Her lips wrinkle.“You and the professor are very much alike, aren’t you?Always so curious.”
“You make it sound like that’s a bad thing.”
“It can be,” she says, her eyes narrowing slightly.“Katrina, I know the two of us don’t talk very often, so while you’re here, letme offer you a word of advice.”She leans in closer to me and in her pupils I see strange pinpricks of light, the scent of sulfur filling my nose.“Don’t make trouble for yourself.You won’t be able to handle the repercussions.”
I stare at her, dread filling my chest.“What do you mean?”
“You’re meant to be with Brom,” she says, her voice lowering.“They brought him back for you.”
“But why?Why him?Why did everyone decide this when I was born?What do you get out of it?”
She looks away for a moment, as if listening to something I can’t hear, before returning her steady gaze back to mine.“Did you know your mother was never supposed to marry your father?”
“Actually,” I say, finally knowing something, “my mother said something akin to that.That none of her sisters approved of her marriage to my father.”
“That’s right.They didn’t.Neither did I.”She pauses, wiggling her jaw.“You know I am not related to you, Katrina, but I am related to Brom.”
My mouth drops.This is news to me.
“How?”I ask.
She ignores me.“And your mother was supposed to marry Liam Van Brunt,” she adds.
“My mother was supposed to marry Brom’s father?”
What on earth?
Sister Sophie gives me a tight smile.“But she didn’t, did she?She chose your father instead.”
“Because she fell in love with him,” I say feebly.
She lets out an acidic laugh.“She never loved your father.Oh,you are such a naïve girl, Katrina, even after all you’ve been through.To think either of our families have anything to do with love.”
A sinking feeling creeps through me and I press Ms.Peek’s clothes to my chest.“Why are you telling me all of this?”
“Consider it a warning,” she says gravely.
“But what if I don’t marry Brom?What if…”
What if I marry Crane instead?
But I don’t dare say it.
“As I said,” she says, brushing past me.The contact of her shoulder against mine makes me feel dizzy.“It would be wise for you not to make trouble for yourself.You have no idea what you’re dealing with here.Good day, Katrina.If you see Professor Crane, and I’m sure you will, please tell him I was looking for him.”
She walks off down the hall, her cloak rustling behind her as she goes.
I stand there for a few moments, feeling absolutely dumbfounded by what she said.I want to run after her and demand she tell me more, but I have a feeling that whatever she just told me, she wasn’t supposed to.
So why tell me at all?
I mull it all over as I go over to Ms.Peek’s hall and knock on her door.
“Katrina,” Ms.Peek says as she opens it.“Oh, I’m sorry.You prefer Kat, don’t you?”
“Thank you, Narae,” I say to her with a grateful nod, handing her the clothes.“I really appreciate your generosity.”
“It was my pleasure,” she says, taking the clothes from me.She reaches out and touches the top of my forehead, causing me to flinch.
