Sweet Ruin (53 page)

MizB had excused herself to go check on Gram, topping off their mugs again. “Why don’t you go show Jo the pool? Just don’t be too late.”

Jo had stilled. “Late. You kidding me?”

MizB had blinked at her. “No.”

Now Jo asked Thad, “What’s this too late shit? Aren’t you nocturnal?”

“I’ve been going to bed around four in the morning, and Mom and Gram have been getting up later. That way we can sit down for breakfast together.”

“Your grandmother knows too?”

“I don’t think so. She had a stroke, and they say she’s got dementia. I don’t know how much has registered, but I don’t trace around the house or anything. She still cooks for me. Mom does too. Just in case.”

“God, she could cook. Her chicken was like deep-fried crack.”

He nodded emphatically. “Toughest thing for me to give up.”

“So tell me about our mansion-buying uncle.”

“He’s a berserker named Declan Chase. He used to work for the Order, this human operation that studies immortals. He felt guilty ’cause he had me kidnapped and imprisoned on a detention island in the Pacific and all.”

Jo’s mug shattered in her fist, blood sloshing over the outdoor table. “The FUCK did you just say? Tell me how to find him, and I will put him in the goddamn ground.”

“We’re cool now, Jo. He paid for anything he did wrong. Trust me, he
paid
.”

“Someone did that to you, and you’re good with him?!” She couldn’t believe Thad had been in all this danger, and she hadn’t known, hadn’t been there to watch over him.

“DC ended up helping me escape before the island got bombed.”

So much for his idyllic life. “What the hell happened?” She swiped her bloody hand down her jeans.

“I’d never encountered an immortal before I got imprisoned, definitely didn’t know I
was
one. I never had any powers, but somehow the Order knew about me.”

The Order’s on my light-them-up list.

“I woke up in a cell, and I saw all these things that couldn’t be right. I lost it, went comatose. I still would be, if not for Regin and Natalya.”

Comatose?
“What are they?”

“Regin is DC’s wife now. She’s the one who was kind of egging me on to attack you.”

Jo
hated
that mouthy bitch—

“She saved my life on the island.”

She’s forgiven.
“And Natalya?”

“She’s one of my good friends. A dark fey assassin.”

No kidding. “She lives in the city?”

“For now. I can’t wait for you to meet her. She won’t be pissed that you attacked Val Hall since she used to fight against the Valkyries on occasion.” He sipped his blood. “She’d heard a dark fey male was in town, and she’s been looking for one for a looong time. Your guy have a brother?”

“Not my guy anymore. You can tell her he’s been looking for her too, was amped to have a lead on her. Cheers to the happy couple.”

Rune flinched in his spot atop the property’s brick wall. Why
wouldn’t
she think he’d pursue that female?

Earlier Josephine had told the mortal MizB she was all by her lonesome—the same answer she’d given Rune two weeks ago.

Before they’d bonded. Before she’d become his, and he’d become hers.

Before
them
.

Then tonight had happened, when he’d ridiculed her feelings for him and assured her he’d always be with others.

“Oh.” Thad frowned. “I was kinda hoping Natalya and I might hook up. Maybe when I get fully transitioned.”

Thad wanted Natalya? Rune found it heartening both siblings were attracted to dark fey. He could give the boy pointers.

Josephine shook her head. “Date a baneblood?” She had never called him that before, no matter how furious with him she’d been. “Do yourself a favor and forget it. Not worth the trouble.”

Strike
heartening
. Waiting to approach Josephine had been the exact right call.

Thad seemed to consider that for a few moments, then said, “Nïx told me there was another phanpire—”

“Did you just say
phanpire
?”

“Yep. That’s what she calls us.”

Jo snorted. “Lame. Let’s just call ourselves hybrids.”

“But there are other kinds of hybrids.”

“Yeah, but we’re the best.”

Thad nodded easily. “I knew there was another . . . hybrid, but Nïx told me the other one was mated to a dark fey, a Møriør.”

“It’s over. That’s all in my rearview, kid.” Josephine sounded disturbingly confident.

“The Møriør are bad, Jo.”

He doesn’t even know we leveled Val Hall.

“The Valkyries aren’t? Your buddy Nïx wiped the pavement with my face. She crushed my skull and broke every bone in my body. I feared she’d do the same to you—that’s why I was bent on saving you.”

His jaw slackened. “She wouldn’t do that. Are you sure it was Nïx?”

“She would, and she did. That Møriør was there to pick up the broken pieces.” She seemed to be grinding her molars, and her outline flickered.

It is
entirely
too soon to approach her.

“Why didn’t Nïx tell you I’m your sister?”

Thad’s lips thinned. “Good question.”

“Have you ever considered they’re
all
bad? Maybe neither of us needs to be around any immortals. I mean, what does Nïx want with you anyway?”

“I think she and the others want me to fight the Møriør. But I just . . . I’m not sure I could take somebody down. I can’t believe how bad I hurt you. Jo, I could’ve killed you.”

Rune had had his doubts about the boy when he’d been hunched over Josephine with his fangs bared. No longer. Thaddeus Brayden was a good kid.

