Ruby Fever EPB, page 29
The illusion shattered. The real Konstantin smiled at me one last time, before redonning the flawless face he showed to the world.
He rose.
“Think about it.”
The prince walked away, Rooster following him, a picture of canine devotion.
I stormed into the main house and ran up the stairs, brandishing Arthur’s rubber band weapon. The grandparents’ rooms were empty, Victoria’s circle broken. Arabella had let her out. Of course.
Where would they go? Linus could barely walk.
Voices floated from the kitchen. There they are.
I ran down the stairs and headed to the kitchen through a short hallway and almost bounced off Arabella going very quickly in the opposite direction.
“You do not want to go in there,” Arabella hissed and took off.
Oh for the love of . . . I marched down the hallway into the kitchen.
Mom, Grandma Frida, and Alessandro’s mother looked at me.
“Is there something you need?” Mom asked me. Her tone suggested that there was absolutely nothing I needed.
“Have you seen Ev . . . Grandmother Victoria and Grandfather Linus?”
“They are on the western balcony,” Grandma Frida said.
“Thank you,” I squeaked and escaped.
The western balcony was one of my favorite spots in the main house. It was on the third floor, a part of the same covered veranda that connected to Arabella’s tower by a breezeway. Spacious and guarded by a thick stone rail, it was quiet and lovely, and offered a beautiful view of the rolling green that was southeast Texas.
Linus and Victoria sat in the chairs with a small table between them. The table held two glasses of iced tea and what was most likely a plate of Arabella’s patented “vegan muffins.”
Nobody was screaming. I took it as a good sign.
“There you are,” Linus said.
I put the rubber band machine gun on the table and took the third chair.
“What is this?” Victoria asked.
“A projectile weapon.” Linus picked it up and pressed the hidden trigger. The rubber bands shot into the air. “Rudimentary and clumsily made, but functional.”
He ran his hand over the weapon. A hint of grass-green magic nipped at the modified yarn swift.
“Too complex for a toddler, too simple for a teenager,” Linus said, putting the gun back on the table. “Who is our mystery hephaestus mage?”
“Arthur.”
Linus spun around in his chair to look at me.
“He telekinetically assembled it in midair from his grandmother’s yarn swift, thread, bands, and some pushpins. Nevada is upset about the pushpins.”
“Of course she is,” Victoria said. “They are sharp.”
Linus picked the weapon up and held it gingerly as if it were the holy grail.
“Congratulations,” Victoria said dryly. “You finally got one.”
“Why is he building weapons?” I asked. “He can’t possibly understand shooting someone.”
“He doesn’t know he’s building weapons,” Linus said. “His magic is informing him that some things in his environment can be manipulated. Rubber bands are stretchy, metal pins are stiff, thread can connect things, this wooden thing rotates. He is combining them in various ways to make things slide and snap. It’s instinctive. He could make a moving sculpture next.”
“So why is it called hephaestus magic?” I asked.
“Because making guns is the most fun,” Linus said.
“Both of you lied to me,” I said.
“We lie to everyone. Why should you be different?” Victoria said.
“Because I am family. I do love you, Grandmother Victoria. But that doesn’t undo things that you’ve done. Setting aside how our father was born—because I don’t even know where to start there—you put Nevada through torture. You concocted a huge scheme that would’ve branded Connor as a human trafficker and rapist.”
Linus stared at her. “Victoria!”
“I had no intention of actually publicizing it,” she said.
“But you let Nevada think that you would. I can’t just sweep it under the rug. She knows. I know. You have to deal with it.”
I turned to Linus. “I’ve read the Conspiracy file.”
“Well, there is that,” he said.
“You didn’t tell me you were my grandfather. Why?”
He didn’t say anything.
“He’s afraid of rejection. He was an absentee father,” Victoria said. “Now he’s trying to be the benevolent grandfather. He was afraid that if the lot of you knew, you would shut him out of your lives.”
“That’s still a distinct possibility,” I said. “Arthur needs you, but I don’t. I can just quit being a Deputy Warden and a Tremaine, and never lose any sleep over it.”
“You want something,” Linus said.
“Arkan has a passive field.”
“Do tell,” Victoria said.
I laid it out for them, together with Konstantin’s offer.
“The nerve,” Victoria hissed.
“You can’t hurt him,” Linus told her.
“Never mind Konstantin. You are both horrible people, but you have decades of experience between you. I need to know how we can kill Arkan tomorrow. Brainstorm. Make some calls. Or he will kill Alessandro and I will run away to the Russian Imperium, and you will never see me again.”
We all knew it was an empty threat, but I felt good making it and I sounded convincing.
Victoria looked at Linus. “Go ask him.”
He growled and leaned back in his chair.
“You’re being greedy,” she said.
“I’m trying to protect them.”
Victoria shrugged. “There is a difference between protecting and shackling someone. I know where that line is. I cross it all the time. You don’t have to help. Just withdraw your opposition.”
“Do you trust Arabella’s judgment?” Linus asked me.
“In regards to what? Because she picks terrible cars.”
“Men,” Linus said. “Do you trust her to make the right decision for her relationships?”
