Page 31

Chapter 31

I didn't have to wait long for my next visitor; my uncle Thornton; a man who wore suspenders every day on top of a pressed white shirt that reeked of starch. Usually clean shaven, a shadow of stubble ran along his jaw, and his eyes had a bloodshot tinge as if he had many a sleepless night. I hoped whatever had kept him up was super stressful.

Thornton was my grandmother's most trusting son, and the one who worked the hardest for approval he would never receive. But that didn't stop him doing everything she asked of him and doing so as aggressively as possible. He thought himself a Rook on the chessboard when he had only ever been a pawn.

Unmarried and thoroughly spineless, Thornton had no life experience to speak of, as he had spent his entire life under Pearl's thumb. But that didn't mean he didn't wield the authority she gave him like a baton at a parade. And he was happy to hit as many people over the head with it as he could.

He didn't undo my manacles, but undid the padlocks that secured the chains to the bed, and then tugged me out of the bedroom. I purposefully kept my steps slow, causing him to yank me into a faster pace.

"No funny business from you," he said, winding the chains further around his palm. "This place is a lot more secure than when you were last here."

As if escaping wasn't going to be hard enough, they had taken extra precautions. It was almost as if they had prepared for me to be here. But I wasn't dumb enough to try and escape in that moment, even if it was super tempting to wrench the chains out of his stupid hands and take off. Like he said, I didn't know what other measures they had in place.

Thornton dragged me into the living room; a room with imported leather furniture, a small TV and plenty of bookshelves that held more trinkets than they did books. All three sets of curtains were drawn and a fire burned in the hearth. Maybe the darkness affected my sight, or maybe everything looked a little shabbier than the last time I was here. Long abandoned cobwebs in the far corners of the ceiling, and lingering filth on the rugs. Hadn't they hired someone to keep up with their chores after I left? Or without their powers to help them run the family business, could they no longer afford to?

Light beamed through the cracks between the curtains, and the realisation made my blood run cold. They weren't trying to keep the light out, but the neighbours from seeing whatever was about to go down.

That was when I noticed who waited for us inside; my grandmother, my stuffy aunt who wore a real fox fur around her neck, Shawn Donnelly, and two people, one of whom I had never seen before in my life. But the third made me stop in my tracks.

Troy Franklin stood with his shoulders hunched, his hands in his pockets, looking up through strands of his hair as I walked in.

Thornton yanked me over to an armchair and pushed me into it. I made sure my leg kicked him when I bounced off the cushion a little. He winced and rubbed his leg, giving me the evils before straightening up to stand next to the chair, still holding my chains like I was a dog on a leash.

"So, this is our thief?" The woman I didn't recognise, with long silver hair and wearing a red coat stepped next to my grandmother and stared down her nose at me.

"Before you go throwing accusations like that, I'd like a lawyer," I said.

My whole body jerked with an electric shock from the manacles and I glared at Thornton, who had touched a blue crystal to the chains. Son of a biscuit. Any doubt they would go easy on the torture smashed like an egg hurled against a wall.

"You'll choose your words wisely in the presence of guests, Beatrix." Pearl turned to the other woman. "My apologies, Nora. She has been nothing but a handful since the day she was born."

"Not for much longer." Nora Franklin eyed me, but there was no malice there, no anger. In fact, there was a calm behind her eyes that made me feel infinitely more intimidated. "Where is my grandson's power, Beatrix?"

"Up my ass. About elbow deep, if you wanted to reach up there and get it yourself-" Another shock pulled my back into an arch and my jaw clenched as I fought the magic.

"I could extract the information from her, given time," Pearl said. "How much, I couldn't say. She has developed a horrifying attitude."

"Do we know where she lives?" Nora turned to Shawn, and my blood ran cold. If they ransacked my home, there was no telling what they would do. They could steal every power I possessed, including what I had taken from the Bishops, and Troy's power which would destroy any chance of tracking down Romilda. Worst still, they could hurt my friends.

