A Touch Morbid (4 page)

She stared at him as the doors opened. It was their stop. She got up and didn’t look back.

They surfaced onto street level, and Eden’s phone vibrated in her pocket. The icon for a voice mail flashed on her screen. She slowed so Az could catch up as she dialed in to check it.

His head was down, his movements slow and methodical. Eden dropped back to him, a pang of worry stirring in her stomach. “You all right?” she asked.

He seemed to catch himself, snapping a smile on as he lifted his head. She held up a finger, her attention on the voice mail. She hadn’t recognized the number, but she sure as hell recognized the voice.

“It’s
Madeline
,” Eden said. Even the name set her on edge. No one had ever been specific about why Madeline was so terrible. Maybe it’d all been blown out of proportion, but Eden wasn’t naïve enough to think there wasn’t a kernel of truth in there somewhere.

“Eden, hey! It’s Maddy! I hope you don’t mind me calling, but we have a common adorable who seems to have been sullied with a bit of a scandal!” Eden could practically hear the sweetness oozing from her.
A common adorable?
she thought. “At this point, I figured it’d be in our best interests to team up and help Gabriel out. A little birdy told me you hopped a train bound for the Bronx, so I’m guessing you’re headed to Kristen’s. Maybe you could give me a call before you see her? I need to talk to you. It won’t take long.”

“What?” Az asked. When she didn’t answer, he stopped her in the middle of the sidewalk. “Eden, what’d she say?”

Eden managed to snap the phone shut. “She knows we’re here. She knows we’re going to Kristen’s.” She glanced up. “Az, she mentioned Gabe. Something about a scandal.” It screamed of a trap, but it was far too obvious to actually
be
a trap. “She wants me to call her before we go to Kristen’s.”

She wrapped her arms around herself, the phone still clutched in her hand.

Az pressed his lips together, staring up at the sky. She almost missed his soft curse, but his tension was undeniable. Even with the thick parka he wore, she could see the stiffness in his stance.

Once Kristen knew what happened to Gabe, Eden would lose her alliance. Her best bet was to hear Madeline out. She flipped the phone open, hit Send, and put it to her ear.

“Wait, before you call her I—”

“Eden!” Madeline said cheerily after barely one ring. Az’s shoulders slumped as the call connected. “My God, how are you? These last few weeks have been insane!” Eden thought she heard her stifle a giggle. “Really, you and I should have gotten together ages ago, but, well, you seemed kind of Team Kristen.” Something in her voice shifted, hardened a bit, though the light cadence stayed the same. “How’s that working out for you?”

“Fine.” Her voice broke. She swallowed. “You mentioned Gabe,” she said. “That’s what I’m interested in.”

“Meet me,” Madeline said urgently. “You just got off the train, right?”

“Yes.”

“Look up. A block or so in front of you there’s a blue sign sticking off the front of the building. Says ‘laundry’ in big white letters.”

Eden glanced ahead. “I see it.”

“I was told you’re not alone. Is Az with you?” The wind picked up, snowflakes swirling in thin lines across the sidewalk. Eden wondered how long Madeline’s “little birdy” had been following them. Maybe they’d only been seen getting on the train. It would have been fairly obvious where they were going. At least enough to make an educated guess. Still, Madeline had had them tailed and neither had noticed.

“Yes, he’s with me,” Eden answered, unnerved.

“Even better.”

I bet
, she thought. “We’ll be there in a few.” She didn’t wait for an answer before she hung up and pointed ahead.

“Laundry,” she said to Az. She grabbed his hand as they started walking again. With every step they took closer to the Laundromat, the snowflakes seemed to multiply. “I don’t like this. Adam says…” She paused, faltering. “He used to say…” For a split second, a perfect memory of Adam played through her mind, the first morning at Kristen’s when he’d stolen her bacon from her breakfast platter. She could almost hear his laugh. Before he’d told her how he’d felt about her, before Az had come back and she’d turned Adam down. Before Adam’s betrayal had led them all to the roof and Libby had turned him to ash. Sent him Downstairs.

“Eden?” Az’s careful tone snapped her back to reality.

