Page 61 of A Dead Man's B-Side
She was going to make me say it, speak my fears into existence so she could figure out where my priorities lie.
But if push came to shove, I didn’t mind holding a pillow over Rain’s face in the dead of night. “I have a pretty good guess of what you’re up to… So, you keep your leverage over Marigold, and in exchange for my services, you drop any and all investigations with my name attached.”
Rain looked around, though I doubted that was truly what she was doing. She was contemplating, turning the situation around in her mind to fit her agenda.
My body warmed, threatening to sweat from the edge of the situation. My mind played out the different scenarios if Rain didn’t comply. “Do we have a deal?”
“We do.”
Her words surprised me, though they shouldn’t have.
I felt metaphorical chains breaking from around my ankles, freeing me from the constant state of caution I felt around her.
As if at any moment, she’d lean forward and whisper, “I know your secret.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out, so instead, I nodded and turned to leave. But again, Rain’s voice made me pause, “Why aren’t you curious to know what it is about Marigold that concerns me?”
I was glad she hadn’t asked how I’d figured any of this out. Wishing to keep that to myself.
A dark part of me felt myself in the baggy skin of my father, taking advantage of a vulnerable woman for my own self-gain.
It wasn’t something I wanted to voice or rehash the details of.
I placed my hand on the wall next to the door and turned to face her, wishing nothing more than to rid myself of this situation and walk out a man with a false illusion of freedom. “I’m selfish and self-preserving. Beyond that is of no concern to me.”
From that moment on, Rain Atlas Jett regarded me differently. I had no familial relations tying me down, ones that came with connections. And maybe that was why Rain came to me, and not Wolf, all those months later, during our holiday break.
And again, after Thaddeus introduced us tohim.
When I made it into Remington Tower, the devil appeared just as I was making my way to the science lab. I was a suspicious person, something that came with the lifestyle, and Mr Browne walking the halls of Remington Tower, a building he didn’t have a class to teach in, was surely something to be suspicious about.
The old bat caught me at a bad time, or rather,almostwould be a better word.
“Alexandr, just the student I was looking for.” He happened tocome to Remington Tower to look for me?
His words echoed in the large and high-ceilinged entrance hall.
He walked down one of the sets of stairs at a leisurely pace, the stone-carved design of the bannister curled under his palm, making him appear as if a lord, greeting someone in his castle.
“I was just leaving,” I replied, careless of the way I had just entered, proving my words false.
“And now you’re not.”
I glared at him; eyes lifted to where he was. “I don’t have detention. I don’t owe you my time.”
I almost told him to piss off but held my tongue. When he grinned, I wished that I hadn’t. “That may be true, but you’re free, and a member of the faculty is asking for your time. I’m sure you’re of the generous sort.”
I wasn’t, and I was sure he got the feeling. It was only when he turned his back at a sound, a sound I was grateful for, coming from up the stairs and around the corner, that I bolted through the open space and down the hall under the stairs, into the classroom I was looking for.
I closed the door and pressed myself against the wall, waiting for what felt like hours. Finally, when I presumed the coast was clear, my ears void of any sound of nearing footsteps, I turned to the science lab I’d been thinking of since this morning.
For a moment, I wondered what Mr Browne wanted from me, but I shook the thought away.
Not wanting to dwell on him any longer.
My task was simple; I only needed a small vial that I knew this room held.
It didn’t take long to raid the shelves and figure out what I was searching for, it took an even shorter time to cut up my palm with my pocketknife and fill the vial with my blood.
