As the Fallen Rise, page 24
Delia took a sip of wine. “Are you sure you didn’t do anything to upset her? I thought your working relationship was good.”
Greer sighed. “I thought so too. Daniel just sends me these sad little smiles. I think he’s trying to stay neutral, but doesn’t quite know how.”
The situation came to head early Monday morning when Greer asked Erin if there was anything she did to upset her officemate. To which Erin looked down her nose, shuffled a stack of papers on her desk, and proceeded to tell Greer that the only reason she received the promotion was because she had two dead mothers. Daniel’s eyes had widened, though he stayed quiet, and immediately turned to his computer to appear busy.
Greer’s lips parted in surprise as she looked at Erin, who returned the stare with a smug, humorless smile. Greer cleared her throat before telling Erin that she had been planning to bring Erin on as a co-host for the exhibit in hopes they would both get chosen to transfer to Greece, but now Erin could kiss that opportunity goodbye.
While that wasn’t necessarily the truth, Greer still felt a zing of satisfaction as she watched that smug grin slide to Erin’s sandal-clad toes. Greer left the office soon after and had been working from the silent floor of the library that overlooked the distant mountains ever since.
“I’m going to beat her ass,” Delia had said that night when Greer filled her in over a beer at an establishment called Brass Cannon Aleworks.
The brewery was a cute place— small with long tables akin to a German beer hall rather than a standard brewery. A large, circular chandelier donned in faux greenery hung from the white ceiling. On the weekends, live bands played on the stage located in the beer garden. They had been giving a wide berth to the Mexican restaurant since the night of the devil, though Greer suspected that was due to how shitty they felt the next morning after four margaritas each.
“Tell me where she lives, I’m going to—” Delia finished her sentence by sliding into Spanish, something she only did when she was spitting angry.
“If anything, I can have a go at her first,” Greer said as her magic prickled at her fingertips. “Though I might accidentally burn the library down or summon a giant squid. Truly, it’s all up in the air.”
It was in that same conversation that Greer tentatively brought up the devil and mentioned, while swirling her beer around the stein, that she had made the decision to move out of the apartment. She felt a heaviness lift from her shoulders as she voiced it aloud for the first time and knew that, had she been standing, her knees would have been wobbly and weak.
Delia was silent for a minute and watched her with a keen, steady gaze. Greer focused on the thumps of the beer glasses against the wooden table tops as the group behind them talked and laughed. A gurgle of foam sounded from the beer tap behind the bar as the keg emptied and a sizzling plate of freshly baked pretzels was delivered to the table to their left.
The group of men descended on it like a pack of ravenous hyenas.
“You don’t need to do that,” Delia finally responded, though she didn’t quite look like she had convinced herself of that.
Greer scanned Delia’s features, half in shadows from the dim lighting of the brewery. “Dels, we both know that I do.” She leaned forward to take Delia’s hands into her own. “You said it yourself. What if Paige was home, what if we hadn’t gone out for drinks. Whoever sent the devil came to steal the grimoire. It, and I, have to go.”
Delia adjusted in her seat, looking toward a group of women to her right who were absorbed in a quiz printed in a women’s love and fashion magazine. From their giggles, Greer thought it was a sex quiz.
“Where will you go?” Delia asked, her bright, brown eyes shifting back to Greer.
“I already put in an application for a house on the other side of town. It’s small and further from campus, but it’ll work. It was accepted this afternoon, and it’ll be ready tomorrow. The previous tenant moved out two weeks ago.”
Delia picked up her beer glass and took a long gulp, her throat bobbing as the tears pricked the corner of her eyes. “We’ve lived together for the better part of ten years. It’s going to be strange being without you.” She chuckled as the empty glass clinked against the table.
Greer’s chest constricted as her throat grew thick, a lump forming that she struggled to swallow past. “It had to come to an end sooner or later. Paige is moving in and you two deserve to start a life together.”
