“We should all sit,” Linus said, steering the conversation as he shut the door behind him.
“Of course, dear.” The Grande Dame reclaimed her chair, and I took the one across from her. “Now, what’s all this about?”
“There’s an issue with Amelie Madison.” He perched on the edge of her desk. “We need to relocate her.”
“I worried this might happen.” She clucked her tongue. “Has there been more trouble? Is she attempting to remove her bindings? Has Grier or Woolworth House been harmed?”
“No,” Linus was quick to assure her, for which I was grateful. “She’s been a model employee.”
A pucker gathered across her forehead. “Then I fail to see the issue.”
“Boaz is engaged,” I croaked, wiping my face dry only for it to dampen again.
The Grande Dame appeared more perplexed than ever. It was almost funny. Well, not really.
Cocking her head, she studied me. “Surely that’s good—”
“Mother,” Linus bit out the word to curb whatever she had been about to say.
Huffing out a sigh, she stilled. “Explain why this is a bad thing and how it affects the indenture.”
“Woolworth House has developed an attachment to Boaz over the years.” Linus traced the woodgrain beneath him with a fingertip. “She believed that, thanks to Grier’s childhood infatuation with him, the two of them would marry.”
Nothing short of him lunging across the desk and clamping his hand over her mouth could have stopped her guffaw from escaping. “Surely not.”
“Woolly is unaware of the change in Boaz’s circumstances,” he continued, without acknowledging her outburst, “and it’s our concern that she will react badly, perhaps violently, to this news.”
As much as I wanted to protest on Woolly’s behalf, she did have a mercenary streak. Linus could attest to that.
“Where do you propose we relocate her?” Her amusement waned into annoyance. “She is Grier’s charge. The fact her brother will marry doesn’t change that. Grier made a pact with the Society, and it cannot be broken.”
“We understand,” he demurred. “For her safety, all we ask is that she be confined to the carriage house rather than the main house.”
“No.” Her scowl could have cut glass. “She is a danger to all those around her. I respect Grier for sparing her in the name of friendship, such loyalty is commendable, but I will not allow her to live with my son.”
“Grier has offered to allow me to move into Woolworth House, with her.”
A stillness permeated the room. Shock, perhaps. Clearly, the Grande Dame hadn’t anticipated this.
“Oh, well, that’s a horse of a different color.” Her expression smoothed into a flawless mask her son had learned to mimic well. “I have no issue with you taking up residence in your old room at Woolworth House.”
No imagination was required to picture her clapping her hands under her desk. Her intention had always been to have Linus bunk with me, the better to spy on me. But after all Linus and I had been through, I was willing to extend the man a little faith. Maybe even a lot.
“We’ll have to secure the carriage house, but we can make the transition by the end of the week,” he told her, all business. “You’re welcome to send a representative to oversee the transfer if you’d like.”
“I trust you to spearhead this.” She smiled softly at him. “Keep me updated on your progress, and I’ll notify the council at our next meeting.”
“Thank you, Mother.”
“Thank you,” I echoed.
The Grande Dame reached for my hand, and I had no choice but to let her hold it after the allowance she made for me. “I am sorry you’re hurt, Grier, but surely you must see this is why Maud was so opposed to the pairing.”
Maud had never been in favor of the match, true, but she had never said or done anything to make me think she minded our friendship as long as Boaz kept seeing me as kid-sister material. Had he taken an interest, sure, then she would have stepped in and put a stop to our flirtations. But he had never given her any cause for alarm on that point.
“Maud wanted more for you.” She cut her eyes to Linus. “She wanted—”
“Mother,” Linus said in a soft voice that spoke of exhaustion on a topic not worth revisiting.
The Grande Dame exhaled through pursed lips but caged whatever else she had to say behind her teeth.
That might have had more to do with the Elite who appeared in her doorway than him, but I’d take it.
“We’ll leave you to your work,” he said formally. “Thank you for your time.”
“We’ll discuss your trip at dinner on Sunday, darling,” she said in dismissal before turning her attention to the new arrival.
Linus cupped my elbow, hauled me to my feet, and all but dragged me from the room.
Exercising that newfound trust between us, I didn’t question him but followed his lead.
Not until the elevator doors swished closed behind us did I break. “What was that about?”
“You didn’t recognize him?” Linus dropped my arm and got busy texting. “He was one of the Elite who responded to Amelie’s call for help.”
“He’s going to report to her on the incident,” I groaned. “She’ll force us to go back and make a statement.”
“She’ll have to catch us first.” Linus flashed a mischievous smile as we reached the lobby, and took me by the hand. He tugged me after him right up to the curb where a white van idled. Behind the wheel, Tony saluted with a can of energy drink. “Hurry before she sends him after us.”
I wanted to laugh, goddess knows I did, but I didn’t have enough light in me to manage. What smidgen of levity I possessed shriveled when reality struck home. “I have to break the news to Woolly.”
“How do you want to handle it?” Linus exhaled once the door rolled shut behind us. “Do you want me there, or will that make things worse?”
“It’s best if I do it alone. She might lash out, and I don’t want you to make an easy target for her.” I chewed on my bottom lip, mentally curating a to-do list. “We’ll have to completely empty the carriage house before Amelie moves in. There are too many artifacts stored there, and the trunks in the living room have to go too.”
“Can you wait and tell her when we’re ready?”
“The wards are too strong.” I shook my head. “Woolly senses my emotions when I’m in contact with her, and I’m a crap actress. I won’t be able to fake it around Amelie. Not this time. Woolly will realize something happened, and she won’t rest until I confess.”
Nodding like he expected as much, Linus sat back. “We’ll postpone your lessons for the time being. It’s more important to get Amelie resettled.”
“The Kinase pack needs debriefing too.” But how to call them to me? Here boy would get me bitten, I was sure. “They might want to sleep under the stars, but I still have to feed them and teach them the rules. I can’t have them accidentally eating the wrong people.”
Though, to be fair, most of my visitors were of the edible variety.
In all my life, I can’t remember ever dreading the moment when Woolly came into view, but the sight of her columns set my gut roiling.
I didn’t want to break the news about Boaz to her. I wanted to keep on pretending like always. That this girl too would pass, that one day he would wake up and realize I was it for him. But engagements were serious business, and Odette was right. Divorce did not exist within the Society. Marriage was a contract that couldn’t be voided.
Boaz had taken a crucial step toward an irrevocable bond, and nothing I said or did would change that.
It was time I let him go. For good.
After the van parked, I glanced over at Linus. “Wish me luck?”
“Good luck.” The worry pinching his expression didn’t sell it.
While Linus squared up with Tony, I dragged my feet across the lawn and trudged onto the porch.