Page 52 of The Runaway
“Shot her?” Niles repeated, eyes wide. “Why?”
“Something about a missing horse,” Avril said, tears spilling from her eyes again. “I don’t know. I was out in the orchard this morning and then everyone started screaming, and I ran back to the yard, and Philippe shot her. Right there in front of the barn.” She swiped ineffectually at her eyes, while tears continued to spill down her face. “I asked Blaise, and he said Chloe lost one of the horses. They only bought me a year ago. And I didn’t think they were too bad, but this… I’ve never seen anyone get killed before. What if they want to kill me next? I was hoping you could buy me.” She grabbed onto Antoine’s sleeve, a bold move for an omega. “Please. You bought that other runaway last year. I can’t go back there. Everyone says you’re really nice masters. Please, I…” Another sob broke through. “I don’t want to die.”
“Okay, okay,” Antoine finally interrupted her. “Let’s just take a deep breath and calm down for a moment. You’re safe here, okay? We have some time to figure this out.”
Avril nodded, trying to steady her breathing.
“Just for the moment, I’m going to send you over to the kitchen to get something to eat. Meanwhile, Gabriel, Niles and I are going to talk about what we can do to help you. Okay? I’ve known the Martins for a long time. I’m sure there’s a suitable solution here.”
Avril nodded again. Antoine led her to the door and called Carolyn’s name, then let the housekeeper lead Avril away towards the kitchen. He closed the door and came back to sit beside Gabriel. “Well, that’s a right little mess,” he said, running a hand over his dark, curly hair. “God damn it.”
“Does this sound like something Philippe would actually have done?” Gabriel asked. He knew Antoine wasn’t fond of the man, but shooting someone in cold blood?
“Not without a good reason. For what it’s worth, this is the first time I’ve ever heard of them killing an omega. I wouldn’t say it’s impossible, but certainly not a common occurrence.”
“And that justifies it?” Gabriel asked, a dark undertone to his voice.
“Don’t go jumping to conclusions,” Antoine said, immediately picking up on his train of thought. “The first thing I’m going to do is go over to the Martins’ estate and get Philippe’s side of the story. Which doesn’t mean I don’t believe Avril,” he added, at Gabriel’s glare. “It simply means it’s worth getting the full picture.”
“And if she really is in danger? What will you do?”
Antoine gave Gabriel a long, hard stare. “I can’t buy her,” he said eventually. “This isn’t like Connor’s situation. They’re close neighbours and it would cause years of strife between our two estates.”
“So your peace of mind is worth more than an omega’s life?”
“Not at all. It’s a simple case of practical limitations. The most likely thing is that Philippe will flatly refuse to let me buy her. But if by some chance he were to agree, that would open the floodgates for any other dissatisfied omegas to come knocking on our door. I can’t buy every omega on his estate. And even if I did, the first thing Philippe would do is go out and buy more. Gabriel, I know how much this bothers you,” he said, when Gabriel tried to interrupt. “But we both know that the entire system of buying and selling human beings is broken, and neither of us can fix it overnight.
“But in any case, the first thing we need to do is speak to Philippe Martin and find out the rest of the story. Avril wasn’t able to tell us anything aboutwhyhe’d kill one of his omegas. That’s where we need to start.”
A sudden knock at the door made Gabriel jump, and when Antoine called out with a wary “Come in,” Cirroc opened the door. He glanced around the room apprehensively. “Philippe Martin is here to see you, sir,” he said to Antoine. “Shall I show him in?”
“Well, speak of the devil,” Antoine said. “Please do,” he answered Cirroc.
A few moments later, a greying man in his fifties was shown in the door. Antoine rose to shake his hand, and despite his misgivings, Gabriel did the same. “Antoine, I hope you’re well,” Philippe said. “Niles, good morning. And I’m sorry, but I don’t believe we’ve met,” he said to Gabriel.
“Gabriel Calvet,” Gabriel said. At least Philippe was making an effort to be polite. It was the least he could do to return the favour. “I’m Antoine’s second cousin. I arrived from Paris last September.”
“Welcome to the neighbourhood,” Philippe said, with a congenial smile. “Now, to avoid wasting too much of your time,” he said, turning back to Antoine, “one of our omegas ran away this morning. She was heading in the direction of this estate.”
“Avril is here,” Antoine said, cutting right to the chase. “She came across the paddocks less than half an hour ago. We’ve been trying to find out what led her to run away, but she’s rather distraught at the moment. Please, take a seat. I was hoping that perhaps you could fill in the details for us?”
Philippe weighed Antoine with a long, stern look, then he moved to sit in one of the armchairs. His hesitation was telling; this was not a convivial discussion, but an exercise in tolerance from both sides. “I was put in the unfortunate position of needing to kill one of my omegas,” Philippe began, not inclined to beat around the bush in the slightest. “And before you jump down my throat about it,” he added, with a warning note in his voice, “you might spare me the chance to explain why.” Clearly the antagonism went both ways here, but in a stark contrast to Connor’s masters, Philippe was willing to have a rational conversation about it.
“By all means,” Antoine said, with far more civility than Gabriel would have managed.
“Last night, Chloe left a gate open. Our best mare escaped and ran off into the woods. One of the betas found her this morning, lying in a ditch with a broken leg. My best guess is she took a fright during the storm last night and slipped in the dark. I had to trudge out there this morning and put a bullet in her skull, poor thing.
“Now maybe you’d say leaving a gate open was just an accident, hardly worth Chloe’s life. Except that last night, I specifically asked her if she’d checked on the horses and made sure the yard gate was secured, and she looked me in the eye and said yes. So she’s cost me five hundred francs in a bloody fine horse, three hours of my staff’s time to track her down, and a fair bit of heartbreak for me, since I raised that horse since she was three weeks old, when her mother abandoned her. I know we have our differences about how we treat omegas, but I would not kill a member of my own estate flippantly or based on a mere fit of pique.”
Gabriel was unable to hold his tongue, but he managed to curb the worst of his impulse to curse at the man. “A human life as payment for a horse? Still seems a hefty price to me.”
Instead of biting back, Philippe merely inclined his head. “Then we’ll have to agree to disagree.”
Gabriel ground his teeth but said nothing more.
“Now, the only real reason I’m here is to fetch Avril home again,” Philippe went on, turning back to Antoine. “If you could please hand her over, I’ll be on my way.”
“What are you going to do with her when you get home?” Antoine asked. “She ran away. On a lot of estates, that would be punishable by death.”