Page 82 of The Child of Rue Royale
“I will not,” she says, crossing her arms, her face twisting in revulsion.
“Do you remember the last time you and Nicola tried to have a serious conversation?” The memory of Cassius jumping on Nicola’s desk to keep them apart rings through my mind.
She takes a few steady breaths, her logical mind knowing we are right. “Fine. I’ll watch the baby. But if they pull any shit—”
“They won’t,” Bastian says. “They will be loyal to me over Oksana a thousand times over. We need to get to the bottom of it without distractions.”
Mother rolls her eyes but then her expression changes to something resembling pride. “You’re a Seer, my baby. Congratulations.”
“Does that mean I could return to the alley with Grandma and Bastian? Finish hearing what Grandma said?”
Mother lifts an eyebrow. “As a Seer, you’ll have visions two ways. The first is by being called upon a vision from a higher power without your consent. Like what happened at the blessing ceremony. The second is what we did here in this room. We had the chalice that we knew was at the scene of where you wanted to go, and both you and Violetta have touched it. I don’t have anything Grandma had that night in the alley. So, no. I’m sorry, baby. It won’t work that way.”
I can only sigh. I don’t feel like celebrating this new ability that I didn’t ask for. And another door just slammed in my face.
“I need a cigarette,” Mother huffs and heads to the door. Before exiting, she turns to me with a wink. “Go get ‘em tiger.”
Bastian slinks toward me, grabs my belt loop, and yanks me against him. My arms wrap around his waist, my head falling onto his chest. The weight on our shoulders only seems to get heavier with each passing day, and I don’t know how to fix it, and I can feel the sting of betrayal in Bastian’s body against mine.
“Cassius and my mother are going to be so devastated, Aster. Oksana has worked with them for almost twenty years. She must be wealthy with what they’ve paid her. I can’t see a motive as to why she would work with Franklin and your aunts.”
“I don’t either, so let’s find out,” I whisper, the night seeming so far away.
I HELD AVEN A LITTLElonger before we left, something inside me fearful I would be in danger in a room full of vampires with the knowledge that a trusted source has worked against them. But did she? She was working with Franklin, who wasn’t an enemy to them, just me. He didn’t intend to kill Bastian; it was me he was after, so will they consider Oksana working with Franklin and the witches as paramount a betrayal as I do?
Comey’s is packed as we slip through the crowd, and Bastian grabs my hand as we ascend the stairs to Nightwalkers, our hearts hammering beneath our chests. We open the door, and the first thing I see is Cassius on his elaborate throne, Marlowe draped across his lap, her finger on his chin as he looks at her with pure worship in his eyes. I never thought I would see a light like that burning so brightly inside him, not in a million years.
The speakeasy isn’t currently open, and Nicola is behind the bar with Amerie and Mathius. Oksana walks from Nicola’s office just as we step fully inside Nightwalkers. My lungs swell like two hot balloons at the sight of her. What has she done? What did she do?
“Oh,” Nicola says with surprise in her voice. “Mon cher, I’ve missed you.” She walks to Bastian, still brimming with love from the fact that her son is alive. She kisses both of his cheeks and smiles at me, but our smiles aren’t reciprocated, and worry creases across her forehead.
“Can we be alone with my mother and Cassius?” Bastian asks, looking back and forth between Mathius and Amerie.
“I’ve got someplace to be anyhow,” Mathius says, smugly adjusting his tie and lightly tapping Bastian’s cheek as he exits.
Amerie doesn’t look pleased that she’s being asked to leave, her eyes darting toward Marlowe. And it is interesting. Does Marlowe get seniority now that she’s with Cassius, even though she’s human? Yet Marlowe doesn’t move a muscle, and it’s because of the firm grip Cassius has on her thighs. She’s meant to stay, and Cassius’s eyes tell Bastian exactly that. Amerie doesn’t say a word walking to the door, but Bastian grabs her hand before she goes.
“I’ll explain everything to you later, I promise.” That seems to soften her eyes a little, right before she descends the stairs.
Oksana hands a clipboard to Nicola, and I swallow hard. “Goodnight then,” she says, sliding her purse on her shoulder, and Bastian closes the door to Nightwalkers then leans his head against it, his face utterly exhausted. “I would like you to stay, please.”
Her eyes dart straight to me.
“What’s going on?” Nicola asks, sitting on the velvet sofa.
“Aster had a vision. Franklin conspired with her aunts to set the fire and also got the protection spell from them. Oksana was with him.” I suddenly feel extremely dehydrated. I guess he’s not going to beat around the bush.
Cassius slides out from under Marlowe, his footfalls stomping as he approaches Bastian and me. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that Oksana was working with Franklin.”
My gaze falls upon Oksana, her fingers digging into her purse, her mouth slowly opening, plotting. “We’re supposed to believe our enemy’s visions now? Lord Bastian, what’s happened to you?”
With one look, the exhaustion erases from Bastian’s face, replaced by an anger I have come to recognize as the fiercest part of him. He steps forward, his mouth barely moving because of his tightened jaw. “That’s the stance you’re taking, Oks? That’s how you want to play it?”
“Stop!” Nicola shouts, her hand on her forehead. “Stop,” she whispers now, and though she doesn’t age, she suddenly looks older to me, more weary, more downtrodden. Betrayal and loss can do that to you, even if you’re a vampire, I suppose.
I look at Marlowe, her mouth slowly chewing her thumb, the worry in her eyes telling me she doesn’t belong in this mess. I am growing to hate this room and all its memories and fear the new ones that are on the cusp of forming.
