Harold grimaces, shifting in the chair until he lands in a comfortable position. “A drink would be lovely, thank you, Cate.”
I glare at him, though I heed his request, pouring him a measure of whisky. I would take some for myself, but I’m running low and something tells me the guards won’t be replenishing my stock. I hand Harold his glass and sit opposite him. “It’s been more than three days, Harold. I did what you asked, and it’s been three days and I still have not seen my sister.”
“Andra is fine.” He sips the whisky, wincing as it goes down.
“And Callum?”
“Callum is fine too, as far as I know.” He holds up a hand to pause my next interruption. “Why don’t you just let me speak, Cate?” He swigs the remainder of his drink, setting the glass down with a sigh. “I killed King James. Callum was there, but he escaped. Andra is safe, so is Bianca, so is everyone else.”
“Where is she, Harold?” I don’t feel nearly as comforted by his assurances as I want to be. How can I trust his word?
“I can’t tell you.” He hesitates for a second. “But Andra is in a safe place, one that I know well.”
My brow furrows, tucking that piece of information away for later. I push out of my chair and stride across the room. “Look around, Harold. I’ve been trapped in this room for days with no word. You’ve taken my sister and my friends from me. We used to be a family. And now all of a sudden you’re out here committing murder and kidnapping. Is she worth it?”
“You have to trust that I know what I’m doing here, Cate. Everything I’m doing is for all of you, everyone at La Puissance.” Harold’s shoulders sink in on themselves. “Besides, I couldn’t stop it if I tried.”
“What does that mean? You can take control again, Harold. We will all stand behind you. If money is the problem, we will find another way to raise the funds.”
He shakes his head and it’s sad. “We’re Bonded, Cate. Grecia…Lady M and I. We’ve been Bonded since we were kids. I can’t go against her.”
My mouth falls open in shock. “Bonded?”
I know the basics of the term, but I’ve never known anyone who was part of a Bonded pair. All I really know is that it would be almost impossible for them to be parted, maybe impossible for one to live without the other. Suddenly everything that has happened begins to make a lot more sense.
Harold nods and his eyes find mine, staring deeply, as if he truly needs me to hear and understand. “When a couple Bonds, Cate, the need for each other is insatiable, indescribable. We can’t be apart from one another for long, or it causes physical pain.”
My stomach roils, not just because of what this means for Harold, but because the sensations he’s describing sound familiar. But it can’t be. We can’t be. “But you just met.”
His lips pull tight, his hand clenching into a tight fist on the table. “We didn’t just meet. We didn’t even just get married.” He runs a hand over his beard, his normally neatly trimmed facial hair gone scraggly. “There is so much you don’t know, Cate.”
I reach across the table for his hand. “So tell me.”
“I can’t.”
I shake my head, wondering what happened to the fierce leader who would have given his life to protect those in his care. “What exactly is your plan, Harold?”
“You know I can’t tell you that either. But you also need to know I’m doing this for your own good.”
I scoff, gesturing to the room I’m being held captive in. “Forgive me if I find that a little hard to believe right now.”
Harold pushes out of his chair, the movement seeming to send waves of pain through his frail-looking body. “You don’t have all the information, and if you can’t take my word, then I don’t have anything more to say to you.” The change from sad to angry is instantaneous and I wonder if this is an effect of the Bond. Is he starting to take on her character traits? Is that common for Bonded pairs?
Panic darts through me. I need him to stay. This is the most human contact I’ve had in days, and right now, Harold is my only link to the people I care about. “Wait, Harold. Please. I did what you asked of me and I just want to see my sister. Let me see her and I will do whatever you want me to do.”
His voice softens, but his words are sharp. “None of this would have even happened without your sister.”
I freeze, hoping I’ve misheard him. “What do you mean, Harold? Andra is a victim in all of this.”
He shakes his head sadly. “She told her what she Saw. If only she had kept it to herself.”
I cross to his side of the room, grasping his bony forearms in my hands and just managing to stop myself from shaking him. “What did she See, Harold?”
He meets my eyes, shadows haunting his. “She told Lady M that a MacVeigh would win the election. Her vision is what set this whole thing in motion.”
I drop Harold’s arms, the contact overwhelming me. “Lady M was forcing her to read for hours at a time with barely a break. Of course she told her what she Saw. You cannot possibly blame her. Please just let me see her!”
The man I once considered a father, the man who took us in, sheltered us, raised us as if we were his own, looks at me with not a single hint of emotion in his dark brown eyes. “I don’t think I can, Cate. I wish I could, but I just can’t.”
