My friends didn’t say a word, and Seamus cursed.
“I’m sorry,” I told him in a softer voice. “I get that you went into hiding to save what was left of the O’Malleys and to protect women like us.” I gestured from me to Edith, Brita, and Ursula. “But there comes a point when you have to take a stand. Last night, they attacked my family, and they killed another person we cared about. We will not walk away from that. I hope you’ll join us, and God knows we could use the help. But if you can’t get on board, well, then . . . get out of our way. We are going to get my father back, and we’re going to show Franc and the Morrisseys and anyone else who’s watching that we’ll fight back if they try to destroy us.”
Lucy found my free hand and gripped it. Asher had his arm around Lottie’s shoulder, and she touched Gabe’s arm. His fingers pressed mine again. We were all connected somehow, the five of us. My found family stood together as a united front, willing to climb deeper into hell if it meant putting an end to the fear and agony of these last months. And we would do it together, watching each other’s backs the whole way.
Silence stretched on as if Seamus hoped the ticking of the seconds would change our minds. When a full minute had gone by, I turned on my heel, and our group moved as one toward the door.
“Wait!” Seamus shouted. I paused and glanced back over my shoulder to find him studying me with grudging respect. “Have it your way then. I cannot speak for all of my men, but you have my aid if you wish it.”
“And mine.” Sean stepped forward, his smile wider and almost proud.
One by one, Brita, Edith, and Ursula volunteered, too. A lump formed in my throat that these people I didn’t know would fight alongside us.
Seamus’s blue eyes blazed at me with challenge. “You have us, but I still say we cannot go forward with our original plan. I don’t suppose you have a Plan B.”
I shared a quick glance with Gabe, and he gave me an encouraging nod. “As a matter of fact, we do.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
“Hello.” My grandfather answered his phone on the third ring.
I took a deep breath. “Hello, Franc.”
“Remy? This is a happy surprise,” he said.
He didn’t sound warm or jovial like he had the last time I’d called, but his calm voice gave nothing away about his true feelings. My heart fluttered in a little shock of fear, and sweat broke out on my forehead. A cowardly part of me had hoped that I would get a recording, but it was too late for that now. The only way forward was through it. I pictured Laura and Erin, both of them gone because of my grandfather’s ambition. That was enough to refortify my waning courage.
“Is it a surprise?” I asked, my voice caustic with bitter sadness. “I would have thought this is what you wanted.”
“What exactly is this?” he asked. “The last time you called you had an ulterior motive.”
There, I thought. He sounded angry, the edge of it cutting through his calm manner. Anger clouded things, and that was a good thing for our side. “This is me giving up,” I said.
I heard him breathing over the line and nothing else for several long seconds. “Why now?” he finally asked.
“I’m tired, Franc. Tired of running and watching the people I care about die. Last night with Erin . . .” My voice broke, and the grief was real, clogging my throat and making it ache with the pressure of what I held back. “I can’t watch another person die for me. I’m through fighting you.”
“What do you want?” he asked. He tried to hide excitement behind skepticism, but I could hear it anyway.
“I’ll give myself up on two conditions. You let my father go, and you don’t bother my friends or family again.”
“I can’t promise that,” he said immediately.
My palms had grown damp with sweat, and I rubbed them on my jeans. Franc thought he had all the power and would push me as far as I would let him. I had to make him believe that I wouldn’t bend on this. I imagined Gabe calling me Remington the Fierce, and that’s who I was when I said, “Then we have nothing to discuss. Good luck finding me the next time.”
I waited, pretending I would hang it up. A few seconds later, Franc called my name. “What?” I asked.
“I’ll see what I can do. The Morrisseys may not agree to this.”
My grandfather’s voice sounded sincere, but I didn’t believe him. “Not good enough. If I’m going to turn myself over to you, then I want guarantees. You bring my father, and I’ll bring my sister. I’ll go home with you, and you let my father go with Lucy.”
“You’re more powerful than I am. You don’t honestly believe that I’m going to come alone?” he asked.
