Eerie (38 page)

“My dear,” he beckoned.

Hailey sat stiffly. When she did, Cobon rested his hand on her shoulder for such a quick instant, Hailey didn't have time to shudder away before it quite suddenly disappeared. She whipped her head around to find Asher, eyes blazing and teeth clenched, lifting Cobon in the air by his throat with one hand. With his other hand, Asher clutched Cobon's offending fingers in a tight fist.

“My apologies, brother,” Cobon said coolly, his voice unstrained, unworried, and his eyes reflecting genuine remorse. He actually looked and sounded repentant. Asher answered through a barely open mouth.

“I will kill any that endeavor to harm her, Cobon, and you will not touch her.”

“Agreed, dear Asher, now put me down, we're being rude in front of Miss Hartley.” Asher released Cobon, who straightened his shirt, and smiled kindly at Hailey. “Forgive me, Miss Hartley, but I couldn't resist touching the human that has beguiled and corrupted my oldest friend,” he said with an alarming dignity and a gentlemanly bow.

“Please, my dear. You must be famished after so long a journey,” he winked. “Eat.” He lifted a silver lid from the plate directly in front of her to reveal a small, crisp salad.

“Strangely, I seem to have lost my appetite,” she said quietly, curtly.

Eat? In the presence of this monster? Was he out of his mind?

Why, yes, Sherlock, he is
, her subconscious piped in.

“Nonsense!” Cobon shouted, taking his seat at the head of the table. He sounded more wounded than angry.

Problem number one: Should she actually eat what he had prepared for her? She looked at Asher, who stood behind the chair to her right. He held her troubled gaze for several seconds before he pulled his chair out and sat next to her. When he did, he placed his left hand on her thigh and squeezed it gently. She supposed that meant she should take a polite bite.

Crap.
Problem number two—which fork? She stared uncertainly at her silverware and bit her lip before picking one up, which didn't escape Cobon's attention.

“Dreadful etiquette, I see.”

Hailey froze with the fork lifted a few inches from her mouth. She tried her best to do what Asher had advised and remain calm, though she had an irresistible urge to stab Cobon in the eye with the wrong fork.

She lifted the fork again and just before it passed through her lips, Asher seized her hand and shook it loose. It clanged loudly on the marble floor.

Cobon let out a belly laugh followed by a snort and a deep sigh.

“Do you really think I'd poison the girl's dinner?” he said, his eyes gleaming. He laughed again, and Asher stared, impassive.

“Oh, alright,” Cobon pouted. “Cyanide,” he declared.

With one swoop of his arm, Cobon shoved Hailey's entire, impeccable place setting onto the floor.

Hailey cringed against the racket of shattered china and crystal, the clang of the metal lids.

She furrowed her brow. “Why do you do these things?” she demanded. She chanced a glance at him. “Why do you kill people?”

Cobon blinked a few times.

“I'm bored,” he said simply.

He killed Holly because he was bored?

Remain calm
, she told herself, echoing Asher's instructions, and he must have detected her rising anxiety, because he squeezed her thigh again.

“Not the reason I killed your sister,” said Cobon, guessing her thoughts. “Perhaps I'll enlighten you of the facts—but first you should know—I made two errors in dealing with dear Holly—not typical of me, my dear.” Cobon cast an accusatory glare at Hailey. “And it's your fault, you know. I mistook Holly for the end of your family's energy line, but it wasn't her at all.
It was you
,” he sneered. “Your mother passed the necklace to you. You broke the rules, Miss Hartley—you took off the necklace. It's you that must die to complete the black rock.”

He leaned menacingly forward.

“And then I mistook Holly for Adalwolf's murderer, but once again it was you.” Cobon burst out of his chair, knocking it over with a BANG that made Hailey jump. He leaned over the table and continued in a biting voice. “I couldn't put my hands on her to hasten her death—I thought she'd destroy me—I had to wait, and they ravaged her. Had I known, she never would have suffered at the hands of those buffoons—so you see,” he told her with a frosty voice, “it's your fault . . .what she endured. It should have been you.”

Hailey felt the blood leave her head, and Asher took her hand in his, brushing his thumb over her knuckles.

