Page 68 of Branded By Shadow
“I don’t care what he meant.” Andie narrowed her eyes at her mother, her words crisp and precise. “I care about what he’s doing, which is interfering with my career.”
“Your career isn’t the only thing that matters, darling.” Helena reached toward her daughter’s arm but stopped short.
“Isn’t it?” Andie sneered. Somehow, that seemed to make her even more beautiful. “Because lately it feels like every decision I make gets second-guessed by Olympians who think they know better.”
Helena straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. “We only want what’s best for you.”
“What’s best for me is running my business without House politics interfering,” Andie shot back. “I didn’t choose to be born into your world, and I certainly didn’t ask for whatever scheme you two are running.”
She was looking at the two of us, and I realized she thought we were collaborating on some kind of political manipulation. Which wasn’t entirely wrong, just not in the way she imagined.
Helena took a careful step forward, extending her hand toward Andie. “This has nothing to do with politics.”
“Everything has to do with politics with you people.” Andie shook her head and turned toward the reception. “Stay away from my events, stay away from my clients, and stay the hell away from me.”
She walked back toward the sounds of laughter and celebration, leaving Helena and me alone with the weight of our complete failure.
Helena waited until her daughter’s footsteps faded before speaking. “She’s getting worse.”
The simple statement hit me harder than Andie’s slap.
“I can see that.”
“The episodes are more frequent, more intense.” Helena’s shoulders slumped, and she suddenly looked as tired as I felt. “Robert called me yesterday. He’s concerned about the changes in her behavior.”
Dr. Robert Cross. Andie’s father. A human man trying to love a daughter the supernatural world kept trying to destroy. If he was worried enough to call Helena directly, the situation was spiraling faster than we’d expected.
Helena turned to face me with weary resignation. “The silphium can’t solve this. It never could.”
Cora’s research had always been a long shot. But I’d hoped up to the very end, right until her research, supported by House Demeter, had finally gone public.
I’d known then Cora Ellis couldn’t help us. “It was worth a shot. Even if it did make House Hades our enemy.”
“I have no regrets, Alexander. But that still leaves us empty-handed now.” Her gaze traveled over the ballroom, toward her daughter. “But approaching her directly about her condition only makes the reactions worse. Any acknowledgment of what’s happening seems to trigger stronger episodes.”
This explained why we were reduced to watching her from a distance. We couldn't have honest conversations about the supernatural forces trying to tear her apart from the inside. The cruel irony wasn’t lost on me. The one person who might be able to help her was the person whose presence made everything worse.
“Then what do we do, Helena?” I shuddered, and lightning crackled around my fingers, searching for an enemy that wasn’t there. “Because watching her suffer while pretending everything’s fine is destroying me.”
Helena’s carefully maintained mask finally shattered, revealing the maternal fear she’d been hiding all along.
“I don’t know, Alexander.” She met my eyes with devastating honesty. “I don’t know.”
