I’d been kicked when I was down before, but having to be the voice of reason on why Levi shouldn’t kill Isaac was an all-time low. I wanted to cheer him on and bring the acid and the bathtub for the body disposal party.
No, it wasn’t just that. I would do anything so that Levi didn’t end up with that blood on his hands.
I pressed my phone with Levi’s text of “I miss you. - Your happy lovah” to my heart like it was the only thing powering me.
Penned in the middle seat between a snoring man and his restless sleeper wife, who’d had no desire to switch seats with me so they could sit together, I ignored my shitty overpriced sandwich and concentrated on happy thoughts.
I clung to them for the entirety of the flight, the drive in to town, and the time it took to find Jacques and convince him to take me back to Inferno. He took one look at my face, negotiated a price that was only slightly extortionist, and didn’t try anything funny on the way over.
He must have alerted the crew on the island because Unibrow was waiting with some other security people in another speedboat, even though it was the middle of the night.
“Turn around,” Unibrow said. “You get one warning.”
I hopped out of the back of Jacques’ boat.
Red laser dots appeared on my arms.
I stopped, a curious calm descending over me as my armor fell securely into place. “I’m going to see him.”
“Cute trick,” Unibrow said, “but there’s no magic on the island.”
“True, but my armor will repel your bullets.”
One of the guards fired off a burst which pinged harmlessly off me.
“Told you.” I walked toward their boat. “Want to see what I can do to you when I climb aboard?”
“You want to see Caligula, you’ll have to go on the island,” Unibrow said. “We’ll wait.”
“Ah, but if you shoot me you’ll have the Head of House Pacifica to deal with.”
Unibrow laughed. “Oooh. Big deal.”
“And the Queen of Hedon.”
That gave him pause. “You’re bluffing.”
“Let’s find out. Do you have a way to contact Moran, her second? Wears white, pretty good with a sword?”
The guards checked in nervously with Unibrow who gave them a signal. They lowered their guns.
“Smart thinking. Now, who’s going to escort me there?” I brandished my hope like a shield.
Paulie waited for me on his front steps, bleary-eyed and dressed in silk pajamas. “Ash? Why are you here?”
Tree frogs chirped loudly and the waves were a distant murmur.
“Is 26L1 Isaac Montefiore?” I said.
“Adam never told me.”
“You knew every other detail of my father’s plan. You’ve tortured yourself remembering it. Built a fucking prison on this island to death wish yourself into penance.” I advanced on him. Again with the red dots.
Paulie called his guards off and they dematerialized into the jungle.
“Now, I’m going to ask you one last time,” I said, one foot barely separating us. “Did Isaac Montefiore order the hit on Dad?”
Paulie sat down heavily with a nod.
No sound penetrated my numb haze. It was almost as if I was back in Sheol, except that would have been a million times better because then I’d have been able to forget.
Paulie patted the knotted wood next to him.
I stood, my arms crossed, waiting to speak until the haze had dissipated, if not the numbness. “Why did you lie to me?”
“Because sometimes I can convince myself that it didn’t happen that way.” He pressed his fingertips into his forehead so hard they turned white. “That it wasn’t my fault.”
I gasped. “Did you sell Dad out?”
“What? God. No. Never.” Paulie rubbed his thighs, agitated. “Adam never told me his boss’s real name. But Isaac came by the shop on totally unrelated business while I was making the Avi passport. He threw me odd jobs every once in a while for that cybersecurity business of his. He saw Adam’s passport photo and he got this crazed look in his eyes. I’d never seen such a burning hatred, especially just switched on from seeing a photo. Adam was supposed to meet his mysterious boss before he left Thursday night, and when he never contacted me with our code to say he’d made it wherever he was going safely? It had to be Isaac.” An ant ran along the top stair and Paulie redirected its path with his finger. “Your dad planned to bring you both to him. When things died down.”
I leaned on the porch railing, my head on my arms, my eyes dull and wet. Mom had been right. He hadn’t planned to stay away.
Dad had died not for pulling the con of all cons, but for daring to leave.
I clenched and unclenched my fists. Isaac had the gall to then blithely support my mother’s legislation, knowing what he’d done. Did he get a little thrill when he spoke with us, cherishing his secret of how he’d ruined our lives? Did he long to see our scars that proved his power, just like he’d once seen Levi’s?
Was his behavior that of a narcissistic psychopath or was it misdirection? After all, he’d learned from the best.
I gripped my uncle’s sleeve. “Where were Adam and Isaac to meet?”
He shrugged helplessly.
“Please, Paulie. You have to remember.” Dad never made the meeting with Gavriella, and Chariot didn’t have the scroll.
He tapped a finger against his forehead as if needing to physically trigger the memory. “Um. Isaac’s house?”
Had Isaac had the balls to look him in the eye and tell him? Or did he take the coward’s way out and let Dad leave believing he was about to meet Gavriella and then skip town? That he was home free? Except my paranoid, people-intuitive father would have known his luck had run out and even if he’d tried to charm Isaac out of it, the assassin would be immune.
Avi genuinely hadn’t known about the scroll, which meant Dad had pulled one final con. Hidden in plain sight.
I kissed