Delia let out a wet laugh, her eyes leaking down her cheeks. “We talked about that last night, actually. We just assumed you would be coming with us.”
“Let me rephrase then.” Greer’s eyes brightened as she imagined the conversation between her two best friends. “You and Paige deserve to start a life together. Alone. Without the looming threat of death from the Paladin Society breathing down your necks.”
“Fine, fine,” Delia lamented. “It’s only twenty minutes away.” Her features grew solemn. A grim twist formed from her smile. “Promise me one thing.”
Greer took a sip of her drink as laughter blasted from a rowdy group toward the rear of the brewery. “Anything.”
Delia hesitated as if she were weighing her words. Her gaze dropped as she picked her fingernail against a groove in the table. “Be careful with Cian, okay?” Greer opened her mouth to object, but Delia quickly went on. “I know, GG, I know you like him. It’s been a long time since you’ve met someone you liked. But—” She paused to sigh. “You tend to jump first and ask questions later. I’m not so sure he would be there to catch you.”
Greer leaned away, her posture stiffening as she licked her lips. She was going to argue and had even steeled herself to it. But Greer looked into Delia’s eyes, pleading and full of care, and she felt herself soften. “I promise. I will be careful, Dels.”
Two days later, the last box was packed and taped shut.
With the help of Cian, Greer had been working long into the night to make sure everything was ready to move. She remembered back to the conversation she had with Delia at the brewery and didn’t quite meet her eyes when Cian walked through the door. Delia said nothing, merely greeted Cian with a tight smile before returning to help Greer pack.
Greer knew that her best friend was swallowing back any comment with difficulty.
Paige was in the process of loading a box onto the moving van as Greer stood from her slouched position, massaging her tight lower back. She surveyed the empty bedroom, her heart cleaving in two for the umpteenth time that day. It was quiet, save for the late summer, early autumn rain pattering against the window pane. She was going to miss this place; the sun shining through the slit of the curtains in the morning, the forest visible from the balcony off of the living room.
“I think everything is packed up,” a voice from behind echoed into the empty space. Greer turned, spotting Delia leaning against the door frame. Delia’s eyes were red-rimmed with frequent tears, and she shoved off the frame with her shoulder. “I didn’t think this would be so hard.”
Greer held her arms out and Delia walked into them. She wound her arms around Delia’s shoulders and tightened them into a hug. “You have to let me fly the nest,” Greer said with a chuckle.
Delia sniffled as she pulled back to wipe her cheeks with the sleeve of her shirt. “The only positive to all of this is Paige moving in this weekend.”
“She should have moved in years ago.”
Delia laughed and sniffled once more. “You’re right, she should have.” She closed her eyes tightly in a poor attempt to keep her tears at bay. They dripped from her lashes, sliding down her cheeks. “It should have been the three of us living here. I’m so angry we didn’t have that. I feel like it got stolen from us.”
Greer placed a comforting hand on Delia’s back. “She lived here half of the week anyways. Now she’s finally contributing to all of the water and groceries she uses.”
“Oh, thanks, GG.” Paige crossed the threshold into the bedroom, stepping over a small pile of trash that still needed to be bagged. She threw an arm over Greer’s shoulders, nonetheless. “I’m going to miss you too.”
“Come on,” Greer said after a beat of silence. “You two being my people means you are obligated to help me move.”
Delia and Paige groaned as Greer hooked her arm around each of their elbows.
“I hate moving,” Delia moaned, as she dragged her feet across the empty bedroom.
“But we’re so good at it,” Greer retorted. “That’s why we’ve done it every year since college.”
Greer and Delia had begun to pull on their shoes when Cian jogged into the apartment, his silver rings reflecting against the overhead light as he rubbed his hands together.
“Ready?”
Delia finally broke and scoffed in response. Their relationship had barely thawed in the last few weeks, remaining nearly as icy as the day they met. Delia had never voiced it, but Greer had a sneaking suspicion that Delia blamed Cian for everything that happened with Greer. Delia marched past him, fixing her curly, dark hair back into the claw clip.
