“Nim,” Guine breathes, exasperated. “Your pretty dress.”
She looks at her mother and frowns before holding the creature with both hands to snap its neck, more blood splattering on her hands and dress.
Rosier holds me tight, but I push his arms aside. Again, he tries to grab me, but I shoot him a look and he yields.
“Who told you I summoned a devil?” I demand. “How’d you even know I’d be here?”
Arthur gestures to Guine. “My wife is the best living diviner. I’ve had her check on you from time to time. I’ve alwayscaredfor you, Minevera.”
Rosier snorts. “If she’s so good at divining, why didn’t she see you fucking other women?”
“You be quiet!” Guine shrieks, stepping forward. “That slut seduced my husband!”
“Your husband was trying to kill her,” Rosier points out. “I bet he fucks his meals, too. Anything before fingering your dry cunt.”
Guine looks like she might cry. Or spontaneously combust.
“You know it’s the truth,” I say to her. “And if you’re so good at seeing the future I’m sure you know what happened to my mom.”
Guine’s anger falters, her grimace slipping.
“Unlike you all,” I continue, “I don’t want bloodshed or power. I want an acknowledgement. I want an apology for my Mom.”
“An… apology?” Her voice is breathy, reminding me of actresses in old black-and-white movies.
“All this,” Junior groans, “for an apology.”
Arthur’s thin lips have almost disappeared, they’re so tight. I don’t know what upsets him more, the request itself or the fact this is happening in front of his whole family.
Guine touches his shoulder. “You could apologize. And then… maybe she could be family.”
“Seriously?” Nim screeches.
“Oh, he’s trying to kill me, too,” I inform her.
The claim that she’s the most powerful diviner grows weaker by the second, but the way she touches and looks at Arthur makes me think she has a glaring blindspot when it comes to her husband.
“I don’t need magic to tell me he’ll use me the same way he uses all of you,” I add.
Nim still holds the limp, lifeless creature like it’s a plushie. “Why don’t we speed up the process, use you up right here?” She points the knife at me.
Rosier steps in front of me. “I like my chances against that tiny thing.”
“Nimue,” Arthur snaps at his daughter. “Put that away.”
She narrows her eyes, the knife tip still pointed in our direction.
I hear footsteps and turn, hoping to see security or even Kas. Instead, the bodyguard that arrived with the le Fays is sprinting toward us. I step aside, and the guard goes right for Rosier, putting him in a chokehold. Rosier grabs the back of his head and effortlessly slams him to the floor. As soon as the guard is on the ground, Rosier punches him, his fist coming back bloody. I refuse to witness the damage and grab Rosier’s wrist, once again running through the galleries.
“We can’t keep running!” he barks at me. I try to get us to the main hall, but Rosier tugs me right back into a corridor that leads to some bathrooms. He grips my shoulders. “What happened to confronting them?”
“He’s not going to give me what I want.” I shake my head. “And I embarrassed him–that’s enough.”
“No, it’s not,” he growls. “His head should be on a pike for the world to see.”
“Oh, okay, let me just grab mypike from my purse.” I wave the tiny bag in his face.
Roiser furrows his brows. “You summoned that imp, didn’t you?”
