Judged

by Liz de Jager

  ‘Thank you, sir.’ Dante shakes Andrew’s hand and exits the study quietly, pulling the door shut behind him.

  ‘That is a nice kid. I like him.’

  ‘Told you so. Will you tell Jamie to calm down now?’

  ‘You can tell him yourself. He’ll be here in the next day or so.’ Andrew sits down in the large leather chair opposite me. ‘I think now is as good a time to talk as any about a few things, Kit, don’t you?’

  I’ve faced monsters and fought nightmares. Seeing Uncle Andrew’s serious expression makes my heart thunder and my hands sweat.

  ‘You’ve promised, ages ago, to tell me about my parents. You kept mentioning Christmas and it’s not quite Christmas yet …’ I pull up a smile. ‘Three weeks to go.’

  ‘It’s close enough and it’s time you know what I know.’

  Andrew’s serious expression is disconcerting. I sit upright on the couch and cross my legs under me so I’m facing him properly.

  ‘I don’t know if I want to hear any of this,’ I say, and I can’t quite believe that I admitted that. ‘I mean, obviously I want to know, but it’s going to change my perception of them, isn’t it? It could change how I see the family, and myself. Are you going to explain why my grandmother took me away?’

  ‘It’s time that you know, Kit. All of it – as much as I know to be true, anyway.’

  I stare around the Garretts’ library. It’s a friendly room that invites conversation and study – but the mood is ominous in here now despite the welcoming fire in the grate.

  ‘Okay.’ I exhale through my nose and roll my shoulders as if I’m preparing for a fight. ‘I’m ready.’

  Andrew folds his hands on his lap and leans forward in the chair a little. He’s a big, bearded guy in his fifties and still looks as if he could go a few rounds with the monster of the moment. But right now, he almost looks nervous.

  ‘Your mother Sammy was always a little wild. But she had her head screwed on right. She hung out with Miron a lot when she was a teenager and she worried us with her wild partying but Mirabelle – your grandmother – just laughed and pointed out the stupid things we all did when we were younger. She knew her daughter and told us to stay out of her business. Sammy finished school, went to university and she met this guy there – he was German. His name was David Hoffman. We didn’t think anything of it, at first. But then we found out that David was a Spook. He had been sent to make friends with Sam, to get her to give up as much about the Blackharts as she knew. Obviously things got out of hand and the family went crazy. My father wanted Mirabelle to order Sammy to come home, to break it off with this boy, but Mirabelle stood firm. She would not have her daughter’s happiness jeopardized. We couldn’t understand it. The guy was a Spook. They’d been trying to find a way into the family since the eighteen hundreds. And here he was, this threat to the family, and Mirabelle just told us to back off.’ The silence in the library lay heavy and, as only a few lamps were lit, the room was swathed in shadows.

  ‘Gran was so badass.’

  ‘Yes, she was. My father, her brother, was head of the family back then. He threatened Mirabelle and she just ignored him and told him to mind his own business. He insisted Sammy was his business. Mirabelle wouldn’t budge and she told him she would cut her ties with the family if he dared throw his weight around. She said that the family was a democracy and that she wouldn’t stand by and see her child threatened. Anyway, my father cooled off after that. Mirabelle was an incredible asset to the family. She knew Fae lore like the back of her hand and he was reluctant to alienate her. She was working closely with your aunt Letitia to expand our libraries at the time, so losing her would have been a terrible blow to the family. And she’d already lost her husband years before, when Sammy was about eight. My father knew that Mirabelle blamed him for her husband’s death. Anyway, by this time Sammy knew that David was a Spook but she was okay with it. She finished her university degree and did jobs for the family when and where required, and she was good. Kit, your mother was one of the most talented strategists I’ve ever come across. She had a gift that would have made her a general in days of old. And obviously, she could fight. She had classical training in a variety of weapons but she could brawl with the best of the East End’s bullyboys.’

  ‘She sounds amazing.’