Cian turned to look at Greer and Paige. “What now?”
Greer shrugged and grabbed her keys from the counter. “She thinks you’re a walking red flag.”
Paige snorted with laughter and followed Delia down the hallway of the building.
“You can’t sense anything when you live in a cave and sleep upside down,” Cian grumbled, closing the front door behind him.
“Takes one to know one,” Greer said in a sing-song voice, as they made their way down the stairs and into the parking lot.
The sun was setting earlier and earlier now that autumn was knocking on the door. The breeze had turned cooler in the last few days, and it plucked the wet leaves from their branches where they fell to the pavement in thick clumps. Students had moved back to campus, and the new semester at the university was due to start in the following weeks. The town had come alive again and Greer reveled in it.
The house she decided to rent was truly only fifteen minutes away. She maneuvered through the side streets, their lamps gleaming like bright orbs off of the damp asphalt. The boxes in the trunk of her Jeep shifted with every turn of the wheel.
She rolled into the gravel driveway, spotting Isaac and Paige in the front window as they situated boxes from one room to the next. Greer half-expected Jonas to be lurking in the shadows and was only a little surprised that he wasn’t. Delia had already parked her car and was carrying a box up the steps of the wooden porch.
The house, though outdated, was cute enough; a small, two-bedroom on the outskirts of town and partially paid for with the estate money from her mother’s death. Greer certainly would not have been able to afford it on her university salary alone.
The flower planters at the base of the porch were overgrown, as was the backyard, but that was fenced at the very least. The light fixed to the side of the house flickered, the bulb probably old. The gutters were clogged with old leaves. The sodden wooden porch sagged under her weight and the sheeted, aluminum exterior was peeling in places.
Aside from that, she had a beautiful view of the mountains and a stream ran just outside of the fence line, the soothing sound of trickling water weaving into the house. Her closest neighbor was half a mile away, giving her immense amounts of privacy that the apartment couldn’t afford.
Greer made her way to the trunk, where Cian had already opened the hatch of the Jeep and was pulling a box toward him. He placed it in her arms before she crossed the yard, the grass squelching under her shoes.
She bumped the front door open with a hip.
“That one goes in the bathroom!” Paige was calling over to Isaac. He slid the box toward the hallway, kicking it with his foot across the wood floors.
Greer set her box down on the kitchen counter. The pale, yellow laminate was going to be a big change from the marble of the luxury-style apartment. She glanced at the white cabinets, the paint chipping from the corners, and sighed.
Cian entered the kitchen and set his box down next to hers. “Yellow, classic.” He pointed up to the strip of wallpaper that lined the wall near the ceiling. “And chickens. I didn’t know an eighty-year-old woman was your inspiration.”
“If I owned the house, I would just have you fix it for me.” She opened the box in front of her and reached in to pull out a stack of plates.
“I have excellent taste.” His arm brushed against hers as he reached into the open box, and Greer felt her stomach clench. “I’m thinking of bright green everything. We can keep that chicken wallpaper though.”
Greer laughed.
They worked in silence for a while, unpacking the boxes that Isaac slid into each room. The air felt heavy between them as they stood side-by-side. She would shoot him a sidelong glance through her curtain of hair, studying the curve of his nose and the way his lips quirked when their hands touched. She could feel his gaze on her when she turned away. A few times he opened his mouth to speak before clamping it shut once again.
“I almost forgot.” Delia walked into the kitchen, dropping a small envelope onto the counter in front of Greer. She ignored Cian completely, keeping her back to him. Cian pushed out his fangs, flashing them at the back of Delia’s neck. “I found this going through the living room after the devil attack. It got knocked to the floor.”
Greer put away a set of coffee mugs and wiped her hands on her leggings before picking up the envelope, moving to open it. Delia leaned a hip against the counter, picking at a loose thread on the sleeve of her sweatshirt.
