My mood plummeted to the ground. The people in colourful dresses and the songs didn’t lift it. “Can’t you convince her?”
“She wants only the best for you.”
“Can’t I decide what’s best for me?” There was more venom in my voice than I meant.
Father gazed down. “After the incident, your mother blamed herself for having allowed you to come with us. At first, she thought travelling with us would make you stronger and more knowledgeable. But after the incident, she was terrified. She hated watching you have nightmares. She meant well. And I supported her because I was scared about your health, too. We want to protect you, darling.”
“But I want Rennie, Papa, with all my heart. He’s the man I want to spend the rest of my life with.”
We stopped in the middle of a pavement made of colourful cobblestones. Each one glimmered with a different colour.
Father released a breath. “As long as you’re happy, I don’t care whom you want to marry.”
I hugged him, inhaling the scent of tobacco. “Thank you, Papa.”
When I returned to the hotel, Mother’s stern, pale face said everything I needed to know. Rennie’s jaw was locked.
I swallowed hard. The air in the hotel room was as thick and frosty as a glacier. “Mother?—”
“Monia, this nonsense ends here. You’re going back to England with us,” she said.
I closed my fists into tight balls. “I want to be with Rennie, Mother. This isn’t nonsense. It’s my life.”
“If you insist on following this path, then I’ll be forced to apply the legal power of the contract and have Rennie arrested. Come home with us, and Rennie walks free.”
Rennie gazed at the floor, hands in his pockets. I was sure he had a lot to say, but it was a conversation I had to take care of personally.
Shock stunned me into silence for a moment charged with anger. “You’re blackmailing me.”
“I want you to understand the huge mistake you’re about to make.”
“Laura,” Papa said, stepping next to me. “Monia loves Rennie, and he loves her. You must take that into consideration.”
“Her safety comes before anything else.” Mother’s voice shook. “What will happen if she marries an occult agent? Her life will always be in danger. We’ve already risked her safety one too many times.”
“Mother—”
“Enough!” Her voice rose with a hysterical note of panic. “You’re returning home with us. I’ll let the contract go if you come without a fuss.”
Rennie glanced at me and gave me a nod while mouthing, “I love you.”
Blazes. I didn’t want him to be tortured or imprisoned because of me. My shoulders sagged as my eyes filled with tears. “I will return home with you.”
