Chapter 33 #2
“I became pregnant quickly, too,” Lucille chirped before taking a sip of wine.
“Never doing that again. Nine months without wine? And I couldn’t wear any of my nice sandals.
” She laughed, a high-pitch tinkling sound that neither man reacted to.
Harper stared at me, her brow furrowed. I scowled back at her.
Gina made another barely audible sound of disgust.
She must’ve defended me from Avery before, and now had to endure this as punishment. It was the only explanation for her good behavior.
“You already had your son at that time, right?” Avery asked Richard, having ignored Lucille. “He’s a little older than River, here.”
Richard looked annoyed at the mention of his son. “His mother was intent on us all being one big happy Chain, but I couldn’t handle that. She dragged the divorce out for nearly half a year.”
I didn’t know a lot about anything, really, but something told me six months wasn’t a long time as far as divorces went. One glance at Avery told me my assumption was right. He looked a little bewildered, though he smoothed his expression quickly.
“Is that all?” Gina drawled finally. “I thought maybe she’d finally seen your hard drive.”
The table went completely silent, everyone frozen in shock.
Richard ignored her, taking a sip of wine.
It was as if everyone else at the table had disappeared. I hated it. It was always like this when Richard came by, which was thankfully almost never these days. In addition to enjoying children’s suffering at the hands of his telepathy, he was also…kind of a creep.
He gave Lucille the creeps, too. She was the quietest I’d ever seen besides that one outburst, not even poking and prodding at Gina for a reaction, which was very unlike her.
“Didn’t have a leg to stand on, though, when the testing came back, and my Key was officially my Key,” Richard went on as if there hadn’t been an interruption.
“How is she?” Avery asked. “Responding well to the medication?”
“Absolutely,” Richard replied, though he frowned. “She seems much weaker than I expected, though.”
“We can have a Healer check her–”
“No.”
Avery blinked at his plate, cutting another piece of steak as he held his tongue.
“Weaker than I expected, but still sufficiently weakened,” Richard explained. “She can hardly conjure up a glass of water anymore. So has the Ward attempted to transfer Key status recently? Are the results still the same?”
His gaze clashed with mine, and I breathed out harshly.
Avery and Richard may have started out as military buddies, but that time was long gone. Avery kept him at arms’ length, now, not completely trusting him. Their last few visits had included Peter Earl, and since he wasn’t here, that meant Richard had shown up unannounced today.
Richard’s type of evil was unpredictable. He talked all the time about how he tortured his son to make him stronger, then kicked him aside when the kid wasn’t progressing how he wanted.
Years ago, the Seer had said something mysterious about the nature of my affinities, and Richard and Avery had taken it to mean I could transfer Key status from one person to another.
I knew what my affinity was capable of.
I could not transfer Key status. That wasn’t possible.
Someone’s place in a Chain was determined by higher powers. Biology. Fate. Things that couldn’t be changed.
But no one ever cared what I thought. Richard and Avery had moved along with experiments I had no choice but to participate in. Now, for the last year or two, Richard had been weakening his Key with some mystery drug, and I suspected it was so that we could attempt a Key transfer on her.
I scowled at him, hating that I’d been right.
Richard was amused by that. He was probably also amused by puppies being drowned.
“River is no longer the Ward,” Avery said, a little exasperated. “He’s the Maelstrom, now.”
“How fitting,” Richard said, clasping his hands in his lap. “You’ve outdone yourself. I like that bruise on his cheek, too. Your work?”
I sucked in a breath.
I had…a bruise?
One look across the table at Harper told me it was true. Now I knew why she’d been staring at me so intently. She was disturbed by the sight of a bruise on me. She nonchalantly moved some hair out of her face, brushing her fingers over her left cheek.
Great. I had a new bruise on my left cheek for everyone to see when I went back to campus.
Avery ignored Richard’s question. “We haven’t attempted any other Key transfers. I can’t risk any more powerful affinates for experimental purposes.”
The table went quiet as Richard’s eyebrows raised. “Is that what we’re calling it now?”
Avery clenched his jaw, but didn’t respond.
