Page 209 of The Poison Daughter
Gaven winces, flashing bloody teeth. “It’s the only room I haven’t even been able to get a glimpse into. People come and go, but the security is tighter there than anywhere else in the house.”
This was not how this was supposed to go. While I’m sure Harlow knows a lot about the layout of her family estate, there are surely things that only the family bodyguards would know about what happens during an attack and where family members might be hidden if someone were hunting them.
Gaven grips my wrist hard. “For some reason beyond my comprehension, Harlow likes you. She’ll try to convince you she doesn’t care or have any hope, but she does. She’s left white roses for her sister every week foryears, even when she knew Rafe wouldn’t give them to her. I know your goals with her aren’t altruistic, but she deserves better.”
The guilt is a gut punch. I feel the anguish in his words. It’s hard to watch someone mourn their unrecognized potential and the people they love.
“Gaven, why is she here? Why did the Carrenwells agree to this?” I ask.
He’s started shaking, the cold from the blood loss setting in. “They’re afraid of your family and they wanted to find out what you wanted after all these years.”
I’m stunned he’s become so suddenly forthcoming after everything Harlow has told me about his loyalty to her father.
“Don’t look so shocked,” Gaven says. “My loyalty is to her. Not them. You might make your vows with your fingers crossed, but I don’t lie to the Divine. If I make a vow to Vardek to protect someone, I mean it. I have watched over her since the first moment her mother placed her in my arms when she was just a few days old. Liza rarely came to the nursery. She was so busy with her older children, but I was always there. I have watched her every day since, and I have kept my word to Vardek.”
“Yes, when it’s convenient—when it doesn’t put you at odds with your employer,” I snap. “As I understand it, you’ve only been true to that vow in the last few months.”
Gaven’s eyes widen in shock. “She told you.”
“She told me.” There are a lot of things I can forgive a man for. I’ve wandered down many dark roads myself, but being assigned to protect a child and letting someone else abuse her is unforgivable.
Gaven rubs a hand over his face, leaving a smear of blood behind. “When I was young, I didn’t know how to do my job when it was at odds with my employer. I have never forgiven myself for that failure. I see it every time she looks at me. When she was old enough to understand my role in her life, the first thing she learned about me was that I would always protect her—as long as the threat was from outside the family.”
His brutal honesty is jarring. Though it’s been ever-present in my life, I forgot that death is so intimate.
“Why are you telling me all of this now?” I ask.
He looks away and heaves a shuddering sigh. “Because there is no other time to and there’s much to tell.” He winces. “There have beenother children blessed by Vardek—new blessings of holy fire. Harrick killed every one of them.”
I stare at him in disbelief. For years, we thought we understood the depths of Harrick Carrenwell’s cruelty, but yet again we have underestimated him. Even the nonbelievers of the fort and city wouldn’t dare to slay a Vardek-blessed child, but the leader of Lunameade has been doing it for years. All to keep his people dependent on him.
“Does Harlow know?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “I’m not supposed to know. He told me one night when he was ranting drunk. He must have forgotten about it or I wouldn’t be here.”
I can’t even begin to process this information, but Gaven slaps my arm.
“Whatever you’re doing with that magic—” He gasps. “You need to tell her.”
“I don’t?—”
He squeezes my arm. “Lie to yourself if you need to, but don’t waste your breath on a dead man. I know you’re more than you’ve let on. I may not see auras like she does, but I can sense it, and that feeling has the essence of a different Divine.”
“She knows,” I say.
He frowns. “If she knew, she wouldn’t get so close.”
I look down at the linen in my hand. It’s completely soaked in blood, as are the knees of my pants. Gaven has very little time.
He closes his eyes and swallows thickly. “Tell her I love her. I should have protected her much better than I did. I know she won’t forgive me for what happened six months ago, but I’m sorry anyway.”
“What happened six months ago?”
He presses his lips into a tight line but says nothing.
“Gaven, what’s the urgency?” I ask. “Why the urgency for the Carrenwells? Why did they agree to send her here so quickly?”
He blinks his eyes open. “Their well doesn’t work anymore.”
