Ada waited until Léon had stalked away from the booth before clearing her throat.
‘What do you want?’
‘We were worried about you.Iwas worried.’ Her voice was softer than she’d been expecting. ‘The deadline is tomorrow, we need to stick together.’
‘How thoughtful of you. Sparing a moment for the dissolute wastrel. Don’t worry, you can leave me to rot here.’
‘I’m not going to do that.’
‘Why?’ he barked, face suddenly twisting into a snarl. ‘Why the hell not? What good am I to you anyway?’
Ada leaned back, shocked. ‘You’re my friend.’
‘Am I? Really?’
‘Yes, Al, of course.’
He dug his thumbnail in around a splinter, gouging it out from the grain. ‘You’re nice, Ada. That’s what you do. Doesn’t mean I’m going to believe you.’
A hot flare of irritation spread under her skin. ‘Oh, I’m nice, am I? That’s all I am?’
‘Doesn’t that about sum it up? What else are you there for? Cam’s the one who runs the show, Guil’s got a soldier’s training so he’s twice as good as us at anything. Cam wants me around as her tame aristocrat with a bulging contacts book. You – well, what’s left? You’re the nice one. That, and cracking dugs for Cam to seek solace in at the end of a tough day being a total bitch to everyone.’
The urge to throw one of the glasses at his head was tremendous. But Ada knew better. She folded her hands on the table in front of her.
‘You’re being nasty to prove some stupid idea you’ve got in your head that you’re a bad person and deserve to be in pain. I’m not interested in playing whatever game you’re trying to set up.’
‘I’m not trying to prove it – I’m already there. Nasty to your nice.’
‘You’re not half as smart as you think you are if you think I’m the nice one.’
‘Why, what are you instead?’
‘I’m clever,’ she said, surprised at the conviction in her own voice. ‘I’m incredibly fast at learning new things, I’m good at solving problems, I’m loyal and, yes – you’re right – I am nice, which isn’t the terrible insult you seem to think it is. So there’s no spot for you to be the nasty one, okay?’
He narrowed his eyes. ‘You think I’m doing this to myself? I don’t need to set up any game to get myself punished – the charming bloody Revolutionary government have decided to do it for me and chop off the heads of everyone remotely related to me. Hadn’t you heard? Highest treason, worst sort, in the bin with the lot of them. I agree, of course, they’re a collection of grade-A monsters.’
‘Oh, Al – I had no idea—’
‘Having children was only an amusement for them and their friends. I suppose if you hand us directly to a nanny or a wet nurse, you don’t really bond very much. Entirely fair, small children are barely better than pets and far less house-trained.’ He took another swig of absinthe and winced. ‘I think my mother's happiest day was when I was packed off to boarding school at Louis-le-Grand. She would drop by with her friends sometimes, to have me recite things in Latin so she could show off. Do you know, I’m not sure she ever told me she liked me? Let alone loved me. But watching her get fed into that damn killing machine is still going to smart.’
He threw back the rest of the bottle, and when it was empty, tossed it onto the dance floor to several yelps and shouts of protest. He flicked a tasteless gesture and slumped against the velvet upholstery.
Ada sat quietly for a few minutes, swallowing her shock. Only, her shock faded fast because she’d been here before. It was happening all over again.
She knew where he’d been disappearing to.
‘Is that where you were when you were late for the theatre job? At their trial?’
He nodded.
‘Why did you keep this from us?’
He shrugged. ‘Deeply-rooted character flaws?’
‘Rescuing people is what we do. We could have done something…’
‘If I’m brutally honest – which as you know is my speciality – I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted them saved, not after what they did to me. I thought I didn’t care.’ He stared into the candlelight, tears catching like the crystals the place was named after. ‘I was wrong. And now it’s too late.’