“Yeah, I just… Sorry.” She cleared her throat. Eden couldn’t be sure she’d spoken Adam’s name aloud since everything had happened. She was prepared to feel hate, but not the hurt ache filling her chest. “Adam said once that Kristen wasn’t the worst. Madeline scared the shit out of him. She knew we were on the train, that you were with me. She’s having us followed, Az. I should call Jarrod and warn him in case she’s got someone on him, too.”

Az let out a long breath, shifting ahead of her. “Look, Eden, there’s something you should know about Madeline. I should have told you before, but Gabe didn’t want anyone to know.”

They were still two shops down, but the door to the Laundromat swung open, Madeline’s head popping around the door.

He leaned closer under the guise of a kiss he planted near Eden’s ear, his whisper urgent. “Madeline knows about Gabe. Don’t answer any of her questions if you can help it, understand?”

Surprise kept her frozen, but couldn’t help the sting of his words. “You kept that from me?”

Az lifted his head to Madeline and didn’t answer. She bounded toward them in something between a skip and a run.

“Look, she’s already doing her straight-to-business face!” Madeline’s smile seemed fastened to her lips, fake enough that it could pass for a prop, glued over her real mouth. Her attention shifted to Az, her tone playful. “You make scorching arm candy for someone who was supposed to be dead.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Turns out the afterlife is boring no matter how you get there.”

Madeline snickered. “I’m glad you decided to stick around.” Her tone darkened. “How are you doing?” Eden remembered Madeline’s face at Kristen’s ball, how she’d paled and panicked when Eden had told her about Az’s “accident.”

How well does he know her?
Eden wondered.
And why the hell didn’t I hear about it?

Madeline glanced over at Eden. “Wow. Now
that
is a death glare.”

From the corner of her eye, Eden caught Az scoping the street around them. They’d stepped off to the side, but were mostly out in the open. Whether on purpose or not, Madeline had made them easy targets.

Eden fought to keep the fear from her face. If Madeline knew about Gabe, that meant she really did have her rumored connections to the Fallen. No one else knew what had happened on that roof but Lucifer.

“You’re used to dealing with Kristen,” Madeline said, her eyes sharpening to a glittery emerald green. She crossed her arms, her neck drowned in the enormous fluffy scarf wrapped around it. “Ten thousand games that lead to one tiny nugget of a useless fact. She drives me crazy, Eden. Can we skip the drama?”

“I think that’d be best. You mentioned Gabriel.” Eden kept her tone even, neither challenging nor inquisitive, simply stating a fact. She didn’t react when Az took her hand, unsure whether it mattered if they appeared as a united front, if Madeline was a threat at all.
He promised me no more secrets
, she thought bitterly, and once again she was at a disadvantage because he’d kept something from her.

“I know that you spent a lovely sunrise on top of a building a few weeks ago.” Madeline pointed to Az. “You were there, and you were there.”

“What is this,
The Wizard of Oz
?” Eden forced the sarcasm.

“What do you want, Madeline?” Az asked. A sharp twinge in Eden’s stomach made her breath catch. She pressed her lips together to hide her distress, but luckily Az’s attention was on Madeline.

“God, you are completely set on ruining my good mood, aren’t you?” A bitter cold breeze swept past them, whipping a chunk of Madeline’s bangs loose from her bun. She unsnapped her barrette and yanked the red strands back where they belonged.

“I’m guessing it wasn’t a breakfast get-together. And I wasn’t invited.” Madeline’s gaze lingered on Eden before it shifted to Az. “You’re being awful picky about who you trust these days. Have you told Eden all the secrets yet?”

Az squeezed Eden’s shoulder. Her pain grew worse, stabbing.

She ripped away and spun on him, her breaths sharp. “Told me what secrets?” she demanded.

“On account of her love of causing strife, most of the Siders think Madeline sticks with the Fallen. In truth, she plays spy for both the Fallen
and
me and Gabe.” His tone wasn’t friendly. “Though I’m pretty sure Luke would be pissed to find that out.”

Madeline chuckled. “I’d say that’s accurate. Speaking of, Luke was on cloud nine, pardon the out-of-place Upstairs reference. Now, though, not so much. When I asked him what was up, he mumbled something about complications with Gabe.”

