Even Madeline has stopped her game of darts, turning her attention to Zazel, her brown eyes widening.
I swipe a hand over my face, visibly shaking, and clear my throat. “What did he say exactly?”
“Not much.” They push themselves off the counter and walk over to the couch, propping themselves on the armrest opposite me. “He just asked a few questions about the tattooed brunette he saw with me at the casino yesterday. Told him we were roommates.”
I feel the blood drain from my face as I chew on my bottom lip, restraining myself from grilling Zazel with the exact details of the conversation.
What’s the point?
He found me.
Zazel furrows their eyebrows in worry, sitting closer to me. “Veil?” Their hand reaches out to touch my arm. “Are you okay? You just got really pale.”
“I’m just …” I stumble over my words, knowing I can’t possibly explain what happened during the Feast of Fools. Something tells me they wouldn’t believe me, as if deliberately blind to the heirs’ truest nature. Amoral creatures brimming with bloodlust. I choose the one thing that feels closest to the truth. “He scares me — they all do.”
Antoinette walks up to the couch and leans her hands against the back, peering down at me. “Gemini isn’t like the others.” Her tone is reassuring, and I can tell she believes every word she says. “He actually cares about his followers.”
Madeline agrees as she resumes her game of darts and Zazel smiles warmly and nods.
“I don’t think you have anything to worry about,” they say. “He’s probably forgotten all about you already. I’ve never seen him with the same person twice under his arm in the three years I’ve worked for him.”
If they only knew …
Eager to change the subject, I shove their thigh with my foot. “Reminds me of someone,” I say with a grin that I hope looks real. Inside, I’m reeling.
Zazel bursts out laughing, shoving me right back, and gradually, the conversation shifts as we prepare to leave the house for a drink at the pub.
For the rest of the night, I pretend I’m not fixated on the thought of Gemini Foley and how he once let me go.
I don’t think I’ll manage to escape death twice.
6
GEMINI
There’s a chill in the air tonight. The rain has ceased at least, but it’s left large puddles throughout the streets. My clothes are damp, my knitted shirt sticking to my stomach, but I pay it no mind while I play with a silver coin, threading it through my fingers.
Standing at the mouth of the alleyway, I lean back into the shadows, my gaze fixed on the two windows above the fish market across the street.
I’ve been fighting a mild disgust from the smell ever since I arrived twenty minutes ago. I hope Veil’s wardrobe doesn’t carry the same odor or else I’ll need to strip her naked and burn all her clothes.
Who am I kidding? I’ll do that in any case.
She’smypuppet. A nimble little doll, gifted to me by my god. I’ve been a patient boy, and I now itch to have her returned to me.
From my vantage point, I can’t see much inside, and I consider killing the tenant who lives in the apartment facing her bedroom window just so I can get a closer, more intimate look. Imull it over, the idea quite enticing, but decide against it. I just had these trousers dry-cleaned.
The building door opens, and Veil and her ragtag crew spill out onto the streets. I press myself further into the shadows, my body humming to snatch her and drag her away. I somehow manage to fight my impulsive nature, wrestling it into compliance, and ignore its snarling protests while I watch her stroll down the street with her friends.
For now, I’m curious enough just to observe her. To get to know her without my presence influencing her behavior. I can’t believe she’s been right under my nose this entire time—in my territory, of all places. She must lack some crucial survival instincts to have stayed so close.
Or …
She’s not from Pravitia and doesn’t know any better. It would explain why I’d never seen her before I caught her in the maze. It’s a rare occurrence to have wayward visitors from outside Pravitia. The city acts like a shield to keep the unwanted out—and the wanted in. Must be our gods’ influence, as always.
Before the small group disappears around the corner, I step out from the cloaked alley and follow them down the street.
I feel a vague embarrassment justlookingat Veil’s ill-fitting coat. It swallows her whole and is clearly meant for someone much bigger than her.
