Pickup Styx (19 page)

“Your turn,” he called.

I shook my head. I had another idea. I gripped the piece of wood as hard as I could and redirected to a ninety-degree angle. Praying this actually worked, I poured everything I had into it and took off straight up into the air. My legs started to lose their grip, so I evened it out and the walking stick worked perfectly. I traveled the rest of the distance before I lowered to the ground, almost colliding with Corbin.

“Woman driver,” he muttered.

Something was nagging at me. The spikes on the other side of this river, the magic being blocked . . . It was like the environment was to ensure our failure. I glanced around, not sure what I was looking for. Perhaps a giant flaming eye on top of a mountain, but sadly there was nothing so obvious. And with just over four hours left, I didn’t have time to waste worrying about it.

The heat coming off the spikes made the air ripple. I turned my head and covered my eyes as I got closer to them. Sweat beaded all over my skin and it was hard to breathe, but at least my ankle didn’t hurt anymore. I walked faster, hoping to move through it, but nothing changed. I was surrounded by obsidian remnants of what might have once been trees. Everything smoldered and smoked, including crumpled forms that used to be people. I plugged my nose to block out the smell of brimstone and sulfur.

“Oh . . .” There was nothing else to say. This was horrible. I didn’t want to go any farther. The wendigos, and whatever the other thing was, were better than this. I looked down and discovered I was wearing yoga pants and one of Cheney’s soft shirts—and I was soaking wet. The last time I wore this outfit was the night I’d married Cheney and became a changeling. I closed my eyes. The night I’d plotted to kill Jaron and Cheney’s father, betraying both men I loved. I clenched my teeth, feeling like I might throw up.

“Keep moving,” Corbin commanded.

“Do you know what this is?” I asked him.

The stark expression in his eyes was answer enough.

For the first time, Simon looked truly nonplussed. He was dressed in black pants, a white button-down shirt, and a red tie. “I don’t. Where are we? And why am I in a suit?”

“Have you hurt someone you loved?” I asked.

He loosened his tie. “I guess.”

I blew out a breath. “You’re about to pay for it. We all are.”

“You want me to do what?” Lily asked, sitting cross-legged on her bed in the guest wing.

I showed her the two pictures Devin drew for me of the final two locations. “These spots could be anywhere. I was thinking you could amplify my luck. Help me find them. ”

She glanced at the pictures disinterestedly. “And what’s supposed to be there?”

“Well, my guess is that my— I mean
our
—father will be at one, and a sibling will be at the other—a sibling that will be killed if we don’t reach them in time. And if Father’s dead? Maybe two siblings’ lives hang in the balance.”

Lily rested her chin against her fist and looked up at the ceiling for too long. “I don’t see how any of this is my problem. I’m not interested in helping other people.”

“I could have left you for dead, but I came to get you. Don’t you think these people deserve the same chance?”

“You’re the Erlking and that would’ve looked really, really bad.” She smiled. “No one cares what I do.”

“I care.”

The smile melted off her face. “I didn’t ask you to care. I have a good thing going and I like my life. If you think you’re going to change anything, I’ll take my chances with the elverpige.” She pressed her lips together and her voice softened. “Getting my luck would hurt you more than it would help anyway. Trust me. ”

I didn’t know if I had a right to expect anything from her, but I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed. “How?”

“When I amplify someone’s luck, it feeds me. Basically, I eat their luck. Let’s say I help you figure out where Daddy Dearest is, and you go charging there on your white horse to stop him.”

“Absurd visual, but okay.”

“You’ll die. You’ll only have bad luck to fall back on. And my guess is, right now, you need all the good luck you can get. That means you need to stay as far away from me as you can.”

She was right. I didn’t need bad luck. What if it extended past me and to Selene? However, I couldn’t do nothing. “There has to be another option.”

“Draw him out,” she said. “What does he want? What does the elverpige want? Us. So make sure we—and by we I mean
you
—are available.”

I shook my head. “He’ll just send the elverpige and
I
cannot defeat it. I have to find him first.” I held up both pictures to her. “And he’s either here or here. Are you sure you can’t help?”

“Is that a black hole?”

“No. I couldn’t see anything, but something about it was comfortable. My guess is that’s where he’s staying.”

“What about the cell?”

I looked at the picture again. I’d been thinking of it as a stone room, but perhaps she was right. Maybe it was a cell of some sort. “Huh. Any notions on where this cell might be?”

She laughed and slapped me on the shoulder. “I haven’t been in jail, but hey, thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“You run a gambling ring where you cheat the patrons out of their money. What kind of confidence did you expect?”

“They know what they’re walking into.”

“You employ jinn.”

She smiled. “Maybe so.”

“What do they get out of the deal?”

She shrugged. “A percentage.”

“And what keeps them from taking the whole business and killing you?”

“Luck.” She winked and I shook my head. “God, you’re such a stick in the mud. Who cares if I take money from fools? No one’s forcing them to be there. All I do is make sure their experience is enjoyable. I don’t use violent jinn. The demons, well, I can’t help them. . .and trust me, I haven’t heard any complaints about the incubi or succubae. I may take people’s money, but they get the time of their lives out of the deal.”

