Chapter 30
Lila shuffled away from the guest cabin, one button of her borrowed purplecoat unbuttoned, her hand jammed inside to rest below her gunshot wound. In the last few days, she’d grown less sore, and Dr. McCrae seemed pleased with her progress. On the doctor’s advice, she’d even begun trudging around the track. Once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and twice in the evening, avoiding the rest of the compound as they worked out in their little groups.
She might have walked more if Dr. McCrae had not explicitly warned her against it.
La Roux’s baby still remained as strong and healthy as ever. Flickers of its life had begun invading her daydreams, but she still wasn’t sure if she wished to spend the next eight months paying the price for them to come true. Besides, even the unborn required money to survive, and her mother still had not returned hers. The deadline Lila had given the chairwoman had long passed.
Lila’s bluster had also passed. After all, did she really want to get involved with her mother again, pleading with her to return something she didn’t necessarily need? What if she found her own money, her own path, her own way from now on? The only thing standing in her way was the principle of the thing. Her mother had stolen from her. Lila didn’t give a damn about the dividends, but to take her chief’s salary and her pay from the hospital? She’d traded away her youth for both jobs. It felt like a slap in the face. Perhaps it was meant to.
Perhaps she’d give a slap back.
But she had better uses of her time, didn’t she? She still had La Roux’s network to untangle and the oracles to secure. Mòr and her people needed her, and it seemed like a nice way to live for a while. No one exploiting another’s secrets to get ahead. No one squeezing a few credits from broken bones or from broken men. The oracle’s compound ran on cooperation. Staying with them had been a nice change of pace.
Dixon seemed to agree. He had not yet returned to his old life either. He’d declared himself her nurse: cooking when she needed something to eat, fetching new books from the library after she’d finished the old, and managing the fireplace whether she wanted it managed or not. Blair visited in the morning and evenings, returning overnight to her tower. It was a good thing she didn’t stay then too. Dixon might be mute, but Blair more than made up for it.
At least their headboard didn’t thump against the wall.
When he wasn’t nursing Lila or spending time with Blair, Dixon worked. He’d helped Connell organize a brief evacuation of the compound so that the bombs underneath it could be disconnected, moved, and destroyed. He helped Lila search the oracle’s cabin for bugs, destroying at least one in each room. He’d also fetched a map so that Lila could work out how the compound’s security cameras might be used more effectively. She’d had quickly drawn up a list of equipment needed to fill the holes.
Connell had accepted her help gratefully, intent on securing his lover’s safety and the safety of his compound. He had trouble admitting that he’d let so much happen on his watch, but Mòr had not allowed him to resign.
Dixon also retrieved the radios from the two gatehouses on the property. Lila had unscrewed the casing and spent a long evening searching for Olivier’s tricks. When she found nothing, she’d trudged to the gatehouse herself and searched it with her snoop programs. Two chips had been hidden inside: a bug and a primitive jammer. After she removed the two devices, the static had lessened. It lessened further when she located another set in the south gatehouse and in the compound’s monitoring room. From the amount of static that remained, she could only assume that Olivier had hidden three more in the compound.
Lila offered to run her programs throughout the entire compound, but Connell had promised to ask Olivier instead. According to the chief, he remained in the basement, calling for his own death. The aftereffects of the truth serum flowed through his body, gushing from him in waves of vomit, piss, shit, and pain.
In the end, Connell didn’t need to give him the serum again. Olivier marked the bugs and jammers on the map as soon as Connell threatened him with another dose. Olivier knew there was no point in lying. He’d talk against his will anyway, and he’d have to endure the serum’s side effects.
After removing the bugs, the static had cleared completely.
The oracle had been so grateful that she’d given Lila a fine sum, the same fee that she’d earmarked for a company to troubleshoot the radios. Lila had been tempted to turn down the money out of pride, but she knew she couldn’t afford to any longer, not if she decided to live the life of an exile. Besides, Dixon had assured her the money would be enough to pay her bills for at least a year, so long as she did not live extravagantly.
Lila had taken the money. She needed it, regardless of whether or not she kept the baby, and Dixon had helped her begin the search for an apartment.
If Helen had made the change, why couldn’t she?
A contract now sat on her bedside table, breaking down every single security concern Mòr had for her compound. The oracle would pay Lila well for addressing each item, adding a bonus if she could finish the list within the next three months. A similar contract from the La Verde oracle sat beside it, and Mòr hinted that other oracles might send requests soon.
Lila would not want for money, food, or shelter if she stayed with the oracles.
But Mòr had been right. She couldn’t shake the feeling that the gods were watching her. She didn’t want to stay with the oracle children, but if she did have the baby, it might be the safest place for her, a place where she could receive help.
At least for a little while.
