Eros sighed. “Sit,” he said, and though he waved casually toward the sofa, his tone was cold and clipped—a command now. “And leave the gun while you’re at it.”
Graham and the other guards lifted their weapons, trained on Delilah—andme. The silence was a damning, unspoken threat that if any of us so much as cast a spell, blood would be spilled in reply. Cliff’s eyes flicked between each of us, his jaw feathering. It wasn’t really a choice at all when he set the handgun near the glass tank and stepped forward, sitting on the sofa across from his father.
I stayed hovering in the air beside Ben, three feet from the seating area. Close enough range to cast a spell, but that was too dangerous to risk when the guards were still aiming weapons at Delilah and Cliff. I swallowed, my heart hammering. I stared hard at Cliff. Surely he’d signal me when it was an opportune moment to attack.
Eros poured himself a tumbler of liquor, the amber liquid trickling over a perfectly spherical ice cube. Despite Cliff’s declination, he poured a second glass and set it on the table between the sofas. Eros' narrowed green eyes flickered to me, but he set his curiosity aside for now. He took a long pull from his drink, and the room seemed to hold its breath, awaiting him.
“Mmm—absolutely exquisite. Aged twenty-five years in sherry barrels,” Eros said. He remained standing, his free hand resting on the back of the other sofa. “I actually know the fellow who owns this distillery. You might remember him, too. Ray used to stay in the guest house every few years when he and the missus were on the rocks.”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Cliff asked. I’d never heard his voice quite like this, every syllable dripping with icy, barely-contained restraint. “You… You’ve known about the supernatural all this time? You knew, and you still drove me away.”
“No, it’s not like that,” Eros said. “It’s… Well, it’s pretty funny, actually. A few years after you ran off with that Nowak kid, I had my own encounter with something sinister in the night. A djinn,intent on draining me and my secretary dry.” He waved a hand as he took another sip. “A story I’m happy to regale you with another time. After that, I realized maybe you weren’t as batshit insane as we’d pegged you. I tried to find you, totalk. But you turned out to be incredibly good at melting into thin air.”
“Because I had to be,” Cliff gritted out.
“No, youchosethis life,” Eros corrected, a cold laugh catching around the words. “No one forced your hand to use family resources to jailbreak your lowlife friend out of that psychiatric ward. I had to fire my best attorney because of what you had him do. Really a pity.”
“Talk about Jon again, and we’re done here,” Cliff growled.
Eros held up his hands in a mock-truce, though his lopsided smile didn’t fully sober.Stars,it broke my heart how much Cliff looked like him.
“The point is, I tried to find you, son. I need you to know that. I had my best people on the hunt. We’d find traces, got close a few times, like when you and Nowak got arrested in Sacramento. But in the end, I pivoted. We got hold ofher, instead.” Eros nodded toward Tammy, who was staring at the ground. She looked catatonic, like she wasn’t processing the scene before her. Eros smiled, gaze sliding back to Cliff. “Turns out, my vanishing boy had a teacher. Tamara refused to give up your location, but we found a partnership mutually beneficial in other ways. She opened my eyes to this world—and how very untapped the potential truly was. I’m Columbus discovering the new world, offering coordinated distribution and attainment for things that can change the world.”
The implications alone made me want to retch. Cliff whipped his head toward Tammy. I saw his jaw work, the shock hitting him in waves.
His mentor. The architect behind his betrayal.
“Evercor,” Cliff breathed, and I knew he was thinking of the evidence we’d seen scattered through the outpost, in Lee’s hands in the hotel room. “I should have smelled the reeking narcissism at first glance.”
Eros chuckled, polishing off his drink. “It’s a little much, I’ll admit, but enough to allow me a little anonymity. Enough to get me close to your circle of hunters. Took a few of them under my wing personally. All of it to findyou, my boy.”
Cliff and I exchanged a look, sharing a realization. He tugged at the bow tie around his neck, loosening it roughlylike it was suddenly suffocating him.
“Rhett… That wasyou,”Cliff said. “Of course you’d try to zip tie and toss a guy into a trunk just to talk to your own son.”
“Well, it’s not like I could give you a call. Even if you weren’t going through burner phones, would you have answered? Don’t be coy—if Iverson had even whispered my name, you would have bolted, Elliot.”
“It’s not Elliot anymore,” Cliff growled. “Hasn’t been since I was fifteen.”
Eros rolled his eyes. “Fine, have it your way.Cliff.Your sister still insists we call you that, too, even now. Disgrace to your grandfather’s name, if you ask me.”
Cliff’s anger vanished briefly, eyes widening. “Anna?” He swallowed, wetting his lips. When he spoke again, his voice lowered into a soft growl. “How is she?”
Eros’ mouth pressed into a thin smile, and I got the sick sense he had been analyzing his own son for weaknesses.
And he had just found it.
“On a trip to Rome right now with friends she made in university, if I’m not mistaken,” Eros said. “I always pictured one of you kids running the empire. Anna’s too soft. It should beyouby my side. You could be the gun in my hand—if you’d grow a fucking spine and come back to us.”
“Tell meshe’s not involved at all,” Cliff hissed. “She’s still practically a kid. If you’ve forced her to dirty her hands over this, I’ll—”
“Donotraise your voice at me. Anna’s in the dark. She believes this is yet another subdivision of the main company. And I’ll keep it that way if you cooperate. Don’t you want to see your sister again? Your mother?”
The stakes were unraveling at Cliff’s feet. He was being welcomed home—at a staggering cost. His silence made my stomach churn. I’d seen the pain in his eyes so many times, the brokenness hidden behind a charming grin.
Was he seriously considering it?
No, he wouldn’t. He couldn’t leave Jon and me. He wouldn’t betray everything he had fought for through blood and sacrifice for an entire decade.
