Chapter 26 #2
After assuring everything will be alright, I give them a parting hug, then watch as they follow Taren quietly from the underground. Before making my way to the great hall, I wait a few minutes and use the amulet once more, checking they’ve safely escaped without detection.
Once they are far from Richmond’s reach, I make my way upstairs. I let the heel of my shoes hit the stone ground, echoing down the great hall to signal my arrival. I see Henry from my vantage point, bound to the chair. He raises his head to look at me, a mixture of relief and fear on his face.
As much as I want to run to him, tell him everything will be alright, I know I need to stand my ground and show Richmond and my father they aren’t in control here.
Their eyes are on me the moment I walk into the great hall, stopping in the center of the room.
“Heard you’ve been looking for me,” I announced matter-of-factly. My anger must be taking over my fear, as I stare them down without a single tremble in my body.
“How exactly did you find us?” I ask, glancing at Richmond.
It’s my father who answers.
“We intercepted one of your telegrams and found the location of the office you’ve been using. When we noticed you received your last two messages here in Ogmore, we knew this was where you were hiding. We just needed to find a way to draw you out of your hiding spot.”
Something tells me using Henry to get to me was his cruel idea. For that, I will make sure he pays. In humility, or by showing him what he despises—a lack of respect.
I keep my eyes fixed on my father. “Why am I not surprised to see you here, working alongside the most dangerous man in the world?”
He releases a sigh of annoyance, already fed up with my antics when I’ve only begun. “Dr. Richmond is an invaluable asset to Hullbeck. He has helped us on several occasions to acquire tactical information for the military. Thus, ensuring the posterity of crown and country.”
He takes a few steps closer, and I don’t move.
“Don’t you see how momentous and consequential the artifacts would be to our military?
It would give us the enormous amount of defensive leverage we’ve been seeking.
It seems as though you don’t understand, since you’ve done your darn best to keep them away from anyone other than yourself, which is why we are here, stooping down to this level of dramatics to get you to see reason. ”
“The only one here who needs to see reason is you, seeking glory and power. You don’t seem to be bothered by the idea of hunting down your own daughter to seek it.
I wonder what Mother would think of you now if she were alive.
” I see that I’ve struck a nerve in him, as he flinches slightly at the mention of her.
“Enough of this chitter-chatter. Fairfax, make her the damn offer already,” Richmond interjects, letting his eagerness to finally obtain the artifacts overtake his manners.
“What offer?” I ask incredulously.
“We aren’t barbarians, Clara,” my father says. “Our mission is to find a peaceful resolution here, which is what we are offering—a promise to stop our hunt and not hurt a single person if you hand over the artifacts.”
“And if I don’t?” I ask, testing the waters.
Richmond smiles menacingly at me. “We have a few persuasive tricks up our sleeves. Though I advise you should not entertain it.”
My father turns to Richmond, confused. “We do?”
Seeing my father’s reaction, I come to understand the whole picture now.
Richmond, being the puppet master he is, never had the intention of giving my father the artifacts.
He never even considered him a partner in this quest, which is why he didn’t delve into his tricks.
He isn’t working with my father to get access to his resources.
He has plenty of his own. He is simply using my father to get to me, thinking he could influence me to cave into their demands, which is the fault of his plan that will lead to its failure.
For someone whose job is to know everything, he clearly wasn’t aware of our estranged relationship.
This new revelation changes my plan slightly, giving me a new idea on how Henry and I can escape unscathed, and it now relies on my father turning sides. All I need to do is convince him why he should.
“Depends on her willingness to comply,” Richmond replies, staring directly at me. “Are you willing?”
It takes every ounce of reserve I have to restrain myself from unleashing my wrath with the help of the artifacts, but I know better than to resort to violence.
Besides, Richmond must know everything we know about the artifacts—if not more.
I need to be extremely cautious with the actions I take here on out.
I recall what Taren mentioned to me earlier about Richmond’s crew and know where I need to start first.
Scanning the room, I look at their guards to see if I can compel them.
I’m surprised when their menacing stares are gone and replaced with blank ones, looking as if they are waiting for instructions.
