Tarnished Knight - By Bec McMaster Page 0,55
switched the disabled virus with a sample of the live one. Father had been directly responsible for his own infection and Leo wanted revenge. He never knew that father injected Charlie with the same vaccination until it was too late.”
“Then why are you helping him?” Lena cried. “Don’t you remember all those months when Charlie was crying in pain because we were trying to help him fight the virus? Charlie won’t even stay in the same room with me because he’s afraid he’ll attack me! How could you?”
Tears gleamed in Honoria’s eyes. “Because Leo’s my brother too.”
The words seemed to roar in her ears. Lena’s mouth moved but nothing came out. Only a small, strangled sound that seemed almost animal in nature.
Leo Barrons? The Duke of Caine’s heir was her brother? “But…how? Why?”
Then Honoria was sitting on the edge of the armchair, wrapping her arms around Lena. Gently she kissed her hair, the way she’d done when Lena was a small girl. “I’m so sorry, Lena. I knew I should have told you but I swore I’d keep it a secret for him. If anyone finds out that Leo is illegitimate… There would be dire consequences for him. The Echelon don’t like to be made a fool of. He would be named a rogue blueblood in the least, like Blade. Stripped of everything he has. Or even executed. One cannot judge the Prince Consort’s mind, but he doesn’t like to be fooled.”
A hot tear slid down Lena’s cheek. Honoria rocked her gently, turning Lena’s face into her shoulder. At the familiar feel of her sister’s arms around her, Lena couldn’t stop the tears. It had been a long time since she’d been held and she was so confused about everything at the moment.
Finally she managed to draw back and wipe her burning eyes. “So that’s why father’s contract with the Duke of Caine ended?”
Honoria nodded. “The duke found out about the affair. He was absolutely furious… I can remember…I-I was in the room. The duke looked at me for so long I thought he was going to smash my toy doll. Then his face changed. The rage washed out of him and he told father to get out and to take mother and I with him before he did something he’d regret. I think I’m the only reason that father survived.”
“And…Leo?” Lena whispered. It felt strange to call him that. She barely knew him, though he had been polite to her when he’d called in that morning.
“Leo was raised as the Duke of Caine’s heir. I don’t believe it was a kindly upbringing.”
A brother she’d never known she had. Lena stared at the clenched fists in her lap. She was still so angry at him for what had happened to Charlie, but it was harder now, knowing the link between them. An older brother.
“Are you very angry with me?” Honoria asked.
“I don’t know what to think,” Lena admitted. “I don’t know what I feel.” Numb mostly. Her mind couldn’t quite fit Barron’s image into what she felt an older brother should be like. “I think I should like to be alone for a little while. To gather my thoughts.”
Honoria stroked her hair. “This information is very dangerous for him, Lena.”
“I’m not about to share it with anyone,” she snapped. “Do you truly think me such a fool?”
“Of course I don’t think you a fool. I just wished for you to know why I withheld the truth.”
Lena nodded. After a moment she heard another soft sigh and then the sound of Honoria’s skirts rustling over the rugs toward the door.
As soon as it shut, she let her head fall into her hands, pressing the heels of her palms against her hot eyes. Of all the things she had expected, this was not one of them.
And Will had known. Blade too. A conspiracy of people who had thought to keep the truth about her own brother from her. She could understand Honoria’s motives, though it irritated her that her sister hadn’t trusted her, and Blade did what Honoria asked, but Will… He could have mentioned it at least, though why she would ever expect his loyalty to lie with her, she didn’t know.
As if the thought summoned him, the door clicked open and he appeared. Lena hurriedly wiped at her eyes. No help for it. She likely looked a mess and the redness wouldn’t fade for a long time from her pale skin.
Tipping her chin up, she stared at him. She was