CHAPTER 26 #3
“When you’re done plotting my death…” He reaches into his pocket and extracts an antique bronze key, holding it out to me. “For the truth about who your mother really was.”
I stare at the key, uncomprehending. “What’s it for?”
“Access,” he answers. “To her chambers. The question is, are you prepared for what you’ll find there?”
I reach for the key, but he closes his fist around it.
“This isn’t a gift,” he warns. “It’s a legacy. Once you step into it, you carry it with you, whether you want to or not.”
I still my hand midair, my heart rattling in my chest.
“I don’t need to be warned,” I say, though something in me wavers. “I just want to know the truth.”
He studies me again, that same unreadable expression cloaking him like armor.
Then, finally, he places the key in my palm.
It’s heavier than it looks, but far too light for what it carries.
“You think knowing her will answer everything, but it won’t.
It will only show you how much of her already lives in you. ”
I close my fingers around the key, the metal pressing into my skin.
“Good,” I murmur, almost to myself. “Then I won’t be surprised.”
Ace rises from his seat and strides to the entry of the alcove, tucking another cigarette between his lips as he scans the room.
When his eyes settle on a figure across the hall, he lifts his chin, beckoning them over with the subtle authority that seems to follow his every gesture.
“Saul,” he calls, his voice carrying just far enough to reach my brother without disturbing the others.
My brother materializes in front of him with surprising speed, as if he’d been hovering nearby all along, waiting. His posture is tense as he glances between us.
“Have her change first,” Ace instructs, giving Saul a look that seems loaded with unspoken meaning. “Just in case.”
Saul nods once, understanding the silent message passing between them that excludes me entirely. He takes my elbow gently, while Ace turns away, already dismissing us both from his attention. I allow my brother to guide me from the dining hall, acutely aware of all the eyes following our departure.
There’s something they’re not telling me.
“Just in case of what?” I ask once we’re in the corridor, safely out of earshot.
“We’re expecting an attack,” Saul answers in a near whisper. “Could be tonight, could be next month.”
“From Cain?” I quicken my pace to keep up with Saul’s long strides. “Or Redmoore?”
“Both, eventually.” He glances at me, his expression grim. “But this would be Cain.”
I raise an eyebrow at him. “He knows I’m here? I thought this was the safest place for me right now. Irene’s words, not mine.”
“Even fortresses fall, especially when the enemy has darker things at their disposal.”
“The pendant.”
“Among others.”
“Where is it?” I ask, remembering how I left it on the basin the day I arrived. Something tells me it’s not there anymore.
“Safely tucked away.”
“You mean Ace has it?” Took it.
Saul doesn’t respond, but I know him well enough that his refusal to acknowledge something directly only serves to confirm what I said.
My shoulders slump as I turn away, a flicker of annoyance crossing my chest. I tell myself it doesn’t matter—if Ace wants it, he can have it.
And I hope it brings him trouble in return, a curse that makes him regret ever touching it. One that devours his confidence, feasts on his fears, and makes him long for things he can never have.
We reach the winding staircase, its spiral steps forcing us to walk single-file.
“The pendant is just one piece,” Saul elaborates, his voice remaining low as if anyone might hear us. “There’s rituals older than any of us. Alliances with people who fight to honor the debts of their dead, to avenge wrongs done to ancestors long gone.”
“And Mom knew about this? She was fighting against it?”
Saul pauses at the landing, waiting for me to catch up. His head tilts in a strange mix of agreement and denial. “Mother fought him for her own reasons.”
As the silence stretches, I turn the key over in my hand, feeling its weight and the responsibility it carries. My mother’s chambers. A place untouched since she disappeared. What truths lie waiting there? And why now, after everything, has Ace decided I should see them?
“Why is he letting me see her room?” I ask, wary. “Does he want to win me over before the fighting starts? What’s his angle?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Saul sighs, unlocking the door to my cell and holding it open for me. “Not everything has an angle, Sister. Sometimes people do things because they are the right thing to do.”
I guess I’ll just have to believe this is one of those times.
I step inside, closing the door partway for privacy, then move to the wardrobe and search through the meager options.
My dress is swapped for simple black fitted jeans and a buckled top. There’s even a pair of soft-soled boots that lace up to mid-calf, ideal for silent movement. Everything is close to what I’d normally wear, and I feel more like myself than I have in a long while.