The Black Coats(30)
Thea inhaled sharply when she realized who it was: Robin Peterson, the other luminary and creator of the Black Coats. The woman weakly gestured for Thea to join her, and so with a deep breath she made her way up, shyly tucking her hair back behind her ears. When she reached the top of the staircase, she stood for a moment before bowing awkwardly in front of Robin, unsure of what to do with her body.
“You don’t need to bow, child.” Robin Peterson smiled kindly at her, her calm presence the opposite of the anger that had rolled off Julie in waves. “We’re not gods. In fact, I’d say we are almost the opposite.” She extended her hand. “I’m glad to finally meet you, Thea Soloman. I’m Robin.” Thea gently took her hand in her own, Robin’s skin as thin and soft as rice paper. “Thea, it brought me joy to see Team Banner confirmed today. Nixon was a protégé of mine, and to see her leading her own group of young ladies gives me hope for the future of our changing organization—” Midsentence she dissolved into a violent cough and raised a handkerchief to her mouth. She inhaled sharply, and the resulting exhale sent it tumbling onto the floor. “Damn!” Her eyes filled with tears as she struggled to pick it up.
Thea quickly knelt and scooped it up, noting a spot of blood on the yellow embroidered cloth before she handed it back.
“Thank you,” wheezed Robin. “As I was saying, I’m happy to see you here today. I fought hard to get you into the Black Coats.”
Thea wasn’t sure what else to say, so she simply nodded. “I’m so grateful to be here, ma’am.”
Robin turned her head and looked at Thea with intensity, her eyes seeing much more than they let on. She coughed once more. “Tell me, Thea, what do you think is the difference between justice and vengeance?”
The question took her by surprise, and her heart gave a nervous flutter, like the beating of a hummingbird’s wings. Was this another part of the initiation? A test? She knew she couldn’t wait very long to answer and cleared her throat. “Um, well, I would guess that justice serves others, where maybe vengeance only serves yourself.”
The corners of Robin’s mouth turned up just a little. “That’s not a bad answer—for now. I think you’ll find that even the Black Coats struggle with answering that question. And they will especially when I’m gone.” She took a mighty breath in, and Thea could tell that talking exhausted her. “When I started the Black Coats, I thought taking revenge would erase the scars on my heart, that it would somehow undo the trauma of my assault.”
“And did it?” Thea crouched in front of her wheelchair as Robin looked down at her, her eyes focused on something that had happened long ago.
Robin shook her head. “When a trauma comes from a human hand, it marks you forever. There is a long black road between the assault, revenge, and recovery, and unfortunately, you will walk it alone.” Her lips twitched. “In the winter of my life, I’ve begun to think that scars can’t be erased with more scars.” Her eyes lit up on something that moved just behind Thea, and she blinked back to reality before dismissing her with a wave. “I’m sorry. Go back to the party and ignore these ramblings of a dying woman. I’m glad I got to speak to you, Thea. Be magnificent for the women we serve.”
Thea watched in silence as a strong hand clutched Robin’s shoulder, and then Sahil knelt to kiss her cheek. The luminary grabbed on to his hand lovingly, patting it twice. Thea’s eyes widened. Robin Peterson is Sahil’s mother? The resemblance was clear. Though Sahil must have gotten his coloring from his father, he had the same nose and grin as the luminary. Robin reached up with a shaking hand to brush his cheek, and Thea felt guilty for witnessing such an intimate moment.
Robin whispered something to Sahil, and he turned her wheelchair, pushing her back into the folds of Mademoiselle Corday. Thea waited a second before making her way down from the little alcove onto the Haunt floor. There she continued mingling, her mind lingering on Robin’s words. What did she mean, the black road?
“Thea. Thea.” Nixon’s voice snapped her out of her stupor.
“Yes, ma’am,” she answered dreamily.
Nixon waved to the door. “I must speak privately with you.”
Thea followed her president into the hallway just outside the Haunt as older Black Coats passed by them, laughing and swaying to the music. Nixon turned to Thea, her voice dropping to a whisper. “The celebration will be winding down soon. I need you to go and gather Team Banner and meet back in our classroom. But before you go, I need to speak with you about something. Something not to be shared with the rest of Team Banner.”
Thea shifted her weight uncomfortably. “All right.”
“As the leader of your team, you are privileged to one essential piece of information that they are not: while each of your gifts is important to your team, there is one member of your team who you need to protect above all, and that’s—” Nixon didn’t even need to finish.
“Bea,” answered Thea, acknowledging something she had long suspected.
Nixon looked relieved that Thea had already made the connection. “Yes. Bea is very important to us here at the Black Coats. We’ve never had anyone come through here with a gift like that. I fought the luminaries hard for her, even though Julie had other plans. So if ever there is a moment where things get dicey, Bea is always your priority, above the safety of the others. Do you understand?”