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“Whatever she did isn’t worth this We can still—”
“She tried to kill me You remember my roommate, Alice? The one Kaspar killed? Well, Alice was sent by Maeve to assassinate e Kaspar stopped her I know it sounds crazy, and I didn’t want to believe it, but I can’t deny the truth any longer Kaspar saved my life and Maeve tried to kill me”
Another long silence He was digesting and processing I didn’t knohere he’d land on this, but it didn’t matter
I needed him to stay away
“How sure are you? Are you basing this on Kaspar’s word?”
“Partially, but it’s not that simple Can you please trust me?”
He let out a frustrated sigh “I’ll give you two days That’s the best I can do But if we hear that he’syou home”
“Darren—”
“No arguments Iin the manor”
“I’ll come home when I can, okay? Maybe when this is all over”
“I’ you to that”
I smiled and nodded to myself “Good I’ll see you soon then”
We hung up
I dialed another nu until my mother answered
“Yes?” Sharp, in control
“Hello, Mom”
She sounded more surprised than happy “Penny”
“How are you?”
“I should be asking that of you Where are you right now? Wait here, I’ll get Darren—”
“I just finished talking to him,” I said quickly before she tried to hunt him down
She sounded wary “Really? And is he riding off to save you?”
“No, he’s not, because I’m not in trouble”
“What are you talking about? I’ve been worried sick—”
“You knohat Erin’s doing, don’t you?” I couldn’t hide the anger from my voice
Of everyone in my family, I should’ve pitied my mother the most
She had the least power She married my father because she ell-bred and caht’ve loved each other once, but toward the end, things fell apart After he died, she was left alone to try to e the best she could as her oldest son took over the Servant power structure
She was vestigial and worthless She wielded little power—and that always rankled her Mo to regain what she’d lost
Including helping my sister
She let out a long, exhausted breath “I’m aware, yes”
“Are you helping her?”
“It was in with, but she took it over”
“That doesn’t answer my question”
“Yes, Penny I’ve been helping her”
It was like a knife to uts “Do you know she sold me to Kaspar?”
“Only after the fact,” she said, pleading “I didn’t approve—”
“You didn’t stop it though”