Dead and Dusted by Lily Webb (most recommended books .TXT) 📗

it reached the sixth floor, and Zadie reached around me to hammer at the button for the third. The cage lurched again and began moving downward, much slower than I remembered it moving.

“I know your background with Leland,” I said as Zadie backed away from me. Why couldn’t I just keep quiet?

Zadie laughed and waved me away. “Oh please, who doesn’t in this town? It’s not like it’s a secret. But what does it matter? Leland and I had different visions for the future, so we went our separate ways.”

That was a very different version of the story Brady had told me, but I didn’t point it out to Zadie. “But you had to know that the two of you would compete for this deal, eventually.”

“Of course, I did. I looked forward to it, honestly. I couldn’t wait to see Leland’s smug face when I stole his most desired prize out from his hands. It’s a shame I’ll never get to see that happen now.”

Given their history, I wouldn’t have expected Zadie to be broken up about Leland’s death, but she seemed almost relieved by it. Though she had the strongest motive of everyone, I had trouble believing she was the one who’d gotten the deadly letter into Leland’s hands. For starters, like she’d said, she’d been sitting at the table with the other guests when Leland stepped away, and she wouldn’t have been able to slip upstairs to deliver the letter to his room without someone noticing.

Then again, the letter could’ve made its way to Leland before he’d arrived at Kindred Spirits. Evie said she found it on the floor of his room, but we didn’t know how it’d actually gotten there. For all I knew, it really could’ve fallen out of Leland’s briefcase, and if it had, then it truly could’ve come from anywhere.

Leland’s briefcase! I almost fell back against the wall of the elevator as the realization struck me. I might not get my hands on the letter, but I could grab the next best thing. Though there wasn’t any guarantee that examining the briefcase would trigger one of my visions — and even if it did, it didn’t mean I’d see anything relevant to the letter — it was the only option I had. But how could I possibly get into Leland’s room with all his security crawling around? They would probably be on even higher alert now, so the odds of slipping past them seemed slim to none.

Once again, the elevator dinged to announce its stop on the third floor, yanking me out of my head. Zadie held out her hand palm up for her room key. “I think I can find my way from here,” she said and wiggled her fingers at me. Reluctantly, I dropped the key in her palm, and she smiled at me. “Thanks for this wonderful time together,” she said condescendingly and left me in the elevator, which was all the same to me.

As much as I wanted to hit the button for the sixth floor and head right for Leland’s room, I waited for Zadie to clear out so I could make my way to the room I shared with Jadis on the same floor — because if I was going to get into Leland’s room and to his briefcase, then I needed a plan.

Chapter 7

When my eyes blinked open, the dark night sky greeted me. Distant stars twinkled, a signal of their constantly fading life, and larger, brighter shapes that must’ve been planets burned like torches on far-off shores. If I hadn’t been so cold, I might’ve stayed on my back staring up at the cosmos forever, but my chattering teeth told me that wasn’t a luxury I had.

I sat up slowly, and my robes cracked as the frost that’d settled on them shattered along with my sense of calm. All at once, my settings struck me. Steep, snow-covered slopes blocked out everything on both sides of me, and the wind howled through the crevice I’d found myself in, tearing at me like a vindictive banshee. Where was I? Had I fallen into a ravine or something?

I craned my head to look upward and almost screamed when a white-hot pain coursed through me. Instinctively, I raised a hand to the back of my head and froze in horror when I felt something hot and wet. Though I should’ve known better than to look, I couldn’t stop myself from bringing my hand to my face. As soon as I saw my blood shining in the moonlight on my fingers, I wanted to throw up.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” I called, but the only answer I got was the echo of my voice, which sent ripples of pain through my injured, aching head. I hyperventilated as I struggled to my feet until I realized what was happening. “It’s just another dream, Selena. Another stupid dream,” I muttered, barely convincing myself enough to catch my breath.

Even if I was dreaming — and I still wasn’t so sure about that because the pain emanating from the back of my head felt so intense and real — that didn’t change the fact I was having another nightmare. But this version of the dream was new. Of all the times I’d had it, I’d never been conscious of the fact that I was dreaming, nor woken up at the bottom of a ravine with my head bleeding. As much as I wished someone would jerk me back to reality, I couldn’t help wondering what I could do from inside the dream.

So, I did what any good witch would do: I took an unsteady, uncertain step forward. The collision of my foot against the snow sent shock waves of pain to my head, and I nearly gave up until I reminded myself that none of this was real. As terrible as it was, and as much as my head hurt, it wasn’t real, so no matter what happened, eventually I would wake up