“And then there was Mary Lash,” Cobon continued, sounding far less affected as he paced around the room. “That was pure rage,” he said kindly, but then his tone darkened. “She was supposed to lure your sister into the van, you see—I never told her to take the girl's foot . . . She did that on her own,” Cobon said, frowning. “Well, you can't trust a wretch, can you?”

Something sincere stirred in his eyes—a sadness. He blinked a few times and turned his now penetrating gaze to Hailey.

“But you haven't come to talk about Mrs. Lash, have you? No doubt you're curious about what Asher intends to do to you. I can only imagine your hesitation to oblige him, but there's really no reason to fear this, and I'm on the edge of my seat with anticipation. Do you have any questions?”

When Hailey pressed her mouth into a stern line, Cobon frowned.

“Perhaps you'd like some untainted wine my dear? To loosen your tongue . . .?”

Hailey shook her head slowly, unable to find her voice, because her brain was still too busy reliving the moment she found Holly's shoe. She shivered in her seat, and Asher leaned to stroke her cheek. Hailey sighed, pushing the memory of her sister's foot from her head as she focused on Asher's touch.

“Something unpleasant was it?” Cobon looked from Hailey to Asher and back to Hailey. “In your mind, I mean—not the image of a foot again, I hope.” He pulled his lips back in a wicked smile. Then he whipped his head forward and stared in disapproval at Asher, whose hand still glided across Hailey's cheek.

“Do try to contain your repugnant displays in my house.”

Hailey put her hand over Asher's and brought it to her lap. She didn't want to relax too much, and with Asher caressing her face, she was starting to drop her guard.

“Your love for her is but a shadow on the wall of a cave, you know,” Cobon said.

Asher said nothing, and Cobon's eyes ignited.

“You compete for her affection with a rogue slave. You've left your challenger unchecked, and when you weren't looking, he touched the one you love in a way she quite enjoyed.”

Hailey gasped—unintentionally, which provoked Cobon to smirk.

When Asher continued ignoring him, he slammed his fist on the stone table, sending a fissure down its length. Then he pulled his face into a wretched grimace and let out a cold laugh.

“You like that?” he said turning to Hailey and motioning to the crack in the table. “I learned that from a wretch. He made a similar slice through your sister.”

Hailey sat silent and still, though she could feel her brow knit and her throat tightened. If she wasn't careful, she'd blink and a tear could escape. That would give Cobon the satisfaction of knowing he'd made her cry, and
that
wasn't about to happen. She focused on building a wall in her mind and mentally punching Cobon in his rotting mouth.

“Speaking of dear Holly . . .” he pressed on, still looking directly at Hailey.

She stared straight ahead, squeezing her hand into so tight a fist, her fingernails drew blood.

“She didn't put up much of a fight. Even when I finally pulled her soul, there was only a slight flare.”

He shrugged and turned to Asher.

“And how many of our brothers stood by while I destroyed her? All of them, I think. But you were there. You remember . . .the bystander effect.”

Hailey flicked her eyes at Asher, silently pleading for him to deny it.

But he sat straight, saying nothing and giving nothing away.

Heart hammering, Hailey swallowed hard. She couldn't be goaded into mistrust. Not by Cobon-the-raving-psycho-ape-shit-crazy-Envoy.

“Did the mortician piece her together like a puzzle and stitch her up like Frankenstein, I wonder?” Cobon's eyes studied Hailey. “Fodder for your dreams, Hailey-Khu . . .”

Hailey furrowed her brow. That was a Tomas word—one he'd used
before
DOPPLER got him. And it wasn't German. It was obscure. He must've picked it up from somewhere, and now Hailey knew where.
But why would Tomas be hanging around—

“—Still, I never wanted to hurt her,” Cobon continued, and a perfect tear rolled out of his eye.

Cobon let his tear drop to the table, where it glowed beautifully under the chandelier.

“I had a plan, brother,” he said to Asher. Then he turned to Hailey.

“And these are the facts, my dear, so pay attention. I needed only grasp her soul at the very moment of her death to release her energy, and then I would've rebound her—she was going to live,” he sniffled. “But those wretched humans . . .they were supposed to kill her quick. I couldn't stop them once they had her, and when she cried out for help, what could I do with the others watching?”