I would’ve thought Richmond would inform his reinforcements on how to protect themselves from the artifact’s powers, but given I was successfully able to compel them, he didn’t bother—or care—to do so.
I wonder then if he bothered to let my father know to take such precautions.
Slowly, reassurance runs through me as I control their reinforcements. There is hope that I can get Henry and me out of this alive. Confidence starts coursing through me, and I’m able to face Richmond once more, smirking as I answer his question. “No.”
Richmond’s hands clutch into fists, his face turns red. As someone who is used to people succumbing to his every threat, my defiance is clearly unexpected and the source of his patience running out. I predict his next move easily. He’s about to command one of the guards to harm Henry.
Glancing at Henry, his eyes are filled with anticipation.
I see he desperately wants to act, to help me end all of this, but he knows I have a plan and trusts that I’ll get us out of this mess.
If his mouth wasn’t gagged by a dirty handkerchief, I know he would assure me that I can do this.
The look in his eyes shows he has nothing but confidence in me.
My father glances at Richmond, worried as he knows “the Collector” has come forward.
“Clara, please,” my father says. “We do not wish to resort to violence.”
Before I’m given a chance to change my mind, Richmond snaps his fingers at the nearest group of lackeys and gestures for them to bring him something, possibly to reveal the ‘trick’ he had hidden in the cellar.
None of them moves.
Instead, they look blankly at him as if he didn’t call upon them at all. Richmond grabs the collar of the man closest to him and pulls him close to his face.
“Are you blind? Go get them!” he yells.
He pushes the man away, and still, no one moves. Richmond glances between his men and me, gathering that I’ve compelled them to be disobedient to him.
In a swift movement, Richmond takes the gun from his holster, hiding underneath his jacket, and aims it at me, stepping closer.
“You think you can use your powers against me, Miss Fairfax?” he shouts.
Without hesitation, Henry tries to stand to guard me, but forgets he is bound to the chair. He loses his balance and topples onto the ground with a groan. The guard closest to him immediately helps pull him back up.
I didn’t even have to compel him to do that.
“Richmond, put the gun down,” my father chimes, his arm raised, seeking to defuse the situation that has gone sour so quickly.
Richmond reaches for my father’s arm and grips his military jacket, the gun still pointed at me. “She compelled them! Don’t you see it?”
Slowly, my father’s gaze travels around the room, sensing that something is amiss with both his men and Richmond’s. Realizing the power I possess, his eyes finally land on mine, staring me down like I’m an explosive about to implode at any moment.
“Think you can outwit me, missy? I’m the expert on the artifacts,” Richmond sneers, stepping closer, but I don’t move.
Doing so would show fear and submission, and I need Richmond to think I’m anything but that. I hold my breath as he stops a mere foot away from me, the barrel of the gun an inch away from my face.
“For a man who’s supposedly the expert on the artifacts, I’m surprised you didn’t teach your men how to be protected against them,” I retort, ignoring the gun directed at me.
“I understand the artifacts better than you do,” Richmond says through gritted teeth.
“Then you already know they would be useless if I were to hand them over to you now, don’t you?” I tilt my head, glancing at my father over Richmond’s shoulder. “Did you know this as well?”
My plan is working, as I can see the realization of possible betrayal forming on my father’s face. “What is she talking about, Richmond?”
Richmond is seething now, loathing every word coming out of my mouth. He raises his left eyebrow, daring me to continue. But I’m not afraid of his threat, not when I’m having fun foiling his plan.
“It seems Dr. Richmond has kept you much in the dark about the artifacts, Father. I mean, he did neglect to tell you he took Grandad and my friends as hostages, in case he needed to threaten their lives as leverage. Just think what else he purposely didn’t tell you.
See, I think Richmond knew you wouldn’t agree to your partnership if he told you the truth, in fear of creating a rivalry between you both.
Instead, to ensure he wins in his conquest, he neglected to share that only one person can wield the artifacts at a time, and his plan was to kill me so he could wield them.
” I glance back at Richmond, and daggers come out of his eyes.
“Am I wrong, Doctor?” I taunt, knowing this is the final push to drive the wedge I need between them.