“Absolutely.” I didn’t even hesitate. Arabella was a better judge of character than me.
Linus pushed out of his chair. “I’ll make the call.”
I unlocked my cell and handed it to him. He walked away with it.
“Is this something I’m going to regret?” I asked.
“No,” Victoria said. “He thinks he knows better, but he doesn’t always.”
“Did he really promise you access to us?”
She snorted and somehow managed to make it sound delicate. “Of course. At first, before he knew you existed, he promised to help me find James. That’s how he reeled me in. He said he was sure James was in Houston and he had seen him.”
And she would know he wasn’t lying. “And then?”
“As things with the Conspiracy progressed, he needed more help, so he told me that James died, but I could have my pick of the grandchildren.”
I would be mad at Linus for a very long time.
Victoria turned to me. “Why, Catalina? Why the Wardens?’
“It was complicated.”
“Oh, I know. He told me. But look at this mess we are in. This Warden thing threatens the survival of the family.”
“Do you know you nearly broke Nevada with that horrible scheme? That was a bigger threat to us than this.” I waved at the estate. “This is simple. We know who the enemy is. Nevada never expected you to stab her in the back.”
Victoria heaved a sigh. “Is she happier now, being the terrifying truthseeker of House Rogan? Did I free her so she could be a wife and a mother?”
“You and I will never see eye to eye on this.”
“And you think you will ever see eye to eye with Linus? This man has failed in every area of his life. He abandoned me and your father and went off to be a weapons merchant. Being a Warden is how he’s trying to atone for his sins. He is fanatical about it. After I began my sentence, he came to see me in prison. I was shocked. I thought, ‘Finally, a spark of humanity from that man.’”
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
“He found out that one of the Houses involved in the Conspiracy planted a mole in prison to watch me. He wanted to flush them out. I met him in the gardens, and he started prattling on about building a new Rome, and hating to be bored, and how the cause wasn’t dead.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help myself.
“I nearly strangled him. I should have strangled him. What would they have done, put me in prison? It is a miracle that man is alive. I get no credit.”
She shook her head and sipped her tea.
Victoria Tremaine’s battle cry. I do everything and get no credit.
“Why did he leave you and Dad?” I asked.
“I met him in a little coffee shop in New York. He’d had a fight with his grandfather and landed in the US with nothing except the clothes on his back. I had been looking for a donor for two years and I knew he was my best chance.” Victoria sighed. “We met, we talked, we did things that two young people do when they find each other attractive. He agreed to the donorship. I didn’t tell him the whole story about the surrogate, but he saw enough clues to put it together. Whatever his many faults are, your grandfather is not stupid. He chose to ignore it. Then when James was born, I brought our son home and Linus was over the moon. Your father was the most adorable baby in the world. For a little while we were a family.”
She looked off into the distance.
She had told a version of this story to Nevada. Like most things she said, it was a half-truth. Truthseekers had to actively concentrate to be able to tell when another truthseeker is lying, and Nevada had believed her.
“I knew it wouldn’t last. Linus had goals. He was ambitious. It was too easy, Catalina. Too nice and comfortable. He had a moment where he realized exactly how tempting it would be to stay with us and play house, and it must’ve scared him. He found the surrogate contract. He became upset. We fought. He left.”
“What was in the contract?” That was the second time she’d mentioned it.
“Misha was a vegetable, Catalina. There were people hounding her family hoping to get their hands on the new Beast of Cologne. None of them had the magic, but it didn’t matter. They had a child stolen. They consented to her use as a surrogate in return for protection.”
I put my face into my hands. “It gets worse and worse.”
“It’s my sin, not yours. To them I was the lesser of many evils.”
“Lesser evil is still evil.”
She didn’t say anything.
“Did you get their child back?”
“Of course I did.”
Linus came striding back. “Get your guards. We have to take a road trip.”
Chapter 17
Arabella took a turn at thirty miles per hour in an armored transport not designed for it.
“I’m sorry about Pete,” I told Linus.
I had finally given him a detailed account of everything that had happened. He had already heard the summary from Arabella, but there were things she didn’t know about.
Linus didn’t say anything. Pete had been with him for almost twenty years. He wasn’t an employee; he was a friend.
“What about his son?” he asked.
“I had MII stash him in a safe location until this is over.”
“That’s good,” Linus said. “Still angry with me?”
“Yes.”
I was going to be angry for a very long time. I had compartmentalized it the way I compartmentalized my fear and outrage when I dealt with Victoria, my revulsion when I had to process a crime scene, or the deep anxiety I felt when Konstantin looked at me a moment too long with that longing in his eyes. I’d learned that I could do that. It was my superpower. But it didn’t mean I forgave or forgot.
“You should’ve told us,” Arabella said from the driver’s seat.
“That I was your grandfather or that I was Caesar?”
“Both,” we said at the same time.
“You were not ready for it.”
“It’s pointless,” I told Arabella. “He thinks he is always right.”
“No,” my sister said. “One time he thought he was wrong, but he was mistaken.”
