by A. L. Tyler
But Griffin continued to stand.
“How can you be so sure it will never be found? How do you propose to prove such a thing? You can’t expect to be able to, and you can’t expect I will treat you like every other family because you’re not.” Jason said.
“He’s right. Expecting treatment of that nature is unfounded—you’ve proven you can’t be trusted.” Master Astley jumped in. “There is too much at stake here to make the mistake of trusting you when we shouldn’t.”
“Perhaps not, but you must realize we have similar goals. We all want the killing to stop. War isn’t good for anyone.” Lena said.
“As long as his types keep human-borns out of the Council, then I don’t see it stopping.” Jason nodded at Griffin. “He’ll vote them all down.”
“He won’t. I won’t.” Lena said softly.
I will. Griffin said. They don’t deserve—
“And as a gesture of good faith, and in celebration of the birth of our son, we’ll give Waldgrave to them.” Lena’s voice became slightly tremulous toward the end of this statement, but it had the desired effect. “Until Rollin, they were very good friends of mine and I want them back. I want to make peace with them because we’ve stood on opposite sides of the fence long enough—we’ll give them Waldgrave, and they can control the yearly Council arrangements. There are a lot of people out there, who were forced out of their homes when all of this started. They need a place to stay, and as long as they keep the peace, they can stay here.”
“What?” Master Astley was watching her with great intrigue. He glanced over at Howard, and then looked at Griffin. “You will?”
That’s enough, Lena! She could practically feel the rage coming off of Griffin in waves.
“We will. Howard can draw up the paperwork later, you can bring in some of the murderers responsible for my mother’s death, and Griffin will sign it over. It’s in his name, even if you are living here, and he still owns it.” Lena was edging her seat away from Griffin. “The kitchen’s spotless—I know they’re here. Bring up Rollin’s second, whoever it is or whoever’s available and we’ll work out the terms.”
“I won’t.” Griffin muttered, trembling with anger. “They’re not going to give us anything in return—they don’t deserve it!”
Lena looked at him, trying to sound serious but not too cold. She had to stay with Griffin, and Brandon had to stay with her; she was so close to having it, and she wasn’t about to let Griffin ruin it. She lowered her tone. “If you don’t, I’ll agree to a Council ordered paternity test and you might not like the results.”
Griffin had too much composure to let his jaw drop, but only just barely. He looked over at Astley and Rivera, who seemed as stunned as he was. Howard had raised a hand to cover his mouth.
“You’re saying he’s not the father?” Jason said with interest.
“He’s the father.” Lena responded flatly.
Jason furrowed his brow. “Then why would you say…?”
Lena shrugged indifferently. “He’s the father. I’m just saying, that’s all. Griffin, sit down!”
Griffin glared at Jason, and then they both sat back down. Seeing the mere seed of doubt that Lena had planted seemed to be threat enough.
“Okay.” Lena said, licking her lips. “Okay. So that’s progress. You want restrictions? We’ll call it the same way we did before. We’ll move out to some old family land in Greece. An island. None of us will be able to leave without your knowing. Okay, so that’s my reparation towards the human-borns. I want Griffin to have access to his son. Since we’re going to be doing paperwork, we might as well sign some pardons while we’re at it.”
Enough! Griffin shouted.
“We’ll lift the exile placed on Warren Astley and reinstate Eric Mason to the Council.”
ENOUGH! Griffin was turning red. “I’ll give you Astley, that’s your debt to forgive, but I won’t be signing anything put Mason back in! There are laws, and we follow them for a reason, I will not allow him back in!”
“It’s a show of good faith, just sign the damn paper!” Lena screeched. “Look, you’ve got Brandon, what the hell else can the rest of this do for you? I don’t want to live my life constantly looking over my shoulder, so you’re going to make concessions, dammit!”
They glared at each other. Griffin crossed his arms; he didn’t say anything.
After several minutes of silence, Master Astley cleared his throat and suggested they break for dinner. True to form, Griffin insisted they were done for the evening and asked that talks continue the next day after breakfast. Master Astley escorted them up to Griffin’s room, where the bags had already been delivered, and Rosaleen was up shortly with Brandon. She excused herself to bring up dinner for the three of them.
Griffin was absolutely seething. I can’t believe you…
With Brandon back in her arms, she paced near the window as Griffin walked the whole length of the room. “They’re tokens, Griffin. We talked about this last night—there’s nothing I can give them that will be enough to actually take the power away from you. I don’t see why you’re getting so upset.”
You could have told me first! He finally grabbed a chair and sat down, running a hand across his face, still too angry to speak. He’s mine. He’s supposed to be my heir, this is my house, it’s my decision to forgive Mason if I choose, and you just…they know something’s up now! How could you be so stupid!
Brandon was becoming more upset by the second, even though Lena knew he couldn’t hear what Griffin was saying.
Lena, these things are mine to give, not yours, and I will not become your puppet! I won’t…I’m not Jason Rivera—you can’t just puppet me around! Your giving things away, and what am I getting in return?!
