She sniffled and pressed her face into my shoulder. “I didn’t want anyone else to see,” she whispered, “but I know I can trustyou because you’re a good man, and you’ll do the right thing. You always do.”
Considering that one of the last times I’d seen her had been at the family dinner that ended even more disastrously than the resistance meeting, I doubted that was the real reason she came here. Maybe she really was in trouble, but I wasn’t convinced yet.
“The right thing about what?” I asked. “What happened?” When she didn’t answer, I prompted again. “Vi, why are you here?”
“It’s Merrick.” She pulled back enough to meet my eyes, and her bottom lip trembled. “I’m scared. Of him. Of what he’s becoming. He’s been reading those books he took from you, and he’s obsessed with carrying out Vaughn’s plans now that he’s gone.” She scrubbed her damp cheeks with the hem of her sleeve. “He doesn’t care who gets hurt in all of it. None of that matters to him.”
With her grip partially broken, I stepped back to put some distance between us. When she tried to lean in again, I braced my hand on her shoulder and locked my elbow to keep her at arm’s length.
“Okay, wait,” I said. “Slow down. Whatactuallyhappened?”
She sobbed again, but I was sure now that both her fear and her tears were manufactured for my manipulation. “It’s madness,” she continued. “He’s going to get himself killed, and he won’t listen to me or to reason, and…”
Her eyes met mine, and when she didn’t find me as sympathetic as she hoped, she seemed to think better of whatever babble she’d been planning. She tipped her head so that the last dying flush of twilight could illuminate the ruddy stain on her cheek.
“He hit me, Kit,” she murmured.
I’d forgotten how good she was at this, saying so much without telling me anything at all. Giving just enough to tug atmy heart or play on my sympathies to get what she wanted. But she didn’t know me as well as she thought she did.
“Why did he hit you?” I asked, then repeated, “What happened?”
She tried again to press against me. My grip on her shoulder was unrelenting, and she quickly gave up the struggle.
“I was afraid. I needed somewhere safe to go, and I don’t have anywhere else.” She slid her hand up to cover mine. “You’re my oldest friend, and I’ve always been able to trust you.”
She might have trusted me, though I doubted even that, but that didn’t make her visit any more logical. Merrick had authority over both of us. I was in no better position to help her than she was to help herself. Which begged the question: “Why didn’t you go to Levitt?”
Violette scoffed and shook her head. “Because Lev’s afraid of Merrick. Everyone is, and no one will do anything about it.”
Our conversation was starting to draw attention from neighbors returning to their homes for the evening. I wasn’t sure what they’d have to say about the Shroud Warden’s wife paying me a visit, but I knew better than to continue an arguably private conversation in full view of the rest of the town.
Against my better judgment, I gritted my teeth and stepped back to motion Violette inside. She scurried in and settled on the couch as I swung the door shut. I caught sight of Nutmeg’s tail as she scrambled from wherever she’d been hiding and joined Ember in the safety of the hall.
“Just sit.” I motioned for my unwanted guest to stay where she was as I passed. “I’ll make coffee, then we’ll talk.”
She half-rose from the couch to catch my hand before I passed out of reach. “…Can I stay here tonight? I don’t want to go home. I don’t know what he’ll do to me if I do.”
“You can't stay.” I pulled my hand from her grip. “Penny and I are leaving in the morning for the fifth Oath. Let me make some coffee, and we’ll figure something out.”
There wasn’t anythingtofigure out, except how to make her lose interest and get her out of my house without earning her ire. There was a delicate balance between putting her off and offending her, and I wasn’t confident I could manage it. But distance would help.
I retreated to the kitchen and the kettle and a task that was so routine that it soothed some of the anxiety creeping in. It was enough of a distraction that I didn’t notice Violette had followed me until I turned to put the coffee on the stove to steep and she was mere inches away.
I jumped back, wincing when the edge of the counter bit into my hip. The water sloshed inside the kettle, and before I could even think to swing it around to fend her off, she grabbed my forearm and dug her fingers in.
She looked up at me, feigning innocence as if she didn’t have me pinned like a wounded animal while she readied the killing blow.
“Thank you, Kit. For being here for me. For always being someone I can trust and rely on.” When she smiled, the amusement in her eyes ruined her attempt at sincerity. “I wish you’d stayed. I wish you’d never left, because thenwewould be married by now, and I wouldn’t have picked the wrong man. I’d be safe with you. You would never let anyone lay a hand on me.”
She yanked on my arm at the same time she hooked her free hand behind my head and dragged me forward. Before I could register the movement, her lips crushed against mine.
The kettle hit the floor with a clang as I wrenched my arm out of her grip. With both hands free, I brought them up between us and shoved her away. She stumbled into the table and cried outwhen she knocked her wrist against the edge of it, but she kept her footing.
Iwantedher to fall, to feel as vulnerable in that moment as she always mademefeel. To make her fear real just long enough to remind her that she wasn’t as invincible as she thought she was.
Nausea churned in my gut as I wiped my mouth on my sleeve. My hands were shaking, and I curled them into fists in a failing effort to still them.
“Why would you do that?” I asked, vindicated when she flinched at the edge of steel in my tone.
