Page 396 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

‘I feel wonderful!’

‘But not delusional, right?’

‘High chance of death and destruction and much planning needed, but I just have this feeling today is going to be a good day.’

Kade smiles despite himself. ‘Good.’

He and Lachlan already explained the plan while Noah performed Vasily’s health check. Both Blaire and Vasily agree the plan is solid.

‘How’s Luca?’

‘He’s resting after the transfusion, but everything I’ve seen so far is positive,’ Noah tells him. ‘I’m locking down Medical soon.’

‘I know.’

‘You’ll have to wait until after this is all done to see him.’

‘That’s fine. Take care of him, yeah?’

‘And you take care of yourself, Kade,’ Noah says with a warm smile. ‘I’d hate to have to use your blood again.’

‘I’ll keep him safe,’ Lachlan says. ‘Don’t worry.’

‘You should all eat something, especially you.’

They leave Medical together.

‘How is Riley doing?’ Vasily asks when they head towards the kitchens for a quick bite to eat.

‘He’s OK,’ Kade says, frowning to himself. They take a near-empty table nearest the kitchens in the mess hall. Kade looks at Blaire. ‘He said you offered to let him read the book?’

‘After all this, yes. I would have supervised it, of course, but then he told me what he actually wanted it for. I thought he only wanted a way to break the Knot outside of death.’

‘I’ll go order,’ Lachlan offers, seeming to sense Kade’s desire to speak to Blaire alone for a minute. ‘Silly, come help.’

‘Absolutely! What can I help with on this most excellent day?’

Kade watches them go, helplessly charmed by Vasily, but it fades fast when he thinks of Riley’s resignation in the Watch.

‘Riley told you?’

‘I knew anyway, but yes, he did.’ Blaire looks down at the clean table, arms crossed atop it. A complex expression moves behind her eyes. ‘I have never especially let myself care about Isabel’s firstborn.’

‘Why?’

‘To achieve what Céliane and I swore to do required complete focus. It took time for me to infiltrate the Estate. Your father had spies everywhere. I was very young and the knowledge of my sister’s babies being held hostage by awful men threatened to tear me apart sometimes. I had to choose which of you to focus on, but as time wore on, I had an increasing need for Céliane’s help to maintain my cover in the Estate.

‘She helped me be rid of Clara Barnes when she began to suspect me. We planted discrepancies and stayed close to assist Lachlan with his security upgrades, all the while using him to infiltrate Penhalyx’s files. What little she would tell me about Jean-Marie… Riley,’ she corrects herself, ‘threatened to break a heart that could not afford to break. You were my focus. It had to be that way. Even now, what remains to be done requires me to keep empathy behind glass.’

‘You sound like Riley.’

‘I think he and I are more similar than I let myself realise. Céliane, at least, has tried to be there for you both in her own way, but I have failed my nephews. Sometimes,’ Blaire says, voice lowering as her brow knits together, ‘it is hard for me to even look at him, for he so resembles Isabel and I know she would be wholly disappointed in me.’ She briskly swipes away a stray tear. ‘Therefore, it cost me nothing to make a small gesture of decency in offering him the book, but my assumption about him was wrong. I fear I have been consistently wrong about Riley.’

‘There must be a way to help him.’

‘Of course there is. But asking him to embrace a true nature that trauma has made a source of pain and dysmorphia is too much. Anyway.’ She forces a bland smile, much the way Riley does. Lachlan and Vasily are back. ‘After this, who knows what changes lie ahead?’

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