Dying Is My Business

I spat more blood onto the carpet. “What did I do to her? I’m the one who just had his brain squeezed like a sponge, and in case you hadn’t noticed, you fucking overgrown leprechaun, I’m the one who’s bleeding.”

Isaac took a step toward me, his hands balling into fists. “If you hurt her…”

“Don’t, Isaac, I’m okay,” Gabrielle said. She shook her head like she was trying to clear out a thick layer of dust. “It wasn’t his fault. Our minds were locked, I would know if he meant to do it. This was involuntary, some kind of defense mechanism. It was like feedback in my head. Psychic feedback.” She stared into my eyes so intensely it was like she thought she could see into my soul if she just looked hard enough. “What are you?”

“If I had a nickel for every time I’ve asked myself that, I could buy this place,” I told her. “You’re the one who was digging around in my head. You tell me.”

She stared at me for a long moment. “All I know is that there’s something very powerful inside of you, Trent. Something I’ve never experienced before.”

“All the more reason to keep trying,” Isaac said.

“No,” Gabrielle replied, shaking her head. “I’ve had enough, and so has he. It’s time to let him go, Isaac. I know you’re worried, I know how important it is that the box stays safe, but he’s not a danger to us. I don’t think he ever was. He didn’t even know magic existed before yesterday.”

“Are you sure we can trust him?” Isaac asked.

“He’s a thief,” Bethany interrupted angrily. “He tried to steal the box, remember? He pulled a gun on me, for God’s sake! As far as I’m concerned, he can rot in that chair.”

“Underwood was manipulating him, he knows that now,” Gabrielle explained. “As strange as it sounds, he really was trying to protect you, Bethany. He likes you.” Gabrielle smirked at me. “Also, he likes your tattoo.”

Crap. What other memories had she seen in my head?

Bethany blanched. “He what?”

“Trent made some really stupid choices, I won’t argue that, but he never would have hurt you. He’s kind of sweet on you.”

Oh God, could this get any worse?

“He’s got a funny way of showing it,” Bethany said.

“Can I just say something?” I interjected.

“No!” Bethany snapped.

Gabrielle turned to Isaac. “There’s no need to keep him bound. Let him go.”

Isaac took a deep breath. Then he did something I didn’t expect. He freed me. With a wave of his hand, the magical bonds around my wrists vanished. I pulled my arms forward from behind the chair and rubbed my wrists and sore shoulders.

Bethany crossed her arms and turned away.

“You’re going to have to trust me, Trent,” Isaac said.

“You’re going to have to trust me, too,” I told him.

“I trust Gabrielle,” he said. “She vouched for you, and that’s good enough for me. But I’ll be keeping a very close eye on you, Trent. Don’t prove her wrong.”

I turned to Gabrielle. “Thanks. I owe you one.”

She shook her head. “You’ve had so many second chances, Trent. Most people don’t even get one. Maybe it’s time you started putting them to good use. You can start by stopping all the lies. And you, Isaac, instead of tying people up and using my abilities to satisfy your own curiosity, don’t you think you should make sure the box is secured before the equinox gets here?” She walked back to the tub, knelt down beside it, and reached into the water to take Thornton’s hand again. “Thornton went through hell to help you both get to this point. The least you can do is stop this pissing contest and make sure the sacrifice he made was worth it.”

Isaac nodded, his jaw tight. With a quick, final glance at me, he walked to the desk at the far end of the room. Philip went with him, leaving me alone with Bethany. She still had her back to me. I couldn’t blame her for being furious.

I stood up out of the chair. “Bethany, I’m sorry—”

She turned around and slapped me hard across the cheek. “If you ever point a gun at me again…”

I rubbed my cheek. It stung like a bastard. The others stared at us, the slap catching their attention, but they didn’t interfere. I supposed they thought this was something we needed to hash out ourselves. I also supposed they were right.

“Okay, I had that coming,” I said. “I’m trying to apologize, Bethany. I’m sorry. It was a stupid thing to do. I just—I didn’t know how to tell you about Underwood. I didn’t want you to…” I trailed off, feeling foolish. What was the point? She would never forgive me. Why should she?

“You didn’t want me to what?” she demanded, her hands on her hips.

I struggled for the words. They didn’t come easily. “If I told you the truth about who I worked for and the real reason I was at that warehouse…” I trailed off and started over. “You and Thornton are the only friends I’ve got, Bethany. I don’t think I could have handled it if you turned your back on me.”

“So you thought it would be better to pull a gun on me instead? How crazy are you?”

I sighed. “I wanted to get the box away from you before it was too late, before Underwood’s enforcers showed up. That’s who those two men were. It was clear you weren’t going to just let me take it, so yeah, welcome to the way my brain works. It’s kind of messed up in there. Just ask Gabrielle. She had a front-row seat.”

“You really thought I’d turn my back on you? You didn’t think I would help you?”

I shrugged. “It’s not like anyone’s ever given a damn about me.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but then crouched down instead and took a tissue from her pants pocket. She used it to dab up the blood-tinged saliva I’d spat on the carpet. That was Bethany in a nutshell, I thought. Everything had to be just so. “You’ve got some on your face, too,” she said, not looking up at me.

I touched under my nose and my fingers came back tipped in red. I wiped the blood off with my sleeve. “Thanks. I don’t know what happened, only that it hurt like hell when Gabrielle tried to force her way into the parts of my life I can’t remember.”

“That’s probably what made the defense mechanism kick in,” she said. “Are you okay now?” The question came out robotically, a matter of courtesy, not concern. Maybe the chasm between us was too wide for a simple apology to bridge.

“I’m fine,” I said. I crouched down next to her on the carpet, glanced over my shoulder at the others, and lowered my voice. “Bethany, whatever you think of me right now—and I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me—I need you put it aside for a moment and listen very carefully. You can’t trust Isaac. He’s dangerous.”

She kept dabbing the tissue over the stain on the rug and moving it in tight circles.

“Think about it,” I continued. “He knew we were at Ingrid’s house. He sent us there. You said yourself the enemy knows our every move. It could only have been an inside job, and Isaac is the only one who could have pulled it off.”

She put the wadded-up tissue in her pocket and finally looked at me. “I know.”

My eyebrows shot upward in surprise. “You know?”

“You’re right that it could only have been an inside job, but you’re wrong about Isaac. I know him a lot better than you do, Trent. He’s a good man. He’s done a lot for me. I spent my whole childhood being shuffled from one foster home to another, and after I turned eighteen they kicked me out onto the street. It was another ten years before Isaac found me. He cleaned me up and gave me a job. He’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a father. What you said before about no one ever giving a damn? That’s how I felt my whole life, until I met him. He wouldn’t betray us. I trust him with my life. I trust all of them with my life. I can’t imagine any of them betraying us.”

“But someone did,” I said. “It’s the only explanation.”

She nodded. “Here’s the problem, Trent. Someone tried to kill us at the safe house, someone who must have told the shadowborn we were there, but I know these people. It couldn’t be any of them. There’s only one wild card in the deck. Only one person it could be. You.”

I blinked. “It wasn’t, I swear.”