Why can’t he just lay out a simple, straightforward path—preferably three steps or less? I want this to be over; I want my sisters safe. I want Covenant and everything it is and all my memories here put behind me. I can feel this town closing in around me like a hangman’s noose, and I’ve only got so much time left before it’s too late to escape.
While Orion interrogates Dani for any stray information, I get to my feet and wander farther into the lodgings, my eyes skimming over the clean, tidy kitchen and the perfectly made bed tucked into a bedroom that’s not much bigger than a closet. She has a washroom in the back, stocked with dry soaps and towels and rags by the mirror, so I grab a cloth and a portion of oil cleanser and wipe myself down, scrubbing at my skin until it feels raw. I count my remaining water packets and rip open one,indulging myself by drinking it down in one go instead of putting it into my canteen to parcel out later. I need the hydration, though, with the amount of work I’ll be doing soon.
I’m sitting on a stool by the mirror replacing the bandages on my stomach when someone knocks softly at the door.
“Come in.”
Orion pops open the door, stepping in, and then immediately gets flustered when his eyes land on me. Probably because I’m not wearing very much. A pair of underwear and a loose sleeveless top pulled up to my ribs so I can get at my injuries.
“Shit, V—sorry, I—”
“It’s fine,” I say, cutting him off. “I’m almost finished.” Wincing, I reach around with the bandage roll, trying awkwardly to get an angle on the slash wound to my ribs.
A hand, warm and light, touches my wrist. I didn’t even hear Orion move, but he’s suddenly there, quiet and comforting. “Need some help?”
“No.” I shrug off his touch and twist my arm farther back. “I can do it myself.”
He pulls away from me a little and puts his hands up. A gesture of peace. “I know you can,” he says quietly. “But you don’t have to.”
How does he make his voice do that? Sound so gentle? I never know whether I want to sink into it or lash out because it makes me feel guilty for always pushing him away.
“Yes, I do,” I say without looking at him. I finally get a good angle on my wound and press the edges of the bandage down, covering it in a new, clean wrapping. But I can hear Orion sigh—again.
It’s fine, I tell myself.It’s better this way.
Because if this all goes bad, I’ll likely be dead and heading for the Depths.
And if it goes perfectly? I’ll be leaving Covenant with my sisters and never, ever coming back.
Either way, he’s lost to me—again. And I’ll be breaking his heart—again—just like Atlas warned me not to. The least I can do is not make things worse by letting him touch me, help me, cross old lines in new ways that we will never be able to uncross.
The silence sits thick and heavy between us as I pull on the Butcher’s pants and top and then scoop up the rest of my stuff. As I start to slide past him, I stop, tilting my chin back to meet his gaze. I pretend not to notice how close we are or how the look in his eyes shifts to something warmer, hungrier, more hopeful.
“Whatever plan you and Dani made better work tonight, Skywayman.” My voice is as flat and distant as the Copper Plains. “If it doesn’t, all bets are off. I’ll tear apart this whole town and anyone who stands in my way. Even you.”
THEN
I walk through the evening-soaked streets of their neighborhood, flowing around the parents swapping gossip outside their boardinghouses, the kids hollering at their friends and racing one another through the dust. Distant music and muffled audiographs thread through the air, mixed with the faint aroma of cooking food and the heavy scents of heat and dust. All of this has been the backdrop to most of my life, as intimate as my own heartbeat.
