Sin & Salvation (Demigod of San Francisco #3)(25)

“Yeah. I know.” I unlocked the car as we headed down the sidewalk. “Boy, do I know. Wait…” I blinked back at them, slowing as I approached my car, a shiny BMW Kieran had gifted me in the guise of calling it a company car. “Where will you be training? Is that where Kieran’s sending us?”

Both kids shrugged. “My text just told me to go with you, and what to bring—shotgun!” Mordecai laughed and darted for the front seat.

Thane hurried around to the other side of the car, his face suspiciously blank.

“Damn it—damn isn’t a curse, Lexi,” Daisy said. “I’m godless, remember? So that means the idea of damn is moot.” She trudged to the backseat, not waiting to hear my verdict. It was probably for the best—I was still sorting through her reasoning. “I was thinking about what Zorn would have me do barefooted. I missed that one.”

“Snooze you lose.” Mordecai shut his door.

“The adults should sit in the front—” But Thane was already slamming his door shut, his chosen seat directly behind me so I couldn’t see his expression.

“What the hell is going on?” I murmured, the butterflies rolling through my stomach a match for how Kieran was currently feeling. It wasn’t a good sign.

I didn’t want to know what made a Demigod nervous.





10





Alexis





Not even twenty minutes later, I idled in the car while the ocean crashed against the cliff in the not-so-far distance. Wispy swirls of white interrupted the deep blue expanse overhead, stretching out to meet the ocean. In contrast to the wild beauty beyond us, a broken down car without any tires sat rusting in the barren gutter of the dead-end street.

I’d followed the feel of Kieran to this forgotten strip of land at the very edge of the dual-society zone, backed right up against the grimy brick wall blocking off the magical zone. It was a no man’s land, and it looked like people stumbled out here to die.

“I knew it, Lexi,” Daisy said in a hush, pushing forward to peer out the windshield. Her hand squeezed the side of Mordecai’s seat. “I knew he’d eventually get tired of you and kill you off.”

“I doubt that’s what this is,” Mordecai whispered.

“Why else did he send the Berserker with us?” she replied.

“He didn’t. I opted to come with you,” Thane said, his full volume unnaturally loud in the quiet car.

“To see the massacre?” Daisy clucked her tongue. “Sick.”

“This is not a murder scene,” Thane said.

“Yeah right, like we can believe you.” Daisy huffed softly. “You work for the guy.”

I pulled down the visor, Bria’s trademark surreptitious move, which really seemed to fit the moment. I made a mental note to make fun of her a little less.

“We’re not here to be killed.” I glanced out the window at a newspaper caught in the wind, scraping the street. “Probably.”

“This place is so out of touch, it has actual newspapers,” Mordecai said.

The pulse of Kieran throbbed in my middle, telling me he was away right. But the brick wall was away right, and any view of what lay beyond was obscured by enormous greenery. The other side of that wall was probably thriving and lovely. This side was that side’s toilet.

“This is the perfect spot for a murder.” Daisy leaned back to look out her window. “He could bury you right here. Who would know? There are four houses, and three are boarded up. The owner of the fourth must’ve decided boarding was too good for that ramshackle piece of shhh—garbage. It was just left to rot. Like we will be.”

“Yes, thank you, Daisy, for the running commentary,” I said dryly, pulling the car to the curb and hesitantly putting it in park. There had to be a reason Kieran wanted me in this rough part of the city. He didn’t do things like this without a purpose.

“Hell, the ocean is right there,” Daisy continued, almost like she was talking to herself. “He could just throw you off that cliff and have the currents take you away. He wouldn’t even have to bother killing you. Your magic doesn’t faze him anymore. He could throw you over his shoulder like the caveman he is, super-speed jog you to the edge, and plop goes the nuisance. Doneskies.”

I tuned her out. “Were we supposed to drive into the magical zone?” I asked in confusion. “Because that—”

“No,” Thane said. “You’re in the right place, and this is not a murder scene. Beyond that, you need to figure it out for yourself.”

A relieved breath exited Daisy. “Thank God,” she said. “It’s just training.”

Thane’s seat groaned. “Did you honestly think we would’ve spent all this time training you up, just to kill you off?” he asked Daisy.

I turned off the car and reached for the door handle. “Yes, she did. You have no idea what sort of upbringing she had. Trust is hard-earned.”

I ran my hand down the center of my chest as I walked around the car, feeling the pounding connection to Kieran. I crossed the grimy sidewalk and watched my step on the uneven, sandy ground. Dune grass stuck up beside shrubbery gone wild. I neared the wall, stepping around a suspicious looking bone that I hoped had belonged to a large animal.