Page 49 of Till Death

“I did say eight and a half.”

“Right, right. Well, if you’re sure you’re almost there.”

She studied her fingers for a moment. “I’m almost two whole hands. That’s pretty close.”

“It’s just… don’t you think it would have been better for Orin if the Life Maiden could have helped him?”

“Everyone knows she can’t.”

Heart quickening, I finally felt like I was on to something. “Right. But if she could, I mean. If Boo got hurt, let’s say, shouldn’t we take him to see her?”

She stopped, her eyes doubling in size. “But how could we when everyone knows she’s dead?”

The hair on my arms rose at her very blunt response. She was dead. ‘Everyone’ to a child was such a small group of people. Only those close to her. A secret well-kept, and if she had somehow found this out, it explained why Drexel held her close. Why the Syndicate kept her closer. Why she’d been treated with such favor. Had Orin killed the Life Maiden for Drexel and wasn’t really harboring Life Maiden power?

“You’re right,” I answered numbly, wondering what the off-kiltered balance of power with only one of us meant for the world. “Everyone knows.”

“Except Paesha and Thea. But Paesha can’t find her, and Thea is a… oppymis.”

“Oppymis?”

“Yeah, you know. She always sees things brighter.”

We crested the hill, the child’s confession confusing me more than ever as we peered down at the riverbank.

“An optimist?”

“Boo!” she shouted, tearing away from me to tackle her very muddy dog, who’d lay on the bank, chewing on a bone I’d left for him, his red collar miraculously stuck on a random piece of fishing twine that’d been haphazardly discarded.

“Well, what are the odds?” I tugged on my slipknot, setting the dog free, but he didn’t budge, unwilling to give up the bone.

“Come on, you big oaf.” Quill threw her entire body weight into the pup. He didn’t give an inch.

I swiped the bone, and he was off the ground in a second, diligently at my side.

“Good boy,” I muttered under my breath as he shoved his nose into my pocket, smelling the bits of roast I’d saved for him.

We walked toward the house together in mostly silence, save the giggles as Boo smothered Quill in muddy kisses when she’d taken the bone. From the top of the hill, she darted for the door, stopped in her tracks, and ran back to hug me.

“Maybe you’re only small bad, Death Maiden.”

“Maybe.” I smiled down at her. “You can call me Dey, if you want to.”

She lifted a shoulder. “I’ll think about it.” And then she was gone, running for the house at full speed, yelling at Boo about having to go to the bathhouse now.

I let the information swirl through my mind, turning the scenarios over and over again. If Paesha didn’t think the Life Maiden was dead, then there couldn’t be a great secret Quill was hoarding. Or maybe there was, but that wasn’t the secret. I was starting to doubt whether any of them knew Orin was a murderer. She never claimed Orin thought the Life Maiden was alive, though. And that was very interesting to me.

Chapter 22

Iwasn’t alone. Elowen was always home, and there was usually someone coming and going, it seemed. Today was quiet, though. Only her. I’d been torn between starting my search for the Life Maiden in the city, or here in the Syndicate house, but after several days of everyone being around, they were finally gone, so I decided to take the opportunity presented and start searching.

“Tea?” I asked, holding the smile that felt foreign on my face as I offered a sleeping tonic to Orin’s mother, sitting next to her on the front steps again.

“Thank you, Dey. It never gets easier. Every night they leave, I feel like I can’t breathe until they come home safely.”

“I've been wondering, how does the Maestro’s power work? I thought for every deed, a debt was paid. That’s how Lady Visha’s binding magic is.”

“That would be how it appears, but we cannot claim to know the intricacies of magic or the heart of the wielder, can we, Maiden? The same can be said for Drexel. He values time rather than deeds.”