Octavian's Undoing (Sons of Judgment) (45 page)

“Amazing.” The word blurted out before Riley could even control herself. “He’s incredible, kind, caring, funny and absolutely gorgeous.”

Daphne laughed. “Don’t hold out on me now.”

Riley blushed. “Sorry.”

“No, no, it’s all good. You sound like you really care about him.”

She thought of what Octavian had told her the previous night as he’d walked her home. She thought of being with him forever and everything in her swam in a warm sort of bliss before she was seized with a cold reminder that she didn’t have forever. She might not have tomorrow.

“Hey, you okay?”

Blinking back the sting of tears, Riley forced a smile. “Yeah, sorry.” She cleared her throat. “I care about him a lot.”

Thankfully, Octavian was put aside as the movie started. Riley sat back with her bucket of popcorn and tried not to think of anything but that moment.

By the end of the movie, Riley was a hundred percent positive she hadn’t been paying attention, or the movie ended on a really bad cliffhanger that she didn’t understand, because when the screen faded to black and the lights came back on, Riley had no idea what she’d just seen.

“What did you think?” Daphne bounced up the center aisle towards the door, her riot of orange curls dancing around her shoulders.

Riley faltered. “It was okay,” she replied hesitantly.

“I thought it was awesome.” Daphne skipped to the doors and waited for Riley. “So what’s the plan now?”

Riley glanced at her watch. “I have to get ready for work.”
And hopefully talk to Dad before that.

Daphne puckered her bottom lip. “Aw, we were just having fun.” Her brows scrunched. “Where do you work again? Maybe I can come hang with you before shift—”

“I have a ton of running around before, but definitely another time.”

Still sulking, Daphne agreed as Riley drove her home and said goodbye.

Back at her own apartment, Riley dumped her coat and purse on the counter and strained her ears for the slightest noise that her father had returned. There was no sound, but that could only mean he was sleeping.

Kicking off her shoes, she went to his room, pressed an ear to the door before knocking lightly. “Dad?”

Silence.

Riley frowned. She knocked again, harder. “Dad?”

Deciding against knocking a third time, she reached for the knob and turned. The room opened into absolute darkness and a silence that didn’t really belong, that felt unnatural. The air was thick, like something inside was sucking it all in, leaving none for anyone else. Across the room, the windows had been heavily covered so not a single shred of light could penetrate the solid wall of black, keeping whatever waited inside hidden. A sensation of dread washed down her spine, prickling all the little hairs on her arm and the back of her neck.

“Dad?” she called again, her hand fumbling for the light switch.

A low, chilling rustle responded to her voice, the sound a snake made as it unfurled. But this was so much bigger, so much heavier than any snake.

Riley found the switch, flicked it and… nothing. The room remained drenched in obscurity. The winding unease intensified in the pit of her stomach, becoming a painful knot that sapped all the confidence in her. She began creeping out backwards, never turning her back on the gaping void and whatever sinister force lurked within. Whatever it was, she could feel it breathing. She could feel its hot breath singeing the skin on her arms.

Without pausing to think, she grabbed the door and slammed it closed. The sound cracked through the empty apartment, filling every crevice like thunder.

Breathing hard, she unfurled her stiff fingers from around the chunk of ice that had become the doorknob and took several unsteady steps back.

It’s your imagination,
the voice in her head assured her. But it was that little sliver of doubt, the one that had firsthand knowledge of the things that lurked in the dark, evil things that refused to listen. What if something had captured her father? What if it was Baron waiting for her?

Her hand flew to her bracelet. She needed to get out.

Not waiting, she turned on her heels and ran. Behind her, she could have sworn she heard the distinct rumble of laughter, but she didn’t stop. She snatched up her things off the counter and left the apartment.

“Riley?” Magnus glanced up from the bits of neatly cut paper he was organizing on the counter when she slammed through the doors into Final Judgment, stumbling over her feet and nearly face planting.

“Something… something has my dad!” she panted, doubling over as she gasped for breath. “Something…”

Magnus was around the counter and at her side in seconds. His hands were gentle as they grabbed her and took her to a chair. “Breathe,” he ordered, kneeling before her. “What has your father?”

Riley shook her head. “I don’t know. It was in his room. I mean…” She raked shaky fingers through her hair. “I didn’t see it, but…”

“What’s going on?” Gideon appeared through the swinging doors. The buckles on his boots jingled as he stomped to where they sat.

Magnus got to his feet and faced his brother. “Riley thinks there was someone in her apartment.”

“I didn’t
think
someone was there,” she protested. “I… felt it. It was in his room.”

“Road trip?” Gideon said.

Magnus nodded. “Road trip.”

They turned simultaneously to the door and made it all the way there before Riley caught up to them.

“I’m going,” she said when they both glanced at her. “My dad could be in trouble and need my help.”

