Rid smiled at him. “You had a good run, Shrinky Dink.”
“Yeah. Sirensong.” He said the name like he was filing it away in his graveyard of failed bands.
Who Shot Lincoln. The Holy Rollers. Meatstik. Sirensong.
Rid picked at a pink glitter nail. “It wasn’t all Nox, you know. Not all of it.”
Link didn’t take the bait. “Sure. It was also his mom’s Siren lyre.”
“Link.”
“Guess there’s no way to find out now.” Link sighed and looked at her. “It doesn’t matter, Rid. We gotta get outta here and get safe.” Get you out of here and get you safe. That was what he was thinking. Ridley knew Link well enough to know that, no matter how mad he might be at her.
She had always been his first priority. Taking care of her. Doing the right thing by her. Caring about her. She didn’t know why it had taken her so long to believe it.
Guess there’s no way to find out now.
She resisted the urge to reach out to him, if only to lay her hand on his arm. It was strange, having to remember not to touch him.
I did this.
I did this to myself.
“Ow—” A yelp from Link broke the silence, and he shook his hand like he wanted to shake it right off. “Is your ring burnin’ up?”
She held hers up, wincing. The glowing red light cast shadows on the wall around them. “Like crazy.”
It was quiet for a moment.
Ridley stole a sideways look at Link. “I would have, too, you know.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Woulda what?”
“Taken your place. With Abraham, I mean. Back there, what you said. How you would have let him take you instead of me.”
Link stared at the wall in front of him intently. “Yeah?”
Ridley shrugged. “I just wanted you to know.”
He turned to her. “Rid—”
But the banging at the door startled them, and Ridley pulled herself to her feet, Link scrambling up after her. “Nox?”
“It’s me,” the familiar voice said from the other side.
Link unlocked the door. “Took you long enough.”
“Sorry,” Nox said. “I had to organize a few things. A few thousand things. Floyd and Necro are ready to go. I have them at each end of the stage, waiting for my signal.”
Ridley looked at Nox. “Necro. Is she—”
“Fine. Stronger than you think. Believe me.” In some ways, Nox knew her better than any of them, Ridley realized.
Link looked relieved.
Nox took in the dismal room. “How do you kids like it down here? Pretty luxurious, right?”
“We couldn’t have waited in your office?” Ridley asked.
“I said I was holding you down here,” Nox said. “That was the plan. This has to seem legit. Silas has eyes on the club. He’s not exactly a trusting guy.”
“So what’s next?” Ridley asked, shivering. She knew the plan, but knowing it didn’t make her feel any better about it.
Nox pulled a little crimson matchbook from his pocket and held it in the air between his fingers. Ridley recognized it immediately. The word SIRENE was printed across the cover.
Nox took her hand with his free one, and Rid could almost feel Link watching them. “You’re sure you want to go through with this, Little Siren?”
“If you’re sure it’s the only way,” she answered.
He nodded. “It’s the only way I can think of.”
Link’s eyes were fixed on the matches. “Is that for what I think it is? Or are you plannin’ to take up smokin’?”
“It’s time,” Nox said.
“So just a small fire, right? A diversion?” Rid started to get nervous.
“Not that small,” Nox said. “Maybe a little bigger than I let on.”
“Nox.” Ridley pulled her hand away.
“Okay, maybe not small at all.” Nox shrugged. “Don’t worry. I’ve shown everything to Necro and Floyd. The Illusionist can handle it. They’ll get everyone out of the club before they even know what’s going on. And, hopefully, before it blows.”
“Hold on, dude.” Suddenly, Link was paying attention. “You’re gonna burn your own club down?”
“The only way Silas Ravenwood will leave you both alone is if he thinks you’re dead, and it has to be convincing. Something he can see—or at least his men can see—with their own eyes. They’ll see Sirene when she burns.” Nox waved the matches. “Get it?”
“Wait. Seriously.” Ridley put a hand on his arm. “You’d burn down Sirene for me?”
“Why not?” Nox shrugged, looking at her. “I built it for you.”
For a second, no one said a word.
Then Link gave Nox a hard look. “How about you keep that crap to yourself, pretty boy? Otherwise, the wrong Supernatural might go up in flames.”
Nox ignored him.
Ridley looked away. “No.”
“Ridley. Please. Let me do the right thing, for once in my life.”
“I said no.” She shook her head. “Call it off. There has to be a better way.”
Link looked at her. “The guy has a point. As much as I don’t like it, we don’t have a whole lotta choices right now, Rid.”
“Exactly.” Nox sighed. “They come for you. The place goes up in flames. We carry out the bodies.”
“Our bodies.” Ridley was still having trouble wrapping her mind around it.
He nodded. “Eventually, Abraham will figure it out when you don’t show up on the other side. But by then, you’ll have a head start on him. You’ll just have to lay low.”
“Like, witness protection low.” Link nodded. “We’ll figure something out.”
Nox lowered his voice. “You saw the blueprints. You can’t go out the front door, or Silas’ men will see you. There’s only one way out from down here.” Nox pointed down the hallway. “The service door is at the end of that hall. Go out that way.”
“Won’t Silas have men at that door, too?” Rid asked.
“Yeah,” Nox said, “but they won’t be standing very close, if that’s where the fire starts.”
“You’re not saying—” Ridley couldn’t bring herself to finish.
“The fire starts here.” Nox nodded. “You’re going to have to get out through the fire. It’s the only way.”
“Hello.” Link waved. “Hybrid Incubus in the room. We’re not goin’ out the door. I’ll Rip us both out. I’ve gotten a lot better lately.”
“You can’t,” Nox said. “Silas isn’t stupid. He’s already got that one covered. The club is Bound—on top of my own Binding, he’s done his own. Can’t you feel it? No one can Travel in or out. No Rip letter could get through that now. You have to use the doors, like a Mortal.”
Ridley panicked. “But you said I die in a fire.” She stared back at him, her heart pounding in her chest. “This is what you warned me about. Tonight.”
Nox nodded. “You die in a fire. That’s one possibility. But not this one. I never saw anything like this. I never saw a future where we were the ones starting the fire.”
“How do you know?” Ridley felt desperate.
“I saw wooden stairs. I saw a fire. I saw the sky. Not a basement below the club itself.”
She shook her head. “What if it’s the same thing?”
“It’s not. Not if we’re in control of the whole thing.”
“Are you sure?” She could tell from the look on his face that he wasn’t.
“Ninety-nine percent. This isn’t one of the futures I saw for you. This isn’t one of your paths.”
Ridley was silent for a moment.
What other choice do I have?
“I’d rather die in a fire than end up as part of Silas Ravenwood’s harem,” she said finally.
Link grabbed her hand. “Yeah, well, you aren’t gonna do either. Not on my watch.”
“Our watch,” said Nox.