Harold nods, his eyes brimming with sadness. “I thought it was the only way. Diana told me we needed to send you girls away from Grecia if you were to have any chance of surviving. It killed me to say goodbye to my daughters, but I would have done anything to guarantee your safety. I would still do anything to guarantee your safety, Cate.”
Her grip on his hand tightens. “Why didn’t you say something sooner? We could have had a whole life together, as a family.”
He reaches for her cheek, patting it the way one would a young child’s. “We did have a whole life together as a family, and I wouldn’t change anything about it if it meant no harm would come to you or your sisters.”
“Sisters?” Alex questions, the first time one of us on the outside has dared to speak.
Harold nods, his eyes never leaving Cate. “There were—are—three of you.”
Cate sucks in a breath. “We have another sister? Where is she?”
“I’m not sure. But before Diana died, she assured me that she was safe. That she would come into our lives when the timing was right.”
Cate’s fist clenches. “I can’t believe Diana never told us.”
Harold gently unclasps her hand from where it grasps the blanket. “Such is the way with Seers. Sometimes they know too much.”
“So your Bond with this Lady M, it really can’t be broken?” Alex watches the group with sympathy shining in his eyes. But underneath that there’s a calculating edge to his question. This isn’t over. We might have escaped the fortress, Harold might have survived the poisoning, but Lady M isn’t going to rest until she secures the candidacy for herself.
“It seemed to be, for a while, after we lost the girls. But I’m afraid I triggered it when I went back to her. I don’t know that anything now is strong enough to sever it, save for one of us dying.”
“It won’t be you,” Cate says, the fierceness in her determination stoking a flame of pride deep in my chest. It’s an unwanted feeling, and yet I can’t seem to force it down.
“She’s your mother, Cate,” Harold reminds her gently.
Cate shakes her head. “No, she’s not. She might have given birth to us, but that woman is no mother. She is evil, Harold, capable of so much more harm than you can imagine.”
“She will be ready for you. Between Diana and Andra, Grecia knows what to expect. She will know you are coming, and she has the Gifted on her side. I don’t know that we can stop her.”
“What is her end goal?” I ask. Maybe if we know what she is really after, we can find a way to put a stop to it. “Does she want to be the Scotan candidate? Does she have plans to try to win the election?”
Harold hesitates, but after everything that’s been revealed, there is little use for more secrets. “When we were younger, Diana told us we would amass power, live in prosperity. It didn’t mean much until Andra came along. Her visions are more attuned, more specific.”
“What did she See?” Alex asks quietly.
“She Saw a crown, and a Gift, and a pair of golden eyes,” Cate answers.
“That could be Lady M,” I concede. “But it could also be you, or Andra.”
“Or our other sister,” she says quietly.
Alex clears his throat. “I think it would behoove us all to focus more on the here and now, rather than looking too far ahead. We need a Scotan candidate, and I don’t think it should be you, Harold.”
“I do not disagree with you. I have no plans to be for much longer.” Harold shoots me a look, both of us remembering my promise, uttered what feels like a lifetime ago. “Unfortunately, Grecia seems to agree with me on that much at least. I know she is planning to end me, claim the candidacy for herself. Hence the poison.”
“We can’t let that happen.” I’m not even sure who says it, because it comes from more than one voice in the room.
“More importantly,” Cate inserts, “we can’t leave the rest of the Gifted there to be used by her. Look what happened to Andra; she could drain any and all of them. Next time she could end up killing someone. They aren’t safe with her. We need to find a way to get them out.”
“Once the Gifted are free from her clutches, it should be easy enough for Callum to take her out. What is she without her army?” Alex crosses his arms over his chest, ready to go to battle.
“You should not underestimate her,” Harold warns. “I fear I might be the only one who can get through to her, to find a way to put an end to all of this.”
“Will your Bond allow you to do that?” My eyes flit to Cate’s. I can’t imagine ever being the one to hurt her, let alone end her life, even after everything she has put me through.
Cate rises, coming to stand by my side, like the brief eye contact between us was enough to stir her need for me. I itch to take her hand in mine, but there is still so much we need to say to one another. She is here, but I don’t know that it’s enough.
“I don’t know.” Harold watches us, and it’s hard to tell if that’sconcern in his eyes, or hope. He pushes up from the cot. “But I don’t think we should wait too long before we find out.”
