Chapter 16
16
“ S tern?” I asked as the carriage jerked to a stop back at the mansion.
I looked out the window and saw that the rain had let up to a light sprinkle.
“Yes. He hated Vincent and had a strange obsession with your mother, probably because she and Vincent were close. I caught him sniffing around the estate right after Vincent’s disappearance,” Henry explained before he opened the carriage door and jumped out.
He helped me out of the coach, and together, we walked hurriedly toward the house, trying to get inside in case the rain intensified again.
Once we were in the foyer, the Lord kept walking in the direction of his study, and I had to practically run to keep up with him. Raindrops clung to his hair and clothes as he seemed to be lost in thought. I wondered if he was trying to piece together everything he’d learned tonight. By the time I walked through the study door and shut it behind me, Henry was by the credenza pouring amber liquor into two glasses. He handed one of them to me when I approached.
“Do you think he was looking for the amulet?” I asked, taking a sip of the drink. It burned going down, but I welcomed the warmth it created once it settled in my stomach.
“Perhaps,” Henry said, emptying his glass in one smooth motion. “Maybe he was the one who attacked your mother and compelled her to tell him where the amulet was. Perhaps Vincent had it here, on the estate.”
Molten rage filled the pit of my stomach where warmth had started a moment ago.
My face must have betrayed my volatile emotions because Henry’s eyes widened before he added, “We don’t know anything for certain at this point.”
Taking a steadying breath, I reined in my feelings and finished my drink. Henry was right—we had to be smart about this.
“What do you suggest we do?” I asked, setting the empty glass on the credenza.
“Firstly, we need to tell Isabelle.”
“Tell me what?” came Isabelle’s voice from the entrance to the study, and Henry and I both whipped our heads toward the sound.
Isabelle’s delicate brows pinched as she looked between us.
“Am I interrupting something? I heard you return, and I needed to speak with you,” she told Henry.
The Lord turned his head back to me. There was a question in his eyes.
Our gazes locked and held as I asked, “Do you think we can trust her?”
“Yes,” he replied without hesitation.
It was risky. I didn’t trust Henry, but he’d gotten the information about the Tear out of me, and there was no going back. That didn’t mean I wanted to share the information about the amulet with yet another vampire. But I didn’t have a choice. If Henry wanted to tell Isabelle, I couldn’t stop him. There wasn’t much I could do at this point. If Stern had been involved in my mother’s death and now had the Tear, it was in my best interest to work with the Duvals.
Perhaps the Lord had spoken the truth when he’d said he wanted humans to have their world back. A dream from the other night rose to the surface in my mind again. The one where Henry had been killing me, but I squelched the thought. I couldn’t afford to doubt his motivations now. I needed his help to find the Tear.
“Okay.” I gave in with a small nod. “We can tell her.”
“What is going on?” Isabelle asked, gently closing the door behind her before approaching us.
“There is an amulet that can destroy Dark Witches,” Henry said without further ado, and Isabelle’s brows shot up. “Sophie is searching for it. Her mother left a note about it, and it had Vincent’s name written on it.”
Isabelle’s big brown eyes darted to me as she mulled over what Henry had just disclosed.
“An amulet that can destroy Dark Witches?” she said slowly, and I could see her mind working, trying to piece it all together. “Your mother was taken by Dark Witches, right?” she asked me, and I stilled, quickly glancing at Henry.
His jaw flexed as he met my gaze, and a moment passed before he said, “Dark Witches didn’t take Eloise. A vampire killed her. Sophie and her father hid the truth.”
“What?” Isabelle gave a small shake of her head, making her dark curls bounce around her heart-shaped face. “But Vincent left to go after her. He…”
I could tell when the realization about what had really happened hit her because she froze and seemed to have stopped breathing. The next thing I knew, she lunged at me with a hiss, her nails growing longer and shaper as she pulled her hand back, preparing to attack.
I didn’t have time to react, and I didn’t need to because Henry was in front of me, shielding me from his sister.
“Isabelle,” he said in a warning tone as I stared at his broad back. He was blocking me from her view. Swallowing, I wondered how he found it in himself to stop Isabelle from ripping out my throat when he, undoubtedly, wanted to do the same. “Calm down. I understand how you feel, but violence will not help solve anything.”
“Why are you protecting her? It was because of her that Vincent went to the Dark Witches. He would be alive if it wasn’t for her and her father,” Isabelle seethed, and her voice sounded guttural and animalistic.
I cringed at her words because she was right.
“I know you are hurting, but we can’t change the past. Sophie and her father did what they thought was best at the time. They didn’t know Vincent would go after Eloise. Breathe, calm down,” Henry tried to reason with her.
He was the only thing between me and the sure death at the hands of his sister, and I found I couldn’t move as I waited for my fate to be sealed. I knew I wouldn’t be able to do much if Henry decided to let Isabelle get to me.
My heart pounded in the silence that followed.
Finally, after several long minutes, the taut muscles in Henry’s back relaxed and shifted. I realized he was embracing Isabelle, holding her close while she sobbed.
“You know he was the only father I ever knew,” she rasped through the tears.
I could hear the heartbreak in her voice.
“I know,” Henry said low.
Heavy remorse filled me as I stood there. I wanted to curl into myself and disappear. What Henry had said was the truth. My father and I had made the best decision at the time. We hadn’t known that our lie would lead to Vincent going to the Dark Witches. Still, that didn’t change the fact that it was our fault Vincent was dead.
