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‘That’s just not true.’ Simon gave Romy a kindly look. ‘I promise you, John’s feelings for you are entirely genuine. He loves you very much.’
Romy didn’t look as if that gave her any comfort at all, and who could blame her? I wished I could think of something to say to her that would make her feel better, but I had nothing. This was all still so new to me, and I must admit, a part of me was too busy worrying about my twin sister and what was happening to her right now. It seemed to me that all this business with Blaise St Clair was just an inconvenient distraction from more important matters.
Hector returned at that moment. ‘He’s sleeping peacefully,’ he told us, taking his seat on the sofa. ‘So, where shall we start?’
‘How about telling us why you allowed that man to move in and make a life with our sister,’ Keely said. ‘And while you’re at it, you can also explain who he is.’
She jerked her thumb in Simon’s direction, and he raised an eyebrow in response.
‘You really don’t like me, do you?’ he said, amusement in his eyes.
‘Do you think this is funny?’
We all turned to look at Romy who had gone from deathly pale to red-faced in seconds. Her green eyes shone with tears as she faced Simon in obvious distress.
‘Romy—’
‘No! Don’t try to get out of this. You’ve been hanging around us for ages now, butting in, interfering in our lives, intruding on our privacy. I made allowances for you because you insisted you were Johnnie’s friend, and he backed you up on that. I thought you were helping him in his psychology work. What were you really doing? What was your real plan? Why were you hanging around us, and why did you lie about knowing John for so long?’
Simon sighed. ‘I promise you, there was nothing sinister about any of it.’
‘Where have I heard that before?’ Castor rolled his eyes. ‘It’s always the ones you can’t trust who tell you that. Go on, tell us who you are.’
Hector clearly thought it was time to stop everyone having a go at Simon. ‘If you must know, he’s a Guardian, although don’t expect to remember that when all this is done.’
There was a distinct change in the St Clairs’ attitude then. They shifted uncomfortably and eyed Simon with some embarrassment.
‘I’m—I’m right sorry for what I said then,’ Castor mumbled. ‘Mind, you have to understand, I only want to protect my family.’
‘I do understand that, Castor,’ Simon assured him, which made Castor look at him in alarm.
‘How do you know my name?’
‘I know all about you and your family,’ Simon said with a shrug. ‘You’re of great interest to us, especially now. You’ve caused us quite a few headaches over the years.’
There was an immediate chorus of protests, and he held up his hands.
‘No need to take offence. I was merely stating facts not making a criticism. You can’t deny that your family has been at the centre of some astonishing events.’
‘That’s true,’ Iliana said reluctantly. ‘But it’s hardly our fault. These things just seem to happen to us.’
‘Reckon it all started with Blaise St Clair,’ Castor grumbled. ‘It’s him what’s to blame, not us. He messed everything up.’
‘He did,’ Simon agreed. ‘You won’t get any arguments from me about that. Nevertheless, you can hardly hate the man now known as John Ford for the crimes of Blaise St Clair. Right now they’re practically two different people.’
‘Are you really saying John has no memory of Blaise?’ I asked curiously.
‘None. Hector did a thorough job,’ Simon said.
‘So it was you who created John Ford?’ Star asked Hector in surprise.
‘I did. Well, partly.’ Hector sounded almost apologetic. ‘I gave him the building blocks for a new life. What he chose to do with them was down to him.’
‘Then why didn’t you warn us that Romy’s boyfriend was Blaise?’ Keely demanded.
‘I didn’t know,’ Hector said honestly. ‘Once I’d wiped his memory and passed him over to Simon’s care that was my part done. Of course, I knew Romy’s boyfriend was called John, but I didn’t know his surname, and how many Johns do you think there are in the world? Seriously, I had no reason to believe he could possibly be Blaise. In fact, I had every reason to believe he wasn’t.’
‘Oh?’ Raiden frowned. ‘What do you mean by that?’