“We could’ve really used a grandfather twelve years ago when Dad was dying,” I said.
“I didn’t know.” Linus sighed. “After I left, I only saw your father once. I was coming out of a building and this young twenty-year-old kid bumped into me. I saw his face and it was like looking in the mirror. He said, ‘I never asked anything from you. Keep her out of Houston.’ That evening Victoria called me. She thought James was in Houston and wanted me to help her find him.”
“What did you do?” Arabella asked.
“I manufactured a trail that led to Seattle and made sure she found it. I tried to find him, but I had nothing, not even a last name. Victoria had taught him how to hide. She was paranoid that if something happened to her, he might be targeted because he had no magic, and she made sure he knew how to disappear. When he did, she thought she could find him again, but he was smarter than both of us. I didn’t realize who Nevada was until I learned she was a truthseeker and ran a background check. Your father’s driver’s license made things obvious.”
The parking lot of the Office of Records didn’t look nearly as bad as I thought it would. There was a crew working on the hole in the building.
“I was a lousy father,” Linus said. “I’m working hard to be a good grandfather. I do love the five of you.”
“Don’t worry,” Arabella said. “We love you too. Even if you are terrible sometimes.”
Right now, the only emotions I felt toward Linus were anger and hurt. There were probably other things there, deeper under the surface, but those two blotted out everything else.
My sister parked, and we got out and walked to the building. The lobby of the tower was pleasantly cool. Linus spoke to the receptionist.
Arabella looked around. “Hm.”
She had insisted on coming. I wanted to take Leon or Alessandro, but she was convinced that if she didn’t go with us, something terrible would happen to “Grandpa.” She had adjusted to his grandfather status awfully fast.
“Stay in the lobby,” I told Arabella. “If someone blows up our car, don’t try to save it.”
“Yes, yes. Because armored transports grow on trees and are super cheap to replace.”
“Linus is awake, he will deal with any damages.”
“Uh-huh.”
The elevator door whispered open, and Michael stepped out. His gaze slid over Linus and me and stopped on Arabella. She stared back at him, unperturbed.
A moment passed. Michael stood aside and indicated the elevator with his hand. Linus and I boarded, he followed, and we rode the elevator up to the fifth floor.
Déjà vu.
A couple of moments later we entered the round library. The Keeper met us by the couches.
“Prime Duncan, Prime Baylor. We are glad to see the Office of the Warden back to full strength.”
“I come here today as a private citizen,” Linus said.
The Keeper’s black eyes narrowed. “How can we help you?”
“I need to know how an antistasi can kill Ignat Orlov.”
“Please give us some privacy, Michael,” the Keeper said.
Michael nodded and left the room.
“What do you want?” Linus asked, his tone blunt.
“You know my price.” The Keeper’s tone matched Linus’.
“Done. I withdraw my objection. I will not hinder but I will not facilitate either. It is up to them. This is my best offer.”
“Perfectly satisfactory.” The Keeper smiled and for a moment his teeth looked too sharp. “Wait here.”
He disappeared into a dark alcove between the shelves.
“What just happened?” I asked Linus quietly.
“Nothing yet. This was not what I wanted, but this is the one time I cannot get my way.”
“Can you just explain it to me?”
“No. You wanted to save Alessandro. This is the price. Trust me. I would never put any of you in harm’s way.”
The Keeper emerged with a stack of paper and a pen and handed them to me. “How is your command of arcane artistry, Ms. Baylor?”
“Expert.” Now wasn’t the time for false modesty.
“As I thought. Pay close attention, for I will explain this only once.”
Darkness spiraled out of the alcove behind the Keeper, drowning the room.
“Don’t move,” I muttered.
“It tickles,” Alessandro said.
“You are supposed to be a badass with iron discipline. Endure.”
He sighed.
“Don’t sigh either. Small shallow breaths.”
I anchored my wrist on his muscular back and drew another tiny glyph in a complex pattern that spiraled around his neck, over his chest, over both arms, and onto his back. He stood in the living room in the house we shared wearing nothing except a pair of black briefs.
It was afternoon and the sun flooded through the windows. We returned from the Keeper of Records to some nasty news. The PAC, the mercenary company headed by Berry, Connor’s nemesis, was on the move. House Rogan’s contacts advised my brother-in-law that someone had hired Berry to attack his and Nevada’s estate. They were mobilizing for a decisive strike, which was to take place first thing tomorrow.
Everyone agreed that Arkan was using Berry to tie up Connor and Nevada. Everyone also agreed that there was nothing to be done about it. Berry had numbers and skilled personnel and he was highly motivated. Apparently, the client had paid PAC a single dollar to ensure their participation. House Rogan couldn’t ignore this. We were on our own for this fight.
My fingertips were going numb, and I still had half of his back and both thighs to go. It was him, me, my notes, and an art marker with Shadow as the audience.
“Ready?” Bern asked from the phone on the coffee table. I had him on speaker.
“Go,” Alessandro said.
“Sample 1.”
Arabella’s voice came from the phone, haunting and persistent. “You’re going to die. This is your last warning. Leave, and we will not pursue you. Save yourself.”