“I’m pretty sure that’s the business card from the box Leeches McGee over here broke open for you. I didn’t want to throw it away in case it was important.”
Cian snarled at the nickname, but Greer heard Isaac laugh from the room over.
Greer went completely still as she pulled out the small card with the key taped to the back with a trembling hand. Her mouth fell open, and she felt equal parts light-headed and nauseous. She gently scraped the pad of her thumb over her mother’s writing, a ringing sounding in her ears. Greer had forgotten about the business card and the sudden reemergence of it was shocking.
Greer’s head whipped up as a thought crossed her mind. The business card. James Whittley. Anna. It was a long shot, an impossibility. But she had to try.
She leaned forward to grab her cell phone off the counter, ignoring the curious stares from Cian and Delia, as she swiped against the screen to turn it on. Glancing back and forth between the screen and the business card, she punched in the phone number and placed the call on speaker.
Cian watched her with a hyper-alerted focus as a woman on the other end picked up the line. “Indiana Bank and Trust, how can I help you?”
“Yeah, hi,” Greer said, bending over to rest her forearms on the edge of the countertop. “I was wondering if you had account information for an Anna Whittley? She has recently passed away. I’m her daughter.”
“Hold on one moment,” the woman responded, the clacking of her keyboard sounding over the line, “Hmm…I don’t see anything.” Greer dropped her chin to her chest in defeat. “Oh wait, yes.” Her head shot up. “It seems she has a safety deposit box that requires a key.” She paused to type again. “There is a second name on this account. You said you were her daughter?”
Greer’s heart ratcheted up as her chest tightened. “Greer Myers. My name is Greer Myers.”
“That is the joint holder here, yes. We are in the process of closing the bank for the night, but we can have the box pulled for you first thing in the morning. We do require a government photo ID and the key to the box. You will also need to fill out a signature card upon your arrival. A second banker will be in the room when you open it and you will be able to empty the box if you so choose at that point. Will that work for you?”
“Yes,” Greer replied hurriedly. “Yes, I’ll be there.”
“Great, we’ll see you then,” the woman responded before hanging up the phone.
Greer would buy a plane ticket that night if she had to. She was getting to that deposit box one way or another.
TWENTY-NINE
Greer was on the next plane to Indianapolis, accompanied by Cian, his volunteering surprising both her and Delia. She paid a pretty penny for the flights, using a sum from the estate money she was trying to save, and they didn’t land until nearly three in the morning.
None of that mattered.
She buzzed with adrenaline when they exited the terminal and found herself increasingly more nervous by the time she took the hotel room key card from the blearyeyed receptionist when she checked them in. They passed through the lobby, the smells of freshly brewed coffee and cigarette smoke wafting past the desk, and Cian followed her toward the first floor room. The walk down the hallway was relatively short and Greer spotted the fire escape placard glued to the wall as they approached the numbered door.
The smooth plastic card slid into the key slot with ease before Greer pulled it out to disengage the lock. She pushed the door open and, from the corner of her eye, she saw Cian’s ring-clad hand shoot forward to brace it enough for her to slip through. The air conditioner hummed as the fan clicked on, blowing frigid air from the unit underneath the window. Greer dropped her overnight bag onto the red carpet before marching over to yank the curtains shut.
She heard Cian chuckle behind her.
The room was small and clean enough for a last minute place at the airport. Muted stains dotted the patterned carpet and ding marks scuffed the walls nearest the door. There was only one king sized bed situated against the wall. The bed was bracketed by nightstands, one containing a bedside lamp and the other an alarm clock. The wooden desk, surfaced by a pane of thick glass for easier cleaning, held a tray with complimentary tea bags, instant coffee, and paper-wrapped mugs.
Greer could hear the canned laughter from a television on the other side of the wall where soft snoring emanated through the patched silence of the show.
She collapsed onto the bed, feeling the give of the mattress beneath her, and kicked off her sneakers. They flopped unceremoniously to the floor as Cian set his own backpack down onto the floor next to the bathroom.
