Page 114 of The Light Within

Julien

Behind him, Darcy gave a shriek of shock which she quickly muffled.

Elliot nervously chuckled, as if preparing to hear that this was all a strange joke.

Cinn mumbled curses under his breath.

All Julien could do was stare at Eleanor, waiting for the puzzle pieces to click into place.

They didn’t.

“Explain,” Julien said, his eyes unable to leave the woman’s face. “Explain what is going on before I lose my mind.”

Eleanor adjusted her thick-rimmed glasses. “Take a seat.”

A stack of metal chairs sat in a corner. Malik leapt into action, placing them in a semicircle in front of Eleanor.

Julien couldn’t bring himself to move. Nothing made sense. His world had been knocked off its axis, sent zooming off into the stratosphere. “Since when areyoua part of AP?”

“Child, IamAP. Now, sit down.”

Julien’s heart was pounding in his chest, an off-rhythm thump that sent blood rushing through his ears. Cinn pulled on Julien’s coat sleeve until he gave in, perching on the edge of a cool metal chair. Silence spread between the lot of them. Julien clenched and unclenched his jaw, waiting for Eleanor to begin talking. By Christ she had a fuck-tonne of explaining to do.

“Where do you want me to start?” Eleanor said at last.

Everyone turned their eyes on Julien—gazes weighted with a mixture of expectation and caution. He felt their stares like a pressure against his skin. Cinn stopped tugging on Julien’s coat, his fingers still hooked on his sleeve as though ready to pull again if needed.

Why? How? How long? Why had Eleanor summoned them all here? Why now?

“Béatrice.”

Julien’s sister’s beautiful broad smile unfurled itself from the shadows of his mind.

Why her? Why couldn’t it have been me? Why did she have to leave me?

It was where all this started. They were the only answers that really mattered to him, in the end.

“I want you to know that I never sought her out for this, Julien. She found her way to AP of her own accord.”

“You reassured me her death was a random accident!” Julien cried, not bothering to mask the tidal wave of emotion pouring out of him. “You told me to stop looking for answers!”

“Yes!” Eleanor bit back, running her hand over her tight grey ponytail. “Because Béatrice was dead, and it seemed rather insulting to Isabelle’s memory to get both of her children killed!”

Julien considered Eleanor’s expression, seeking small cracks of remorse in the face of his mother’s close friend.

“Father Gérard rang shortly after you left his church.” Eleanor composed herself, smoothing down invisible creases on her trousers. “Did you know, Julien, that your mother only told two people about your extraordinary abilities? Myself, and Father Gérard. Not your father, your own flesh and blood.”

“My father doesn’t care about flesh and blood,” Julien spat. He couldn’t wait any longer. He had to say it. Had to know for sure. “He killed Béatrice,didn’t he?”

Out of the corner of his vision, Elliot and Darcy exchanged devastated looks. A hand found its way into his own, Cinn’s fingers interlocking to squeeze tightly.

“Yes,” Eleanor said softly. “I believe he did.”

Now, Juliencouldbombard her with cries of outrage, demanding to know why his father was still walking around a free man. But he wasn’t stupid. That wasn’t how the world worked, not when you were as rich and powerful as Lucien Montaigne. Not with his connections, with half the consortium in his pocket.

“With her locket.”

“Yes.”

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