And I’d really believed that I could live the double life, the two roles remaining cleanly separated on either side of my line in the sand.
The line that was distorted beyond measure at this point.
I had to re-draw it.
With a new plan.
My grandmother smiled in my mind, and I thought back to the moment I left the estate. In a rage, I was certain she couldn’t understand how trapped I felt.
Why did I need to follow in the family footsteps?
I hadn’t wanted that life.
I’d thought her as furious as me, but in my mind, the vision of her was entirely calm.
Go after the life you want, she’d said, watching as I flung down my electronics in a huff and grabbed my Elegance pack.
I will, the memory of myself hurled back.
She arched a brow. Good. Then I’ve raised you right.
I batted open my lashes.
My grandmother’s legacy wasn’t contained in her efforts in Ingenium. I was her legacy. The 10 percent growth of the Le Spyre fortune under her management was her legacy. Quiet grace. Firm truth. Sharp intelligence.
That was my grandmother’s legacy, and everyone who knew her well felt the weight of that in their hearts.
How could I ever think she’d want anything more than my happiness and the happiness of her friends?
I couldn’t be my grandmother. She’d never wanted me to be. But I could heed her advice.
Go after the life you want.
A tired smile spread across my face as I stood and grabbed the first of her skirt suits, folding it gently into the box at my feet.
“I will, Grandmother,” I whispered.
There were twelve days to do so.
18
The phone rang, and I paused in my frantic typing to swipe up the handset.
“Miss Le Spyre, it’s Daniel.”
“Yes, Daniel?” I said, my knee bouncing with impatience.
“We’ve had a visitor the last few nights,” he said. “At first I thought it was one of your guests, but he doesn’t dress in black leather.”
I stilled. “What does he dress in?”
“A suit. I got a still of his face last night, and I believe he’s your male guest. Kyros, was it?”
I would have cracked a grin over the term male guest if my mouth wasn’t suddenly so dry. Kyros was visiting the estate at night. “What time?”
“Around 5:00 a.m., miss.”
After playing Ingenium.
I guessed the only reason I hadn’t charged down to his tower was because he’d been sneaking here at night. Which tore all romance from the gesture. He was coming close enough to satisfy the blood bond so we didn’t have to actually see each other.
“Should I alert the authorities?” he asked.
I settled back in the cushioned chair. “No. Don’t do that. Next time he shows up, send me a message. Don’t call, just message.”
“Copy that.”
As soon as I hung up, the phone rang again.
“Miss Le Spyre, your ten o’clock appointment is here.”
“Thank you, Fred. Send him in.”
Fernando strode in a moment later, closing the door, and turning on the noise-cancelling. “Miss Le Spyre,” he said, bowing low.
He’d lost the fear from our first exchanges, but he kept up the appropriate sheepishness. To my knowledge, his brothers and sisters were still treating him like a piece of shit.
Fernando’s information had proven invaluable so far, and I’d decided that if Laurel agreed, he’d be freed alongside the others. If I managed to pull anything off, that was.
I still needed the sixth exchange to occur with Kyros. Not only to free the Indebted, but to have any chance of putting my new plan into effect.
Even then, I’d be relying on Kyros’s forgiveness for any of this to work.
“Fernando. Report,” I said, giving him my full attention.
He bowed again. “You were right. Sandra Hoyt was under compulsion to report. She’s tied to Gina. As soon as you left Sandra’s house, she had to phone Gina and tell her everything. But she wasn’t compelled to do more, so she still ran and managed to evade them for five days until they caught up.”
I should have brought her with me that day. She never would have managed to report with my Indebted around.
That was a grievous mistake I’d live with for the rest of my life. The memory of Sandra and Rhys would forever stain my hands red even if I hadn’t personally killed them.
“Fyrlia’s status in Ingenium?”
He clasped his hands behind his back. “King Mikael speaks of how he’ll kill King Julius and the Sundulus royals. He speaks of how he’ll treat Queen Titania, and how he’ll make his eldest son see the light.”
My stomach flipped at