Page 259 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

‘I don’t think we have time for—’

‘There is always time for tea, do not be ridiculous. I know very well what you have come for, and I am willing to meet you halfway. But there is much to tell and ask, so.’ Blaire gestures to her small dining table. ‘Tea.’

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Blaire makes exceptionally good tea.

Even Riley drinks it.

Around the small table, they sit together.

‘How far underground are we?’ Kade asks, simply to break the silence as it builds awkwardly after the first few sips.

‘I could not say precisely. The construction is impressively insulated from the city. I believe we are inside one building constructed within another, buried through several generations of foundations.’

‘Thirty-two feet below street level,’ Lachlan says. ‘Give or take.’

‘Impressive as ever, my love.’

‘Don’t call me that.’

‘So.’ Blaire sets down her teacup and taps a slim file atop the table. ‘I know why you have come. As the full moon draws near, you have finally decided to take your ritual seriously. I cannot allow you to remove the book, nor am I entirely comfortable letting the three of you near it,’ she adds, with a subtle glance at Riley. ‘Therefore, I took the liberty of copying the page you require.’

She slides the file towards Lachlan.

‘Here.’

He seems inherently wary of such a gesture. ‘Why are you helping us?’

‘I am compromising. As I said, I knew you were coming.’

‘The rain told you,’ Kade echoes softly. ‘That’s what you said.’

Blaire leans back in her chair, surveying Kade with patient curiosity.

‘The rain tells me everything. What does she tell you?’

‘Am I supposed to be able to talk to rain?’

‘Each of us is unique. Our gifts take root in varying ways; individual affinities manifest differently depending on our birth stars or strong emotional connections formed as children. Fixed water, moving water, sky water. The rain has always been my friend.’ Blaire gestures with a slim hand, palm up. ‘Ask what you will, Julian, and I shall tell you a second time.’

‘Second time?’

‘In the last weeks of our time together in the Estate,’ Blaire explains, ‘you had come to learn much from the journals. You had questions. I had answers. I confided in you what I was, but not who.’

‘Jules knew you were a Sway?’

‘He knew far more than you realised then, or realise now. The action he took is evidence of that.’

‘Did you know he was planning to stage a kidnap?’

‘I knew, but he did not tell me. He told Danya.’

‘You let it happen.’

‘I was actively rooting for it to work, Lachlan.’

‘Why the fuck didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you trust me? Years in that place, getting through it together. You were the only person I trusted aside from Danny, and even then I trusted you above everyone!’