The Mephisto Covenant by Trinity Faegen Page A

and in the moment, she was hyperaware of everything around her—a bird calling from overhead, the soft crunch of snow at their feet, the way his body moved beneath her palms, the taste of his mouth, even the warmth of his breath.
    When he lifted his head and looked down into her eyes, she nearly drowned in the emotions rolling over her. His eyes made her feel like she was someone else, as if she knew things it was impossible for her to know.
    “You didn’t run. Does that mean you’re going to give me a chance?”
    “If I do, will you tell me who you are? Why your eyes are so different?”
    “I’ll tell you.” He released her and stepped back. “Just give me a week and I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
    Part of her wanted to know right this minute. Another part didn’t want to know ever. But she nodded anyway and said, “Will you tell me how you know about the Anabo thing?”
    He bent to pick up his shades and slid them back onto his face. “I’ll tell you everything.”
    While they stood there staring at each other, a terrifying scream carried across the mountains in an echo, startling her. “That sounded like . . . someone falling.”
    His expression grim, Jax nodded toward the run. “Let’s go.”
    Ten minutes later, when they reached the base, she saw a crowd gathered close to the cluster of buildings that made up Mountain Village. Skiing to the edge of the group, Sasha asked a woman if she knew what happened.
    “Someone went off Devil’s Ridge. The ski patrol just radioed that she broke her neck.”
    A tremor of premonition slid down her back. “Who was it?”
    “A senior at Telluride High. Reilly O’Brien. So sweet, such a great kid. It’s awful.”
    Sasha heard a familiar voice and turned just as Brett and East skied to a spot several yards away. They were grinning, and she stiffened when they knuckle bumped.
    “What’s wrong?” Jax asked from just behind her. “Did you know Reilly?”
    Turning around, she leaned close and whispered, “No, but she’s the reason my cousin ditched me up there. He skied after her, and she was looking over her shoulder at him like she was afraid. Now look at him. He’s smiling.”
    “Are you saying you think he had something to do with her accident?”
    Sasha looked up at his mirrored shades, at her distorted reflection. “Would you think I was crazy if I said yes?”
     
    ---
    Jax took her to a nearby restaurant, and they were eating dessert before he finally coaxed everything out of her. She told him about her mom being deported, about the Ravens and Alex Kasamov, about meeting Mr. Bruno, and about what Brett had said to her on the way up the mountain that morning. The idea off her sitting down to dinner with a Skia scared the hell out of him, but he kept calm. She trusted him, and he needed to protect that, but he also needed to protect her. He would tell her as much as possible without revealing anything that might scare her off.
    He decided to start with Anabo. “So what you’re wondering is if Brett thought Reilly was Anabo, and if that’s why he maybe pushed her over the edge.”
    “I know it sounds ridiculous, but he believes this Eryx guy is where it’s at. He said he gets credits if he gets people to join, so maybe he thought he’d get credit if he killed somebody he thought was Anabo.”
    “Why would he think that about Reilly?”
    “I don’t know. Maybe she was scared to death of Mr. Bruno, like I was afraid of Alex Kasamov. Alex said that was why he suspected about me.”
    Jax knew Reilly wasn’t Anabo. He’d seen her around town.
    So had his brothers. She was gorgeous, and if she was Anabo, they’d have known.
    “Or, maybe Brett hit on her,” he suggested, “and she blew him off and he was pissed enough to kill her. Maybe he didn’t mean to shove her off. Maybe he didn’t do it at all.”
    “You’re right. I’m jumping to conclusions, I guess, because I’m still so freaked out about what happened in San Francisco.”