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“Sounds nice,” I said blandly. I couldn’t forget any of this.
“Oh!” she said, as if she had just remembered. “We went to this town called Amarillo once. It was in Texas so it hardly ever snowed there, but it did snow while we were there, and our flight was delayed! It was so nice. Alexander and I never got much time together like that because he’s always worked so much, and we just stayed in this lovely house your father had set up and watched the snow fall and drank wine by the fire.”
“I’d love that.”
“Tell Cain he needs to take you on more adventures!”
“I don’t know if I can handle one more adventure,” I smiled to turn the words into a joke even though I meant them—and I didn’t mean the smile. “But I like hearing about yours. Where else did you go together?”
She went on, prattling on about tea shops and vineyards and the houses where they had stayed. She couldn’t tell me any addresses—that would have been too helpful—but I made interested noises and she told me a surprising amount about their locations.
They hadn’t always flown to Texas and New York. There were three other locations that were in the radius of the Demon’s territory when Cain and I were teenagers and he was active here. Although my father hadn’t hesitated to travel—he’d even moved his reign of terror to the UK for a while—he was so meticulous that I would bet those three nearer locations were where we’d find Remy and Pax.
Besides, I was sure dear old Dad wanted to stay close.
“So, do you have any idea why my father and Alexander had their falling out?” I asked.
She pursed her lips at me over her tea, though it was exaggerated, as though she thought I was being silly. “You already know that, Aurora. I don’t mind you pumping me for information—I have a very good idea why you need to know, and of course I want you to take care of your boys. Just like I’ve always taken care of mine!”
Sudden intuition sparked for me, raising goosebumps on my arms. There was something so bizarre about Rebecca that she worried me almost more than Alexander. I was used to monsters. She still managed to be something special.
“Did you ask my father to kill Alexander’s sister?”
She glanced toward her bodyguards. One of them was eating a little fruit tart, and neither of them could hear us over the classical music from this distance.
“She was embezzling from him, but he didn’t realize. It would have hurt his feelings so much.”
“You had his sister killed so he wouldn’t have hurt feelings,” I said blandly.
“It’s better to mourn an angel,” she said blithely. “And anyone who betrays their family deserves a bad end.”
“So you asked the Demon to hurt her.”
She nodded. “I’ll always do what’s best for Alexander, dear. I know you understand. And the Demon only killed people who deserved it.”
“That’s not true.” I shook my head. My mother didn’t deserve it, and neither did Remy or Pax, even though I knew the Demon would justify their killings.
Her gaze sharpened on mine. “I remember you when you were a little girl, you know. I never would have imagined one day you’d have such a hold on my Cain! Are you still so…bloodthirsty?”
Red spots on the white carpet…
The delusion—the memory—closed around me like a vice.
For a second, I could barely breathe. I was keenly aware of her watching me, analyzing me.
Then, beyond her, I caught sight of Stellan’s face. He winked at me.
And then a real memory, a memory I could count on, drifted to my mind. Stellan winking at me behind his sister Sophia’s back. She had loved me, had been my best friend. The girl she knew had been good. No matter what the Demon tried to convince me of now. She had fought for the people she loved and to keep hold of the best parts of herself.
And I would always be that girl, deep down.
But maybe I’d also always be that girl who had killed for the Demon.
“Yes. But only when people hurt my men.”
She looked amused. “I see.”
I had some real doubts that she did.
