I stifled a yawn. “Am I about to become the luckiest girl in the world?”
“Yes. For the remainder of this trip you are my one true love. Savor what no other woman will ever be.”
I popped the box open and, confronted by the large pear-cut jewel, whistled. “Not too shabby.”
“It’s the finest in cubic zirconia. Daddy loves you, baby.”
“Considering why we’re going, let’s leave off the creepy father references, shall we?” I slid the ring onto my finger. “This’ll do nicely.”
To give Arkady his due, you’d have never known I didn’t possess his genitalia of choice. He was so solicitous, carrying my bag, my hand clasped in his. When he told the ticket agent all about our fake engagement and how he was nervous that I wouldn’t say yes, even I was on the edge of my seat, hoping I’d accepted.
The woman was putty. He even smoothed over the weirdness of flying to Antigua for one night with just carry-on luggage by saying we were going to get my uncle’s blessing in person, since he’d helped raised me, but work obligations prevented us from staying longer.
The lies fell from his lips like honey and everyone in his wake lapped them up.
We got our spacious seats for the first leg of the journey to New York. After one last charm offensive for our female flight attendant, Arkady stuffed his ear buds in and ignored me to watch the latest Marvel movie.
Fine by me. Best he not see—and report back to Levi—how many of those stupid baby bottles of booze I put away. Or the two extra desserts our flight attendant brought that I stress-ate. No tiny pretzel packages for this business-class flyer.
I laughed softly. Arkady could be asleep and he still wouldn’t miss those details. I ordered another Jack Daniels.
I wanted Uncle Paulie to have all the answers and for him to have none in equal measure. My last crash had shattered my femur. Would I get off as lightly in this aftermath? I finished the drink with trembling hands.
The plane hit turbulence and dropped with a sickening lurch. I spilled my booze, swearing viciously as I blotted my clothes with a linen napkin. Balling up the napkin, I poked Arkady.
“Friends don’t interrupt friends at the good part,” he said.
“Distract me.”
“Aliens are about to annihilate us.”
“Never mind.” I rested my head against my darkened entertainment screen in defeat.
Arkady made a disparaging noise. “Miles and I slept together.”
“No kidding.” I sat up. “Was the sex bad?”
“Pickle, I can make sex with anyone good. It was…” He frowned. “More than I expected.”
“But?”
“He overthinks everything.” Arkady held out his left ear bud. “As do you. Now shut up.”
I slid the ear bud in, lay my head on his shoulder, and let myself be soothed by the world blowing up.
Chapter 15
Antigua in April was hot to my Canadian blood and annoyingly humid. Arkady and I dropped our bags off at the resort we’d been booked into. I peeled down to a tank top and a pair of long shorts, slapped on some sunscreen, and called the poster.
It was a fairly brief chat. He didn’t remember the blond guy’s name. When pressed on how he could be certain of the Russian accent after all these years, he replied that it had stuck out because the kid was traveling with a Hispanic carny family.
I hurriedly grabbed a pen. “Do you remember their last name?”
Sadly, he didn’t. He’d worked the rides, not the midway, and hadn’t had much interaction with them.
“What about the company that ran the fair?” If they were around, they might have employment records from that time.
That he provided. Thanking him, I hung up. A Russian kid and a Hispanic carny family in Wonderland—was this the genesis of the Queen of Hearts? I tapped the pen against the table I sat at. Knowledge was power, but knowledge could also be deadly. I still intended to know exactly who I was dealing with, but I’d asked Priya to look into this before learning about living statues, and how dangerous the Queen actually was.
I left a message for the company. I’d decide what to do with this information once I heard from them.
A text came in from my mother.
Talia, Destroyer of Egos: Breakfast the other day was lovely and I’m happy you’re settling into this new chapter of your life so well.
I deleted three responses before settling on “okay.”
Talia, Destroyer of Egos: Priya may be working for the House, but you shouldn’t go there too often to visit her. The optics aren’t good. Are you available to help out at a Town Hall meeting this afternoon? Various family members of my staff are volunteering.
Talia had always negotiated my presence at her events, never asked. Apparently, our little work fiction had gained me some freedoms. Was that what my breakfast invitation had been about? She knew I’d say no to all events from here on in and that was her way of keeping up appearances? Making sure the optics looked good?
Damn my lack of clarity.
Not that our previous relationship had been all that fulfilling, but there’d been a brutally honest transactional logic to it that I almost missed. At least we’d both gotten something out of it. Now that we were locked into “all lies, all games,” dealing with her was exhausting and sad.
This so easily could spin out into fewer and fewer engagements until we were family in name only. The fiction about me being Mundane was imperative to the cover story hiding my Jezebel status, but I wanted—no, I needed— something genuine to connect with her over.
Was I going to get my father back, only to lose my mother?
Me: Away on business. Sorry.
She didn’t respond.
Arkady knocked on my door. With one glance at the text chain, I slid my phone into my pocket and we went out hunting for a way to Inferno.
Our first stop was a helicopter charter company located in a tiny storefront, jammed with