She took Brandon over to the bed and laid down with him. “You get to keep your throne. You get Brandon. You get me. And if we’re damn lucky, we get to keep our lives. That’s what you’re getting in return. A really long vacation in Greece.” Lena muttered. “You love Greece. You used to send me postcards back when I was trapped here and you were being a mule for illegal artifacts. Good times.”
Griffin shook his head, watching her lie on the bed. Then, very suddenly, he switched tones completely. “How do you know about Lenore’s island?”
Lena very specifically did not look away from Brandon. “What?”
Griffin’s voice was slightly strained, but considerably softer than his thoughts. “I never told you—Lenore just wasn’t that important. That island was only a footnote in anything he ever told me, and I’m sure I never told you. How do you know about it?”
He got up and walked to the edge of the bed when she didn’t answer immediately. She looked up very cautiously. “I found it in a diary after you left. It was in one of Edward Daray’s journals.”
“You’re lying.” Despite her expectations, Griffin smiled slightly. He crossed his arms. “Where else would you have found that out, I wonder?”
There was a knock at the door, and Rosaleen and Howard came in carrying plates of food. Rosaleen took Brandon back and stood by with Howard while Lena and Griffin ate in the sitting area.
“You’re serious? About giving up the property to the human-borns, Astley, all of it?” Lena looked up, but Howard had directed the question at Griffin.
She looked over at him, and he cast a brief look in her direction. I want to know who told you about the island.
Lena weighed her options as she picked at a piece of chicken. She finally looked over and nodded at him.
I want to know where he came from.
Lena sighed deeply and looked up again; it was a lot to ask, but what did it matter anymore? The way Griffin kept picking at it, he was bound to figure it out on his own with the information of how she knew about the island. She nodded.
Griffin looked over at Howard, but then looked back at Lena. I want him as my heir.
“Don’t push it!” Lena responded under her breath, almost laughing.
Griffin turned
back to Howard. “Yes. I’m serious. We can sign everything tomorrow morning.”
Without shifting his gaze, he added, I’ll sign Mason back in if you tell me why you left to begin with. And no outs—I want the whole story.
Lena took a deep breath and shoved a huge bite of mashed potatoes in her mouth. The whole story, from beginning to end. Everything from the murder of Warren Astley’s wife to the address Doctor Evans had given her the previous summer—everything she knew about Olesia, the echoes, and her grandfather, Jack Durand. And in return, a pardon for her second family; a life in society for Hesper and her child, if that’s what she wanted. She looked back up at him.
Everything, Lena. I’ll sign it all off if you just tell me what happened.
Silently damning him for these games he loved to play, she nodded.
*****
Griffin looked back over at Howard. “Everything. I’ll need you to find the necessary documentation for the property and the pardons for Astley and Mason. Of course, we’ll need some time to move out some personal items—the books, obviously, because only Lena and Brandon can read them, but I’d also like to maintain possession of some of his historical collections. Those things were collected by Lena’s grandfathers, and it only makes sense that they stay with her.”
Howard nodded. He was surprised. “Of course. This is…unexpected. I think you’ve caught them off guard. Everyone anticipated you coming to make demands, not reparations. Your being far too friendly given the position your in.”
Griffin only nodded. He glanced at Lena and then went back to Howard. “There’s something else that I feel I should disclose since we’ll be vacating the property. He kept a secret room to store some items he didn’t want the Council to know about…”
Lena felt her heart skip a beat. She looked over at Griffin in shock.
“There’s a staircase hidden under the cat’s skeleton in his office that goes down to a basement. There’s a good deal of older literature and oddities, and I think in light of these accomplishments I’d like to make it public. A museum, of sorts. If we’re giving over the house to human-borns, I’m going to need additional paperwork to sign custody of the artifacts over to someone who knows how to care for them so they’re properly maintained after we’ve gone. Of course, as I said, I believe some of it should stay with Lena for the sake of family heritage, but I believe most of it should be made available to the public.”
Lena was still looking at Griffin in awe. He had essentially just given Howard and the entire New Faith a map with an arrow pointing to the portal.
But if Lena was awed, Howard was in complete disbelief. “I never knew we had a basement. What’s down there?”
Griffin shook his head. “I’m not exactly sure. I don’t think he was exactly sure—there’s a lot of boxes, books, bones…Just things. It might be beneficial to have a historian go through it; there’s books down there that he was never able to decipher, boxes he couldn’t open, the like. That’s why he hid it. He didn’t want them taking it from him before he knew what he would be losing. Oh, his parents are down there, along with some other relatives, you should know about that—I guess we’ll take the ones that aren’t interred with us to Greece.”
Howard’s jaw dropped. “He buried people down there? Really? You’re being entirely too generous and they know it. I hate to do this myself, but what are you trying to pull here, Griffin?”
Griffin’s eyebrows raised as he sat back in his chair. “I’m not trying to pull anything. For the first time in my life, perhaps, but Lena and I have spent a lot of time talking about it. I may be Old Faith, Howard, and we don’t generally have these considerations for our children, but Brandon, he’s different. Everyone knows it. I’m doing this for him. I’m doing this for his health, because his situation is delicate enough, and I don’t want to put him in further jeopardy.”