Now wasn’t the time to get into an argument, so I let it go. “I need to find this room.”

“Ask someone else.”

I nodded and opened the door. “I hope your stay is comfortable.”

I needed to think. I walked the long hallways without seeing, alone with my unrest, until I found myself outside my bedroom door. Edith and Frost were napping in their chairs, and Selene was still lifeless on the bed. I lay next to her and looked at the pictures. “I have two locations I need to find. Any ideas? Me either.”

Edith’s soft snores came from one side of the room, and Frost’s head rested against her book, her mouth open slightly. So much for privacy.

“The elverpige is my sister. Have I told you about Bella?” I knew I hadn’t told Selene about her. There had always been too much going on, and I hadn’t been sure she was staying. Bella was a part of my past I protected with fierce intensity.

“I haven’t seen my sister in so long I almost forgot what she looked like, but when I saw her tonight, everything came back. She was a distorted version of herself but still her. She used to constantly chase after me as kids. She wanted to go and do everything that I did and was never happy to stay home. She was passionate, like you.” I smiled. “She drove our father crazy and wouldn’t listen to anything he told her to do.”

I swallowed back my emotion. “Which is probably why she fell in love with a human. You know, I knew she was living in a human village, but I never said anything. I figured she needed to get it out of her system. So. . .one could make the argument that I’m responsible for her death too.”

I hadn’t had thoughts like that in a long time—at least not since I met Selene. I pressed my lips together, wishing Selene could say something back to me. “You know, I never knew you were such a good listener.” I couldn’t laugh at my joke. It was all too terrible.

“I have another sister. I think you’ll like her. She’s sort of sketchy, and we both know how you like people who ignore the rules.”

I looked at the pictures again before crumpling them up and throwing them across the room. The elverpige was my sister. My sister. Only two living people knew where Bella was buried. Why was I sitting here rather than checking out her grave site? I kissed Selene’s forehead. “You’re a genius.”

Sebastian was coming down the hallway. “I thought you were going to see the fortuna.”

“Lily.”

“Is she in there? Is that wise?”

“No. I was talking to Selene.”

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “Can’t imagine that was a good conversation.”

“A little one-sided, but I have an idea.” I waved for him to follow me. “How does one raise an elverpige?”

“I have no idea. Are you thinking of a counterattack?”

“No, my thoughts are more along the lines of what goes into the spell. For example, would they need the body?”

“Probably.”

“The elverpige was my sister, Bella.”

“Bella,” Sebastian breathed and stopped walking. “Are you sure?”

I nodded. “Only two people know where Bella was buried.”

Sebastian frowned. “She was buried?”

“Yeah.” It was unusual for an elf, but there was a body so we buried it.

“Elves don’t leave remains, Cheney. Are you sure it was her?”

“I don’t know why it happened, but she didn’t disappear. I figured it had something to do with the manner in which she died. Maybe it cursed her in some way. I dug up the grave the human had put her in when Father and I came looking for her. She was in it, and she wasn’t breathing.”

“Why didn’t you bring her back here?”

I shook my head. “My father was hurt and angry about what she’d done. He left her in the grave, saying he had no daughter.”

Sebastian’s jaw clenched. “And you still haven’t brought her home?”

I gave him a threatening look. “I really didn’t think about it, Sebastian. There have been more pressing matters than my sister’s remains since I became king.”

“Shocking,” Sebastian said softly, looking at the floor.

I pushed him slightly. “I loved my sister more than anyone. I regret not getting her, but I will make this right.”

Sebastian’s eyes were furious and shining. “You loved her? You sure as hell never defended her.” He turned on his heel and walked in the opposite direction.

What was going on? I tried to recollect if there’d been anything between Sebastian and Bella, but nothing came to mind. Honestly, I’d never noticed either of them much when I was younger. I had my friends and there was fun to be had. Sebastian and I didn’t become friends until after Bella’s death. He was the only one who’d really understood what I was going through.

I shook off the thoughts. We would talk about this later. I started back toward the archive. All four members of the coven were there, poring over piles and piles of books.

“Do you have news?” Devin asked when I came in.

I shook my head.

“So Lily couldn’t help?” Jessica asked.

“No.” Their faces fell. “But I have an idea. I need everything we can find about elverpige.”

Jessica pointed to the table to her left without looking up. “I pulled everything I could read on it once you said what we were dealing with.”

I could have kissed her. “Did you see anything about raising one?”

She went over to the table and pulled out a blue leather-bound book. She flipped through it, her finger running down the pages. “Here it is.”

I scanned the ritual. He definitely needed her body. That bastard. I snapped the book shut. “Thanks.” I started for the door, but Sebastian caught me on my way out.

“I was out of line. I just—”

I clapped my hand down on his shoulder. “I don’t have time to talk about this now. I have to go.” I started down the hallway.

Sebastian caught up. “Wait. Where? You shouldn’t go alone.”

“Fine, but—”

“The past will stay in the past.” He looked at me with clear eyes. “I want to help you, Selene, and Bella. The three of you are the closest family I have ever had.”