Binding the Shadows (Arcadia Bell) - By Jenn Bennett Page 0,7

if you come to the funeral or not.”

“I’m not talking about the funeral.” I strode to meet him, everything suddenly clear to me. There were a lot of things I couldn’t control, but this was one I could. “I’m done being your slave.”

“Slaves don’t get paid.”

“I never asked for the job. You bullied me—no, you blackmailed me into working for you.”

“It’s not my fault you’re living a lie.”

“No, but you’re a dick for taking advantage of it. And I’m done with you. Don’t wire me any more money, don’t ask me to do anything else for you.” Surging anger heated my chest and loosened my tongue. “If it weren’t for me, seven of your club’s children would be dead by now and Central California would be overrun with Æthyric demons.” I stuck a finger in his chest. “You should be kissing my feet. You have no idea what I could do to you, demon. No fucking idea. If you did, you’d be sending me roses everyday, begging for my forgiveness.”

He didn’t look like he was about to fall on his knees and ask for said forgiveness any time soon. But he did look surprised. Probably because no one ever stood up to him.

“I—”

“What? What are you going to do? Have your lackeys shove a gun in my face and force me on another job? Go on, I dare you.”

Now he was angry, too. “If you want to negotiate more agreeable terms, I’m open to that. But you seem to be forgetting that I could bring down your matchstick framework of an existence with a couple of phone calls.”

I stepped closer. Close enough to smell the expensive aftershave clinging to his leathery skin. Close enough to see a muscle jump in his jaw. “Go right ahead,” I goaded. “Tell the whole world. I’m not going to pay for my parents’ crimes for the rest of my life. If I end up in jail for living under a stolen identity or aiding and abetting my parents’ disappearance, then you’re just going to have to bail me right back out, because I can’t charge your damned Hellfire summoning circles from prison. And if you even think about using Lon to get to me, or threatening anyone I care about, you and I will be enemies. And you’d do well to remember all my enemies are dead. Including the man you’re about to fish out of the water.”

Dare stood stock-still, measuring me. Strategizing. Then he flicked his gaze over my shoulder.

“Lon.”

Oh, that was it. If he wouldn’t listen to my words, he’d listen to the hum of electricity I was going to shove inside his chest. I reached inside my inner coat pocket and whipped out a miniature caduceus—a graphite-cored staff I used for directing kindled Heka into spells. Half-crazed with fury, I prepared to siphon electrical current and raised the caduceus like a dagger, ready to strike.

Dare lurched backward and stuck his hand in his jacket like he was reaching for a gun.

“Enough!” Lon jumped between us, and roughly shoved Dare’s arm away. They stared at each other for a long moment.

“I’m done being ashamed of my past,” I shouted at Dare over Lon’s shoulder. “And I’m not paying for it anymore.”

The Hellfire leader blinked at both of us, looking old and weary in the shadowed light.

Nobody said anything else, so I just crossed my arms over my chest and started walking up the driveway. After a few moments, I heard footsteps following. I was pretty sure they were Lon’s. He has a certain loose way of walking, as if nothing in the world could ever hurry him along. I knew for sure it was him when he de-alarmed the car and reached around my side to open my door.

I was still angry. Shaking a little, even, as I hoisted myself into Lon’s SUV. His valrivia cigarette dangled from his lips as he started the engine. He cracked the window then pulled out of Merrimoth’s drive onto a winding coastal road. We sped around a curve, sitting in silence. My anger bled into a slow-moving anxiety. Lon still hadn’t said a word.

Was he upset at me for mouthing off at Dare? He often told me to stand up to the man, but admittedly, it might not have been the best time to rebel. Dare just lost one of his oldest friends. At least, I guess Dare and Merrimoth were friends. Associates. Colleagues. Fellow club members. Whatever the hell they were to each other,