4. Chace #2
Regaining my composure, I squared my shoulders.
“I must say, Ms. Camilla,” I drawled. “You surprise me. First, you know my coworker, and now you appear to know, or know of, a late relative of mine.” I pulled a disarming smile to my lips as I folded my arms behind my back.
“I never had the opportunity to meet Chiara personally, but I heard she once had business in your fine citadel.”
And was never seen again.
Was I attempting to lay the charm on a tad too thick, calling the cursed citadel fine?
I wouldn’t allow myself to dwell on the execution.
Not presently. I could only forge forward, praying to the death gods themselves that she would open up to me and possibly give me some insight as to what might have happened here so many years ago.
Aoes shifted to our side. “Isn’t Chiara the one who…”
His question dropped at the look upon Camilla’s face. Deep, uncomfortable history existed that in some way involved a missing member of my family. Their expressions and the heaviness in the air left no doubt in my mind regarding that newly garnished fact.
Did Raven know about the connection? Is that how she had come into Camilla’s orbit?
Camilla’s hand flew to her lips as if to hold back a sob, and then she dropped into a nearby chair. Slumping into the furniture and bowing her head. The twins shuffled in at her side, wrapping their small arms around her in a supportive hug.
I reached for her shoulder but stopped inches short. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”
What had I done, other than follow her lead? I couldn’t have known. No way could I have known. With all that I had read in Chiara’s journal, I had seen no mention of the woman now crumpled before me.
Aoes’s hand slapped softly on my shoulder, causing me to jerk away from the touch with a hiss. His responding confusion was but a flash.
“Not your fault, Ace. When I learned your name, it hadn’t even occurred to me that you might be related. Yet it should have, given the number of visitors we don’t get around here.” He rubbed the back of his neck and eyeballed me. “A few things are starting to click into place.”
“Such as?” My gaze wandered over Camilla and the young girls before returning to Aoes.
“Um. Well…” Aoes fumbled.
Before he could respond, Camilla reached out and squeezed my hand. My entire body tensed, but I did not pull away, because doing so would undermine my information extraction attempt.
She swallowed hard and closed her eyes. “Chiara… She was the last one— As far as I know, she was the last one—”
Aoes rubbed a soothing circle into the center of her back and finished her twice-attempted sentence. “As far as anyone knows, Chiara was the last one to see the girls’ father.” He motioned to the twins huddled beside Camilla. “No one has seen him since.”
So, she’d been spotted in the act of her tasked reap. But then, why was the guy missing? Where was the body? Had he collapsed in some deserted location and was yet to be found?
I swallowed thickly and narrowed my gaze.
For a hundred years or so? That’s when Chiara had been sent here, wasn’t it? A hundred years ago.
Camilla released a sob. “I knew I wasn’t the only one.”
By the way she accentuated the word one, I was confident she was referring to lovers. The twins’ father had multiple lovers.
“Someone as vibrant and outgoing as him needed the freedom to explore. To experience. But I never thought he would leave the girls without a word or a hint to his intentions.”
Aoes rolled his eyes. Clearly, he did not share Camilla’s opinion of the children’s father.
Realization hit me fast and hard. Camilla, and possibly Aoes, thought the girls’ father was having an affair with my relative Chiara Badden.
That she was one of the other lovers. Was that even a possibility?
She had been here on a task. Sent here to reap.
Would she forgo the professionalism for a night of limb-twisting, body-melding activities with the target?
Didn’t seem likely. She was a Badden.
I swallowed a groan.
And half Gunn. The product of the families mingling. Maybe a Gunn would mix pleasure with work—I wasn’t sure—but another explanation could just as easily exist.
Either way, my curiosity bubbled over. The curse was the only reason such a connection between a relative from long ago still existed. With all the things on the table for me to consider, I found myself needing to know. About Chiara, her last task, any connection she might have to the curse.
Without releasing Camilla’s hand, I slipped into the seat beside her. “I didn’t know. I’m so sorry. I realize a lot of time has passed, but is there anything I can do to help you…with this, or anything else?”
Reaping gods. I really was laying it on thick, wasn’t I?
I wanted more information about my ancestor, but whatever knowledge she had on Raven seemed more pertinent to the here and now. Honestly, if I could get answers on both, that would be ideal.
“It was a long time ago, and for the most part, I’ve put it all behind me.
” She shook her head. “My little breakdown just now—I don’t do that often.
So, thank you for the offer, but no. There isn’t anything you can do.
” She smiled, although the light never touched her eyes.
“We had been a mistake from the start. It’s just―”
“Cam-cam,” Earl called from the kitchen doorway. “Mi. Kirr. Can me get?”
For an afflicted man who had trouble with names, he managed to recite his business questions well enough that most everyone understood his meaning.
But damn him for the interruption. The chances of Camilla finishing her sentence and imparting some possibly useful information were tumbling into a grave.
“Will you stay? Eat breakfast with me?” I asked, wanting more time to explore her knowledge. “It'll be my treat.”
The girls pulled chairs up to the table before Camilla could accept or refuse.
She laughed. “I guess you have your answer. Yes, and thank you.”
Aoes helped Earl in the kitchen and then joined us for the meal.
Although I wanted nothing more than to pump the woman for answers to my many questions about Raven and Chiara, I kept the conversation light and worked on building trust between us.
I asked her about her girls, her occupation, how she befriended Aoes, and…
because she had mentioned the prince’s name… I asked about Winter.
The girls were her world and had been, unfortunately, locked at a young age for a century. She was a seamstress by trade and sometimes worked side by side with a friendly tailor and dressmaker who owned a storefront.