Page 16 of Till Death Do Us Part

“Clara?”

“Like Clara Schumann. I’m partial to her work.”

I cocked my head. “The… composer?”

She turned back to me, eyebrows raised. “You know Clara Schumann?”

“I studied a lot of history.”

“Well, well. I guess you are the librarian.”

I felt a cold flush come on.

The library.

What time was it? There was no sunlight in here. God only knew how long I’d been sleeping.

“The library,” I blurted. “I need to get to work.”

She scoffed. “You can call out today.”

Call out? The thought of missing work made my head spin. “But I—”

“It tends to be bad for a library if assassins show up.”

I winced. Was that what I was now? A beacon for danger wherever I went?

All because of this damn South Yard. I didn’t want it. A granduncle I’d never known, pawning it off to me specifically because I was forgettable…

Vera stood up. “We need to move,” she said. “Petra’s set the trail to lead the Whitecliffs away, so we can get out of the city now. I have a safe place for us to land.”

“But—what will happen to my family? Everyone else?” I stood up with her, clutching Clara to my chest. “Are the assassins going to go after them?”

“Not when they’re trying to be subtle. Disappearing one person goes away in a couple weeks. Disappearing a whole family? We prefer to avoid that in our line of work if we can help it.”

I couldn’t believe I was a part of this world now. I heaved a heavy sigh. “I can’t just walk away from my family, though. They… they need me.”

Something flickered over Vera’s face as she looked down. At length, she said, “What do they need?”

“My mother. She needs me close by to help. She can’t raise my siblings all by herself, and I have to pitch in for the bills, but there was a situation at work and I had to pay out of my own pocket, so I didn’t have the full amount for my mother yesterday—”

“Your siblings,” she said. “How old are they?”

“They’re… eighteen and twenty.” I shifted nervously. “Caitlyn’s disabled. And Matt needs help with tuition. And Mom hasn’t been able to hold down a regular job because of the unemployment situation and Caitlyn’s disability allowance…”

Vera’s eyes darkened. “So she’s just making you work for her and give her all your money, too.”

I hugged myself, pressing Clara into my chest, where she mewed quietly. “She’s my mother,” I said. “I have to help.”

“Your mother’s taking advantage of you, Elaine.”

“She’s… she’s my mother,” I repeated, small and broken this time.

“She’ll figure things out without your help.”

“But I can’t…” I crumpled, looking down at the floor. “I just don’t want her to hate me…”

Vera stared at me before she sighed, raking her hand back through her hair. “You can’t pay someone to love you, Elaine. Love that isn’t freely given is no love at all.”