“It’s cool,” she said. “You jogged loose some memories for me, so no harm, no foul.”

From her childhood?

“I was only using a fraction of my strength, sis. I’m wicked strong.”

She grinned, and he matched her. They resembled each other much more when they smiled. Rune was noticing other similarities as well—the cadences of their speech, their humor, their mannerisms.

Because this boy had learned from Josephine, who’d been just a girl herself, taking care of a baby while living on the streets.

When Thad asked about the night she’d been shot and the months after, she admitted to meting out punishment, but he took it in stride.

She recounted that grim night and her struggles with her powers. Then she told him, “Leaving you was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I’d gone to that wake intending to steal you and your new puppy, planning to ride off into the sunset together.” She gave a humorless laugh, as if her idea had been idiotic.

“You ever think about coming back for me?”

“Every damn day. I wore those bullets strung around my neck to remind me I’d only hurt you. I kept up with your life as best as I could, and over the years it just seemed to get better and better.”

Thad peered at her intently. “So what changed?”

“I saw you in this city. With Nïx. And then I learned about the Lore.”

“You didn’t know?”

“Two-week newbie here.”

“Not much longer here,” Thad said. “You mentioned you had some clues about where we came from. For the last few months, even before the island, I’ve been having these crazy dreams. I think they’re connected to our past.”

“What kind of dreams?”

“I see fires and earthquakes and portals sucking at my feet. I dreamed I was crossing the universe, and I was looking down at a baby.”

“Thad”—she swallowed audibly—“you were looking down at yourself. You’ve been dreaming
my
memories. You must’ve harvested them when I fed you my blood on the journey.”

“Journey?”

She took a deep breath. “We come from a place called Apparitia, the realm of phantoms. We’re Apparitians. Or we were. You were born the day our world ended. . . .”

What the hells?

SEVENTY

O
ur mother was so brave and selfless,” Thad finally said. He’d gone quiet once Jo had finished her story. “I’ve seen her face in your memories. You take after her.”

Jo’s brows drew together. “Thank you.” She gauged his expression, wondering how he was doing with all this information.

“What about our dad?”

“I don’t remember him well, just vague impressions—like you had of me. I get the sense he wanted to stay with us, but always got called away to go fight wars.”

“I keep thinking maybe he could be alive,” Thad said.

“After so many years, I don’t know if you should hold out too much hope. I just want to remember more so I can make sense of things.”

“We’re Apparitians,” he muttered. “How weird.”

“Yeah, we’re pretty much aliens.” (Secretly, she’d always known it.)

“Should I call you Jo or Kierra?”

“I’ve been Jo longer than Kierra,” she said with a shrug. “Was this too much for you? My brain felt like it was going to break from just this one memory.”

“Nah, I’m good. Just have one question . . . Could I have been a cuter baby?”

She gave a surprised laugh. “No. Nor a louder one!” They were sharing a grin when fingers of light reached them. Sunrise. She’d been dreading it, wanting to talk with Thad for days more. “I should probably head out,” she said, trying for a casual tone. “Maybe I’ll drop by next week or something.”
How am I gonna leave?

“Next week?” His voice scaled an octave.

Her heart sank. “I mean, or whenever. I’m not going to intrude in your life. We can take it slow. Plan a visit here or there.”

“Intrude? I thought . . .” He examined the armrest of his chair. “Thought you were gonna stay here with us.”

“Oh! Ohh.”

“We’ve got all this room. You’d have a wing to yourself.”

“Thad, I’ve got to get back to my motel.”

“Why?”

Because she needed to find other freaks? Nope. Been there, done that. Because she needed to maintain her Thad memorabilia? He was right here, holding his breath, hoping she’d move in!

Because she needed to be there in case Rune was looking for her?

Screw that. She would move out of her motel and find another one, refusing to look like she’d been waiting on him to show up.

“Being around MizB is weird,” she told him honestly. “Case you haven’t noticed, I don’t play well with others.”

“But you could,” he quickly said. “It’s like baseball. You just gotta learn the basics.”

The basics of being domesticated? By the Braydens?

Jo supposed she couldn’t lay into Rune for refusing to change when she wasn’t willing to. Of course, she hadn’t cheated on anyone. His talisman seemed to burn in her pocket.

She might want nothing to do with him, but she’d safeguard his cherished belonging until he returned for it.

“Come on, Jo. Just give it a try.”

“What am I supposed to do here all day?” And in general. She was zoning in, but she’d found all her answers. Now what?

Start some kind of life after Rune.

“Spend time with me.” Thad pulled his chair closer to hers, then took her hands. “We’ve got so much to talk about and see. I’ll trace you to the places I’ve been, and you can trace me to all your places.”

“But you’ve gotta have friends you want to hang out with. I’m not gonna be some big-sister bug interfering with your teenager plans.”

“Since moving here, I’ve been going to Val Hall every day so Mom would think I was still in school. Now I don’t have to hide what I am anymore. Plus, you’re the closest Lorean to my age around. Come on, sis. Please? Just give us a week.”

Enough with the eyes! She exhaled. “A week.” She pinned his gaze. “You asked for it, kid.”