  ‘She was. And David worshipped her. He proposed the day she got her degree and she said yes. She started doing jobs for the Spooks on a freelance basis. My father had died by then and I’d taken over running the family. And even though I wasn’t happy with the way things were going, I’d have had to be blind not to see how much David loved her and that she loved him. I made them wait another year to get married, though, because I felt that they were both really young. But when that year was up, they set their wedding date and I’ve never seen the likes of it since. Imagine a wedding in the grounds of the Manor, Kit. With Miron and his ilk rubbing shoulders with full-blown Sidhe. Even Suola showed up. She was very fond of your mother. It was quite the party and it was easy enough for everyone to see that Sam and David were in love. A year and a half later you were conceived. And Samantha came to me one night, very late, very pregnant. She wanted out. She wanted to leave the family behind, take David and go and live somewhere quiet and away from the craziness that surrounds our family.’

  ‘What did you say?’

  ‘I agreed. The Blackhart family is large. Sam leaving was a blow to the family, but it was what she wanted. She had her studies she could fall back on. She’d been offered a job as an assistant professor at Oxford to teach theology, which was something she wanted to do. David would quit his job as a Spook and find something else too. His training was unique and he was sure he could get a job doing something for the government.’

  ‘So they left?’

  ‘They did. They moved to Oxford and Mirabelle couldn’t have been more proud. They were so happy with the new life they’d made for themselves. We stayed in touch, of course, and you were just a few months old when they were on their way down to the Manor for Christmas, and their car was attacked.’

  I gape at him. ‘No. They died in a car crash. My nan told me. There was no –’ my voice hitches – ‘attack.’

  ‘They were attacked by a group of redcaps. Their car was mutilated. Sammy died instantly. David wasn’t so lucky. He …’ Andrew swallows. ‘He fought them off and was cut to shreds. When the rescue services found them, David had crawled halfway into the car to be with Sammy. He was holding her, and between the two of them, the firemen found you, fast asleep.’

  Tears spill unchecked down my face. ‘That’s … awful.’

  ‘I know. Jamie found traces of redcap interference at the crash site and he tracked them. But they disappeared into the Otherwhere and we never knew who’d sent them. At the funeral Mirabelle couldn’t even look at me. She held you as we lowered your parents into their graves and then she just took you and walked away from the graveyard. And she kept on walking. Initially we thought she’d come back, but we lost all trace of her. For years and years we had no idea where she was. Jamie reluctantly admitted a few years ago that he’d been following your and Mirabelle’s progress through Europe, China and Japan. He’d known where you were all along and he’d kept it from us. When you surfaced in the UK again, in that village, he’d reached out to Mirabelle and she’d asked him to stay away. Then, on the night of the fire, she’d called him, frantic. She’d been spotted by one of the Sidhe. Without the family’s protection she knew that she was in danger, but more importantly, that you were in danger. She asked Jamie to come and fetch you. But by the time he arrived, he found the house in flames with firemen crawling over the place. Mirabelle was dead and you were in hospital with smoke inhalation.’

  ‘And then he came to fetch me and we tracked the Sidhe and the redcaps …’ I scrub at my face and sniff. ‘I really wasn’t ready to hear any of this, Andrew.’

  ‘You needed to know, Kit.’

  ‘My parents were murdered.’ I gratefull
y accept the handkerchief he holds out to me and blow my nose. ‘You’ve tried to figure out who did this?’

  ‘We think the redcaps happened across them by accident. They saw the opportunity and took it. We’ve looked into the jobs your parents did prior to their death and there was nothing there out of the ordinary. Nothing at all. The cases were closed and that was it.’

  ‘Someone hated my parents enough to kill them.’ My brain can’t seem to get past this. ‘Why would anyone do this? They weren’t bad people.’

  ‘I can’t say, Kit. But we’ve searched, trust me when I say this. Jamie’s not left a stone unturned since that day. When he’s not on jobs, he’s following leads. And it all points directly to it being luck on the redcaps’ part. Samantha and David were in the wrong place at the right time.’

  I wipe my eyes again and stuff the handkerchief in my pocket. ‘Thanks, Andrew … for telling me this. I need to be alone for a little while, I think.’

