Antebellum Awakening (The Network Series #2)(99)

“Yes.”

“Is Miss Scarlett okay?” Leda asked, swallowing her emotion. “All I remember is her standing in front of me, and then everything went black.”

“She’s fine. A little roughed up, but Merrick and Brecken helped her fight all the Clavas off both of you.”

“Did you beat Miss Mabel?”

I quietly filled Leda in on the details she’d missed. When I finished she let out a long, pained sigh.

“I’m sorry about the High Priestess, Bianca,” she said. “You were close to her.”

Instead of fighting off the wave of grief, I welcomed it. It crashed through me, drowning me in a sorrow that had become all too familiar. I didn’t respond. Leda seemed to understand and didn’t protest when I changed the subject.

“How did you know about the binding?” I asked. “How did you know what to do?”

A sheepish smile came to her face.

“Miss Scarlett taught me to transport when I first got here. I’ve been going to Isadora’s a couple times a week to learn how to control my curse ever since I figured out transportation well enough to be safe. You showed up in the middle of one of Isadora’s lessons one day. I didn’t want you to know because I was embarrassed, so I hid in her pantry and overheard your conversation. Isadora explained it all to me after you left.”

“Isadora told you?” I asked in disbelief. “But she said she wouldn’t tell.”

“No,” Leda corrected me with her usual prim tone, all too happy to be condescending again. “She said she wouldn’t tell the High Priestess.”

I thought back to that day with a grim feeling. Perhaps Isadora’s wisdom was far greater than I’d imagined.

“Where was the Book of Contracts?” I asked. “Miss Mabel wasn’t holding it.”

“Brecken came to check on Camille and I told him that I had to find it. Ever since I’ve been working with Isadora, I’ve been better able to see future possibilities, even with Miss Mabel in them, although they’re still vague and grainy. I’d seen a possibility that I could burn the binding for you, so Brecken went with me to find the Book of Contracts, and both of us ended up wrestling with a Clava for it. Eventually Brecken cast a curse and I grabbed the book. I feared I was too late.”

“You almost were,” I replied quietly, recalling that moment of capitulation once again. The intense pain, the crushing feeling in my mind. Camille stirred next to us, her eyes fluttering open, pulling me from the deep waters of fear and grief again.

“Leda?” she whispered, blinking.

“Yes, Camille. I’m okay.”

Camille stretched her arms in a lazy arc above her head and wrinkled her face in pain. Her eyes shot open. She bolted upright, a look of panic on her face.

“Leda!”

“Calm down,” Leda said in a soothing tone. “I’m fine.”

Camille took one look at her, turned her gaze to me, and burst into tears.

“Leda, we’ve been so worried!” she said, burying her face in her hands. Leda grimaced, something I assumed was meant to be a reassuring smile. “I thought you had died. I was so scared!”

“It’s okay, Camille,” she said, awkwardly patting her back. “I’ll be fine. Where’s Michelle?”

“She went to check on Nicolas in the apothecary,” I said. “He got a couple of deep cuts on his forehead from the Clavas.”

Footsteps came up the stairwell just then, and Leda’s mother, a quiet, warm woman walked in, followed by Papa, who looked weary. Stitches closed the large gash on his temple, although dried blood still stained his face.

“Oh, Leedee,” her mother breathed, rushing over. “You’re awake!”

I stood and embraced Papa, grateful to see him in the light of day. He brushed the hair off my face and pressed me close to his side.

“Camille,” Papa said. “There’s a Captain waiting for you at the bottom of the turret. He’s concerned and wants to make sure you made it through the night. He said he won’t move until he’s heard from you.”

Camille’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“If I know Brecken,” Papa said with a smile, “he’ll wait all day.”

She disappeared down the stairs in a flash of bouncy blonde hair and watery eyes. Papa held me close.

“You okay, B?” he asked.

“Yes, Papa,” I said with a deep sigh, holding him close. The ties that had once bound me to death no longer existed. For the first time in my life, I could embrace him without question, without fear. “I’m okay.”





A Network At War

The crowd that gathered to pay their final respects to the High Priestess had one thing in common: determination.

The clenched angles of their jaws, their set stares, their tight lips all stood out to me. We’d been attacked on the pulse of who we were as a people. Even the gypsies shuffled by, a strange light in their eyes. They didn’t agree much with any authority, but it was obvious that they felt the fire as well. Mildred had always been a friend to their people.

I stayed tucked back in the shadows, my back pressed against the castle wall, watching it all unfold. Leda, Camille, and Michelle had all gone home to see their families, leaving me at Chatham Castle alone. I welcomed the chance to get all the events straight in my head and spent most of the past couple of days wandering through Letum Wood.