Pickup Styx (16 page)

I frowned. “So are elves.”

He smirked. “You’re only half.”

I looked again. “Just for the really steep parts.”

I climbed on piggyback style, my new walking stick wedged horizontally between us. His cold, waxy hands gripped my thighs.

“Hang on tight.” Corbin’s thumbs made slow circles on my thighs, and I wanted to kick him, but one should never kick her transportation. He let go of my legs as if suddenly aware of what he was doing. I held on as tight as I could as he started easing us down the side of the mountain. At least this way we couldn’t be separated.

“Did they try to tempt you?” Corbin asked.

My clothes came to mind, and I wished I could tug my too short skirt down a little. “Um, yeah.”

He was quiet for a moment. “Who did they use?” he asked in a slightly strained voice as he lowered us down farther.

Fear that this wasn’t the real Corbin either burrowed into me. “An ex-boyfriend.”

“Ah.” He cleared this throat. “Do tell how Prince Charming wasn’t always your true love.”

True love was a concept I struggled with. Jaron was my first love. Cheney would probably be my last. They were different and they brought out different aspects of me, but that didn’t mean they both weren’t a major part in making me who I was. It would never be clear-cut for me. I was a better person with Cheney than I’d been with Jaron. However, Jaron was the one who taught me how to love. Without him I would never have met Cheney. The world and emotions seemed too complicated for anything as important as love to be that simple. “We all have pasts.”

I ran through the differences between real Corbin and fake Corbin. This one was cold, he called me pet instead of little witch, and when we found each other, he seemed a little scared of me like I might not be real.

“Who did they use on you?” I finally asked.

“You.” His soft word sank like a lead weight.

My breath caught and goose bumps covered me. I’d suspected but didn’t think he’d admit it.

“You’re too quiet. Keep talking,” he said.

“I don’t feel like talking.”

“If you don’t humor me, you leave me at the mercy of my thoughts. It is better for both of us if that doesn’t happen.”

I nodded, understanding exactly what he meant. Who would’ve thought I’d have so much in common with a vampire? “How do you know I’m real?”

“I don’t, but since you aren’t trying to get into my trousers, you probably are.”

“But you’re not in a relationship. Why would that be wrong?”

“Because you are. Because I’m here to make up for what happened last time, not be the reason another woman fails. Because I need. . .”

“What?”

“Nothing.

Because he needs me? Is that what he was going to say? How was that even possible? “Corbin—”

“Don’t. Some things are better left unsaid.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I know you love your elf. I hope he deserves you.”

I nodded against him. Confusing emotions swirled inside of me. We needed to talk about something else. “Umm, so maybe you can be a little nicer to Simon if he makes it out. He seems like a nice guy.”

He snorted. “He’s here for one reason and one reason only. At some point on this journey, we will need a sacrifice and he will be it. It may have already been him.”

“That’s not fair. He has as much at stake as we do.”

“We’re not going to argue about this. You’re going to make it through this journey, and I’ll use whatever means at my disposal to make sure of it. ”

I bit my lip to keep from saying anything further. Cheney’s voice saying Corbin had his own reasons for helping me rang through my mind. I knew what the fake Corbin had said, but I didn’t know if that was the truth. “Why did you come here?”

“It’s been a long time since someone believed in me.”

Relief filled me. “That’s it?” I wouldn’t have pegged Corbin as sentimental, but this was an answer I could live with. “You hardly know me.”

He cleared his throat. “It may not seem like a lot to you, but it is a lot to a vampire. Not many people, elf or otherwise, would go alone with a vampire anywhere, let alone to the Underworld. Just the fact that you asked me is a fucking miracle.”

Corbin wasn’t wrong. Had my human half not friended him and Paolo before she knew better, there was no way I’d have considered coming here with a vampire. I still wasn’t entirely certain he wasn’t lying and wouldn’t turn on me, but for the time being, he was there. If Corbin and I made it through this, I couldn’t imagine a closer bond of friendship two people could share.

“But you said no when I asked.”

“I changed my mind.”

“Just like that?”

“What do you want from me? I’m here, aren’t I? I am helping you.”

The trail finally flattened out to a walkable level of steepness. I straightened my dress, happy to be on my feet again. “Should we wait for Simon?”

Corbin looked at my watch. “Seven more hours. We can afford to rest a few minutes if you want. We’re making decent time.”

While we waited for Simon to catch up, I chewed my fingernails—something I never did—and listened to the cries of the wendigos in the distance. “You haven’t told me about the last time you were here. Did you do this?”

He went vampire still and his eyes darkened. “I didn’t travel the road, but I would have. It wasn’t an option.” He didn’t even blink. “I lost more than I could ever get back.”

“What did you lose?”

“My heart.”

So the illusion hadn’t lied. Corbin had come for a girl last time too.

He blinked. “You remind me of her. Maybe that’s why I have always liked you.”

“If I hadn’t asked you and someone else had—”

He smiled faintly.

Thistle turned out to not be too far from the castle. If the elverpige made it there, it would practically be in my backyard. Jessica and I decided to walk there to make sure we didn’t draw any further attention to ourselves. As we neared the edge of the castle grounds, the angry chant of the protesters grew louder.

“What is that?” Jessica asked.

“The people who don’t want Selene as their queen.”

She blinked. “You mean there are actual protests and not just. . . ” She trailed off as the crowd cheered.

