Graves spoke up for the first time since Flannery had come into the room. “I think you did the right thing.” He turned the the board. “We might as well check this address out, wouldn’t you agree? Show of hands?”
Thea’s stomach turned at his encouragement. That had to mean he’d orchestrated this, and Flannery was about to send them to the wrong place. Or to the right place, but they’d cleared it out already.
Most of the board raised their hands, but Stefan said, “This is the accused’s—”
“Now I’m the accused?” Thea broke in.
“This is Thea’s cousin,” Stefan corrected, but he sneered as he said her name. “She has an undeniable bias. I’d suggest we disregard anything she has to say.”
Everyone looked at Alecto, who considered Flannery for a few seconds, maybe looking for dishonesty. Finally she said, “I agree we should approach what she says with caution, but this is easy enough to verify.” She turned to the head of Security. “Gordon, take the address from her and send a couple people out there.”
“I want to go myself,” Thea said.
“You will stay here and answer the questions you’re asked,” said Alecto.
“But—”
“What about me?” Flannery asked. “I have more to say.”
Graves sighed. “All right. Let’s hear your statement, then.”
To Thea’s great surprise, Flannery told the truth.
She told the board (and Thea, who was hearing the details for the first time) that Graves had interviewed her, as she supposed he had several humans in the area, about working at the lab. The interview included some tests, and when Graves discovered she was hex immune, he offered her a considerable sum of money to become a subject of the experiments. The downside was that she would have to live at the lab, and couldn’t tell her friends and family where she’d gone. She’d decided it was worth it.
Her story backed up everything Thea had said, and openly implicated Graves. But Thea watched Graves’s face, and it never registered any anger or concern. What were they up to?
When Flannery finished, Graves asked the board whether they had any questions for her. Langdon asked several, about the experiments she’d undergone. Flannery answered them all with so much detail that Langdon announced, when he was finished, that he thought Flannery was telling the truth, and that the board ought to undertake an investigation of Thea’s claims.
Graves turned to Alecto. “I’d suggest that we break until after lunch, so we can hear what Gordon has to report before we go any further.”
“Agreed,” said Alecto. She looked at everyone else. “Any objections?”
Nobody had any, so the board filed out, as did the few furies who had been watching the proceedings. Thea found herself alone with Flannery and her escorts from Security.
“Can you give us a minute?” Thea asked the guards.
“We’re supposed to escort her off campus.”
“I’ll be quick. You can stand over by the door and keep us in your sights the whole time, if you need to.”
As soon as they were out of earshot, Thea rounded on her cousin. “What the hell is this?”
Flannery scowled at her. “It’s me saving your ass. And risking my own. You think they won’t get pissed off and come after me? So you’re welcome.”
“Saving my ass?” Thea shook her head. “Day before yesterday you were about to shoot me!”
“Day before yesterday you clawed my guts out!”
“Drama queen.”
“Bitch.”
“Flannery, why did you come here? We both know it wasn’t out of the kindness of your heart.”
Flannery turned away, looking sullen. “My mother told me she would never speak to me again if I didn’t. She said Pete thought you were going to be in some kind of trouble and it was the least I could do. Like I owe you after you cut me open! She always takes your side.”
The last part was too ridiculous to even mention, but Thea couldn’t let the rest stand. “You want to know what else I did, besides cut you open?” She ticked off on her fingers as she spoke. “Let’s see, I came running the second I found out you were missing. I bailed out your fiance and hired a lawyer good enough to get the charges dropped.” Thea extended the claws of her raised hand. “Then I came here and transformed myself into something that isn’t human just so I could find you. Lord in Heaven, Flannery, what do you want from me?”
Flannery glared. But then her eyes welled up with tears. “I don’t know!” she snapped.
Thea lowered her voice. “Will you please just tell me the truth? Graves is obviously playing along with you. He’s up to something.”
Flannery shook her head. “I’m sure he is, but I don’t know what. Honest I don’t. I really did come here for my mother’s sake.” She took a deep, shuddering breath and reached out to steady herself on the back of a chair.
“You’re still sick,” Thea said.
“Doctors think someone poisoned me with some ‘unidentified toxin.’”
“They’re pretty much right.”
Flannery nodded. “They say it might take a while to work it all out of my system.”
It was probably unethical, intruding on her cousin’s vices and virtues without her permission, but Thea regarded Flannery for a long time. There was the expected envy—she didn’t need to be a fury to see that—and a little wrath. But Thea didn’t see any falseness. It was possible it was just buried too deeply under Flannery’s other sins, but it was also possible it wasn’t there at all. And if she was telling the truth, that made Graves’s behavior all the more mysterious.
“You should go home and rest.” Thea signaled to the guard that they were finished.
Flannery started to walk toward him, but turned back to Thea. “I knew this whole thing was wrong, leaving and everything. But the wronger it got, the more I dug in, you know?”
Thea nodded. “I do know. That’s just like you.”
“Yeah, I guess it is.”
