Chapter 17
Cate
I linger in bed long into the morning hours, waiting impatiently for Callum to come knocking at my door while at the same time dreading it.
Last night was the perfect opportunity for me to gather the information I needed from him.
And I couldn’t do it. His emotions were there, thick as the lump that’s been permanently lodged in my chest. It would have been so easy to reach out and grab them, twist him into compliance.
But I didn’t. I couldn’t, some invisible force keeping me from betraying him.
I still have nothing to bring to Lady MacVeigh and our time is running out.
Today will be the last time I see Callum Reid before he has to kill his father.
He still doesn’t know that I’m aware of his plan.
It’s only the where and the how and the when still missing from the puzzle, information I should have gleaned from him by now.
Information I’m not sure if I want to know.
Eventually I pull myself out of bed, dressing in simple day clothes.
I need to see Harold, preferably without the shadow of his wife hanging over us.
I hesitate before slipping my sheath around my thigh, but running a thumb over the familiar etchings on the dagger brings me comfort.
Normally I don’t feel the need to carry a weapon when the club is closed for business, but nothing about life here feels as it used to.
I approach the door to his office, holding back before knocking.
I’ve been avoiding him all week, ever since my conversation with the princess.
He’s not a stupid man, I know he knows what this means for my and Andra’s futures at the club.
I just haven’t been able to face him, say the words out loud.
But it’s time. I need to tell Harold that when this week is over, we’ll be leaving and never coming back.
And possibly even more than that, I need to know what he plans to do with the information I’ll be forced to gather tonight. And what are his plans for Callum in all of this? The rules state that no innocents may be harmed, but accidents happen, and I wouldn’t put anything past Lady M at this point.
I place my hand flat on the mahogany wood. It wasn’t long ago that I planned on spending the rest of my days at La Puissance. Couldn’t imagine ever finding a place where I felt safer, more at home. But this place is no longer safe.
And when I think of home now, it’s not a place that comes to mind, but a person, a pair of bright blue eyes and a head of copper curls.
My breath catches in my chest, and I pound on the door before I can let that thought run away with me.
Harold calls for me to enter, though I can barely hear his voice.
I push through the door, unsure exactly what I’m going to say. I hate this woman he brought into our lives to destroy everything he’d so carefully built. I hate that it has to be this way, and I hate him for ruining what was once my home.
But all that anger fades away the moment I see him.
Harold MacVeigh is a proud man, a handsome man. A performer and an entertainer and our fearless leader.
The man who sits before me is broken and bent. Quite literally, as he’s slumped over his desk, his head held up in his hand.
I rush to his side, placing a hand to his forehead but finding no fever. “Harold, what’s going on? What’s wrong?” I go to move to the door. “Let me get Bianca.”
Harold’s fingers clasp around my wrist, pulling me to a stop. “I don’t need Bianca. There’s nothing wrong.”
My hands fall to my hips as I stare down at the wreck before me. “Harold, be serious. Something is beyond wrong. Look at you.” Look at what she’s done to you. I manage to keep the words in, but I’m sure he can hear them anyway.
He lets out a long sigh and gestures for me to sit. “There’s nothing physically wrong with me, how about that?”
“What’s going on?” I ask again, Andra’s dire prediction racing to the front of my mind.
With everything going on with Callum, I haven’t had much brain space left to ruminate on her vision, but now, seeing him here before me, I can’t help but think that his current state must be tied to what she’s seen, the atrocious act he is close to committing.
“I have to do something, Cate. Something that doesn’t sit well with me. Something that has been haunting me.”
“Then don’t do it.” I lean forward in my seat. “You don’t have to do it, Harold. Everyone at this club will support whatever decision you make.” Certainly no one would fault him for deciding not to commit murder.
“Even if it means the club closes?” His tired eyes meet mine. “I know you’ve managed to find a way out, but what about the others. Where do you think they’ll end up if La Puissance shuts down?”
“So Lady M is forcing you to kill King James and if you don’t she’ll pull her funds from the club?
” Just when I thought I couldn’t hate her any more, though I probably should have foreseen this.