“I had an idea, actually,” Richard went on. “Let’s use my Key as a test. She’s sufficiently weakened. Can barely speak most days.”
“And who would we be transferring the Key status to?” Avery asked, waiting to react.
“Myself,” Richard replied simply.
I looked to Avery in outrage.
That was…insane.
Avery gave me a stony look, but I knew he had no choice but to agree.
“You do understand…the chances of that working are slim to none, and could result in her death?” Avery said slowly.
“Of course,” Richard said, sitting back. “But it’s worth it. For the cause…which is still the same, correct? These archaic Chain laws need to be done away with. Changes in Key status are the future.”
This man had just told us he would’ve claimed his Key whether or not she was meant to be his, and now he was calling Chain laws archaic.
“You would kill her?” Gina hissed suddenly. “You would risk her life? How?!”
“Sunshine,” Avery said in a low voice.
“No,” Gina stood. “You can’t allow this. He’ll kill her. His Key?”
“Sunshine, please sit back down. You shouldn’t be on your legs so much.”
The whole table tensed.
Gina stopped mid-tirade, then ran a hand through her hair. “You’re right.” She dropped into her seat, laughing shakily. “My legs are just so tired today…”
I glared at Avery so hard, I hoped he’d blow up.
The rest of the table was dead silent. Harper might have been trembling.
Avery cleared his throat, trying to keep the attention off of my seething. “Lucille is first on the list for a transfer attempt.”
“She already had her chance,” Richard’s lips twisted. Lucille’s jaw dropped, and Richard went on, ignoring her. “And seeing as her whole plan to offer her son up didn’t go too well, I really have to insist we try with me next time. Soon.”
My stomach dropped thinking of Aiden. His fate had been sealed before he was even born, and he had no idea. Only Skye’s chance meeting with him at the academy had saved him.
What are the odds of that happening twice?
Wait a minute. Why would Lucille need a Key transfer? Wasn’t she Key to her Chain?
“Richard, I’m afraid–“ Lucille started.
“I’m afraid I must insist,” Richard snarled. “It’s about time we see another miracle. Otherwise, where is all my money going? Why do I keep funding these little campouts for you all?”
I glanced at Avery to see what he needed me to do.
Avery’s face was frighteningly blank. He and Richard stared each other down, two sharks in a reef. One was big and mean, the other fast and cunning. I just wasn’t sure which was which.
“Well, I guess it isn’t for all of you. Most of your favorites get to keep living in the real world with electricity and running water.” Richard sneered.
“We have both of those things, here,” Avery said quietly.
Richard stood. Gina tensed beside me. Wind whipped at the windows as clouds began to gather.
“I see Gina’s decorated the place,” Richard went on, straightening his suit jacket. “I’d hate for this compound to lose its feminine touch like the others. Call me when you’re ready to attempt the transfer.”
He strode out of the dining room, not waiting for Avery to answer. I stared after him, my hands vibrating. After several seconds of silence, Gina awkwardly stood, then began gathering plates. With everyone’s mood soured, lunch was over.
“How are you feeling?” Avery asked, staring off into space once the room had emptied.
I ignored the question, jerking my chin toward the doorway. “What do we do about that?”
“Nothing for now,” Avery sighed, leaning back in his chair. I turned to face him, surprised he wasn’t sending me after him. “He thinks he has the upper hand.”
“He just threatened to take Gina back to Azore,” I said, tossing my hand toward the kitchen, almost wincing at how loud I’d spoken.
“You know Gina, River. If that man thinks he’ll ever see her arrested again, he’s more stupid than I think he is.”
“So what’s the plan, then?” I asked, lowering my voice. “You can’t kill his Key.”
“He’s not leaving me many options,” Avery sighed. “We need his money.”
I ran a hand down my face. “How long was I out?”
“Three days,” Avery answered. “I haven’t seen you with a headache that bad in a while. Do you remember what we discussed the other day? The Seer says we need an ice affinate.”
I furrowed my brow, shaking my head.
Why would the Seer have said that?
“It’ll all be explained soon,” Avery said with a nod. “Find me an ice affinate at the academy. I need the affinate or the affinity.”