Helena considered. “Your arrival was different this time. Probably due to Emile and Madame Montoni’s presence. The castle was distracted and one of the newer guards brought me my meals, expecting me to be as weak as ever. Knowing that I would be forced to watch helplessly yet again, I drew on strength deep within to overpower him. I escaped and hid in the secret passages, then managed to steal Bertolino’s skeleton key while he slept that first night. I’ve kept tabs on you children, but I needed to know how I could help. Until then, I had to constantly avoid Montoni’s men.”
My head was spinning with the revelations. I realized that Montoni had been searching for Helena the first night we’d arrived at Udolpho, and she’d likely been who had unfastened the bolt on the second door in my room, as well as the figure I’d seen enter my bedchamber, whom I’d mistaken for a specter.
“It’s fantastic,” I said breathlessly. I glanced at Henri briefly before looking once more to Helena. “And your husband? Victor? Is he …?”
Helena swallowed hard. “He is dead, I’m afraid. He was more thorough than I.”
“Silver bullet,” Blanche supplied.
I grabbed Henri’s hand, squeezing it, and he sent me a soft smile. He looked happy. Of course he was—he’d gotten his mother back. But it was also bittersweet, given not only Victor’s death at his own hands, from which he could never return, but also the circumstances surrounding his mother’s return to him. The events of the past month at Udolpho Castle had been traumatizing.
“I can never thank you enough for helping my children,” Helena said, suddenly addressing me. She smiled and took in the room at large. “All of you. You’re the reason we’re here today and my brother’s rule is at an end.”
“We also couldn’t have done it without your help apparently,” I told her, lifting a teacup in her direction, as if in a toast. “You’re a brave woman.”
“I don’t feel brave. The things I’ve done to this family …” She pursed her lips and Blanche reached down to hug her.
“We’re just happy to have you back,” Blanche assured her. “That’s what matters.”
Helena nodded, tears glistening in her eyes as she patted her daughter’s arm in thanks for her words.
There was a lot of catching up to do amongst the family that night, and I smiled, listening to stories shared, imagining a younger Henri performing the antics that Blanche described through laughter. It made me admire him even more. I held his hand beneath the table for much of the evening. Bram seemed just as interested, asking questions pertaining to the curse as they were referenced in conversation.
When Helena and Madame Montoni retired for the evening, along with Annette and Ludovico, I knew the time had come to discuss our future, and specifically, what had been on my mind the previous day.
“How does it feel to be the alpha?” I asked Henri, who looked happier than I could ever recall.
Henri grinned. “It feels amazing not having to answer to Montoni. I feel like a great weight has been lifted, like I can finally startliving.”
I nodded. “And you have your mother back.”
He shook his head. “I can’t even … I never imagined. It still boggles my mind. It upsets me that she was in that turret the entire time, unable to reach out to us, but we’re together now.”
Blanche nodded. “We’ll just have to move forward with the time we have.”
I straightened, clearing my throat. “Speaking of time, I wanted to discuss our eventual return to society, whether it be to La Vallée or the château.”
Bram’s chair scraped back. “I should excuse myself.”
“This concerns you too, Bram,” I said, stopping him. I hesitated, looking at Henri. “You know how I feel about you. Both of you. Just tonight, we fought for each other’s lives, and it felt … right.”
Bram and Henri exchanged looks.
I swept a hand nervously over my brow before continuing. “When Bram died, it hurt deeply. I never … I don’t want to feel that loss again. And when he was revived, it was like a second chance had materialized before me. Beforeus.”
Henri pursed his lips. “Emile. If you … if your heart has …” He let out a breath and leaned back in his chair. “I will respect whatever you decide, Emile. You know that I will never force your hand in anything again.”
Blanche looked uncomfortable. “Emile, should I …?”
“Please stay,” I told her. “You are a part of this. You see, Montoni’s plan was sound.”
Blanche’s eyes widened. “You meanmarriage?”
“To keep up pretenses, yes. The thing is, I want usallto be a family. And I don’t want to have to choose between the two people who have my heart. And there’s no reason I should. I say we decide for ourselves. Today. And I want more than anything to be with both you, Bram, and you, Henri. The thought of losing either one of you makes me ill, and if you’ll have it, I would like to see where that takes us. Together.”
Henri hesitated, eyes lifting to Bram. Bram, likewise, watched Henri, as if searching him for signs of disapproval or perhaps, something else.
“You were in each other’s lives once,” I said. “I know you each felt something for one another then. Can you open yourselves to the possibility that you both could love me, and perhaps come to love one another as well?”
