Boone snorts, his face incredulous. “You work in service to Nicodemus, warrior of the Vale. Do as his progeny commands.”
“Nicodemus has not summoned me,” Ifan says in a smooth tone. “And I doubt he has knowledge of what occurred here tonight, or he would be the one directing me, not you.” His smile is vicious, as if he relishes our discomfort. “I do not serve you, leech.” He looks to me.
“I’ll pay whatever the cost,” I say. “Heal her now.”
“There is a fey blade in the Saint Germain vault,” Ifan says, his affect flat. “The silver is laced with diamonds. It was made a millennium ago by one of the most celebrated metalsmiths in the Vale. I want it.”
“It is yours.”
“Then we have a bargain.” Ifan nods.
“Is everything a bloody bargain with your kind?” Odette says, her fingers crimson.
“Yes,” Arjun replies. “It is.”
Ifan removes a handful of dried herbs from inside the pouch. “You’ll have to hold her down,” he says to us. “This will not be pleasant.” The smile has not faded from his face.
“If you hurt my sister,” Hortense says, “I swear I will—”
Arjun freezes her in place without a word.
I sigh. “Boone, please take Hortense onto the roof and keep her there for the next hour.”
* * *
An hour later, the bleeding in Madeleine’s chest has lessened to a trickle. Though she remains unconscious, Ifan assures us she will be fully healed once she has fed. Odette leaves to find blood, and I sit with Arjun, Boone, and Hortense in the darkness, our clothes stiffened by rust-colored stains, our expressions set in stone.
Jae has been tied to a chair with silver chains. He says nothing, but his face tells a different story. Everything about the way he watches Madeleine is haunted.
Lines bracket Boone’s mouth. He sits down and buries his face in his hands. “I can’t do this again,” he says. “I can’t suffer through another betrayal.” He takes to his feet and blurs toward Jae, his movements erratic. “Why have you lied to us this entire time?” he whispers. “In you, I saw a brother. How—how could you betray us like this?” His voice breaks.
“I did betray you,” Jae says. “But I never lied. Everything I’ve ever said or done, I meant. This family”—he pauses—“is my life.”
I listen to him. Before Lady Silla’s revelation, I believed Jae incapable of subterfuge or deception. He was always the most honest of us all. Not once did he shy away from painful truths. But now everything I’ve ever believed is being called into question.
Nigel betrayed us. After years of laughing, smiling, and living among us, it was the work of a moment for him to stab us in the back. It would be foolish of me to believe this could not happen again.
When you care about someone, they are able to hurt you and betray you.
I watch Hortense enfold her elder sister in her arms, crooning to her in French. It is unusual to see Hortense offering comfort to Madeleine. Usually it is the other way around.
Jae finds my gaze. “What do you intend to do with me?”
For a breath of time, I think about my uncle. Nicodemus would deal with Jae without mercy, just as he did with Nigel. He would not give Jae a chance to speak for himself.
If I could have been the one to decide, would I have listened to what Nigel had to say?
My heart is heavy when I realize I would not have cared. Nigel’s actions cost me everything. If you had asked me at the time, I would have agreed to everything that transpired. Maybe I myself would have been the one to tear Nigel limb from limb.
I was raised to believe a traitor deserves a traitor’s death.
It’s possible I might have agreed to even more violence. Perhaps to torture. I think of Ifan and the set of skills he possesses. To hurt and heal in equal measure. I wonder how often my uncle used them to his advantage. As I look at Jae and the countless scars along his face and neck, I think of what that means.
I would have supported causing pain to someone in a defenseless position. I would have relished this pain, believing it to be the righteous path. But I know what I should do, despite my desire for the twisted kind of justice my Saint Germain blood demands.
When you care about someone, they are able to hurt you.