Page 86 of No Charm Done

“I’m sorry, doll,” he said softly. “That’s not happening. I’ve got unfinished business.” Elias looked down as a portal shimmered open at his feet. “Really? How stupid do you think I am?”

Luna raised her hand and a swarm of murder hornets appeared around his head, black and yellow, stingers long as needles. As they dive-bombed his face, Elias yelped and leaped into the portal.

“Pretty stupid,” she muttered, and followed him through.

* * *

They landed hard on polished concrete.

Elias scrambled to his feet, hands still waving around his head. He stood there panting and disheveled, as he slowly became aware of the surroundings. They were in a tunnel. A long, curved tunnel made entirely of glass, with water pressing in on all sides. And in that water, moving with lazy grace, were sharks. Bull sharks, mostly. Ten, maybe twelve. They drifted past like idle thoughts, their bodies elegant and terrible in the underwater lights.

“Nice spot,” he said finally. “Romantic. Unless you’re planning to feed me to something.”

Luna didn’t answer. She stood with her arms crossed, the blue light making her look like she was underwater too, drowning in the same space as him.

“Ohh, I get it,” he continued, looking around. “Oklahoma Aquarium. Jenks, Oklahoma, to be precise. You told me about this place.” He tried for a smile. “Glad we ended up on the dry side of the glass this time.”

“Stop talking.”

“Luna—”

“You stole from me.” Her voice was low, but there was danger in it. “You looked me in the eye, and you lied, and then you stole from me.”

“To punish a man who⁠—”

“Goddammit, Shaw, I don’t care!” A shark turned lazily, as if curious about the noise. “I don’t care what Burke did. I don’t care what he deserves. You made a promise. And you broke it the first chance you got.”

“You don’t care that he killed someone?”

“I . . . ugh, yes, of course I do.” Luna’s hands clenched at her sides. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry about Frankie. I’m sorry for everything that ever happened to you in your whole ridiculous life, how’s that? But those tokens aren’t tools for your personal revenge. They’re—” She stopped. Took a breath. “We only had three. And now we’ve wasted one because you couldn’t let go of a grudge. So much for your commitment to the plan, huh?”

“I didn’t waste it,” Elias said. “Burke was funding CastR. Taking him out of commission helps the plan.”

“Ohhh, don’t you dare. Don’t you dare play me for a mark. This wasn’t strategy—you wanted revenge and you took it, and you used me to get it.”

“I didn’t use you.”

“You did.” She stepped closer, blinking back tears. “You let me think we were partners. You let me think you cared about the plan, about stopping CastR, about—” She forced herself to turn away before finishing the sentence: about me. “And the whole time you were just waiting for your chance to get revenge.”

Elias opened his mouth, then closed it, as if realizing there was nothing more to say. He reached for her instead.

She stepped away, evading him. “You should be better,” she said again, more softly this time. “That’s what I hoped. That you’d spent a hundred years in the Void and come out as someone who was at least trying to be better.” She shook her head. “But you’re not. You’re just as bitter and vengeful as he is. You’ve just had more time to marinate in it.”

“Luna, please⁠—”

“It’s over, Shaw.”

“Nah, it’ll be all right. Burke’s too greedy to walk away from CastR now. The plan’s still solid; we’ll still destroy Vex as planned.”

Luna raised her hand. A portal shimmered open behind her. “Yes, we will. Me, my sisters, Mama, the rest of Oak Haven. We will. Not you.”

“Wait,” Elias said. “You’re leaving me here?”

She stepped halfway through the portal.

“You’re leaving me in Jenks, Oklahoma?!”

But she was gone.