Page 183 of Like Grim Death: Part One
I feel a surge of indignation flash through me. What does she mean,won’t let her?But I can’t get too carried away with my hypocrisy. If Mavy gave me an order, I’d at least pretend to follow it.
Even so… “You’re going to act like you didn’t see any of this?” I press, shrugging. “After what you did last night, don’t you think you’ve earned a right to know what’s going on around us?”
She gives me a cool smile. “I’ve also earned a moment to relax. To get my bearings. If we’re stuck here, we might as well enjoy it.” She clears her throat then, looking more somber. “Anyway, I know the two of you—Atlas, I mean—are kind of… friends?” She asks it as a question but doesn’t stop to let me answer. “If you find out anything while we’re here, forced together, can you just…” She trails off. Then she clears her throat and says, “I’m sorry I never replied to your texts. I just… I’m having a hard time.” She swallows, then shakes her head quickly, her eyes meeting mine like she needs to prove she’s still strong. “I’m fine now.” It’s such an odd thing to say. And such a lie. “I'm good.”
I think about my unanswered texts to her and this half-apology for them. The ways she’s acted like she loathed me.
But maybe because I’m desperate for a friend and maybe because I’m dying to fit in and maybe too, because I admire her for what she did last night, I say quickly, “I’ll tell you. If I find out anything at all, I’ll let you know. But are you sure you don’t want to discuss this with Lucifer now?” I’m careful not to let my voice crack on his name. “What if Rain is some sort of target? What if he’s in danger?”
She gives me another one of her ghostly, haunted smiles. Then she steps around me, like she’s going to walk away. “My husband and your boyfriend and the rest of them own this house. He’s safe here.”
This is probably true, but I still feel a prickle of unease thinking of letting this go so soon.
“Sometimes I think it’s better to take the upper hand quietly until you’re sure you can act on it.” Her gray eyes bore into mine, like she’s trying to force me to understand.
I can only nod slowly back, like it makes sense. And maybe, in a twisted way, it does. Nothing in this cult is logical or straightforward, but I do know for a fact Lucifer wouldn’t leave his son alone if he didn’t think he was absolutely safe.
“I have to go back downstairs. I already looked in on Rain, he’s good with Brooklin.” It’s interesting, the way she says this almost like it’s an excuse for something or an explanation. Like maybe she thinks I think she’s a bad mom. “I’ll see you around.” Then she passes me by, and I turn to watch her walk to the door at the end of the hallway. She slips through it without another word or a glance back.
After a moment spent staring after her, I contemplate going to Mavy and confessing everything. But his words by the pool come back to me.
Get off me and go upstairs.
I don’t know why he was being such a dick but I don’t think now is the time to bring up more stressful cult secrets with him. So instead, I continue down the hallway, lost in thought. Maybe if I figure something out on my own, he’ll actually listen to me instead of blowing me off.
Lucifer is hiding something, because I’m sharing it with him. And there’s a reason those three men were after him last night. He disobeyed an order from RC, butwhat?
Atlas is keeping things on the low too, and now he’s brought all of the Unsaints a mysterious connection to his girlfriend’s brother’s body. He also has The Madilyn, and this place is called Liber. Then there’s Sanctum. The Unsaints have a tendency to give strange names to places, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility theyownLiar’s Island.
Samson could have truly seen something he shouldn’t. Who owns the website his old posts are stored on?
Sid is on to Lucifer, even if she doesn’t know what, exactly, she’s got. And she wants to keep her suspicions a secret from him to gain the “upper hand,” as she called it.
Sevryn’s arrival is timely, coming with all these other mysteries unraveling—and he potentially knows exactly what’s going on—and Rival’s Claw is timely too, with Lucifer’s uncle sweeping into Alexandria.
Cain knows mine and Atlas’s secret, but I don’t know whose side he’s on.
Ezra is cozying up with Brooklin, who loves Maverick but also kind of hates him. She seems to think there’s a snake among us, but does she know how many?
Is Mavy the only blameless one here?
Also… Where the hell is Jeremiah Rain?
I realize I’ve reached the end of the hallway at the same time I see an archway to my left. I pick my head up, trying to focus on the present and where I’m going when I frown into the gloom beyond.
Placing my hand along the cool awning, I take a step inside, my burgundy boots squeaking on the polished, dark tiles beneath my feet. Obviously, they have someone come clean this place.
Inhaling, I catch the scent of bleach.
A bathroom?
I walk inside, following a maze of walls, like in some public restrooms at fancy restaurants Mav has taken me to. Then I’m looking at a circular, dark couch around a small, squat table—tissues and a wire basket of condoms set atop it.
I almost laugh, wondering how many people know this is here and whose idea it was to set it up. Maverick has never worn a condom with me.
But I watched him wear one with that other girl.
I feel bile at the back of my throat, but I swallow it down, shoving the memory aside.
