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Inez hurried over to him with her drink. “Sorry, I was—sorry.”
“Inez, you don’t ever have to apologize,” he said gently, taking her hand in his. “We’re not owed your healing power. Married to you or not. I was more than capable of asking, but I didn’t want—”
“You wanted to suffer the punishment of the visions because you didn’t warn me,” she grumbled. “Don’t be stupid, stupid. We have enough crazy going on.”
“No, I didn’t want to bother you or be selfish when you’re validly underwater with all of this.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek. “I would love if you could heal me, my wife. We all need to be at our best and on guard.”
She nodded and touched his face before I saw the pain in Jaxon’s features recede. She kissed his hair and then went back by Matilda.
“You have to teach me how to do that while I’m here,” the older princess muttered. “Olivia said it was too difficult to figure out.”
“Nora got it fine,” Inez hedged. “Olivia—”
“Was too proud to be taught something about her power from someone so young,” Cerdic drawled, shrugging when they both gave him amused looks. “Too much is going on not to call a spade a spade.”
More food came, but Inez wanted her booze and Kristof. She looked so small and fragile on his lap that it killed me. I knew she needed the answers I had, but I hated they were so painful.
I reiterated that I never met her, never saw her, and honestly, she doesn’t look much like Marvin but her mother. She didn’t like hearing that, but I hadn’t met Josephine, so it was important for her to hear me.
Then I told her the ugly truth. Her brother was about twenty-five or thirty years older than her and more than past the age where it could be the parent’s fault for his actions. I fully felt he preyed on Josephine who was unhinged but still evil too. She felt horrible things about her own daughter and wanted to use her in a way no parent should.
She was completely to blame for everything as well.
The way Emil told it, after Marvin left, Josephine fell apart and resented Inez, completely blaming her that she’d lost her mate because of her daughter. Emil had been the one to whisper in Josephine’s ear that it was because he was weak and didn’t deserve to stand at Josephine’s side who had birthed the miracle princess.
He pushed her to not see Inez as a person but a possession, something she owned and was given to her to make Josephine the star. If they used Inez right, trained her the way they should a pet who would perform, then it would all be worth it.
The man was sick beyond words, fanning the flames of his mother’s desires to be noticed and special so she basically transferred her feelings for her mate to her son. But also making it clear that he would rule Inez after she built her court and everyone would be jealous of Josephine’s children who made the perfect coven when so many others fail.
It was all his own greed for power and his own jealousy that Inez was born special. He broke her early, using everything he could to brainwash her and make her the perfect puppet and pet. He was giddy bragging about it to me how well he’d done, but he was still worried about her power smashing her out of it when she was old enough and started feeding.
The plan was the moment she was old enough and feeding, he would have her first for her whole court to see and then let them have everything they wanted from her. As long as they were loyal to him, he would allow them every inch of his pet and the promise they would be the respected ones in the coven at his side.
I told Inez the truth that I was going to take her away right then. Kill Emil and Josephine and run off with Inez to a coven that could be trusted. I hadn’t known which I could even trust, but one of my top choices was the Katz coven because Darius’s mother was known among all to be honorable, the most honorable of her generation of princesses.
Even Matilda agreed that would have been the one she would have picked as well since they were stronger than her or Hanna. Darius seemed touched by the faith people had in his family, but also scared for what hearing all of this could do to Inez.
“What happened?” Inez whispered.
“There was gunfire outside,” I muttered. “Lots of it. I didn’t know where you were stashed or what was going on. I was doing this in a back room of a restaurant that I had dragged Emil to without eyes when I found him. I ran outside to check what was going on, a policeman shot me, and I didn’t go down which made everyone think I was a monster.
“I had to duck out and then found some of the first corrupted—or who really knows if that’s true anymore—killed them and circled back. Emil was gone by then. I don’t know how with my power, but maybe someone found him and snapped him out of it. I just don’t know. I tried to track him. I tore through India searching, but then things got worse and…” I shrugged.
She nodded, staring off into space as she held her drink.
“I’m so sorry, Princess,” I whispered, mentally begging her to look at me.
She didn’t but let out a slow breath. “We need answers. I need some gaps filled in. I trust you to handle it.”
“If that is what you wish.” I couldn’t hide the hurt in my tone, standing to do what she asked of me. I stopped when she reached for me.
“I’m not angry with you. You didn’t even know me and that is a whole lot of crazy. I just can’t—my mind can’t wrap around what you told me. It hurts. I hurt.”
“I wish I could take the pain away for you, but I can’t. I will make sure they never are able to hurt you again.”
I was down in the dungeon a few minutes later with only Cerdic, Matilda, and Petre.
“What’s the plan, mate?” Cerdic hedged. “You seem very sure you can handle this.”
