My Darkest Shadow

Chapter 48

The only sound for half a minute was the antique clock at the back of the bar. More prominent with each tick, soon the rhythmic beat felt like drums in my ears. At the counter, glass tinkled. The successive gurgle as liquor poured into a shot glass was followed by a loud clunk when the bottle was set down.

"What are you doing?" I asked, aghast.

My hand came out to gesture toward the room and all we'd found here. Tense, I watched Arthur toss back the drink and wince at the burning sensation that followed. One hand rested on the bar. The other moved back up to the bottle of alcohol and began to pour again.

"Having a drink. I'd offer you one, but this stuff is vile," Arthur said with a grimace.

Gaping, I didn't know how to respond.

Arthur pushed the newly poured glass aside. With resignation in his voice, he asked, "What are we supposed to do? Damian is dead and we haven't the faintest clue where Kael's gone."

He reached for the glass but I swiped it, placed it just out of his reach. I narrowed my gaze. "What was your plan here, Arthur?"

The pause that followed was filled with the clock's loud narrative. Tick. Tick. Waiting for his response and not filling it with my own frustration was hard. Instead of speaking I moaned, my eyes flitting up to the ceiling. When he failed to answer, only watched me with his tired eyes, I came around the bar and began rifling through stacks by the register. Bills and faded receipts, to-do lists and reminders were folded together in stacks under the counter. We'd be lucky to find anything of value in this mess. Perhaps there would be something in the clutter of paper in the office.

"How can we regain trust?" Arthur chuckled, leaned to the side, and retrieved the glass. His mirth wasn't genuine. Knowing him well gave me insight into his feelings even when he tried to hide them. Frustration and resignation were behind that laugh. Instead of drinking, his fingers came up and pressed into the corner of his eyes.

"It's exactly as I said, Harper. I want to help Kael become Arias."

"And me?"

"You were the first one to change my plan. You changed everything." Arthur studied his glass, swirling the liquid a few times before he answered.

Setting the papers I was holding on the bar, I let my fingers play over knots in the solid oak. "If you're such a changed man, why don't you care about your own son?"

Arthur drained the glass. "Of course I care. And I trust that he can handle this himself." His eyes narrowed. "Do you?"

Instead of responding, I turned back to the small office at the back of the bar. Papers slid under my feet. The first stack of papers I saw had an address scratched at the top. Excited, I ripped them from the desk. My actions upset the steaming cup of coffee. It fell to the ground with a crash.

Arthur had followed me and jumped back to avoid being hit by the hot liquid. He studied the shards, splattered in sharp pieces across the pages on the floor. When he looked up at me, his question still lingered in his eyes. Why did I need to find him so badly?

"You should have seen Kael at Madeline's. He was half dead." My voice caught and I looked down. "Maria... I lost. And Kael..." Slowly I looked up. "It's so dangerous and I can't lose him, Art. I know you hardly know him but are you that resigned to losing him?"

Arthur stepped into the room, his boot crunching shards of pottery. He reached out and squeezed my hand. "I saw Kael at Madeline's. I'm not sure if you two would have made it out alive without me."

"That was you?" I felt my jaw loosen as I remembered the stranger who had helped us out of Madeline's. He'd disappeared on the rooftop, but Arthur was right. I would never have made it that far without him. "I never told anyone," I said, half to myself. It must have been Arthur.