Within These Wicked Walls(86)

“I swear to God, Saba, if you don’t move—”

“You can’t beat her, old man,” I said, waving my scarred fingers at him. “And we can fight if you want, but what good would it do? It won’t change what I’ve done.”

“Do you know what you’ve done?” he shot back. “Because I don’t think you do.”

“I’m protecting the people I care about—”

“At the expense of your own life?”

“It was the best way—”

“You know damn well it wasn’t—”

“Stop it!” Magnus said, rushing over to me. “Why are you threatening—?”

“I will kill you, little boy,” Jember said, and the look in his eye was animalistic. “This is between me and my daughter. Back away.”

I wasn’t sure which part to react more strongly to, the part where he said he’d kill Magnus … or the part where he said, clear as day, that I was his daughter.

Saba had put herself in front of Magnus, just in case Jember tried to carry out his promise right then. And Magnus looked terrified, but he backed up a few steps, thank God, quiet as death.

Jember pointed out to the door. “Game room,” he ordered, and I rushed out into the hall. I ran the whole way there, not wanting his rage so close to my back where I couldn’t keep track of it. Jember didn’t seem to be in a hurry, his uneven steps echoing the expanse of the hall like a still-beating heart trapped in the floorboards. I found a spot in the room where I couldn’t be cornered and faced the door, waiting for that foreboding heart to join me. He shut the door, locking us within the protection of the amulet, then leaned against it, arms folded across his chest.

For a moment we didn’t speak. He looked pensive, but in a dangerous, unpredictable way.

“How did you know it was me who looked at him and not Kelela again?” I asked.

“Because you lied about it.” Finally, he looked at me. “You’d better have a good reason.”

“I trust my ability to survive murderous attacks, for one thing.”

He paused, as if considering my sarcasm. “I would trust you, too … in any situation other than this.”

“I’m fast, and strong for my size. And you’re the best debtera I know—with you constructing the amulet, I won’t have to distract it for long. This is the most efficient way to do this, and you know it.”

“That’s if it goes smoothly. If Saba doesn’t give in to the Evil Eye’s commands. If it doesn’t break through all our shields. If you can—” He swallowed, scowling at the floor. “—avoid dying.”

“I kept Kelela alive, didn’t I? I’ll wear amulets like I gave her, so the hyena has one more barrier to fight through. We can do this, Jember.”

“You didn’t give us much of a choice.” He took a deep breath, then walked slowly to the chair and lowered himself into it, supporting himself with his hands on the chair arms. He leaned back in the chair, staring at the fire for a moment. “I should’ve told you I loved you when you were growing up. Maybe then you wouldn’t be throwing your life away for the first person to say it.”

“But you don’t love me,” I said, crossing my arms and looking at my feet. “You already admitted it.”

“I could’ve said it for your sake.”

I settled down on the couch across from him. “Then it would just be a word. As empty as most of your threats.”

“You’re right,” he said. That made me gape a little, and I sat silently, waiting for him to turn my point into an argument. Instead he shrugged. “Love is an action. It’s something you do.” He swore at the flames, then finally looked at me, his brows lowered as if fighting against pain. “I guess you’re justified in your sacrifice, then.”

I went to him, removed his peg leg, and placed it beside the chair. “It’s dangerous, but not a sacrifice. Because I’ll be okay. We’ll be okay.”

“Keep your optimism to yourself.”

Despite everything, I grinned, but it didn’t last long. “I’m sorry about you and Saba.”

“She’s dead, Andi.” It sounded so final when he said it. “Just a memory. The kindest thing I can do for her now is make sure her soul finds rest.”

“That sounds like an act of love to me.”

We were quiet for a moment.

He took a deep breath, wincing a little. “I suppose I should rest before tonight.”

“Okay.” I waited for him to say more. When he didn’t, I stood. “I’ll wake you for dinner.”





CHAPTER 32


Everything was ready.

Jember and I had made eleven shields—one amulet in the doorway of the game room, the other ten in the hall about five feet apart from each other, creating small pockets of protection in case the hyena got out of the room. The weapons we’d found were dispersed throughout the room and down the hall. Candles were lit everywhere, casting dancing shadows, creating haunting figures where there were none.

“It’s not too late to kill me,” Magnus said for the twentieth time tonight. He was lying on his side on the game room couch, a blanket pulled up to his chin despite the amulet Jember had made to warm the room. “Look at all the weapons in the room.”