Thea watched her go, the list of things she’d done for her cousin still fresh in her mind. Was it worth it? Flannery clearly wasn’t grateful. Nor did Thea want her gratitude. She wasn’t sure she’d ever forgive Flannery, but that didn’t really matter. She hadn’t done it for her. At the start, she’d done it for Aunt Bridget, and that alone justified it in Thea’s mind.
As for the part of it she’d done for herself, she guessed she’d see whether that was worth it after lunch, when she found out what the board had to say.
Thea couldn’t find her friends at lunch, which only made her more nervous. Were they being intentionally kept away? Was it some intimidation tactic of Graves’s, to make Thea feel isolated? She forced down a sandwich without really tasting it, took an extra bottle of water, and headed back into the auditorium to wait.
When they came back in, half an hour late, the board all had especially stern faces, with the possible exception of Alecto, who always looked that way.
Langdon handed Thea an amulet. “You seem to have lost yours, and it’s against company policy to force you to testify without one.”
Testify? Another word that implied she was on trial. And for what? Thea held the amulet without putting it on. “I’ll volunteer to leave it off if you like.”
But Langdon shook his head. “Also against policy. Amulet-free testimony is inadmissible because it’s unreliable. Some furies can manipulate it.”
So Thea put on the amulet, and sat still for Graves to keep spinning his web around her.
But even knowing that he was plotting some deception, she was still stunned by his first question.
“Let’s just get right to the point. Did you help develop what you’ve so charmingly termed the superhex?”
That brought enough reaction from the onlookers to cause Graves to ask them to quiet down. Thea took advantage of the pause and collected herself.
Pretend you’re back on a red carpet. Nobody needs to know what’s going on inside. Just smile and wave and give them someone
to adore.
Somehow she didn’t think the smiling thing would work this time. But the reminder that she could, when she chose, construct a pretty good mask served her well. She was fairly sure her face was neutral when Graves turned back to her.
“I beg your pardon?” she asked.
“Come now, that’s the simplest question we’re going to ask all afternoon. If you need that one repeated, we’re in for a long one.” Several of the other department heads laughed.
Thea sat up straighter and glared at them, then at Graves. “It’s just that it was such a ridiculous question. Of course I didn’t. I’m the one who told you guys about it. Even someone your age should be able to remember two hours back.” She knew the insult was a mistake, but she couldn’t stop it from slipping out. At the board table, Megaira cleared her throat, and Alecto scowled at Thea.
Graves ignored the jab. “You’ve said you went into the woods more than once, to the cabin where blood and hexes were being exchanged between Hexing House and the offsite lab, correct?”
“Yes, to look for clues and try to figure out what was going on.”
“And you were at the lab itself for three weeks, participating in experiments?”
“Being forcibly experimented on.”
“And the cabin that you went to is the same cabin that was burnt to the ground yesterday?”
“You know it was.”
Graves nodded. “So any evidence of your activities there has been destroyed.”
Thea had no words for that. She could feel that web, winding around, tighter and tighter, but she had no idea how to stop it.
“We found the lab, Thea,” Graves said. “It was exactly where your cousin said it would be. The whole board was invited out there to see it, that’s why we were late in coming back.”
“Well, that’s good,” Thea said. “Then you should know I’m telling the truth.”
“About some things,” Graves agreed. “I understand that the obvious injuries Flannery came in here with today were inflicted by you.”
“Because you sent her after me when I got away, and she threatened me.”
Graves ignored this. “So is it possible that you had a falling out with your cousin, knew she was going to expose this scandal, and decided to preempt her to divert suspicion away from yourself?”
“I… no,” Thea said. “It’s not.”
“It’s not possible?”
“It’s not true.”
“Okay. We’re going to give you a break, Thea, while we talk to some others. But I must warn you, you can stay in this meeting only under the condition that you not disrupt it.”
Meaning, Thea supposed, that whatever he was about to pull out of his sleeve might make her lose control. She nodded stiffly and stepped off the stage.
Great, she thought as she took a seat in the audience. I get a front row seat to my own execution.
Graves turned and spoke to someone waiting off stage. “We’re ready for you.”
It was Cora.
She didn’t look Thea in the eye as she sat down, but she did give Graves a pleasant smile.
No. No, she’s just playing along. She was there last night, telling Alecto the truth. Because she’s my friend. She wouldn’t—
“Cora, I know this is awkward for you, but I also know we can trust in that legendary frankness of yours,” Graves said, drawing smiles from both Cora and several members of the board. “Tell us, has Thea, at any point in your acquaintance, struck you as unstable?”
“Yes,” Cora said without hesitation. “The first time I ever had a meal with her, she fainted in the dining hall.”
“And did she tell you why she fainted?”
“She was introduced to someone who she said gave her a vision. After that she was kind of obsessed about it. She kept talking about all these conspiracy theories, and blood being stolen.”
“And who was this person?”
“Hester.”
Graves waited for this to sink in among the murmuring board members and audience, then repeated Hester’s name. “And we tragically lost Hester a short while ago, after she was attacked by an unknown assailant.”
“Yes,” Cora agreed.
So. Hester had died, then. Thea had been so caught up since she got back, first with the fire, then this meeting-turned-trial, that she hadn’t thought to ask about her. There was no time to mourn for her now.