He pressed a hand to his chest as another tear escaped his eye.

“They might have destroyed her soul if I had intervened . . .maybe shredded me as well—I had to let her die slowly, in agony to save us both.”

If this admission surprised Asher, he never showed it.

“But I took her mind into the Aether, and I stayed with her there until the end, and that was my greatest show, don't you think?”

Cobon looked hopefully at Asher, who looked stoically back.

“You believed it, that I shredded her soul, didn't you?” He wiped another tear from his cheek. “But I did no such thing. And I chose the perfect image to sell that lie. Who would believe I conjured that wretched memory of dancing myself?”

Cobon swallowed, and when he spoke again it was in a whisper.

“I held on to her soul. I would have restored her, had the black stone sent the others home. I would have restored her . . .” He turned his gaze to Asher. “Holly was mine, you know. And I loved her.”

Asher dropped his eyes then looked lovingly at Hailey.

“She's a lot like my Holly,” Cobon said. “Oh, I do see the draw. If I still had a muse like this, perhaps I might like to linger here a bit longer.” He looked Hailey over as one might inspect a horse. Then he strode behind her and leaned in close, sniffing her hair.

“She smells like her sister—nowhere near as fair, but, yes, I do see the draw. May I borrow her, brother?”

Hailey couldn't stand it anymore.

“If you cared about her, how could you hurt her? Why did you do it?” she demanded, her eyes swimming with angry tears. Asher squeezed her shoulder, but she shrugged him off, staring defiantly into Cobon's swirling eyes.

“Why, to rid the Earth of the others, of course.” Shrugging, he smiled at Asher as if this should have been obvious. “I could not show my affection for her with them skulking around. Envoys can be so cavalier, casting about their judgments and executions. That's why Asher brought you to me, my dear. He wishes to rid the Earth of them for the same reason, surely he's told you?”

Hailey looked away but couldn't keep her lip from curling in disgust. Cobon was far worse than crazy if he thought Holly would ever love him. That was just gross.

“You would judge me unworthy, Miss Hartley?” Cobon spoke slowly, briskly articulating each incredulous word. He paused, squinting a glare at her. “Enlighten me, won't you, young Hailey, how would you judge one—say Asher, for instance—if he had lied to you to gain your favor . . .your affection?”

“I would forgive him, Cobon. I know that Asher is inherently good.”

“God forgives, Miss Hartley. Humans forget,” said Cobon. He turned his eyes to Asher. “And we do neither.

“And what can you give to her, Asher?” Cobon said as he wandered behind Hailey, pausing to feel the back of her chair.

Hailey cringed away, and Asher stood, knocking his chair over, his chin lowered, his brow dropped in warning.

Releasing Hailey's chair, Cobon held his hands up. “Love?” he scoffed. “We don't love, we covet.” He brought his finger to his chin, tapping it thoughtfully. “Perhaps you'll give her . . .oh, what do you humans call it? A pickle tickle?”

“Cobon, that's gross,” Hailey snapped. It was like hearing her uncle talk about the birds and the bees, only Cobon sounded like a dirty old man. She didn't grunt her disgust, but she couldn't stop her nose from wrinkling.

Asher slowly turned his probing gaze to Hailey, his head tilted ever so slightly.

She looked up at him.
Oh, no. He thinks I'm talking about him
 . . . As the realization dawned on her, her face fell.

“Not . . . It's not gross to . . . That . . .” Hailey stammered, and Asher watched her closely. “I didn't mean it would be gross to . . .with you . . .” She shook her head, but she might as well have just blurted the word “penis.”

This was a disaster.
Did Asher even have a penis?

She bit her lip before she blurted that too.

“That expression on your face,” Cobon said, leaning uncomfortably close to her. “Tell me what it means—what are you thinking?”

Abject, vomitus horror at the mental image of you naked.

“It's the look of verbal restraint, Cobon—you're . . .” Hailey looked to Asher, who seemed interested to hear what she had to say, but not near as attentive as Cobon. “You're rotting and disgusting.”

Cobon stepped back, looking genuinely offended.