He cups my chin. “Are you looking for permission or forgiveness?”
Just like that, I’m trying not to cry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I close my eyes for a long moment and fight for control. “This is dramatic, and I’m sorry. I know every single member of my family has had to make hard calls at one point or another and they all put us first. I know you two have done the same. This isn’t even that hard of a call. I don’t know why I’m struggling.”
“Because it’s your first.” Beast’s hand is so devastatingly gentle on my face. “For better or worse, Orsino kept you away from so much of what it takes to maintain the safety of the people in this territory. There will be other decisions like this in the future, and they’ll be more complicated and won’t always have a happy ending. It’s the way our world works.”
I know that. I truly do know that.
“I’m sorry.” I sigh and open my eyes. “I’m ready.”
Gaeton pulls me to my feet and envelops me in a hug. A breath later, Beast is pressed against my back, the weight of them steadying me just as much as their words did. Gaeton kisses the top of my head. “We’ll be in and out and back to Carver City by morning.”
We’re doing this. I know we’re doing it.
I just hope I find some peace about it.
Zurielle Rosi meets us in a tiny bar in a part of Olympus I’ve never been to. It’s enough to have Gaeton on full alert, but there’s no trouble as we slip through the door and make our way to the table in the back. It’s bathed in shadows, but I make out the slim form of Zurielle. She’s a pretty Vietnamese woman with long dark red hair, and she looks both terrified and excited when she sees me. “Isabelle.”
I slide into the chair across from her and feel Gaeton take a position at my back. It’s not exactly unobtrusive, but no one around us is paying the smallest bit of attention. “Hi, Zuri.”
“I almost didn’t believe it when I got your text.” She glances at Gaeton. “I see you’ve worked things out.”
“Yeah, it’s a little more complicated than that, but we have.” There’s no use stalling. I lean forward and lower my voice. “I have a message for you.”
She frowns. “That’s what you said, but you were really vague before.”
I still don’t know why Ursa wants me to be here instead of just sending a text with the message, but the woman has her reasons and I’ve made my decision. I glance around the room. “You know who Ursa is?”
She flinches. “The Sea Witch? Yes, I know who she is.”
“She told me to tell you…” It takes me a few seconds to get myself together. “She knows where Alaric is, and she’s willing to help reunite you.”
The hope in Zurielle’s brown eyes make me feel like a monster. She grabs my hands, gripping me tightly enough that I have to fight back a wince. “She can reunite us?”
Even though I should leave it at that, I can’t help myself. It’s too big a coincidence for me to have met an Alaric at the Underworld and to have the same name thrown around by Ursa and Zurielle. “He’s a tall guy, right? White, handsome, dark hair and blue eyes?”
“Yes, that’s him.”
I can feel Gaeton’s tension at my back, but I’ve gone too far to turn away now. “Zuri, he’s in the Underworld. You don’t need Ursa to find him.”
“I know where he is, Isabelle. It’s not the where that’s the problem.” She lets out a long exhale. “Thank you for delivering the message.”
“Don’t thank me. Not if you’re going to play right into her hands.”
She gives me a sad smile. “Some people are worth the risk.”
I can’t claim that’s a lie without being the worst kind of hypocrite. “Please be careful.”
“Thank you for delivering the message,” she repeats. She gives my hands one last squeeze and rises. “And you be careful leaving town tonight. There are strange things going on in Olympus.”
Before I can decipher that, she’s gone, hurrying out the door and into the night. I twist and look up at Gaeton. “Did I just make a mistake?”
“No.” He’s not looking at me, though. He’s studying the room as if assassins will burst from the walls at any moment. “You delivered a message and now she’s going to make a choice.”
“A choice that Ursa seems to have carefully orchestrated.”
“Zurielle is smart enough to see the strings. If she chooses to ignore them, that’s her choice, Isabelle. You have to let her make it.”
“What if she makes the wrong one?”
He pulls me to my feet, his expression serious. “Sometimes shitty things have to happen to keep our people safe, love. It’s the burden your father never wanted you to have.” He looks around again. “Do you want to leave?”