Page 102 of Wolf of Ashes
“Veda. Diavolo,” he says. “Allow me to introduce Lucian Nostra, the Ultima Nostra’s son.”
“Well, well,” I whisper. “The son himself.”
My smile grows, because now I know whom I need to kill.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-FOUR
“Well met, son of the Ultima Nostra.” My voice is soft as I acknowledge Lucian with a nod. “It’s a pleasure.”
Inside me, the deepest, darkest, most delighted pit has opened up. It’s a pit inside which there is a well of fury and malice, and until this moment, I’ve kept it closed. Because I didn’t yet have a target.
Now I know where my vengeance will begin, the steps I’ll take to make sure my uncle feels all the pain I can possibly inflict on him.
It will start with the death of his son.
Oh, I’m going to end you slowly, and I’m going to enjoy it.
Beside me, Elijah’s hand has loosened and opposite me, the keeper has kept his dark magic from burgeoning.
Maybe it’s the smile I’m wearing that’s calming them. Who knows?
I lean forward again, and my fucking cousin gives my breasts another onceover. Of course, he doesn’t know we’re related.
“You can rest assured, son of the Ultima Nostra,” I say. “We’re taking Elijah where he needs to go.”
I’m not yet certain how we’ll evade Lucian in this endeavor, but if I can manipulate this situation so that it looks like a failure on his part—to make it so thathelost the boy—then that’s what I’ll do.
I have no idea if his father is the forgiving type, but it will be a first step in bringing both Lucian and my uncle down.
Soon enough, the train begins slowing again, pulling into the next station, and my mind is working at a million miles an hour, since the crucial point will come when we need to disembark in Boston. Luckily, Jonah said that this leg of the journey takes a while, so I’ve got a little time to figure it out.
My biggest problem is that I don’t know exactly where Elijah’s supposed to go. If I did, I could wrangle it so that the keeper could translocate us right there.
It would have helped if Jonah had shared that information.
The train pulls to a stop, and my attention is drawn to the humans.
Every single one of them stands up, bags in hand, and moves down the aisle to disembark. Their eyes are still dazed and it suddenly dawns on me that Orlan hasn’t released them from their mindless haze since Lucian appeared.
Jonah and the keeper are watching them too, and even Lucian’s forehead is creased.
A quick glance through the far doors tells me that the humans in the next car are also disembarking.
Within seconds, every one of them is gone. I suspect—but can’t know for sure—that the entire train has emptied of human passengers.
Jonah casts an alarmed glance at Elijah, clearly torn about leaving the boy before he hurries toward Orlan. “Orlan! What the fuck?”
Orlan has risen out of his seat and is following the last human out. He half-turns and raises his hand to his forehead in some sort of salute before he slips toward the door. “Sorry, Jonah.”
Then he picks up his pace, racing from the car, dragging his hand across every surface he passes: the doors, even the air, sparks flying from both of his palms.
The doors slam shut behind him, the train takes off with a sharp lurch, much faster than it should be going, and the pressure within the car increases dramatically.
Fuck!
My earplugs only seem to worsen the pressure in my ears. I rip the plugs out with my free hand, just as Elijah wrenches his hand from mine and grabs at his headphones, tearing them from his head and rocking forward with a cry. He knocks off his sunglasses in the process, but his eyes are squeezed shut, so I still can’t see them.
I reach for him, wrapping my hands across his ears.
