Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X, #1)(124)

Mae’s eyes rested on him briefly, and Justin realized she was mentally assigning him to the zealot category.

Niklis brightened at Justin’s words. “Aunt Maj, do you have a gun?”

“Of course she doesn’t,” answered Astrid. “Maj would never bring a gun into this house.”

“I have two,” Mae told her nephew.

Astrid gasped. “Why would you do such a thing?”

“Because I’m on duty, Mother.” Mae had simply been stirring her soup and now pushed it away. Her face had on that emotionless mask she excelled at maintaining.

“More exciting than being Kris Eriksson’s wife, I suppose,” said Cyrus. He wasn’t exactly antagonistic toward Mae, but he definitely had a mocking attitude. It was one he dealt out to his entire family, so at least he was fair. He topped everyone’s wine off without asking. “Mae ever tell you about all the proposals she turned down? She could’ve made this family’s fortune.”

“Mae’s always done what she wanted,” grumbled Claudia. “Gone where she wanted. Run around with who she wanted.” She gave Justin and Tessa supercilious looks as she spoke.

That, more than anything else, cracked Mae’s tough exterior. She snapped some sharp Finnish retort to her sister, earning snickers from Cyrus and his wife, who seemed to think this was dinner theater. Claudia responded with something that must’ve been equally venomous, judging from Astrid’s scandalized expression.

“Show some manners!” she scolded. “Our guests are more civil than you are.” The subtext, of course, was that it was a huge embarrassment to be shown up by a plebeian and a provincial. “Remember that our family is built on principle and decorum.”

Awkward silence fell. Mae’s face became blank once more. Claudia glowered, and Cyrus kept pouring more wine than even Justin could drink. Glancing over at Tessa, he saw that the girl looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here. He couldn’t blame her. Surprisingly, it was Claudia’s dull husband who resumed some sort of civil discourse.

“So,” he said. “Did you hear that the Comets made it to the playoffs?”

Justin didn’t care much for sports, but he’d learned long ago that other people did, making it an excellent topic to build rapport with. So, he kept up with all the latest headlines, something that came in handy now as he engaged the men in conversation. They warmed up to the subject and seemed to forget they were talking to a plebeian. The Koskinen women, however, remained quiet and sullen.

When dinner mercifully ended an hour and a half later, Mae offered to show Justin and Tessa around the house.

“Remember that this house isn’t a museum,” her mother warned her.

“Yes, yes,” said Mae. “We’ll stay out of your bedrooms.”

Maybe the house wasn’t a museum, but it was certainly dusty enough to be an artifact. Justin had always hired cleaners to do his housework but was on the verge of asking for a broom to lend a hand now. He found out that the family had once employed a large staff to maintain the house, though their numbers had dwindled as the Koskinen finances did.

“What happened to your family’s money?” asked Justin as Mae paused in front of the doorway to what looked like a cluttered office. A moment later, she kept going and showed them into a conservatory that could’ve been straight out of an old movie. He’d asked her a personal question, but Mae seemed too preoccupied with her own thoughts to reprimand him for it. That, or maybe she’d just accepted there were few secrets between them now.

“I don’t know. I think my mother just mismanaged it after my dad died.”

Mae ran her hand along the top of a piano, her fingertips leaving trails in the dust. Justin had a sudden and startling memory of that night in Panama when Mae, wet and bedraggled but still dazzling, had sat down and played Saint-Sa?ns. It certainly wasn’t an erotic image, but it triggered a reminder of that initial, burning attraction, when he’d looked at her and thought she was the most amazing woman in the world.

She still is, said Magnus loyally. You could have her, and your world would change.

Justin felt a pain in his heart and made no response.

Tessa joined Mae at the piano. “This is pretty. Nicer than ours.” Tessa played a few lines of something Justin didn’t know, reminding him that she too had taken lessons. He supposed it was something upper-class young ladies did.

“Where did you learn to play?” asked Claudia incredulously, standing in the doorway.

Tessa took her hands back. “At my house.”

Claudia’s face said she couldn’t have been more surprised if a cat had learned to play. “Mae, Marius and I are leaving.”

Something in Mae’s face sharpened. “I’ll walk you out. And I’ll show you guys my room.” She led Justin and Tessa down the hall and pointed to a doorway at the top of the stairs. “Right there. Probably hasn’t changed since I left. I’ll be there as soon as I talk to Claudia.”

Justin was astute enough to pick up that there was more than a good-bye involved, but he left Mae to her own affairs. Besides, he quickly became consumed by her old bedroom. It was another piece of her to collect. Like every other room, dust reigned. The décor was a mix of the two worlds that had always pulled on Mae. All the furniture was ornate and expensive, the kind of stuff a mother would pick out, not a child or teen. The partially ajar closet was filled with old evening gowns that made Tessa ooh and ahh. Juxtaposed with that glamour were old poster screens that, when turned on, displayed images of various athletes and teams. He even found what must have been a canne stick leaning against a corner. He really needed to look that crazy sport up.