“I assure you, he is fine,” he said, as he pulled out the dark leather chair behind the desk and sat. “Didn’t Helen tell you he is fine? This won’t take but a moment, Matilda. You have my word on that.”
I didn’t believe him. I sat anyway, hoping it would hurry things along.
He took a sip of coffee from the delicate china, his eyes the color of arctic ice.
I took a sip of my coffee. Rich, warm, and sweetened with dark sugar. It was the finest I’d ever tasted.
“I do want to apologize for this invitation,” he said. “Stealing you off the street. But I wanted a chance to meet you without interference.”
“You mean without anyone at House Gray knowing?”
“Anyone at House Gray or any of your galvanized friends. I prefer uninterrupted time when I’m first meeting someone with whom I assume I will be doing business.”
“Business?”
“Have you been informed of the gathering tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“I brought you here before that event to make you an offer that would benefit us both.”
I shook my head. “I’m not interested in moving to any House. I’m claimed by House Gray and I’d like to stay that way.”
He just smiled. “Why don’t you listen to my offer, and then make your decision? Tomorrow all the Houses will gather. What I want is for you to let things play out as they may.”
“What does that mean?”
“Your presence is already drawing lines between the Houses. But the game the Houses play is a very old one. The pieces have been in place for more years than you have been breathing. You, Matilda Case, are fate’s twist, chaos’ card stacked in the deck between the Houses. We all want you. We all want to use you.”
“Why?” I breathed. My heart was starting to pound again. He wasn’t talking to me in a threatening way. If anything, he seemed more amused than angry.
“Everyone has their reasons,” he said with a smile. “I will tell you mine. You are the key to a very old story. One that most people do not believe. But, then, I enjoy getting to the root of stories. Especially if there is a profit to be made.”
He waited, drinking his coffee.
“What story?” I asked.
“The end of the world. The fall of the Houses. And all that entails. Everything has its end. It is the cycle that allows for new beginnings. New opportunities. In this story, you are the one who will decide the fate of the world.”
“There isn’t a story with me in it,” I said. “I think you’re reading into me much more than you should. All I want is my brother returned to me and both of us returned to House Gray. I promise you I have nothing to do with anything else.”
“No piece knows its place on the game board, nor its future,” he said. “It knows only the square it occupies and the touch of the hand that controls it. I want a promise from you, Matilda Case, daughter of Dr. Renault Case and Professor Edith Case. Whatever happens tomorrow at the gathering, do not get involved. Let the game play out as if you were not a part of it. Watch, but do not act. If you can promise me you will not interfere with my story, I will give you a great gift.”
“What gift?”
I didn’t believe he was really going to give me anything. I’d seen more than my share of salesmen in the past, and Reeves Silver was just a salesman who had all the power and all the time in the world to make people buy what he was selling.
“I know where your brother is.”
“So I’ve been told,” I said. “Where is he?”
“I will show you, though if you speak of it, Matilda, I will change my mind as to which piece you are playing onmygame board. You will fall from rook to pawn.” He tipped his cup, took another drink. “Betray me, and I will remove you from the board completely.”
I wasn’t an idiot. I recognized a death threat when I heard one. I nodded.
“House Orange holds him prisoner.”
I heard him—really I did. But the tightness in my chest wouldn’t allow me to answer. Hope was a painful thing.