“I don’t want Selene to know about this. Not yet.”

She pursed her lips as the guards opened a small gate at the corner of the property to let us through. This way we could bypass the main mob that stood at the front entrance with their signs: “Not Our Queen,” “Go Home Half-Breed,” or my personal favorite, “Change Happens To The Weak.” Jessica gasped as we walked through. The crowd had a fake body hanging from a noose with a sign around its neck that said “Traitor.” I sighed and put a hand on Jessica’s back, leading her away more quickly. They were really worked up today.

“I think you’re right not to tell her. Selene’s been through an awful lot.”

“The council thinks she needs to go out and meet the people so she can win them over.”

Jessica tilted her head. “She’d be good at that, but”—she glanced back—“I don’t know if they want to be won over.”

I nodded. “They seem to forget they’re talking about a real person with feelings and struggles. They turn her into a heartless villain in their minds and feed their own hate.”

“Maybe the two of you should have left. Is being king worth all of this?”

I had offered to give up the crown for Selene, but she’d said that I’d regret it. I didn’t believe it at the time, but the longer I was Erlking, the more I understood what she meant. My life had always been meant to be one of service to my people. Even now that they hated her and didn’t love me, I still felt beholden to them. “I think it’s worth it. Selene and I could do so much for this kingdom. More people need our help than fight against it.”

“Then I’ve changed my mind. You need to tell her. She needs to know how they feel so she can deal with it. Selene isn’t fragile. Don’t treat her like glass. She won’t appreciate it.”

I nodded and opened the door to Thistle for her. The casino was crowded, but people pretty much kept to themselves. Vampires, jinn, demons, succubae, and incubi wandered the room otherwise filled with innocents. I moved closer to Jessica, concerned that I wouldn’t be able to hold the mask on her well enough for this crowd. The space looked just like it had in my mind. I led her to a table with an opening. I felt eyes on me, but I hardened my stare and tightened my grip on Jessica.

“Dude, you’re crushing me,” she whispered.

I loosened my grip slightly and placed money on the table. It was promptly exchanged for chips. I flipped one between my fingers as I scanned the room for anyone with a family resemblance. Jessica nudged me.

“I think they’re waiting for you.”

I kept looking around the room. “Go ahead. Place a bet and roll.”

Vampires and jinn couldn’t have children, so they were off the list of potential relations. Succubae bore young, however, and would be tempting, so I focused on them and the incubi. But none of them really looked like my family. There were a few rather large men in dark suits with sunglasses scattered around the room and another man lingering by the back office door who I couldn’t get a good look at. Perhaps my sibling worked here.

Everyone at our table cheered. Jessica threw her arms around me, startling my attention back to her.

“You suck at being undercover,” she whispered in my ear. “Stop gawking.”

A woman bumped into us, trying to get closer to the table. I smiled widely at Jessica. “Just play the game,” I said through the clenched teeth of my smile.

She rolled her eyes and scooped up the dice, blowing on them softly. She tossed them forward again and the table cheered. Jessica jumped up and down, elbowing me. “Did you see that!”

People all around the room paused and slowly migrated toward our table. She rolled again and again to the same results, getting more excited each time. Her winning streak kept up for three more rolls and the pile of money grew in front of us. Jessica had all but forgotten our mission, more interested in winning than anything, and even I had stopped searching the crowd to watch her win. She threw again. The group erupted into cheers. Excitement even built in me. The thirst to win, to see how far she could take this streak, was catching. She won, and each time, she bet more and more, the thrill skyrocketing with the amount of money she laid before her.

Finally, Jessica pushed all her winnings onto the table. The room hushed, waiting for the roll. She slowly tumbled the dice together in the palm of her hand, and they made a clacking noise as they hit one another. The woman who’d bumped into us earlier smiled slightly and moved away from the table. I couldn’t take my eyes off of Jessica’s roll long enough to see where she went, and I didn’t actually care. Jessica rolled one last time. The dice flew through the air and bounced off the other side of the table. The crowd collectively groaned. Her mouth fell open. She lost everything.

People wandered back to their tables, murmuring to themselves, and resumed playing. Jessica looked horrified. “I can’t believe I lost. I’m sorry. I was winning and I don’t even know how to play. I never gamble.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I didn’t care about the money, though I felt the disappointment of loss acutely. I wanted to give her more money so she could try to win it all back, but I shook it off. We weren’t here for that. The whole scene played again in my head. Jessica started winning when the woman came to our table, and she stopped winning when the woman left. Everyone in the room was mesmerized by Jessica’s luck—except the stranger. I scanned the room for the woman. “I think you found who we are looking for.”

“Who?”

“Just stay near me.” We meandered through the room, watching each table for a little while before moving on to the next. We might have gone unnoticed had Jessica not tripped, sprawling out on the floor in front of everyone. As soon as I helped her up, a drink was spilled on her, and then she broke a heel on who knows what. The woman was nowhere in sight.

“What did she look like?” Jessica whispered, limping beside me.

I realized I had no mental image of the woman, just a feeling of her. At the last table, the sensation started again. The air began to change and excitement rolled through me. She was back. I approached the table, careful not to look at the game. I scanned the crowd around the person winning, and there she was—tall and thin with wavy blond hair and golden eyes. A fortuna fae. They gave luck and fed off of the energy the luck brought, but when they left, it created a void of luck in the person they’d touched. I moved behind the fortuna and took her arm.