Lena could still only stare at him. He sounded so sincere; he was banking on the fact that they would just overlook the portal. It was genius, really; they would have to because there would have been no way for Lena or Griffin to have gotten it into the house without anyone noticing. And if it had been there while Daray had been alive, he surely would have opened it; that left, as Griffin had aptly described, the only other option. It was just a box that no one could open, and despite any resemblance, it most certainly couldn’t be the portal.
They finished dinner on that note, and Howard excused himself to attend a meeting that Griffin and Lena had not been invited to be present at. Mrs. Ralston asked if they would be needing anything, told Lena to call if she needed someone to watch Brandon, and then left for the evening. Lena was starting to relax for the first time since entering the house; she changed into some pajamas and put some on Brandon and then settled down on the bed to try to get him to sleep. As she started into Viator kod Venefikus, the story she habitually told him until he fell asleep, she saw Griffin watching her with a smirk.
“What?” She asked.
“You’re telling him a story about himself.” He said, walking over to the bed. “He’s the one who will take us back through.”
Lena smiled. “It’s just a story, Griffin. It’s a boring story that was probably invented to get kids to fall asleep. And it works great.”
“It’s not just a story. We both know it’s not just a story.” He sat down on the edge of the bed nearest to her.
Lena scooted further onto the bed to give him more room. “Come on, you’re telling me you believe a story could survive as long as this one without getting…embellished? Magicians? Monsters? Prophecies? Portals to other worlds? You believe every word that’s in there?”
“I do.” He said simply. “You don’t? You said you did, in the note.”
“I believe every story comes from somewhere,” Lena responded. “A grain of truth. I guess we’ll never know.”
She looked over at him, as if to assert this fact, but he didn’t say anything. He only smirked again. “I believe you owe me some explanations for my cooperation.”
“After I get him to sleep.” She nodded at Brandon.
Griffin shot her a disappointed, disgruntled look. “No outs. I can still choose—“
“It’s going to take a while, and you’re going to ask a lot of questions. I’d just rather put him down first, and then you have my full attention.” She looked at him candidly, and he went to the bathroom to shower and change into his nightclothes. Lena got Brandon to sleep in the bassinet that had been provided for them and tried to prepare herself with the details…it was a long story, and she wasn’t sure where to begin. Chronologically, with the history of Olesia? Or where her own rabbit hole had begun, with Warren Astley, and the story behind how Griffin had ended up at Waldgrave to begin with?
Griffin came back out, hair slightly damp, and settled onto his side of the bed. He looked at her expectantly.
“So, how much of this do you know already?” She asked.
Griffin stretched out and sat up against the headboard. “This isn’t about what I know. This is about what you know.”
“I’m about to be completely honest with you, and I would like some honesty in return. We’re about to spend the rest of our lives together on an island—I really doubt there will be secrets anymore.” She replied, trying to keep her voice low so Brandon wouldn’t wake up. Griffin glanced over at her and gestured for her to come closer; when she did he reached out and rather roughly pulled her up next to his side. “And I want your promise—and I really, really mean it this time, that you will not hold this against…anyone.”
“We make no guarantees.” He said impassively. “But if you’re talking about Lyle Evans, I already know. Daray never saw it, but that man’s a wealth of information. He knows everything about everyone, and unfortunately, he’s the best in his line of work.”
Lena was confused. “If you know, then why…?”
“You don’t piss off your doctor. And you don’t kill him, that’s for damn sure.” He squeezed his arm around her tighter. “
So, from the top.”
Lena turned on her side to wrap an arm around him. “Do you know about Kel…Cheryl?”
Griffin sighed. “Yes.”
Lena paused. Griffin knew that Cheryl was Kelsey Astley, a stolen child? That she had been used to blackmail Aaron Collins' friend into giving details of his whereabouts? “How?”
“I wanted her out. Little brat. It’s the only thing that kept her here.” He said darkly.
“So then you know about Astley, Thomas, everything?”
“He told me after you came here while we were figuring out how to stage the fight with Astley—Ow!”
Lena had jabbed him in the ribs, and he grabbed hold of both of her wrists. She scoffed. “How many times have you almost killed me just to further your career?”
“About as many as times I’ve risked my own life to save yours.” He said. “But yes, Daray was quite possessive of Cheryl, even before she came here. She’s a much more powerful Silenti than he had anticipated, and she started to see things. Specifically, I think she started talking about her family. Her brothers. Humans. I swear to God, that family is going to breed itself out of existence if they keep marrying out, and it’s not a bad thing…”
“How?” Lena asked. “She couldn’t have—she was just an infant when she was taken away.”
Griffin was holding her tightly against him again, now with her arms pinned between their bodies to keep her from attacking again. “Well, I don’t remember a lot of it, but there were a lot of conversations between the doctor and Daray, and he was in favor of just disposing of her, but the doctor insisted he might be able to get her to stop—this, of course, was very pleasing to Daray. It was in our interest to keep her alive so we could keep stringing Astley for the letters from your father. She’s clairvoyant and psychic, but at such a young age, the episodes were confusing and upsetting to her. The doctor started drugging her to control it, and that’s when…I don’t know, exactly. He said she wouldn’t be a problem anymore. Five months later, he sent me to put you on the train.”