Darker Days (The Darker Agency #1)(22)

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “But you said—”

“What was I supposed to say, Jessie? We’re talking about the Seven Deadly Sins. We need Lukas’ help to track them.”

“So you lied? Figured you’d use him to get what you want with no intention of keeping your word?” I was going to be sick. This was something I’d do. Not her. She was perfect. Noble. She’d never screw someone over like this…

“Jessie…”

She was upset.

Good. So was I.

“It’s not that I have no intention of helping him—I just thought maybe we could find another way. It doesn’t look good, but I’m not giving up. There’s still time. I’ll still search for the witch, but finding the Sins has to take precedence now.”

“Time? How can there be time to search for the witch if you won’t let me help?”

She opened her mouth, then closed it. Sighing, she said, “I have your father’s help, now. And maybe there’s a way to break Lukas’ tether from the box. Keep him out while putting the others back inside.”

“With Wrath still inside him?” I said skeptically. I knew she didn’t believe it, and it pissed me off that she’d try to pass off such a blatant lie. To me of all people. Like I couldn’t see through it? Her words might as well have been made of plastic wrap. Just as clear and twice as flimsy. For the first time I could ever remember, I was ashamed of my mom.

“Other witches, Voodoo priests, an elemental mage—we’re not out of options yet. Let me talk to Kendra’s mother. She might have an idea. They’re long shots—very long shots, but I won’t give up so long as you promise to tread lightly with him.”

I balked. This just kept getting better and better. “Tread lightly? What’s that supposed to mean?”

She glanced at Dad again. God, I wished she’d stop that. “You just seem—”

I grabbed my purple hoodie from the couch, pulled it over my head, and made my way to the door. I was not giving her a chance to finish that thought. It was pure insanity. “Whatever. He’s just a client. I’m trying to do what’s right, here. Apparently, I’m the only one.”





Chapter Ten




I found Lukas standing in the fading light on the back deck. “How ya doing?”

Without turning, he shrugged. I didn’t have to ask. I knew he’d heard every word.

“Listen—”

He turned to face me, lips weighted down at the corners. “You don’t have to explain. I already knew.”

“You knew? Then why did you agree to help?”

He shrugged again and turned back to the yard. The crickets were out in force, joined by the distant cry of a hawk. After a few minutes of silence, he said, “July fifteenth, 1864.”

“Huh?”

“My birthday.”

“Wow. You’re an old man,” I joked, but it fell flat.

“Technically, I’m only eighteen. I was trapped in the box in 1882. I don’t age inside.”

I stepped forward and leaned against the railing beside him as the wind kicked up. “You knew Meredith Wells, didn’t you?” It was a risky question considering how he’d reacted earlier, but I wanted to know. Needed to know. “Like, personally?”

He fiddled with a loose piece of wood that had splintered from the railing. Pulling it off, he turned it over several times before flicking it out into the grass below. “Meredith was beautiful. Long, dark hair, eyes the color of the ocean, and a smile that could chase away the rain.”

“Sounds like a swell chick.”

He nodded, picking at another piece of loose wood. “She was amazing. And she was mine—at least, I thought so.”

I stared. “Yours? What, like, your girlfriend?” And Mom wondered why I didn’t date?

“Fiancé, actually.” He swung both legs over the side of the railing and settled on the edge. “We were to be married the spring following my eighteenth birthday.”

I followed suit, letting my legs dangle next to his. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized how much taller he was than me. He had to have at least eight inches on my five-foot three. It was ridiculous timing, but I was tall enough that if I leaned against him, my head would rest perfectly on his shoulder. “And she was a witch?”

With an umpf, Lukas pushed off the railing and landed on the grass below. “A very talented one. Her family was wealthy. Very prominent in Penance. There were whispers about what she was, but no one believed them. A Wells woman would never toy with such things,” he said in a mocking tone. “Fools. Every last one of them.”

I followed him down, feet landing with a slight squish in the soft October grass.

“One evening, I caught her with another man. A local farmer’s son. I was more angry than hurt, really. Her actions chanced ruining a merger that would put both our families in favorable situations. It was selfish, but then, Meredith was a selfish woman. I begged her to see reason—to turn him away. I told her I would treat her like a queen…but it wasn’t enough.”

Lukas tilted his head back, watching the sky for a moment. Fine by me. This presented the opportunity to give him a nice, long, appreciative once over. That Meredith girl must have been nuts. I didn’t know what the standards for hot were in 1882, but in 2013, Lukas was serious real estate. Long, angular face and a generous mop of dark hair. His nose was just slightly off center—he must have broken it at one point—but it completed him so perfectly. It gave the lines of his face character. It fit.