Sighing, I think,I don’t want to do this right now.I have no idea what Ansaldo will want with me now that I’ve gotten the rest he seems to think I needed. Will he even answer my questions? Will he force me to join the order? Will he kill me in some sort of cult sacrifice?
Will Bes and Cec protect me if he tries either of those, like they promised?
Pressing my sweaty hands into my dark-blue pantlegs, I graze my father’s switchblade in my pocket.At least I have something to defend myself with.
I take a calculated breath and pull open the heavy door.
Cec stands on the other side, already flashing me a roguish grin. I smirk.Bastard. His wild hair has been tamed as best it can, half of it braced atop his head with a leather strap. The untucked, mustard yellow short-sleeved button-down and dark olive pants fit him well, the final touch a pair of pristine brown leather Oxfords.
His cane is nowhere in sight.He must know this place so well that he doesn’t need it.
He smiles, his milky eyes settling near me. “Assuming you clean up well, you look fantastic.”
I rub at my eyes, the skin around them raw and likely puffy from crying.
“I do clean up well, but not today. Let’s admit we both look like shit and move on.”
Widening his grin, he holds out his arm. I hesitate only a moment before taking it.
“I never figured you for a liar, Hawkins.”
Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black.“If you could see what I look like right now, you’d think differently.”
“Oh, I have no doubt. However, this isn’t about you. I knowIlook fantastic; therefore, you’re a liar.”
I can’t help chuckling. “You’re a cocky one.”
“Always.” He pats my hand hooked through his arm. “Ah, how I’ve missed you.”
“I wish I could say the same.” I tighten my grip on his elbow, cutting him off before he can ask why. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me that Bes’s uncle—the man in charge of this wholeoperation—is your father. All that time, I thought we were…” I pause. I’m not sure why Cec’s betrayal hurts more than Bes’s, but it does. “That we were becoming friends.”
Cec guides me effortlessly around the corner, leading us back in the direction of the great hall. The last time I saw him there, he sat at the right hand of who I now know to be his father, the leader of the Order of Cavendi. The man that Nonna trusted my life with.
“First off, I never called himmyuncle. Second, I didn’t lie—I neglected to mention it. If you’re going to rightly accuse someone of being a shit friend, get your terminology straight,” he teases fondly. I’m not buying it. “And third, of course we’re friends, Hawkins. The best of them, in fact. But Bes was right to stay my hand. As much as I wanted to tell you about the order and my role in it, about who my father is, I would’ve broken my oath by doing so. And while my father may be in charge, he has no control over the punishment of breaking a real and true blood oath.”
Just like Bes said…
“I know that now,” I say, still not willing to believe wholly in this blood oath without proof. “But you could have at least told meArturowas your father. You called him Bes’s uncle, for Christ’s sake.”
He holds up a finger. “Technically, that’s true.”
I scoff.
He remains vague. “If only it were as simple as merely trusting you. I couldn’t even tell you his real name, much less anything more. Besides, trust is a two-way street. I may not be able to see facial expressions, but I can hear hesitancy in someone’s voice. And there were more than a few times when I could tell you didn’t trust us.”
“And that’s alright,” he amends before I can speak to defend myself. “I wouldn’t have trusted us either, and I told Bes as muchwhen we docked in Messina. Which I know you were awake for, by the way. I heard your breathing change.”
I scowl. “Damn your heightened senses.”
“All I’m saying is: I know we kept things from you before, even lied to you outright. But we’ve been through a lot together, and I hope you can find it in your heart to trust us again now that everything can be out in the open.”
As he says this, we pause at the edge of the threshold to the great hall, empty now.Thank God.
“If by us, you mean you and Bes, then yes,” I admit, “I believe I can trust you again, even though I probably shouldn’t. But don’t expect me to trust anyone else here. They didn’t save my life and help me escape from the God Men.”
Cec shifts his focus to me. “The Order of Cavendi has probably saved you more times than you can comprehend. Don’t write them off so quickly.”
Without allowing me any further prodding, he strides into the great hall, forcing me to stumble alongside him.
