“That’s why you agreed to help me?” I knew she always saw me as a client, yet what she’s telling me now makes her motives even more clear. Not that I can blame her.
She nods. “With the money your sister paid for your lessons, I could buy out not just my contract but Andra’s as well.” She makes some kind of decision, dropping her arms. “Lady M has been making Andra read for her, pushing her to See in a way that has worn Andra down, both physically and mentally. And today, right before you got to the club, I found out that Lady M has taken her and is keeping her somewhere.”
“To get you to obey? She’s holding your sister’s life?” This Lady M must have asked something terrible of Caterine, and my stomach tightens as I think of what that could possibly mean. What she might have done. Might still be doing.
Caterine nods again.
“What did they ask you to do, Caterine?” My voice is low, brimming with barely restrained anger—if she did what I think she did, it’s time to cut to the heart of the matter.
“Harold is going to murder your father under Lady M’s orders.” The words come out as faint as a whisper. “They told me to keep you here until after midnight, and if I didn’t, if I told you what was going to happen, they would hurt my sister.” She crumples into achair, and I don’t have the capacity to care that she appears completely drained.
“So you’ve known this entire evening that this terrible thing I have to do, this thing that has been torturing me for weeks, is going to be thwarted and you didn’t bother to tell me?” I try to keep my voice level, but I don’t succeed. The anger is a good mask for the total devastation ripping through me. I thought we had shared something special this evening. I came to her for help, and this entire time she was lying right to my face. No doubt manipulating me and my feelings for her.
No. Not feelings. There’s no love here, only pure lust. It’s her job to exploit that lust, and she played me perfectly.
“I’m sorry, Callum. I wanted to tell you, but what was I supposed to do, sacrifice my sister’s life?” She crosses over to me, her hands clenched in fists at her side, not about to let my anger go unchecked.
“If it means saving the country from being ruled by people unfit for leadership, then yes, Caterine, that’s exactly what you should do!” I’m being unfair, and I know it. God knows I would probably do the same in her situation, but I can’t make myself justify her actions knowing the consequences.
She gets in my face. “I’m sorry I wasn’t raised like that, Callum Reid! I will not apologize for doing what’s best for the only person who’s been there for me my entire life.” She lowers her voice. “Besides, Harold does have the capacity to be a good leader.”
“Does this Lady M? Because it seems like the two of them are a package deal. Is she the kind of person you want in control?” I shove my feet into my shoes, gathering my coat and heading for the door. “I don’t have time for this argument, I may still be able to get there in time.”
“Wait!” she cries, meeting me at the door. Her hands find mine, and I wish I had the strength to pull away, but my fingers latch on to hers like they were created to be connected. “Please be careful, Callum.”
“You don’t get to tell me that now, my lady.”
A single tear rolls down her cheek, and for a minute I question everything. This tear, this night, everything that’s happened in this room.
“Was any of it real?” I ask the question I don’t want to know the answer to.
“Yes,” she says fiercely. “I…I care about you, Callum.”
I gently tug my hands from hers, grabbing my coat and slipping into the sleeves. “I thought I cared about you too.”
She sucks in a sharp breath. “I earned that, I suppose. And I understand if you never want to see me again.” Her voice breaks and falls to a whisper. “But please don’t hurt him. He’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a father, Callum.”
“You don’t get to ask that of me either.”
“I know.” Tears flow freely down her cheeks now. “I will still help you, after. If you need my services, I’m here.”
“Because I’ve already paid for them?”
She shakes her head. “Because you don’t deserve this. You don’t deserve any of this.”
A million words dance on the edge of my tongue, but none of them are the right ones. So I nod, open the door, and walk away.
This pregnancy is going to stick, and she won’t know until the time has already passed, but there’s not one baby, but three.
I have Seen what she plans to do with them, Seen things no mother should ever do to her children. I know there is only one solution, but it is going to destroy her. I don’t know what it’s going to do to Harry.
But I must take the girls away from her. It is the only way for them to be safe. It is the only way for all of us to be safe.
—excerpt from the journal of Diana Brahan
19
Cate