  Andrew stands and walks me to the door. I slip out and take the servants’ stairs at the back of the house. I start sobbing as soon as my door is locked behind me. I crawl onto my bed and pull my duvet over my head and cry. I cry for my parents and I cry for my nan, but mostly, I cry for myself – because, due to some random fluke, I never had the chance to know my mum and dad. I hold onto the small piece of antler around my neck that had been my mother’s and I wish with all my heart that I’d never been born into this family. If it weren’t for that, I’d have grown up with both my parents still alive.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  I don’t make it down to dinner. I fall asleep, and when I wake up hours later, I’m a mess of swollen eyes and my nose has started bleeding again. I stumble into the shower and afterwards pull on yoga pants and one of Aiden’s T-shirts and crawl back into bed. It’s after midnight when someone scratches on my door.

  ‘Kit? Hey, Kit. I’ve got hot chocolate. Let me in.’

  ‘I’m not good company right now, Meg. Sorry.’

  ‘If I wanted good company I’d be hanging out with Aiden and his boyfriend. But I can only stand so much existential angst as they stare at one another in this weird I think I’m in love with you but I’m not sure you love me back kind of way.’

  I laugh. ‘You’re not going to go away, are you?’

  ‘Nope.’

  And God, when did she become this annoying? I shuffle over, unlock the door and shuffle back to the bed.

  Megan is dressed in pyjamas and ridiculous knee socks with pompoms. Her hair’s pulled back in a messy bun on the top of her head and she looks about nine.

  ‘You are such a sucker for this stuff,’ she says, and hands me my hot chocolate. ‘Shift up so I can get into bed. It’s bloody freezing out.’

  She squirms until she’s comfortable and I smile at her.

  ‘You look like you’ve been dragged backwards through a bush, girl,’ she tells me seriously. ‘But the hot choc will help. I even have cookies.’

  ‘I’m not hungry,’ I say, and see her jaw drop.

  ‘Are you the real Kit Blackhart?’ she demands, leaning close. She sticks her tongue out and actually licks my cheek. ‘No, you still taste like her.’

  ‘Uch, what the hell, Megan?’ But she’s made me laugh as I scrub my face with my sleeve. ‘You’ve just become even weirder since I last saw you.’

  ‘But you still love me,’ she points out sagely.

  ‘Sometimes. I love you sometimes.’ I sigh. ‘I have missed you, though. Are you only staying for Christmas?’

  ‘Yeah, school starts again in the new year.’

  We chat about her studies in New York and she looks so happy and relaxed that I envy her.

  ‘But I miss you and Marc.’ She closes her eyes for a moment. ‘Seriously. My twin is giving me complete nightmares. He’s become this complete bundle of stress lately – and even with Kyle there to help with the house, it’s just got worse.’

  ‘What’s he worried about? School stuff?’

  ‘Yes, but this past two weeks it’s mostly the Glow thing. One of his college friends died from an overdose, like two days ago.’

  I stare at her in shock. ‘I didn’t know. He never said anything. He should have said something. He knows we’re handling the case.’

  ‘You’re doing really well, Kit, calm down.’ Megan’s expression has turned very serious. ‘You took out the main factory making this crap when you took down the Jericho Gang. My dad’s been talking to the SOCA guys for most of the day and – thanks to you and the boys – they have a paper trail now. They’re hitting all the businesses listed in this guy Pensa’s files and raiding them. This stuff is being taken off the streets and no more kids will die.’

  ‘But Merrick escaped,’ I say. ‘He led us straight into a trap and ran off.’

  ‘Whatever your boy Dante threatened him with obviously didn’t scare him enough.’

  ‘You know about that?’

  ‘Kit, you’ve been asleep for most of the day. We’ve been talking non-stop for hours and hours while you were up here.’

  ‘Oh.’ I take a sip of my hot chocolate and make happy noises. ‘Well, I suppose that’s okay then. When is Marc getting here with Kyle?’

  ‘Tomorrow, I think. Looks like we’re all camping out at the Garretts’ for Christmas this year.’

  ‘It doesn’t bother you?’ I stare into my mug. ‘Blackhart Manor is almost rebuilt, and instead of celebrating Christmas there, we’re all over here?’

  ‘Christmas is about family and not where you spend it. Besides, the place has no furniture. And the Garretts have the best beds. My room here is on the far side, in the east wing. The bed is massive, it has a canopy, and the ceiling is painted.’ She rolls her eyes. ‘It will give me delusions of grandeur.’

  We chat for another hour or so until she switches the light off and we curl up together and fall asleep.

  I wake up before dawn and stumble out of bed, my heart thudding against my chest.

  Something is wrong. I can feel the wrongness trembling through me. I grab for my sword but it’s gone; missing after Jimmy brought us back. Instead I pluck my baton off the nightstand and yank the door open just as there’s a muffled shout from Dante’s room and a loud crashing noise. I don’t hesitate. I shoulder his door open and take in the chaos of his room with a glance. Dante’s grappling with a large Sidhe warrior in black armour.

  The guy has him up against the wall and he’s slamming Dante’s head into it. He barely glances over his shoulder at me but Dante’s eyes widen and he holds out a hand towards me as if he’s trying to warn me off. The warrior takes Dante’s lack of attention as an opportunity and just hefts Dante up and into the air with shocking ease and throws him across the room.

  As the guy spins towards me I run at him with my baton, whipping my wrist forward so that it extends with a neat little snikt sound. He parries my attack with the back of his gauntlet and I let the baton slide down his arm as I step into his space. I grab the top of his cuirass and pull him towards me as I drop my head. Completely taken surprise by my utter lack of strategy, the guy is caught off guard. As my forehead crunches into his nose, he staggers back with a shout of pain.

  There’s movement and yelling behind me. The guy scrabbles to get away from me and runs towards Dante, who’s woozily trying to get to his feet. The guy grabs hold of Dante, flings a last look at me as I move closer and then pulls a small token from around his neck.

  I’m still in shock, remembering all too clearly how Istvan took Thorn and disappeared with him while everyone else was too busy arguing.

  No. This can’t be happening again.

  As he holds onto Dante, who’s sagging heavily, the Sidhe snaps the token between his fingers and then they’re gone.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  The noise is apocalyptic within Dante’s room. There is a lot of shouting and people talking fast. I stay low, curling into myself because it’s just too much to deal with on top of Dante’s disappearance. I swallow my rising nausea
as my head starts pounding and press my hand to my mouth. This is no time for histrionics, I tell myself. We have to get to Dante. He’s been taken by the Sidhe to who knows where – I’m pretty sure it’s not anywhere good, like the Maldives.

  ‘Come with me.’ Aiden pulls me up. He pushes me ahead of him and walks me out of the room, his broad back a barrier against the noise of his dad, Jonathan, and Andrew arguing about the best way to find out where Dante is now.

  ‘We have to find him, Aide,’ I mutter. ‘They can’t have him too.’

  ‘I know, Kit, I know. Let’s just get you sorted out. I need you thinking and on your feet. Right now you’re freaking out.’

  To my surprise he takes me outside and I shiver in my light clothes but he holds me close. The garden has been transformed by an overnight snowfall and is now a vision of white. It looks magical and beautiful.

  ‘Just breathe for me, okay? Get some of the air into your lungs. Ground yourself.’

  ‘It’s cold, Aide,’ I say, and point to my feet. ‘I’m not wearing socks.’

  ‘Kit.’ Aiden points vehemently. ‘Look at what I’m showing you.’

  It takes me a few seconds to make out the figure in the cloak, as he comes walking out of the shadows. Thorn’s wrapped against the cold and he holds another cloak in his hand.

  ‘How did you know I was here?’ Thorn’s voice is pitched low so that it would only reach our ears. With the house behind us filled with angry wolves and shocked Blackharts, we didn’t need an audience.

  ‘You said he was family. That you would look out for him. You knew something like this would happen.’ Aiden’s hands curl into loose fists at his side. ‘You saw it in our future, didn’t you?’

  Thorn’s looks as if this is the very last place he wants to be, but he nods. ‘I thought someone would find him and see his potential. I saw him being taken, in so many possible futures, but I just couldn’t be sure … I’m sorry.’