I take a deep breath and continue. “That brings me to my second problem. The Drained breach was at the North Hold gates, which are not only the closest to us, but when the Drained got in, they didn’t just kill people. They also took some women from the pleasure district. So the Breeders are a problem in the city, too.”

My mother presses her hand to her heart. She looks strong today, but her magic takes so much out of her, even long after she’s wielded it. I’m worried this conversation is too taxing.

My father seems to notice her shift in demeanor as well. He gives me a meaningful look. “If that’s all⁠—”

“It’s not, actually.” I look at my father. “I tried to give you the space to be honest with me earlier. I know it wasn’t Gaven’s handwriting in that letter. It was yours. I fumbled it into the fire and risked all the progress I’ve made with Harlow to cover for you.” I blow out a breath, trying to calm the rising frustration churning through my blood. “I agreed to this ten-year plan for revenge because you said lasting change takes time. I’ve let you keep me in the dark, and I’ve played my part. But you put this plan in peril. You should at the very least disguise your handwriting if you’re going to communicate with rebels, but especially if you’re going to pretend to be their leader. Tell me right now what’s going on.”

He holds up a hand. “You know that’s not how this works. We agreed to let you know everything you need to know.”

I point to my mother. “If it wasn’t for Kellan Carrenwell, we could have lost her when the rebels attacked our engagement party. I can’t fathom why you would allow that.”

“That was a few rogue idiots,” my father huffs. “It shouldn’t have happened. We’re too close to risk compromising things now. You don’t know⁠—”

“Philip.” My mother places a hand on his shoulder. “Henry makes a good point. If we don’t let him in on a little bit more, he could very well work against us by accident.”

I want to turn away. I’m ashamed that my ten-year commitment to revenge is faltering—not because I want it any less, but because I’m actually concerned about how it will affect the woman who has already suffered more than I know.

Under my mother’s careful assessment, I feel suddenly nervous. “You like her—your wife.”

“I don’t.”

“You do,” she says firmly. “And I don’t just mean you liked bedding her. I mean you actually like her. Not admitting it doesn’t make it untrue. It only makes your inability to recognize your own feelings a liability.”

I know she’s right, and I’m embarrassed to be scolded.

My father scrubs a hand down his face, but she just pats his shoulder.

“Yes. I like her. She takes tremendous pleasure in antagonizing me, but she⁠—”

I can’t quite put my finger on exactly what it is about her. Of course, she’s smart and darkly funny, but it’s something more than that. She should not trust me, yet the other night she finally did—and not just out of necessity. I have no doubt she could have found her own way out of that dining room. She certainly could have told me to leave afterward. But she let me help, and that alone is a sign of the progress I’ve made.

“She understands how to taunt you. She makes you feel known,” my mother says.

That’s exactly it. Harlow understands me well enough to rake her fingernails over my last nerve, but in a way that makes it fun instead of just irritating. There is an unexpected intimacy in studying a foe this way—in having to understand her back so that I can manipulate her. I’m mortified that I’ve fallen into this trap and even more embarrassed that my parents have noticed.

“I’ll get over it. It’s just⁠—”

My mother holds up a delicate hand to silence me. “We’re not asking you to. There’s something she wants that you can give her if our plan works, right?”

I nod, thinking of Rafe and the portrait of her sister I saw in his sitting room.

“And it’s something she cares about enough to break loyalty to her family?”

I rub the back of my neck. “Yes. Now, will you tell me why that letter in Father’s handwriting was signed from Rochelli?”

She squeezes my father’s shoulder and gestures to the chair facing his. “You should sit down for this.”

OceanofPDF.com

47HENRY

When I step out of my parents’ study, my mind is still spinning. It’s only made worse when I see Carter waiting for me at the end of the sunlit hallway. His arms are folded, and he leans back against the wall, but the relaxed pose doesn’t fool me. Something is wrong.

“What now?” I ask as I walk toward him.

He falls into step beside me, casting a glance over his shoulder. “The bodyguard was poking around, trying to get into the recovery room.”

“Of course he was,” I grumble. “It’s fine. I’ve been given permission to take care of it.”

“I thought you had suspicions that he might be leading the rebellion,” Carter whispers.

I rub the back of my neck as we walk up the stairs to the second floor. “He might be involved, but according to my father, he’s not one of our contacts. The problem is that he’s trying to sway Harlow and I’m at too critical a point for that.” I pause at the top of the stairs. “I’ve just been given permission to remove him from play. Can you get the holding cells ready?”

Carter’s eyebrows shoot up. “You sure this is a good time? It might set her back.”

I shake my head. “We’ll make it look like an accident.”

“Henry, think about it,” Carter urges, his voice tinged with annoyance. “She’s smart and she knows you don’t like him.”

“She doesn’t like him,” I counter. “He doesn’t even know she can poison with her hands. He’s never even protected her from people in her own life.”

Carter shakes his head. “Are you blind? She may love to antagonize him, but she definitely cares about him. As your friend, I would be remiss not to warn you that this could be a huge setback.”

“I have no choice,” I say. “I overheard the tail end of a conversation they were having the other day. He’s too observant and too suspicious.”

Carter sighs and nods. “So be it. Divine help us with the fallout. What’s the plan?”

“I’m going to try to get any last information out of him in the holding cells. There’s no one who knows Carrenwell House’s layout better. I’ll kill him out with some sort of fast-bleeding wound and I’ll make it look like a message from Stefan.”

“She’ll kill him,” Carter says.

“She’ll want to, but she won’t,” I counter. “She hasn’t killed the man beating her sister yet, and she’s been watching that happen for a while. She can have restraint when she wants to.” Even as I say the words, I’m not certain they’re true. Holding back on Rafe might be the very thing that makes her more prone to go after Stefan. In her mind, he could be a score she could settle immediately, and that might be just the thing to release the pressure valve on her rage. But I have to trust that she sees how perilous things are here the same way she sees how perilous her family’s position is in Lunameade.”

Carter scrubs a hand down his face. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“My job? Getting the revenge we’ve worked ten years for?”

He smiles sadly and squeezes my shoulder. “I think you have to ask yourself, is it really revenge if you’re still losing something?” He pats my back as he walks down the stairs.

As I walk toward Harlow’s room, his words burrow beneath my skin and make me itch. I’m not losing anything.

Harlow is not what I thought she would be, but she’s remarkably resilient and not one to get emotionally attached. She’ll be upset about Gaven and angry at the end of this, but ultimately, she’ll be better off without her terrible parents anyway.

Gaven isn’t waiting in the hall outside her room. Either she’s out, or she sent him away to snoop.