Beauty in the Bones: Season 1

Episode 35: Atonement for the Aftermath

My strength returned slowly. Still disoriented after my confrontation with Lord Levay and his fiendish seer, Hella, I made it as far as the executive floor of the Plaza. Reuben helped me into Mr. Gable's private office, and I collapsed onto a cushioned chair. I set my mask and glasses aside and wiped the sweat from my face.

Reuben cracked a nearby window open, and the fresh gust of snowy air refreshed my addled nerves. He poured a glass of fresh lemon water from a pitcher on his father's wet bar and handed it to me.

"Thank you," I said.

"Sure." Reuben pulled another chair close to me, and sat with hands clasped between his knees. "Mind if I ask you something?"

I took a long sip of the water, and set the glass on the desk. "Go ahead."

He blinked, scooting forward as if he couldn't get comfortable. "Did, uh, Lord Levay try anything...unwelcome toward you at all?"

"Yes, he did."

Reuben's scowl deepened, his voice taut with anger. "Son of a bitch. He'll get what he deserves soon enough."

His rage sparked my curiosity. "It sounds like you have a personal vendetta against him."

Reuben stood, pacing. "I'm sure you know now that Levay has particular tastes--he likes boys, and he likes them young as he can get. A couple years ago, after a gathering, he cornered me, too. I was thirteen, just initiated. He took me into a room alone, saying he needed to 'talk' with me. And he..." His words trailed, and he looked away.

I knew better than to ask what Levay did to him. From his defeated posture, I guessed well enough, and my nausea rose again. Brash restraint bowed Reuben's capable shoulders--the weight of old wounds which still bled. Reuben was a stalwart person, rarely unsettled. Levay must have violated him in the worst way possible.

"He should be prosecuted for such a crime," I said. "Does your father know?"

Reuben sat on the edge of the desk and folded his arms, and for a moment he looked like a frightened child. "Dad wanted to have Levay arrested, too. I told him about it, after it happened. Thing is, no one knows Lord Levay's real identity. His family name is a mystery, and he's always surrounded by more security and wards than even Lady Selketh can decipher. If you ask me, Levay rules The Order. Selketh puts on her airs, but Levay holds her bound like a dog on a chain. When we tried to confront him before the Empty Council, they ruled against us, and misfortune fell on us for a time. Probably a curse Levay put on us in the Otherworld. And Dad was forced to crawl the Path of Atonement to pay for his insolence."

"The Path of Atonement?"

Reuben exhaled bitterness. "I'm sorry, but I don't want to talk about it. Let's hope you never have to see it. Anyway, your mother will help us destroy them all soon."

A notification chime disrupted the conversation, the incoming light on my wristcom blinking. "Excuse me a moment," I said. I checked the text message.

"T: Simone, we need to have a serious chat. I can't believe what you did tonight. Meet me tomorrow at sunset, stairwell behind Pentworth, if you value our friendship at all."

"Damn." The swear word fell from my mouth unbidden. My fingers bunched around the carved wood of the armrest.

"Everything alright?" Reuben asked.

"It's nothing. Just a message from a friend." I reached for the glass of water and downed the rest in one swallow. Tamsin was upset with me now, too. The travesty of this night would never end.

The office door creaked open, and Mr. Gable peeked in. "There you boys are." He stepped inside, closing the door behind him, and slid his goblin mask back. "The custodians in the Nether Sanctum informed me you were ill, Silas. Is there anything I can get for you?"