Lila pushed open the door to the admin building, the place she always ended up after her walks. The lobby looked as it had the first time she’d seen it. An entire militia shift had scrubbed the blood from the stones, and the ruined rugs and couches had been replaced.
It didn’t seem as inviting, not after seeing Nico and Delilah struggle in their last moments on earth. She couldn’t help but recall Nico’s words the very morning of his death, that she was god-chosen, that death followed people like her, and that he didn’t want to die.
Lila sat heavily on one of the couches, the same couch she’d sat on after her first long walk through the compound. That night, one of the admins had settled beside her on the couch, telling her of Nico’s last words. He’d joked about his migas recipe at first, saying he’d left it on his kitchen counter. He’d wanted the woman to put it away for him, so no one would steal it while he recuperated. But when Nico realized that he wouldn’t make it to the clinic in time, he’d asked the woman to tell his parents and his siblings that he’d loved them very much.
Nico’s thoughts had turned to Lila next. He’d asked someone to fetch her, to ask her why she’d never come to his cabin.
Before they could, he’d closed his eyes and said no more.
She’d run off moments later, chasing Olivier.
Nico had died not knowing.
If only she’d not wasted time looking into missing children, if only she’d trusted her initial instincts and waited to apprehend Camille until she’d found the second mole, then Nico and Delilah might still be alive.
If only a lot of things.
Her palm vibrated. Come to dinner tonight, Lila girl.
Lila swallowed hard. Meetings had tied up her father for days. He’d sent her a few messages here and there telling her more about his forced retirement, but none had explained what had gone on between him and the committee.
Perhaps she’d get answers at dinner instead of vague pleasantries.
Footsteps scraped on the stone behind her. Cecily hadn’t bothered to dress for the day. Her tangled hair had been curled into a bun, and she carried a few books in her arms. She stopped several steps away from Lila, peering at her with wide red eyes.
“Nico and Delilah died in this room.”
Lila nodded, not wanting to speak about it. “Have you talked with Camille?”
“Once. I don’t think I’ll talk with her again for a very long time.” She squeezed her books as though they were a stuffed bear, and sat next to Lila on the couch. “She lied about everything. She and Achille just pretended to be my friends. I brought them into this compound. If I hadn’t done that, Nico and Delilah wouldn’t have died.”
“If lots of people had done lots of things differently, Nico and Delilah might not have died. Me included. But if you had done something differently, then this compound wouldn’t even exist. They came to spy. They came to destroy. Then they met you, and their allegiances changed. They protected you, your aunt, and the secrets of the oracles. You did that.”
“It had nothing to do with me.”
“It had everything to do with you, and you know it.”
Cecily licked her lips. “Sometimes I got worried that something was going on between Camille and Achille. Sometimes I suspected that he had cheated on me with her. Sometimes, I’d catch them whispering or talking, and they’d change the subject as soon as I walked into the room. After he left, she seemed to know more than what she said about his disappearance. I thought it was proof. It only made me cry harder.”
“Now you know.”
“Now I know that he didn’t love me at all. Now I know he’s dead. I don’t even know how to feel about that.”
“You don’t have to figure it out today. How you feel is how you feel.”
“I just feel confused.”
“Then let yourself feel confused.”
“My aunt and my mother asked if Camille could stay on the compound. They say she’s important. I think they’re fools. How is anyone supposed to trust her now?”
Lila shifted on the couch, trying to find a more comfortable angle. “I don’t know what to tell you, Cecily. I had a friend who proved false. In the end, she betrayed me and the trust of my family just to get ahead in life. A good man lost everything because of her actions, and she didn’t even care.”
“She sounds awful.”
“The difference between her and Camille is that Camille did everything within her power to keep you and your aunt safe. Maybe she could have made better decisions, but she made the ones she did to help everyone on this compound, not herself. She’d die before she betrayed you and your family, and that kind of loyalty is exceedingly rare.”
“And Achille?”
“He’s more complicated, isn’t he? They both did their best, Cecily. That might not make it better for you, but it is what it is.”
Lila turned at the sound of more footsteps.
Kenna paused at the lobby entrance in her white robe, her eyes skating over the room. “I’ve been looking for you, Lila,” she said, stopping at the end of the couch. “Mòr wanted me to speak with you before dinner.”
Cecily’s eyes traveled back and forth between them. “I should go study.” She gathered up her things, gave a brief nod to Lila, and scooted out into the cold.
Kenna took her daughter’s place on the couch. “It’s the eve of the Winter Solstice. You should come to our cabin tonight with Dixon. We always watch the same two movies and eat ourselves into a sugar coma. It’ll be fun. We’ll sweat too close to a roaring fire—”
“That’s a given if you let Dixon anywhere near it.”