“Not sure what kind of help you could provide,” Magnus drawled. “But if you must.” He swung the door open and held it for her.

“Octavian is going to kill us,” Gideon muttered, following her out.

They took Gideon’s car, a shiny, gray… hearse.

“What?” Gideon yanked open the backdoor for her, grinning. “It’s a classic.”

“It’s a carrier of dead bodies,” Riley muttered, climbing in.

“It’s a
Rolls-Royce
,” he corrected. “And I think it’s kind of poetic considering what we do.”

She just gave him an almost amused stare as he shut the door and slid into the driver’s seat. Magnus was already in the passenger’s seat, seemingly unaffected by the fact that they were driving around in a car made to cart around corpses and at that moment, Riley couldn’t really bring herself to notice either.

They drove without stopping down the winding, deserted highway towards her apartment. Gideon cut the engine and climbed out to open her door. Magnus was already jogging up the stairs to the foyer doors.

“Keys!” he called down, making an opening and closing clamshell with his hands.

Riley dug into her purse and fished them out. She gave them to Gideon who tossed them in a high arc to his brother. Magnus caught them with no effort and opened the glass doors. He waited for them to join him before stepping inside. He said something to Gideon in a tongue Riley didn’t understand, then jerked his head for Gideon to take lead.

“Stay between us,” Gideon said as he passed Riley.

Giving them a nod that she understood, Riley followed. They moved in a quick, straight line to her door. Magnus slipped an arm around Riley’s middle and dragged her into his side, partially concealing her behind him as Gideon reached for the knob and shoved the door open.

She had no idea where the knives came from, but each boy held a sleek, silver dagger with ornate handles and curved blades. They were much too large to conceal on a person’s body, yet they’d managed to do just that. She made a mental note to ask… later.

“Where?” Gideon whispered from over his shoulder.

Riley pointed in the direction of the bedrooms. “Last door on the left.”

Magnus drew her back further as Gideon started forward. Magnus pressed the tips of his fingers into Riley’s chest, pushing her into the wall making up the narrow foyer.

“Stay here,” he mouthed. “You hear anything, you run. Got it?”

Cotton mouthed and trembling uncontrollably, Riley nodded.

With a last warning glare at her, Magnus followed Gideon down the hall. Riley shifted a little closer to peer around the corner as the boys moved with the grace of a well-oiled machine to her father’s room. They exchanged glances, speaking with their eyes and the jerks of their heads before Gideon reached for the knob and thrust the door open.

Then they were both charging into the darkness with the creature inside.

Time seemed to lurch to a complete standstill as silence descended on the apartment like resin, trapping them in its syrupy grasp. Even the world outside seemed to fade into nonexistence as Riley held her breath, waiting for something to happen.

When it did, it was in the deafening sound of a body slamming into the wall, followed by the rain of glass across the floor. Something snarled — she was almost certain it wasn’t one of the boys — then more crashes of splintering furniture.

“Gideon!” She heard Magnus cry out a warning, but it must have come too late.

There was a grunt of pain followed by a body sailing out of the room. It struck the corridor wall and crumpled to the ground.

Riley gasped as she recognized Gideon’s unmoving figure. Magnus’ warning forgotten, she ran to him.

“Gideon?” She dropped to his side, her hands shaking as she turned him over, not knowing what to expect, dreading all the horrific possibility.

No puncture wounds. There was an ugly bruise forming across his beautiful face, but otherwise, he seemed all right.

“Okay,” she whispered to him. “It’s okay. I’m going to get help.”

She had no idea how or who, especially since Final Judgment didn’t have a phone and if they did, she never thought to ask for the number. But she couldn’t leave Magnus alone in there either, not when it was her fault they were there.

Leaping to her feet, she did the only thing she could think of. She called Daphne.

“Yellow, yellow?” came her cheerful voice.

“Daph, I need your help.” Fighting to keep her voice calm and slow to avoid having to repeat, Riley told her the direction to Final Judgment, praying with all her might that because she told Daphne the location, the pathway would show up for her. “Ask for Octavian or Liam and tell them it’s an emergency and they need to come to my apartment.”

There was a tiny second of hesitation, then, “You got it.”

Relieved the girl hadn’t asked why or what was happening, she hung up the phone and ran back to Gideon’s side. He hadn’t moved, not a muscle. His dagger lay a few inches from his limp grasp, uselessly glinting in the dim light of the hallway.

Without pausing to think, she snatched it up and dove into her father’s bedroom.

Someone had torn down whatever had been blocking the daylight and the room was illuminated to its full potential and it looked as though a bomb had gone off. Every piece of furniture in the place was in splinters. There were char marks on the ceiling and walls. The bed was in pieces, cracked in half like doll furniture. The mattress was torn, springs and cotton spilling out. But the thing that caught Riley’s attention most was the sight of her father, perched on Magnus’ chest, trying to pierce his chest with the silver dagger.