I’d known this would be a sticking point and was prepared to counter. “So bring Xavier and Mark, but that’s it. Think about it, Franc. If you bring the Morrisseys, what’s to stop them from keeping me for themselves?”
There was another pause as he considered his options, but my grandfather knew I was right. The rumor was that Franc had promised to give me to the Morrisseys in exchange for their help, but I’d guessed all along that he intended to double-cross them. He hated them, and my grandfather had no compunction about betraying the people he loved let alone those he loathed.
Eventually, Franc caved. “Fine. Shall we come to you?”
“No,” I said. “We meet in public.”
“It sounds like you don’t trust me, granddaughter.” He sounded amused by that, and bile sloshed in my stomach.
I struggled to tamp my emotions down. Stay on plan, girl. “Let’s meet in the Reading Room at the British Museum. Tonight at six.”
“Okay,” he agreed. He waited one, two beats and then added in a dangerous voice, “But Remy, I have a condition of my own.”
I closed my eyes and waited.
“You won’t fight me anymore.” His whisper slid over me, promising and threatening at the same time. “You will do everything that is asked of you. If I give you to a Protector, you will give him what he wants. Do you understand?”
He would let them use me over and over again. The horror of what I imagined was there in my voice. “You’re a monster, Franc. My mother would be sick if she knew what you’d become.”
“Your mother was weak,” he snapped in a rage. “You will do what I ask, or I will kill your father. I’m tired of these games.”
“Okay,” I said, sounding beaten. “You have my word. As long as my father is there, I’ll do whatever you tell me.”
“Good. It’s not going to be so bad, granddaughter. You’ll be helping us win the war.”
A war that existed only in his mind. “Good-bye, Franc.”
“No. Not good-bye. I’ll be seeing you, Remy.”
He hung up, and I struggled to control my emotions. His soul had twisted into something that was hardly human anymore. What would my grandmother think of what he’d become in her name?
“Remy?” Asher asked from the seat beside me.
My stomach knotted and heaved.
“Stop the car!” I shouted.
Sean abruptly pulled over on the bridge, ignoring the horns sounding behind him. I jumped out, running to the ledge that kept foot traffic from falling into the water below. I gripped the stone with my free hand, feeling the weather-smoothed edge of it beneath my fingers as I bent over to stare at the water below. I thought I would be sick, but nothing came out when I heaved. When I could breathe normally, I pulled back my arm and pitched the phone as far as I could into the river below. Then I climbed back into the car, and Sean pulled away from the curb as if nothing had happened. Except I’d had the phone on speaker, and Seamus, Sean, and Asher had all heard how willing my grandfather was to use me.
“You okay?” Asher asked.
I nodded. Sean had driven us around the city while I spoke to my grandfather. It had been part of the plan to get rid of the phone since we expected Franc to trace the call, but Asher knew our stop had been about more than that. I fought back a fresh wave of tears. The car fell silent again
.
We passed the Wobbly Bridge, and I wished I could toss my pain away as easily as I had the phone. I knew what my grandfather was and it still hurt that he could plan to use me so callously. I sniffed, and a handkerchief suddenly appeared in front of me.
Sean held it out behind his head, and I met his eyes in the rearview mirror. “Well and now, I have to say that your grandfather is an arsehole,” he announced.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Sean. Do you have no tact?” Seamus said.
I laughed and took the handkerchief. “No, he’s right. Franc is an arsehole.”
In the front passenger seat, Seamus twisted around to ask, “Do you really think he’ll leave the Morriseys behind?”
“Yes,” I said. “They don’t fit with his plans, but he’s not coming alone. Mark and Xavier will be the least of our worries.”
Seamus nodded. “We’ll be ready for that.”
He turned around, and Asher said under his breath, “Are you sure this plan is going to work?”
Gabe had looked surprised when I’d asked if Asher could accompany me on this ride, but he’d agreed without asking any questions. He trusted me, and that was enough for him. Asher had seemed surprised, too, but explanations would come soon enough.
To answer his question, I whispered, “Well, it’s better than the plan Gabe and I had when we rescued you, and we made it out of that okay, didn’t we?”
He smiled down at me. “Does that mean you plan to crash a car through the museum?”
Sean overheard that, and his eyes met mine in the rearview mirror again. I smiled innocently. To Asher, I said, “Ha, ha.”
Sometime later we arrived back at the O’Malley house. Sean and Seamus exited the car, but I stopped Asher before he could follow them.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?”
A brief flicker of pain whispered through his eyes, but he hid it quickly. “Sure. What is it?”
I hadn’t told Gabe about this, but it was the reason that I’d wanted Asher to go in his place.
I hitched a leg up on the seat so I could turn to face him. “I need to ask you something and you’re going to hate it and it’s completely unfair to you and I’m so sorry, but there’s nobody else I could trust with this.”
“What, Remy?” he asked with a concerned frown. “You know you can tell me anything.”
The idea had come to me after I’d left the Phoenix in the sitting room this morning. It might not work, but it was all I had to cling to. I met Asher’s green eyes, letting him see all the hope in mine and then I leapt. “I need your help. I think I know how I can be free of all of this, but I can’t do it alone.”
“Whatever you need. I’m in,” he said without hesitation.
Relief flooded through me that I wouldn’t have to convince him to do this. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do.”
At exactly 5:46 P.M. that night, I walked into the Great Court at the British Museum with Lucy at my side. My sister’s head tipped back as she stared upward, and I followed her gaze. I had never been to the museum, but it had been Lottie’s idea to meet here. It was public, but it would offer places for our people to blend in and avenues for escape. We’d walked through the floor plans, but that wasn’t the same as seeing it in person. The Great Court had a glass and steel roof, and in the center of the court was a round, cream-colored building. Two large staircases wound up each side to gain entrance to the Reading Room.
“We’re all in place, Remy,” Gabe said. Seamus had given us tiny earpieces to communicate with each other. It was the next best thing to having Gabe beside me. He injected a note of humor in his voice as he asked, “Why did I agree to this plan again?”
I turned my head, acting as if I spoke to my sister as we walked across the Great Court. “Because you think it’s brilliant.”
“Right,” he said. “That must have been it.”
Lucy shook her head at our nervous banter, and I led the way to the staircase on the right.
“I wish you didn’t have to be here, Lucy.” We’d tried to think of another way to show Franc that I was naïve, but this had been the biggest gesture I could have made. At the very least, Franc would believe he could use her against me.
“I know,” she answered. Her voice only shook a little, and I wished I could hug her.
Swarms of people surrounded us as we climbed, and it was difficult to pick out one face in the crowd. My heart skipped along at an urgent pace, and I gripped Lucy’s arm, reminding myself that we weren’t alone. Somewhere behind us, Sean and another man followed at a distance in case Franc had decided to overtake us on our way in. I didn’t look for them, but I was relieved to know they were there.
Inside the Reading Room, my gaze was once more drawn upward to the blue, cream, and gold papier-mâché-domed ceiling. Bookshelves lined the curved walls on three floors of the round building. On the bottom floor, tables and desks had been arranged for visitors to read at their leisure. The grandeur of it was at odds with our purpose for being here.
We made our way to the bottom floor, where tourists took pictures and some locals sat at the tables with books propped open in front of them. Right away I spotted Franc sitting alone on one side of a long table. Stationed mere feet behind him, Xavier and Mark sat like two vultures waiting to pick apart a carcass. They had chosen a spot well away from anyone who might overhear our conversation.
My father was nowhere in sight, but then we’d expected that. I just prayed he was still alive. With one last shared glance with Lucy, I pushed her toward the front desk, well away from my grandfather and his men. Then I touched the phone in my pocket, hitting the speed dial for a number that would be our insurance. That was when Franc spotted me. A satisfied smile slanted across his face, and I could see his thoughts flashing across his face. Poor naïve Remy, falling for my tricks again. See how I’m going to use her. He thought he had me trapped. Duped.
And that was going to be his downfall.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
I squared my shoulders and strode forward. My grandfather watched my approach, and something new flared in his eyes when he studied my face. Caution, maybe.
Through the earpiece, Gabe warned, “Remy, pull back on the ferocity. You look like you’re going to kill the man as soon as you’re close enough to wrap your hands around his neck.”
That was the opposite of what we wanted Franc to think. A little anger would fly and would even be believable, but my grandfather had to see me as beaten. So worn out and out of options that I would deal with him. I lowered my gaze to the floor and slumped my shoulders. My gait slowed as if I dreaded nearing him. It helped that I wasn’t alone in this confrontation. We hadn’t known how many people Franc would bring, and his group could easily outnumber our reinforcements: Gabe, Asher, Lottie, Lucy, Seamus, Sean, Edith, Brita, Ursula, and Seamus’s Protectors. Some of Seamus’s Protectors occupied nearby tables or blended with the crowd. Franc had no idea because he didn’t know the O’Malleys or the potential Phoenix existed.
Gabe, Asher, and Lottie hid out of sight since they could be identified, but I could feel them watching over me and that gave me courage. Still, when I looked up, all traces of emotion had been smoothed away except defeat. My heart beat frantically in my chest when I slid into the seat across from my grandfather.
We stared at each other, taking in the differences that the last months had made. Franc’s shock of white hair had been trimmed close to his head, and he’d grown a beard. The white and gray whiskers loaned him a doting grandfather kind of appeal, and his brown eyes reminded me of my mother for one painful moment. It was his wide shoulders and hulking height that prompted me to remember that he was a threat and not the gentle giant he appeared. Words like gentle and doting didn’t describe the kind of man he was. For a moment, my anger threatened to resurface. Remember the plan, Remy. First, get proof of life. The whole plan is pointless if my father is dead.
It hurt to even think that word, and that pain echoed in my voice. “Where’
s my father, Franc? You agreed to bring him.”
My grandfather paused in his examination of my features, and I wondered what changes he’d noticed in me. Grief had acted like waves smoothing glass; sometimes I felt worn down to nothing. Other times, anger made me feel like glass before the water could soften the jagged edges. I threw one quick glance at Lucy to check on her. My sister looked scared but sturdy as she watched us, and I’d never been more proud of her.
Franc raised one gray brow, silently mocking me. He thought that he could push me around and I wouldn’t fight back.
I stood. “You didn’t keep up your end of the bargain. Deal’s off. We’re out of here.”
He laughed with a twisted kind of affection. “You haven’t changed, I see. Sit down.” I ignored his command. All amusement fled from his face, and my pulse sped up at the dangerous look in his eyes. He repeated, “Sit down,” in a soft voice.
Despite myself, I dropped into my chair with a thud that shuddered up my backbone.
“Remy, let’s get a few things straight. You’re not in a position to bargain here. You will walk out of this place with us, and you’re going to do it without calling any attention to us. Do you know why?”
A trickle of sweat slid down my back, my terror palpable as I shook my head.
My grandfather produced a phone from his coat pocket, pressed a few buttons on the screen, and then pushed it across the table. The phone’s screen showed a video feed. The camera tilted, panning indiscriminate shadows and light in a dizzying manner. Then Franc said, “Show Remy’s father,” and the camera moved up and stilled on a face.
My heart crashed to my stomach when I glimpsed my father for the first time in six months. I choked and reached for the phone to get a closer view, but Franc gripped my wrist.
“Calm down, or I take the phone away,” Franc warned, glancing around to ensure I hadn’t drawn attention to us. Nobody seemed to have noticed my outburst.
I bit my lip and nodded. Franc removed his hand, and my gaze slammed back to my father. They had tortured him. Both of his eyes had swollen shut, blood crusted at the corner of his mouth, and bruises of varying colors mottled the skin that I could see. Yellow, green, purple, red, pink. The colors meant he had been beaten so often that new bruises layered over the old ones. What kind of pain had he endured? Acid swished in my stomach, and I swallowed.
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