was last night to go away and never return. Let me be as normal as Ben is. Please.
“Hungry?” he asks.
“On Wormwood Island?” The upside of vivification is you can’t die of anything, including hunger; the downside is that your will to eat virtually vanishes. “We could go for a walk.”
“That sounds good.”
Our fingers touch, twine, and release in a way that gives me shivers. I know that, eventually, I’m going to have to convince Ben to leave me and tell Garnet he’s made a huge mistake in rejecting her. But for now—just for now—I’m going to enjoy it.
Or so I think.
As we push into the cold air, I spy Pilot sprinkling salt on any icy patches of sidewalk. Although Lou may not have opened up about the skeletons in my closet, Pi is going to. Even if I have to force him.
“Gimme a sec?” I ask Ben. “I’ve gotta talk to my, um, Guardian. I’ll meet you by the dorms in five.”
He suspiciously eyes Pilot, whose back is to us, but finally agrees and turns away. I rush behind Pilot and tip over the broom he’s rested against a tree. He stumbles, curses, and scrambles after it. But when he pushes up his woolly cap to see me glowering at him, his eyes light up.
“Anne! You ready to talk about the Big V? Great! We’ve gotta get prepping for the Scrutiny.”
“The what?”
“I’ll tell you all about it—don’t worry, it’s not till Christmastime. Short-list stuff.” He hurriedly starts shoving the bucket of salt to the side. “We can meet now—that’s cool, let me put this stuff away— but I want a session every single day, got it?”
“Cut the crap, Pilot. I asked your little janitor buddy what he knows about me.”
“You did? Even better! So you’re ready to change your PT?”
“I might consider it.”
“If ?”
“If you tell me what he wouldn’t.”
“Lou didn’t tell you?”
With my hands on my hips, I shake my head. “So go ahead. I’m listening. What’s my story?”
“I—I can’t, Anne. Lou outranks me. I’m just a punk. I’m still trying to become a demon. If my superior won’t tell you, I sure as hell can’t. We get destroyed for breaking rank.”
“Get real, Pilot. Your chances of escaping this crappy life of yours hang in the balance.”
“I know, but rank is everything. If I knew Lucifer—the leader of Hell—was plotting against Mephisto, I couldn’t tell him, even though I serve him. Rules are rules.”
“‘Rules are—’? What happened to the Machiavellian son of my favorite sex-addict senator? You make up your own rules.”
“I wish I could help you, Anne. I really do.”
“So Hell has turned a sinner into a saint?”
“I don’t know what to tell you.”
“The truth! I know that Lou’s power is to know my soul.”
“How do you know that?”
“I figured it out. And Kate Haem makes people hate each other.”
“That’s great. See? You could easily win this thing.”
“Only if you tell me what Lou knows about my soul.”
He shakes his head. No matter what I say, Pilot’s adamant that he can’t tell me a thing, insisting that the underworld follows a medieval caste system he’d be a fool to ignore.
“So what’s your power?” I ask him.
“I’m a punk. I don’t have one yet.”
“Great. What good are you to me?”
“Don’t give up!” He calls as I storm away, “Use your PT, Anne. The one you’ve got now—use it!”
Look closer. Look bloody closer. It’s become code for You’re on your own, sucker.
EVERY DAY THAT PASSES BRINGS BEN’S DEMISE CLOSER. And the days are racing by like they’ve got the devil on their heels.
Ben and I have been dating (yay!) for just over five weeks, but every time we kiss and every time our hands touch, it feels like we’re leaping off the cliff again, like no time has passed at all.
But it has.
The countdown to save Ben’s life is well under way.
Unfortunately, I’m the only one trying to save him.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой
