13. Chapter 13
Chapter thirteen
Monty
L aurie is shaking. His arm is in mine and the poor boy is trembling. His gaze is fixed on the floor. His snow white hair has grown, undoubtedly Mother’s idea. It gently brushes his slender shoulders, smooth and silky. Perfect for hiding in. It is also startlingly pretty.
There is no time to talk to him. These huge double doors are about to be opened, our names called out, and Laurie formally presented to society.
I remember my own debutante ball very well. It was hideous. Busy, noisy, stuffy, and stifling under the weight of expectation. But at least I didn’t have people leering at me to see if they wanted to buy me. Laurie is about to suffer that indignity.
My lungs stutter. His birthday was last week. He is seventeen now and time is running out. I’m so tempted to throw open a portal and whisk him to safety. Somewhere far, far away from here. But I do not have that right. People would come after us. Rules are sacred amongst the Old Blood.
Waiting for my father to die is a far better plan. Once I am duke and Laurie is my property, nobody will breathe a word when I announce I am not marrying him off. Of course, all sorts of vile rumors will ignite about me wishing to keep Laurie to myself. But I’ve never cared much for the opinions of others. And Laurie is a quiet soul. He will be content at home. Even if he wasn’t, he would be safe, and that is all that matters.
I could introduce him to Pink and the other boys. Laurie could have friends.
I suck in a breath. No, that is a foolish dream. I cannot drag Pink into this life. It is too dangerous. The one tiny sliver of silver lining about the harem was that it got him free of all of this.
My rambling thoughts fall quiet as the liveried servants move in perfect synchronization to open the ornate doors. I quickly give Laurie’s hand a brief pat and then I hold my head up high.
We step through into the ballroom. A dizzying sea of shimmering gowns, glittering tiaras and perfectly pressed dark suits.
“Baron Havenport, presenting Lord Lawrence Clifford on behalf of his father, Duke Eastminster.”
The majordomo’s voice rings out loud and clear. Laurie and I stand perfectly still while everyone at the ball stares at us. The thirty seconds takes forever, and as soon as it is up, I hurry Laurie into the room and over to the quietest corner.
I’m so glad the first hurdle is over, but it is going to be a long, long night.
I open my mouth to ask Laurie if he would like a drink, but before I can say a word, Mother glides over, takes Laurie’s arm and steers him over to a group of unwed mages.
I watch him go helplessly. Mother didn’t even glance at me. I played my part and now she has no further use of me.
I wonder if I can rest Laurie back from her control at some point later this evening. I’d like to give the poor boy a break.
A portly man, whom I don’t know the name of, holds out his hand to Laurie. My little brother takes it meekly, and is swept out onto the dancefloor. My heart sinks as I watch. He is a good dancer. All graceful, long slender limbs. He still looks a little gangly to me. Young for seventeen, but there are plenty of predators who will be drawn to precisely that.
He is keeping his head down demurely and his entire body language is submissive.
I watch in dismay as Laurie glides across the dancefloor. His white hair seems almost silver in this light. Our family’s unusual coloring looks stunning on him. He has either not inherited the unruly texture that I have, or he has found a way to tame it with oils. His skin is creamy and flawless, and when he does peek up, his eyes flash a dazzling sapphire blue.
My baby brother is beautiful. Clearly meek and biddable. His coiled, unclaimed magic is incandescent. And he is the son of a duke.
He is a perfect vessel. Sublime. He is going to be named jewel of the season. There can be no other outcome. Mother is going to be so very pleased.
Everyone is going to want him.
The billionaire who collected Pink and the other boys for his twisted harem, would have desired my baby brother. He would have made an offer. As would any man who likes young, pretty boys.
My guts twist painfully. Why couldn’t Laurie be ugly? Weak in magic? Argumentative?
Any flaw at all would be helpful. As it is, keeping him safe is going to be so damn hard.
It is going to be the hardest thing I have ever done. But I’m bloody well going to do it. As long as Laurie remains untapped, he will never need a mage. His life will be his own. Well, as much as it can be while living at home under my protection and having to remain celibate.
Nevertheless, it is far superior to the alternative. I’m sure Laurie will agree with me on that.
Everything is going to be fine. As long as my father dies before Laurie turns eighteen. It’s a race of time. It is like a giant clicking clock. One I’ve started to hear at all times, even in my sleep.
“Baron Havenport!” booms a voice right by my ear.
It is hard to hide my flinch, but I think I succeeded. I have no wish to give the person accosting me the pleasure of seeing that they startled me. It is bad enough being addressed by my formal courtesy title. That name does not feel like mine. I doubt Duke Eastminster is ever going to feel right either.
“Good to see you, Lord Coxley,” I say with my very best false smile.
“Haven’t seen you in an age!”
Lord Coxley’s eyes are beady, and his skin is sweaty and sallow. But that’s not why I don’t like him.
“My studies keep me busy,” I say.
Goodness. It is so very hard to put this persona back on. Bored, privileged, arrogant duke-in-waiting who hasn’t got time for society because they are too obsessed with their own brilliance.
I cannot allow anyone to know that the true reason I stay away is because I hate everything about high society and everything it stands for.
“I’m assuming Lawrence is going to a Covenant man?” whispers Lord Coxley.
An icy tingle races down my spine. “Presumably. I’m allowing my mother to deal with all of that.”
I grab a glass of champagne from the silver tray of a passing server and take a big sip while gazing out at the dancefloor. I’m an arrogant asshole who doesn’t care about his brother and who finds the whole marriage business tiresome. Everyone has to believe this.
Coxley gives me a sharp look. Hopefully, he will decide to suck up to my mother instead. Though he has to be deluded if he thinks he has a chance of being given Laurie. In any universe. There is no way in hell my mother would settle for a mere lord.
Coxley takes a sip of his drink. “Good news about the fey getting closer.”
“Indeed,” I reply dryly.
If I have to suffer a conversation, one about crazy plans to invite the fey back to our world is more tolerable than discussing my brother as if he is livestock.
“It is a shame The Covenant didn’t start a breeding program. It seems with the fey now whispering to their descendents, that’s the trick that’s going to work.”
I make a noncommittal noise. If Coxley doesn’t know I’m out of the loop, I’m not going to tell him. I would hazard a guess that my mother is still active in the cult and everyone is assuming that means I’m also a participating member.
“Do you think it’s true that a fey descendent can open one of the old portals from this end?” asks Coxley.
I shrug. “I guess we will soon find out.”
Heavens. I hope this is all rumour and hearsay. The fey communicating with their descendants doesn’t sound good at all.
Oh hells.
Jade.
Pink said Jade has been acting strangely lately. But that has to just be a coincidence, surely? The fey aren’t talking to him. That can’t be right.
I’m sure it is nothing, but nevertheless, unease is twisting my guts into knots.
How on earth do I check without exposing all my secrets? Pink only knows me as Monty and I only ever want him to think of me that way. He can’t know who I really am and all the mess I’m tangled up in. He doesn’t need to know I’m unwillingly tied to a Revivalist cult.
Pink and the campervan are my little bubble of heaven. It will burst soon enough. But not yet. I’m clinging on to each and every precious day.
When I leave, it will be to become Duke Eastminster and to save Laurie. I’ll tell Pink something else. Leaving him is going to be bad enough. I have no wish to also leave a bitter taste in his mouth. I can’t bear the thought of him hating me.
Which he would if he knew the truth. He has good reason to dislike Revivalists. His sweet little friend Lello was abducted as part of a plot to open a fey portal. And if this business with Jade is linked, then my fate is sealed. Pink would be bound to see me as the enemy. A threat and a traitor.
I can’t imagine anything worse.
It is selfish of me, but I want Pink to remember me as Monty. The eccentric alchemist who lived in a campervan at the bottom of his garden. That way, that version of me, the true me, will live on.
Existing only in Pink’s memories is not such a bad fate.
I’m going to hate being Duke Eastminster and dancing a web of lies with The Covenant. But it has to be done, for Laurie.
I have to keep Laurie and Pink safe.
Protecting them is the only thing that matters.