Page 88 of Wolfsbane Hall
Lorraine crossed her arms. “Because she’s our sons’ little whore, and they will do anything to keep her alive in this game.”
“Even I think that’s too much,” Babette said beneath her breath.
Dean seethed, his anger taking on a physical presence, causing the floor to shake between their feet, but he wasn’t the only one angry. Fury also broiled in Celestine’s blood.
Her jaw tight and hands curled, Celestine said, “I’m alive, because I am clever and not foolish enough to guess the riddle before I am beyond certain.”
“And how is that going for you, girl?” Lorraine asked, a sickening amusement dancing on her face. “It doesn’t even matter what I do. You’ll die soon.”
She was more right than she even knew, but Celestine rolled her shoulders back and refused to let this ancient and horrible woman intimidate her.
“Perhaps I will.”
“Oh, this is so fun,” Irene clapped and said in a high-pitched voice that sounded like a fork dragged across a plate. “It’s been fun watching the others struggle, but I don’t think you’ve struggled enough, little blondie.”
“Yes, have you even been trying to solve your games?” Lorraine asked in a mocking voice. “It seems like you are merely a lazy, lowly whore who has no thoughts in her tiny little brain. You deserve to die.”
Whore again? At the very least, be a bit more creative…
“That’s en—” Celestine started, but Dean cut in, “Mother, you will—”
“No, you won’t.” Celestine stepped in front of Dean and pushed him out of her way. This was her fight, and Celestine would no longer cower. “I don’t need you to rescue me, Phantom. I can do it on my own.”
She faced Lorraine, her voice a noose preparing to strangle the other woman. “How dare you judge me. How dare you call me despicable things, and why? Because I am a penniless orphan? Because I wasn’t born with money and power? It’s not the seventeenth century anymore. Old money is waning and becoming irrelevant. Soon you will be just as powerless as me.” Celestine shook her head. “And as foryour boys, I flirt with them, and yes, I fuck them, because I can. It is myjob to be a flirt…and they enjoy it. I am paid to be the pretty, desirable ingénue that women want to be and men want to fuck. It’s all an act, and while I do have genuine feelings for your sons, and before tonight, I would have considered them friends, but after all this is over, I don’t think I’ll have even an ounce of feeling left for them. So don’t worry, Lorraine, you will get everything you wanted, and this time, you didn’t even have to kill anyone.”
Celestine finished her speech with conviction, but her feet wobbled. The energy used had far overworked her. She took two wobbly steps and hit the table hard, using it to steady herself. Dean reached a hand out to steady her, but she shook him off.
“Get away from me.” Her voice was raw. “I never want to see you again.”
“Celine…”
Rage clawed at her back. “No, Dean,” she said in a low, dark whisper. “Never call me that again. I hate you.”
Her stomach twisted into knots, and she didn’t know how to unravel them. It was all far too much. Anyone would have cracked under the pressure.
Irene clapped slowly and sarcastically, a taunting note in her voice. “Oh, the show is getting so delightful. Star-crossed lovers, a brutal breakup, and a betrayal.”
Vivian stepped in front of her mother and glowered. “For once, Mother, can you just stay out of it?”
“But this is why we came!”
James interrupted the display by clicking a knife against his wine glass. “As is our family tradition, shall we make a toast to our good fortune and wondrous show, which is about to meet its climax?”
Wine flutes filled with champagne appeared in every person’s hand. Everett made his way to Babette’s and Celestine’s sides, but Celestine was still breathing too hard, her heart storming in her ears and her vision blurring in and out. She’d had too much excitement for a lifetime.
“Celeste, you need to sit,” Everett said, forcing her into a chair. When he had her entirely sitting, his twin raised his wine flute into the air.
“To secrets,” Dean said with a wicked smirk.
Everett nodded and raised his glass. “And lies.” He tipped his glass into his mouth and downed the drink in one gulp before the toast was even over.
“And grand manipulations,” James added.
Vivian raised her glass. “And this hell of a night being over.”
Then every Ashbrook raised their glasses and clinked them together. Babette and Celestine shared a look of concern but raised their glasses to match the family. But before Celestine and Babette could drink, Everett stole the wine flutes from their fingertips and downed them both in quick succession.
When they stared at him with wide eyes, he merely shrugged and said, “What? I was thirsty.” He winked.
