Iron Cast(95)

“As a particularly pretentious ass once told me,” Corinne said, “kingdoms always crumble.”

“So what are we going to do?” Charlie asked.

“I don’t know.” Corinne flopped down and crossed both arms over her face. She didn’t want to think about Johnny, about how easy it had been for him to use them—and how eager she had been to be used. She had spent her whole life trying to always be the cleverest person in the room, and it was just now occurring to her how boundless her own stupidity was. “We should lie low, I guess, for now.”

“Doesn’t sound like you,” Saint said.

“Maddy’s dead,” Corinne said, a little sharply. “None of us is going to be next.”

“She’s right,” Ada said. “Besides, she’s got a wedding to attend this afternoon.”

Corinne groaned.





CHAPTER NINETEEN



By the time they had all woken and washed up as best they could, it was nearly two o’clock in the afternoon. Ada spent a full fifteen minutes convincing Corinne that she had to attend her brother’s wedding.

“You won’t exactly be able to keep a low profile if your mother calls the National Guard to search for you,” Ada argued. “Besides, the president himself wouldn’t dare interrupt that wedding. You’ll be safe there.”

“What do you mean, me?” Corinne demanded. She looked up from the spot of dried blood on her dress that she was scrubbing at furiously with a damp cloth. “You’re coming too.”

“Look at me, Cor. I could play a whole sonata and still not convince your family to let me through the doors of that church,” Ada said. “Besides, I don’t want to go.”

Corinne made a face at her but didn’t have a ready response. Ada decided that now was as good a time as any to break the news.

“I’m going to see my mother.”

Corinne’s gaze snapped back to her.

“You can’t. The HPA knows where she lives.”

“Surely we caused enough of a ruckus at the asylum to divert them for a while.”

“You don’t know that.” Corinne waved the rag with more dramatics than was strictly necessary.

“I’ll take Charlie with me.”

“And what exactly is Charlie going to do?”

“I don’t know.” Ada shrugged. “Safety in numbers, I suppose.”

Corinne snorted in a way that would make her mother weep. “If that’s what you want to call it.”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” Ada said, fanning herself with mock indignation. But she was relieved that Corinne didn’t seem inclined to press the matter further.

Charlie turned out to be even more against the idea than Corinne. It took Ada threatening to go by herself to convince him to come along. Their walk across town—which involved mostly side streets and back alleys—was more silent than Ada would have liked, but she couldn’t think of anything worthwhile to say. After their dawn conversation and the revelations about Johnny, everything else seemed trite in comparison. It did occur to Ada, when they neared her mother’s street, that Charlie might be afraid. He’d had a close brush with the HPA and could have ended up with a lot worse than a black eye.

She wanted to ask him, but it seemed an unfair question somehow.

Ada wasn’t afraid. She knew she should be, but last night had wrung her out. She didn’t have the capacity for fear anymore. She just wanted to make sure her mother was safe.

They approached the street cautiously. The agents’ car was nowhere to be seen, but Ada knew that didn’t mean anything. They could very well be inside the front lobby waiting. They might have already taken her mother into custody, someplace where Ada would never find her.

Ada ignored the gnawing uncertainty and crossed the street. She considered asking Charlie to wait outside, but that seemed too ungenerous considering the circumstances. Her mother answered the door on Ada’s second knock. She must have seen them through the kitchen window. She was wearing a simple brown dress and a vibrant blue head scarf with green flowers. She didn’t say anything to them, just opened the door wide.

The silence continued as Nyah served them coffee in the living room. Ada didn’t touch hers. Charlie drank his in three gulps, and Ada pushed her cup over to him as well.

“Well,” her mother said, “do I get to know his name?”

“Charlie Lewis, ma’am,” he said, reaching over to shake her hand.

“I am Nyah. It is nice to meet you, Charlie Lewis.”

Ada couldn’t stand the pleasantries. She went to the window and opened it, suddenly desperate for the fresh air. Her mother clicked her tongue with a disapproving sound but didn’t say anything. Ada breathed in the chill. She didn’t want to do this. She wanted to be anywhere but here. The familiar feeling of powerlessness swept over her, but she fought it. She told herself that she did have a choice, and she was choosing to protect what she loved.

“Mama,” she said, turning around to face her, “it’s not safe here anymore.”

She was sure her voice would break, but it stayed strong. Her mother was watching her, jaw set, hands folded primly in her lap.

“I know,” Nyah said.

The words were like hammered nails. Ada knew they couldn’t go back.