“We would be very honored if you would celebrate with us.”
Lila fiddled with her shamrock bracelet. “On any other night, I’d join you, but my father messaged me a few moments ago. He throws a family dinner party every year for the Winter Solstice. He and I need to talk.”
“Join us after dinner if you’re not too tired.”
“I’ll do that. Is that what your sister wanted to talk to me about?”
“That, and a few other things. Mòr would like to keep your coat, Lila.”
“Which coat? The purplecoat?”
“No, the gray one.”
“The one I had on when I got shot?” Lila asked. “Why? It’s ruined. Dr. McCrae probably had it tossed out days ago. You could tell her where I bought it, though.”
“Dr. McCrae still has it. Mòr asked her to keep it safe.”
“Safe? Why?”
“For the parlor cases.”
Lila’s eyes widened.
Kenna did not look away this time. “One day soon, that coat will hold a place of honor next to Maid Lilliard’s saddle.”
“What about Nico’s coat? Or Delilah’s? Will theirs have a place too?”
“My sister doesn’t just want your coat because you helped bring down Olivier. There’s a bigger picture here, one that you are a part of whether you want to be or not. This won’t be the last item my sister begs from you. It’s not even the first.”
“What was the first?”
“The guns you used at the warehouse two months ago. They’re in a box in her closet.”
Lila could scarcely imagine anyone keeping such a weapon, not after it had dealt so much death. Now the oracle wanted her bloody coat too? “Why didn’t your sister just cut off a few of the mercs’ heads and stick them on pikes while she was at it? I’m sure that would make a lovely parlor display.”
“This is making you uncomfortable.” Kenna nodded. “I thought blunt would be the best approach. I suppose I should have led with our reasons.”
“Which are?”
“Sometimes the only way to keep history from happening again is to see it. That is why the oracle children have always been the keepers of the relics. It’s not for entertainment or amusement, Lila. It’s so we can glimpse the future.”
“By remembering the past?”
“Exactly.”
“Why even ask me when you have them already?”
“Because we don’t have your permission. Think about it, will you?”
Lila rubbed her wound and tried to settle into a more comfortable position. “Is that all?”
“I didn’t mean to upset you. We want you to enjoy your time here. I know Dixon is helping you look for accommodations in the city, but we’d prefer it if you stayed. You could have a home here, not just a job.” Kenna crossed her legs. The toe of her boot made a slow series of circles. “Mòr, Connell, and I spoke last night. We have something else we’d like you to look into. Something we’re curious about, and something we know you’re curious about too.”
“The Red Phoenix Army?”
“We need to know who pulls their strings. We need to make sure they don’t wish the oracles harm. All we’ve found so far are rumors, nothing substantial.”
“I’m blind without my spy network.”
“You didn’t tap any of your spies to find Camille.”
“That was different.”
“Maybe this can be different too. We’ll pay you for your trouble.” Kenna’s boot stopped moving. “No matter what you chose to do or not to do, you are a friend of the oracles, Lila. All of the oracles. We keep to the old ways. Every oracle is duty-bound to help you, no matter the city, no matter the country.”
“Do I need to learn some sort of secret handshake, or does everyone have a sketch of me at their gatehouses?”
“Your face has been etched into the skulls of every oracle and every future oracle over the last few months. Every purplecoat in the Allied Lands has a sketch of you and will let you inside their compound. You need only ask.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re all waiting. You will save us, Lila Randolph. We just don’t know when or why, and we only know a few pieces of the how behind it. We will do everything we can to help you and to keep you safe until that moment comes.”
“And you won’t tell me anything about it.”
Kenna would not meet her eyes.
Lila wondered if she knew any of the details.
Becoming prime seemed so trivial now, especially when the oracles and the gods kept shoving her toward another role she didn’t want, an even larger one, one with a great deal more responsibility and consequences. Strangely, both the oracles and her matron spoke the same words and used the same arguments.
Lila was quite tired of them.
Kenna glimpsed Lila’s stiffened form, too canny not to recognize she’d gone wrong somewhere in her plea. “I only meant it as a comfort.”
“I don’t need comforting.”
“Maybe we’re the ones who need comforting. I need my family to be safe, Lila. I need the rest of our people to be safe, too. Olivier rocked our sense of security. We need you to make us feel safe again.”
“I don’t want to be anyone’s savior. I have enough problems of my own.”
“Don’t we all?” Kenna smiled gently. “Come to the cabin after your dinner party. We all could do with a bit of celebrating. We have cookies.”
“Chocolate chip?” Lila asked hopefully.
“Promise to come by, and I’ll promise to bake some. Maybe I’ll even bake some double chocolate chip.”
“Okay, but only for double chocolate chip.”
“For the cookies.” Kenna nodded.