“Did any of these conspiracy theories of Thea’s involve weapons?” Graves asked.
“Well, she talked a lot about the apocalypse, and smiting demons. The Book of Revelation, I think, but I don’t know the Bible well.”
Thea listened with increasing disbelief, willing herself not to cry. First Flannery, now Cora. Who else was going to come out and betray her? She almost expected Aunt Bridget next, or Pete. Thea wondered when Graves had flipped Cora over to his side. Or maybe she’d always been there.
After a few more questions meant to paint Thea as a paranoid lunatic who may or may not have come to Hexing House in the first place with the intention of destroying it, Cora was dismissed. Thea knew she wasn’t supposed to interrupt, but she also didn’t see how much worse it could get.
“Wait.” Thea stood. “Ask her about the fire and Mr. Fanatic. Ask her about the salt we saw last night.”
“Thea, if you are unable to control yourself, I will have you removed. But in this case, I should actually thank you.” Graves reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a sandwich bag filled with something white. “I’d nearly forgotten the salt. We found it in your residence during the lunch break.”
Thea felt like she’d swallowed a boulder of ice. She couldn’t just sit here and watch as they did this to her. She had to be stronger, smarter. She had to find a way to defend herself without playing into Graves’s hands.
But for the life of her, she couldn’t think how.
And she wasn’t sure it mattered. Probably they’d made up their minds what to do with her before this meeting even started.
“Cora, have you seen Thea with this salt before?”
“Yes,” Cora said. “She said it was blessed by a priest, and that it would come in handy.”
Just when Thea thought she was beyond being shocked by this farce, Graves turned to the board table and said, “Alecto, we have some questions for you.”
Alecto looked just as surprised as Thea. “Oh?”
“Please.” Graves gestured to the chair Cora had just vacated. “I know you’re busy. We all are. It won’t take long.”
“All right.” Alecto seated herself and asked, “What’s this all about?”
“Is it true that Hexing House is experiencing some financial difficulties?”
Alecto frowned. “How is this relevant?”
Graves smiled at his niece. “Just something Stefan brought up before we came back from lunch, and I’m sure we can clear it up quickly. Any trouble in that area?”
“Rumors,” Alecto said. “Mainly from a couple of disgruntled Inflictors who wanted to claim to be laid off instead of fired.” She glared at Stefan and added, “As you know.”
“Do I?” Stefan raised his eyebrow in that smug way he had, and even though Thea didn’t understand what this had to do with their intent to frame her, she still wanted to claw at his face.
“Of course. You’ve all seen the balance sheets.” Alecto gestured at the head of Finance and Accounting. “Ask Iren.”
Iren coughed and stood up. She was a stout, solemn fury who Thea had shaken hands with once, at her transformation celebration, when Langdon introduced her as his wife.
“It’s true that our income has gone up this year,” Iren said in a barely audible voice. “Business has been quite good.”
“But?” Graves prompted.
“But there have also been a number of, erm, unaccounted for expenses. Large withdrawals under project numbers that don’t exist.”
“Made by whom?”
“By Alecto, in every case.”
Alecto gasped and
stood. “I beg your pardon? Are you actually accusing me of embezzling?”
Graves, looking every inch his name, said nothing. It was Stefan who stood and spoke.
“We’ve heard the evidence, and we’ve seen the lab for ourselves. We know somebody was working on a superhex. As our colony has no political enemies to go to war with, logically the only reason to develop a weapon of mass destruction is to sell it to the highest human bidder. I’m afraid the obvious conclusion is that Alecto was looking for a way to make money to cover her indiscretions, and this is what she settled on. And that Thea was in collusion with her.”
“This is ridiculous,” Alecto said. “You all know better than that. Megaira?”
But her sister wouldn’t meet her eye.
When Graves spoke again it was in a booming voice, grandstanding, enjoying his moment. “As difficult as this is, we have a clear duty here. The members of the board will have to weigh their next steps very carefully. I recommend in the meanwhile that both Alecto and Thea be suspended and placed under guard.”
They weren’t confined to their residences—yet—but Thea stayed in hers anyway. Going to the dining hall with a security escort, subjecting herself to all those stares, the mocking of Philip and his friends, was unimaginable. If Cora had betrayed her, that no doubt meant Nero and Elon had as well. There was nobody she wanted to see.
So when someone pounded on her door, she ignored it. Then she ignored it a second time, and a third.
Finally, Alecto’s voice sounded from the hall. “If you’re hiding in there, that’s the human Thea. I need the fury.”
Thea opened the door.
Without greeting, Alecto walked in and flopped down on the couch. It was unsettling. Alecto was not a person Thea associated with flopping. It had a defeated quality to it that brought home just how much trouble they were in.
Alecto leaned over to check that the door was closed, then asked, “Do you believe them? That this was all my doing?”
“How can I, after I just watched them do the same thing to me?” Thea sighed. “If you’d asked me yesterday, I wouldn’t have put it past you. But the way I see it, they wouldn’t have framed you if they thought they could keep getting away with it under your watch.”
Rising Fury (Hexing House Book 1) Page 16