"Unfortunately not," Shawn said. "It was the one thing we couldn't quite nail down."

"That girl I go to school with will know," Troy said, glaring at me. "Her name's Patty or something."

"Penny, that's right," Shawn said. "She isn't currently living at the address stated on her school application, but I will be able to corner her at the university."

"You leave Penny out of this," I said.

Penny wouldn't give them the information they wanted willingly. Which meant they might do horrible things to her too to get what they wanted. I couldn't bear the thought.

Hopefully, without me there, Edward would go with her to university and keep her safe. But Shawn could still follow them home.

A thought struck me so hard I almost felt as if Thornton had electrocuted me again. The three memories that Hecate had inadvertently stolen were at the house. Did the Franklins even know they were missing yet? Either way, they were a leverage I could use. But if I drew their attention to the fact I had them, they would be even more ruthless in finding out where I lived. I had to keep that under wraps for as long as I could.

"Nobody has to get hurt," Nora said. "We just need the power back, that's all."

"You're not getting it back." I eyed Thornton out of the corner of my eye, but he didn't use the crystal. "Do you even know what he's done with it?" I jerked my chin at Troy.

"How's that your business?" Troy spat. "It's my power."

"And one day you're going to kill enough people with it that even all your status can't save you," I said. "I'm doing you a favour, trust me."

Troy opened his mouth to speak, but Nora held up a hand to him, and he obediently silenced. All bark and no bite. Who would have thought the coward was also spineless?

"This won't end well for you if you refuse to cooperate," Nora said. "Do you understand that?"

I didn't reply, instead staring her down. I needed Troy's power too much to let them have it back, even if it wasn't leverage to help me get out of this place.

"Leave her with us, Nora," Pearl said. "We'll get the truth out of her. In the meantime, speak with this Penny."

"Oh, we shall." Nora jerked her head to toss a curtain of silver hair over her shoulder. "And rest assured, we will be far less gentle with her than you no doubt will be with Beatrix."

Nora maintained eye contact with me as she strode past the chair toward the door, Shawn and Troy trailing behind her. I glared back all the while. It was easy to act tough when your opponent couldn’t fight back.

As soon as they had shut the door behind them, Pearl took a few leisurely steps toward me. Her hands were clasped together, and the clack of her heels sent shivers up my spine with each step.

“Lucille.” The one word was all my aunt needed to stride over to the liquor cabinet and pick up a corked potion bottle.

Pearl grabbed my face and squeezed my jaw, her rings digging into my flesh as she forced my mouth open. I yanked my head back to tear myself out of Pearl’s grip, but she only squeezed harder, her nails scraping my skin.

Lucille uncorked the bottle and emptied the contents into my mouth. A little spilled over my lips and I tried to spit the mixture out, but Pearl clamped her hand down over my mouth and pinched my nose shut.

Panic rose in my throat to meet the unknown liquid. Nobody in this room saw me as anything but a tool, and I just knew that whatever potion Pearl wanted to force feed me would only end in my misery.

My eyes watered and my cheeks heated as I struggled, the oxygen depleting in my lungs second on second. I squeezed my eyes shut as Thornton held me by the back of my neck, limiting my struggles even more.

Eventually, I could do nothing but swallow the damn thing. Once the cursed concoction had gone down my throat, Pearl and Thornton released me and I made sure to cough straight at her. She grimaced and took a handkerchief out of her dress pocket to wipe her hands.

“What did you give me?” I muttered in between gasping breaths.

“Something that will ensure you never leave this house again,” Pearl said. "Take her downstairs, Thorton. We mustn’t disturb the neighbours with our...questioning."

My vision turned tunnel as Thornton yanked me to my feet and I had no choice but to stumble after him, the chains cutting into my wrists. Even after being their prisoner for so long as a child, something told me I still hadn’t experienced the lengths Pearl would go to, to get what she wanted.