Kian nodded, taking the ramp onto the freeway. “I went to law school and into politics, became a senator and eventually served on the Supreme Court. Since that’s not what I’d choose on my own, I guess she would’ve nudged me in that direction. I can picture it. She was … ambitious.”
Before Dwyer & Fell drove her nuts, if that is, in fact, what happened. “It’s so weird to hear you talk about a future that will never happen … in past tense.”
“You get used to it.” His smile was fleeting.
It occurred to me that I didn’t know much about him, certainly nothing of his lost and quiet dreams. Time to change that. “What did you want to do, before?”
He cast me a sidelong glance. “If I tell you, promise not to laugh.”
“I won’t.” The disclaimer made me think it was something juvenile like rock star or astronaut, fantasies that most people had little shot of realizing.
“I wanted to teach college literature and write during the summer.”
Hey, a realistic dream. “You can still do that, can’t you?”
“I haven’t felt like writing for a long time now.”
Yeah, I could take a hint from his tone. “So where are we headed?”
“Since the near-death portion of the evening is over, I thought I’d take you out.” He risked a quick glance at me. “That’s okay, right?”
I realized that he wasn’t pretending to be awkward. Though he was a bit older than me, it didn’t mean anything in terms of sophistication.
“I’d love that.” For tonight, I didn’t want to think about the horrors lurking around the next corner. “You said you’re taking a few college classes?”
“Yeah.” Kian was apparently fine talking about his current course schedule.
“I assume not pre-law.”
His smile nearly broke my heart. “Nah, that ship has sailed. I have Death and Immortality, Magic, Science, and Religion, and Symbol, Myth, and Rite.”
“I sense a theme.”
“It’s stupid but I can’t help hoping I can learn something that might help.”
“Help how?”
“To win my freedom,” he said quietly.
Crap, that’s right. While I was still a catalyst, Kian had already lost the fight and he would never be free of Wedderburn or his supernatural masters. Little wonder he couldn’t bring himself to try for a normal life, especially if the immortals were prone to threatening people’s loved ones. If he dated a girl outside the game, fell in love, and got married, he’d live a lie the whole time while worrying that they might be targeted in a power play. He must feel so alone. A chill washed over me as I remembered Vi’s creepy recurring dreams. At this point, I was one panic attack away from a total breakdown.
And I can’t help her from the mental ward.
This might not be date conversation, but I had to find out everything I could for Vi’s sake. “Given what you’ve told me, it seems improbable that there’s a single game going on. Dwyer & Fell—”
“It’s more like … each immortal has a counter. And if you’re right about Wedderburn’s identity, his opposite would be Apollo, Baldr, Ao, Dažbog … There are a lot of different names for the sun god, and most cultures had some equivalent.” His sheepish tone told me he’d learned this in the mythology and religion classes he was taking.
“If Wedderburn stole the Oracle from D&F, that makes sense. So there are actually a lot of games going on at once.” I wasn’t sure how knowing that helped me, but I had to assemble all the pieces until I had the big picture. “So is Dwyer the sun god, or fell?”
“No idea, but it’s as good a guess as any. But I didn’t work it out until you figured out who Wedderburn was.”
I frowned, thoughtful. “They’re not gods. That’s just how they were created, not their role now.” At this point, I was out of inspiration, and none of this helped me protect Vi. “What he showed me in his office … he was threatening her. Can he actually—”
“He can.”
“So there are no rules protecting mortals who aren’t in the game?” Wedderburn had hinted as much, but I’d wanted to believe there must be some safeguards in place. The world was apparently much more brutal and lawless that I’d ever previously imagined.
“Haven’t you ever wondered why things seem more screwed up by the week? So much inexplicable violence.”
“My parents blame TV and video games.” It was a weak joke.
“Mine did, too.”
“So he could kill her outright. Or he might make a mini-game of it. God, Kian, if he forces Vi to extremis, there will be no deal,” I guessed in despair.
“She’s a smart girl,” he said. “But she’s not a catalyst.”
It made sense. People with important destinies, who changed the world in some way, couldn’t be common. I still had a hard time believing I ranked among that number. My head swam in a bad way, as fear stole over me.
Kian caught my reaction and added, “He won’t do it lightly. If he does, he loses leverage with you. Remember, he’s a patient creature. Right now he still hopes that you’ll burn your favors like I did, and position yourself to be of maximum use to his faction when the time comes.”
“That’s some comfort.” I rubbed my temples, painfully aware of how powerless I was compared to the monsters arrayed against me. “It’s selfish, but … I just can’t handle anymore of this tonight. Can we take a break?”
“Sure. What would you like to do?”
“I thought you had a plan when you said you were taking me out.”
“There’s no planetarium show tonight.” He paused, as if unsure whether he should admit this. “I checked.”
My heart melted a little. Maybe he was doing exactly as Wedderburn had instructed, making me fall for him, but his awkwardness seemed so genuine. Smooth talk would never work this well with me. I loved feeling like I was the first girl he cared about impressing, so much that he was bad at it. The first apart from Tanya. Who died over him. With a frown, I shut that voice up; it would drive me crazy whispering doubts and fears.
“We could see a movie.” That was what I’d told my parents. It might not be a bad idea to watch one.
“There’s a theater in Cambridge that shows classic films, if you want to check it out.”