It tells Misery the direction of calamity. A faint, red light slowly illuminates as it’s opened and fades before he clenches it shut with asmack. “And beware of rubies.”
J A N E
CRACK.
A powerful wave of thunder rides in the wake of lightning, flashing through the storage room of the bakery.
Anya stands at the threshold, running a hand over her damp, dark hair as she says, “There’s a man that says he’s the Scorpion.”
Fear seals my lungs, the battering storm defeaning my mind. It’s an energy from the seas I used to find comforting as a child, but now it just reminds me how real Skull’s Row is.
How real theScorpionis.
The pelting rain grows heavier, allowing me to pant without hearing it. My heart feels so visible with Soren here; he’s no doubt reading a part of me thatI’mnot even familiar with anymore.
“Don’t retreat.” Soren’s deep voice brushes against my ear.
I don’t know if it’s desperation or that he’s truly earned my trust—even if a sliver of it—but by the gods do I want to let him help me carry this.
Turning my head to glance at him through the dim, stormy lighting, I quietly ask, “Is it actually him? Can you feel him?”
Being close enough to see the details of his irises, it’s as if he’s everywhere underneath my skin, moving his energy through me wherever he pleases. “It’s probably him, Jane. I’d bet a lot of gold on it. I saw him before the strike landed.”
The words don’t sink in, denial guiding my mind more than any truth; the unseen wounds that beg to rip open cannot be hidden anymore, and I’m not ready.
This is too sudden.
The rough touch of the Zenith brushes against my chin, gripping me with just enough force so I can’t look away from him. Soren re-positions from his slight lean, his face grimacing with the movement. “Do youwantto meet him?”
The estranged man that is connected to so many frayed edges of my soul is right outside this door, holding answers to questions that I’ve lost countless nights over.
“Do I—” my lips rise and close as I struggle to finish, “Do I have achoice?”
His scarred brow slightly perks in consideration, speckled blood dotting his face. “I can make it very difficult for him.”
“What do you mean you’ll make it difficult? You need torest.” My heartbegsto focus onSorenrather than the Scorpion. “No, you lost a lot of blood,” I plainly state.
“I have many surrounding us, at all times. I don’t need to do itmyself.”
Well, he thinks of everything, doesn’t he?
I almost smile at Soren’s confidence, but that sentiment fails to reach my face.
The notion that I can say ‘no’ almost makes it more real; the power to tell the Scorpion to go away breathes life into him. In all my days of hatefully missing him, I never considered I might actually desire avoiding the betrayer.
My silence spans longer than I realize as Soren banks his head to the side. “Jane?”
“I’m—I’m frozen, I think,” I mutter, blood pounding in my ears.
Staring into eyes that haunt and soothe me all at once, I wait for him to continue, to further proclaim what my heart desires—totellme I want to see my father, so I can believe it.
The merepossibilitythat the truth of what happened to me is at my fingertips, terrifies me like nothing has in a long time. Words hover on my lips until they feel entirely natural to say, “Tell me what I want.”
His eyes widen with intrigue as they pierce through me with greed. “What you want? What youwantis for me to make it all go away, love. Which I could, but it’s not what youneed. It’s not what is supposed to happen.” His voice is steady and smooth against the wicked winds of my soul, yet grave enough that I hear the advice. “I’d get this over with.”
Releasing a hot sigh, I worry my lip and avert my gaze. The warmth I wanted from Soren is now cold within a heavy loneliness. I know situations like this—I either cower, or fight. No one can change that.
“Fine,” I say, tilting my head back, my lips wordlessly moving as my shoulders heavily rise and fall. “Even if briefly. Just get this part over with.”
