She glanced up at me, uncertainty on her face. “It’s Victoria.”
I got up from the bed, glaring at her phone as if I could ascertain the Hadleigh woman’s intentions just by looking at it. It rang until it went to voicemail, paused…then began ringing again.
“See what she wants,” I said softly. I wasn’t entirely sure what technologies the Hadleighs had at their disposal — like if they could ascertain our location from a phone call — but it was time to be moving our location anyway. Better to know what lies they were going to attempt to spin now, than to remain in the dark.
Rae managed to put on a shockingly friendly tone as she answered, “Hey, girl! What’s —”
Her face paled, and I could hear Victoria’s voice clearly on the line. “Daddy is dead. It’s done, okay? It’s fucking done.”
“Victoria, what are talking about?” Rae’s eyes were wide as she looked up at me, mouthing, What the fuck? My mind was spinning. Of all the stories I’d expected to hear, this wasn’t it.
“My dad is dead, Raelynn!” Victoria’s voice was choked, breathless; frightened. Why was she frightened? “God, and I’m not even sad about it. What kind of fucking daughter am I?” Then, softly, “What kind of father would kill his child?” A sob, then a bitter laugh. By her cadence and rapid breath, she was walking quickly, nearly running. “It doesn’t matter. None of it fucking matters anymore. I’m not even sorry, Rae, I did what I had to do. We both did.” There was a pause. She was holding her breath.
She was hiding.
“Victoria, I’m so sorry about your dad —”
“Don’t play stupid.” The emotion had gone out of her voice. “You’re not sorry. Neither am I. But it’s done. You and that demon did what you had to do too, didn’t you? Maybe I should thank you.” Another bitter laugh. “Bye, Rae. Honestly, congrats. You survived.”
She hung up. Raelynn stared at the phone in her hand, blinking slowly, processing. What the hell had just happened? By her tone, Victoria wasn’t lying. She wasn’t faking. She was terrified.
“Kent Hadleigh is dead.” Raelynn stared up at me, something like a smile daring to pull at her lips. “He’s…he’s dead. Oh my God. Did you… Was it you?”
“I goddamn wish it was.” I began to pace as I thought. Kent was dead. The Libiri would be in chaos, scrambling for a leader. Vulnerable. And to judge by her words, Victoria thought I was the killer too. They were in the dark; they didn’t even know who was attacking them. “I told you, Kent kept himself protected. It would be difficult for any demon to cause him harm. But Juniper…Juniper could have killed him.”
“Of course! She was at the party.” She grinned, suddenly bouncing out of her chair. “It’s fucking done, Leon! He’s dead!” She threw her arms around me and I flinched, but so did she when her enthusiasm caused her to press her tender piercings against me. Even that didn’t dissuade her. She was smiling, moving her shoulders in that silly dance she did when she was excited.
I wished I could share her enthusiasm.
“I can go back!” She stretched her arms above her head, sighing all the tension out. “I’ve only missed a day of class, I can actually get through this semester and pass!”
But this seemed too easy, too…convenient. I did believe Kent was dead, but I didn’t believe this ended with him.
This wasn’t over. But I didn’t know what was coming next. I didn’t know where the danger lay now.
Who was going to take Kent’s place?
“I’ll call Inaya and tell her I’ll pick up Cheesecake tonight,” Rae said excitedly. I didn’t stop her as she made the call, but taking her back to Abelaum felt too dangerous. It felt too soon. The Libiri couldn’t possibly give up this easily. The Hadleighs were just one family, but they weren’t the only family who put their loyalty in the Deep One.
Or maybe I really didn’t like the idea of Rae no longer needing my protection from them. Maybe I didn’t like the idea of going back to that town that held so many bad memories for me. Maybe I just wanted to take my girl anywhere else in the world but there, and watch her hunt ghosts to her heart’s content, and never have to think about the Libiri again.
Yeah. That was probably fucking it.
“Leon?”
She’d hung up the phone, and was sitting in front of her half-eaten waffles looking suddenly sobered. “Is it…I mean…do you think it’s safe to go back?”