I stepped out from behind Henry, folding my arms over my chest and curling my shoulders in as if trying to ward off a chill. I was cold on the inside, my chest tight. I dared a peek at Isabelle when she lifted her head from Henry’s chest. Anger flashed in her red-rimmed eyes as she looked at me, wiping away her tears.
“Why did you tell me all that?” She looked at Henry.
He let go of her then and stepped to the credenza to pour her a drink.
“Because we need to help Sophie find the amulet so she can destroy the Dark Witches,” he told her, handing her the glass.
I noticed he positioned himself in such a way that I was still partly hidden behind him, as if he didn’t trust his sister not to lunge at me again.
“Henry, if the Dark Witches are destroyed, why would humans let us rule over them?” Isabelle asked him, confused, taking the glass from his hand.
“They wouldn’t,” Henry told her, and a look of shock marked her striking features. “Things would go back to how they used to be before the Red War.”
“So, we would go back into hiding? Live in secrecy in a tiny part of the human world we carve out for ourselves?” Isabelle asked, searching his face as if trying to see if he had gone insane.
“You know that’s how it should really be,” Henry said low. “It’s not our world, Isabelle. It belongs to the humans.”
Tilting her head to the side, Isabelle cast her gaze down, fixing it on a spot on the floor.
“No, no, no,” she chanted as if refusing to believe Henry’s words. “I don’t want to go back to that. We rule this world, Henry.”
She lifted her eyes back to his, and I could see they were pleading.
“You know what the right thing to do is,” Henry said calmly, meeting her gaze.
Isabelle’s brown eyes glimmered with tears as her throat worked on a swallow. Silence reigned for a few minutes before she released a heavy sigh.
“Sometimes I curse the day you and Vincent took me into the clan,” Isabelle said as her gaze grew distant, as if she were lost in a memory. “You made me find my humanity again. In a way, things were easier when I didn’t have to be concerned with right or wrong.”
Henry hung his head at her words as if it pained him to hear her say them.
“But then I wouldn’t know what a family truly is,” Isabelle added, a faint smile gracing her lips.
Henry lifted his head then and looked at her. Tension eased from his taut features as his eyes lit up with hope.
“Are you going to help then?” he asked.
I had a feeling he would have still helped me find the amulet, but he didn’t want to go against his sister.
“Yes,” Isabelle said softly, and I heard Henry’s breath of relief. “That’s what Vincent would have wanted,” she added, repeating the same words Henry had said earlier.
I was touched by their loyalty to their father and to each other.
“Where do we begin?” Isabelle asked Henry, taking a sip from her glass.
She was avoiding looking at me, which I understood. She probably didn’t trust herself not to kill me at the moment.
“I think Stern is involved. He might have even been the one who killed Eloise. Do you remember him lurking around the estate right after Vincent disappeared?”
“Fucking Stern. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was involved. I even suspect that he might be behind the—” Isabelle glanced at me, “The situation we have been dealing with.”
“Sophie knows about the turned,” Henry told her.
“What? How?” Isabelle narrowed her eyes at me.
“I’ve come across them before.” I lifted a shoulder, guessing they were talking about Ravagers.
“She’s hiding something.” Isabelle looked back at Henry.
“I know. I will find out what it is, but right now, we need to focus on Stern,” Henry said calmly.
I stared at him in dismay, my brows lifted. He didn’t seem overly concerned about me hiding something and seemed confident he would discover what it was. That was a problem for another day, I told myself, focusing on the situation at hand.
“What are you thinking?” Isabelle asked Henry.
“We could search Stern’s estate,” I suggested, and Isabelle reluctantly shifted her gaze to me. “If Vincent had the Tear, perhaps Stern stole it and is now hiding it.”
“That would make sense. He wouldn’t want for it to come out that there was a way to destroy Dark Witches. He wouldn’t want to lose the leverage of having that threat, so the clans could remain in power over humans,” Henry said, thinking out loud.
“Can’t really blame him,” Isabelle muttered under her breath.
I scowled. I hoped Henry had been right about trusting her.
“Don’t give me that look,” Isabelle snapped at me. “I’m still going to do what’s right, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.” She turned to Henry. “What if Stern destroyed the amulet?”
My heart dropped at her words as my head swung to Henry. If Stern had destroyed the Tear, then all would be lost. Pressure clamped down on my chest as I waited for what Henry would say.
He seemed to think it over before he shook his head.
“Stern is no fool. He wouldn’t destroy such a powerful weapon. We prevailed in the Red War, but Dark Witches have had one hundred years to grow more powerful. He would want to have a way to destroy them if there was another war.”
Isabelle nodded in agreement, but the pressure on my chest hadn’t lifted. What if Stern knew the Tear could also kill vampires? Would he have destroyed it then? Or would he have kept it because that way he could establish dominance over the other clans?
“So, we need to search Stern’s estate,” Henry said as I took a deep breath, telling myself to focus. “We will need to draw the clan out.”
“Let’s throw another ball.” Isabelle shrugged. “Invite all the clans. You can search the estate while I provide a distraction.”
I had to admit it was a good plan.
“I’ll go with you to search the Stern Estate.” I looked at Henry.
“No.” He gave a small shake of his head. “Santoria, where the Sterns reside, is a two-night trip on horseback. I can be there and back in a few hours while the clan is at the ball.”
I gritted my teeth but nodded my head. What the Lord had said made sense even if I didn’t like it. I had no assurance that Henry wouldn’t take the Tear for himself.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Henry said, studying my face. “You’re just going to have to trust me.”
Trust him…as if it were that easy. I clenched my jaw and nodded again, pretending I hadn’t just agreed to trust one of my most hated enemies.