Seconds ticked away, the traffic sloshing by. A thin layer of snow had accumulated, already turning to slush on the road. “You shouldn’t have done things this way, Madeline.” Az toed at the concrete. “I can’t talk about Gabe with you. Not now.”

Under Eden’s ribs, pressure grew. Her entire abdomen and chest cavity clenched. She grabbed reflexively for Az’s hand, squeezing it harder than she intended. A whimper escaped her, but then she felt a soft pop, and the pain vanished instantly. The relief brought tears to her eyes as she slowly exhaled. It was so much worse than the aching she’d felt after taking in too much Touch.

“According to what Luke’s told me, being newly Fallen, Gabe should be on some sort of bloody rampage,” Madeline went on, oblivious. “He’s not. I mean, last time I saw—”

“Stop.” A shudder passed through Az. His fists curled and uncurled at his sides, tension rolling off him in waves. Eden couldn’t catch a look at his eyes, but she bet they’d changed from their normal blue.

“Az?” Eden said.

“Anything else.” His voice cracked. He allowed only Eden a flash of his eyes, the dark navy spreading like smoke past his irises and into the whites. “Talk about anything else but him.”

She jumped when Az dropped to one knee, reaching for him before she managed to stand up straight again. “Madeline, how are things in Queens?” Eden choked out.

Madeline’s eyes flicked down to where Az knelt, his shoulders rising and falling with his deep breaths. “There was,” Madeline said carefully, “another reason I wanted to talk to you. That’s why I really called you.”

Eden tore her attention away from Az, waiting.

“You can kill Siders,” Madeline said bluntly.

Eden hesitated for only a fraction of a second. “Yes.”

Madeline bounced on her toes. “I’m not sure if Kristen told you, but there’s been a bit of … restructuring in the other boroughs. It didn’t go well. So, I was wondering if there was a chance you’d work on commission.”

Eden cocked her head. “What, like a hit? You want me to take someone out for you?” She scoffed. “I don’t think so.”

“Hear me out,” Madeline said, moving a gloved hand to Eden’s arm when she turned back to Az. “You’ve been hanging out in Manhattan, but it’s not your territory. It’s Erin’s.”

“It
was
Erin’s.” Eden stiffened. The day she’d left Kristen’s house, Kristen had told her Erin was gone—made it seem like she’d done something to her to get her out. Eden hadn’t questioned it. For some reason she’d assumed the girl was dead, even though it wasn’t possible. “You’re doing this now?” Eden said in disbelief, her eyes flashing to Az.

“Relax.” Madeline forced a smile. “Eden, you’ve got a skewed picture of things, I promise. Kristen treats the rest of us like enemies, pretends she needs to hold on to her little stronghold like we’re going to yank it out from under her. Really we thought it’d be best to spread out so we can find the new Siders. We didn’t want them to be alone for longer than they have to be. It was difficult for us, when we didn’t have each other. And we didn’t want the Bound to notice us.” Her brow furrowed for a brief moment. “The rest of us couldn’t care less about territories and her silly alliances. She’s our friend, but her paranoid quirks really are paranoid quirks.”

Eden’s eyebrow rose. “A second ago you asked me to kill one of you. Yeah, she’s totally paranoid. Sure.”

“Honestly, it’s an isolated incident, I promise,” Madeline said, her tone soft but confident. “Vaughn’s selling Touch to the mortals. Like a drug. He had a whole crew of Siders in on the operation. As soon as the rest of us found out, Erin went to Staten Island. We asked him to stop; he didn’t. We used force, but it didn’t seem to faze him. Honestly, at this point I don’t care what happens to him. He’s putting us all in danger by being so blatant. Especially now that the Bound know about us.”

Eden bristled. She feigned disinterest, dropping down next to Az. The safest bet was to get them both out of there and grill Az on what Madeline knew later. “We’ll go as soon as you’re ready,” she whispered, and stood. “Look, Madeline. That’s not my thing.”

“I’ll make it worth your while.”

She couldn’t consider the offer, not now that anyone she killed only increased Luke’s numbers, but Madeline thinking of her as a last option gave her a bit of power. “What’re you offering?”