Harold did what needed to be done for the Uprising, but he always preached for nonviolent means and certainly never participated in the violence himself.
“Yes.” He seems surprised by his own admission.
I reach across the desk for one of his hands, noting how thin and frail he’s gotten even over just the past few days. “Then let me help you, Harold. If all of this is causing you distress, you know I can help ease it.”
I’ve never used my Gift on Harold. He’s never asked, and our relationship has never veered into sexual territory. But Harold has done so much for me. If he needs my help, I’m willing to do whatever I can to provide it.
He yanks his hand away from me, shaking his head. “No. I could never…we could never…”
“There is another option, you know.” I check over my shoulder, as if Lady M could have somehow materialized in the office without me noticing.
He sighs, the breath sounding ragged in his chest. “And what is that?”
“We both know Callum Reid is planning on becoming the Scotan candidate.” I wait for Harold to fill in the blanks, but he just stares at me vacantly. I lean forward in my seat. “So we let him, Harold. Callum is a good man. He will be a good leader.”
“And you’ve discerned this over the course of what…fifteen hours you’ve spent with him?” His voice takes on a tone he’s never used with me before, like I’m a na?ve fool.
“I could discern that much of him in less time than that.” A small smile tugs on my lips at just the thought of him. “Callum…well, he’s everything we could want in a leader, Harold. He’s everything.”
Harold watches me closely, studying me so intently I shift uncomfortably under his gaze. The way he is looking at me, it’s like he sees through to the heart of me. And like what he sees might hurt me.
“You need to be careful with him, Cate. Guard yourself.”
I just barely manage to keep from rolling my eyes.
“You know as well as I do that I don’t need much time with a man in my bed to know his true character.
” I place my hands flat on the desk between us.
“This isn’t you, Harold. You don’t want to rule this nation, and you certainly don’t want to kill. ”
Harold sits back in his seat, letting the desk divide us. “The plan is already in motion.”
My blood chills in my veins. “What do you mean? The window doesn’t open until midnight.”
“And come midnight, I will be waiting outside the Scotan Castle.” He looks at me with sadness in his deep brown eyes. “There’s nothing you can do, Cate.”
“And what about Callum? How do you know he won’t be there too?” I clasp my hands in front of me to try to still their shaking, a terrible feeling about to swallow me whole.
“Because he’ll be here. With you.”
“No.” My head shakes back and forth, moving almost of its own accord. “Absolutely not. I won’t do it, Harold. I can’t even believe you’re asking me to.”
“She has Andra, Cate.”
My already frozen veins crackle and snap. “What do you mean she has Andra?”
“I mean, she’s taken your sister. Andra is no longer at the club. If you ruin this plan for us…” He doesn’t have to finish voicing the threat for it to hang in the air.
Tears fill my eyes, clouding my vision and closing my throat.
“You would let her hurt Andra, Harold? You’re okay with harming my sister for this woman you just met?
For a position you don’t even want?” The betrayal stings, worse than any pain I’ve felt before.
“Look at what she’s done to you. Look who you’ve become. ”
Look at who I’ve become. I didn’t even notice my sister was gone, I’ve been so wrapped up in myself. And in Callum.
“Cate, everything I’m doing, everything I’ve done, has always been to protect you. You need to trust that I’m doing everything I can for you and your sister.”
“You never needed me to get information from him, did you? You just needed me to distract him, get close to him and keep him busy while you stab us all in the back.” I shake my head, clearing away the tears to make room for the anger.
Harold’s face is pained, his lips turned in a grim frown. “I thought you knew me better than that, Caterine.”
“So did I.” I press the heels of my hands into my eyes. “I have to go.” I push my chair back so violently it falls to the ground, but I don’t stop to right it.
“She will kill him, Cate.” Harold’s words stop me in my tracks. “I will ensure that no lasting harm comes to Andra, but I can’t protect him. So if you care about him, you will keep him away.”
I don’t stop to acknowledge his warning, throwing open the door to the office and finding the last person I want to see on the other side. I swallow down my tears, determined not to let her see them. “Lady M.” I brush past her, shivering at the slight contact.
She closes the door behind her, and I make a split-second decision.