Page 104 of Beloved Sacrifice

“No. I called to ask you a question.”

“Of course. Because you’d never call to just talk to me.”

“Grandmother, I call you twice a week. Religiously.”

“I’m a duty? Just another task.”

Marek reminded himself, several times, that patience was a virtue and that he had to respect his elders.

Rose was grinning at the phone. “I like her,” she whispered.

“Who was that? Is that the girl? Let me speak to her.”

Marek offered the phone and Rose frantically shook her head.

“Grandmother, I have a—”

“So you’re somewhere, not in prison, with the woman you were trying to rescue and the man who kidnapped her. Is he your prisoner?”

“No, Grandmother. The situation is more complex than I was led to believe.”

“Didn’t give you all the information? Sounds like those dumb fucks at MI6.”

“Language, Grandmother,” he chided gently.

“Caradoc has a lot to answer for. He ruined you.”

“Grandmother, I have a—”

“So it’s just the three of you? Are they attractive?”

Marek stumbled to a verbal stop. “What?”

“Wesley and Rose. Are they good-looking?”

“That’s hardly relevant.”

“Ha! They are. Are you going to return to the fold? Get in a proper marriage with a trinity?”

“They’re not part of the Admiralty.”

“That’s not a problem. I’m sure we can make them seem either smart or dangerous enough to get them in.”

Marek took a breath and spit out the question. “Was there a secret boat full of Admiralty children sunk during World War II?”

Silence. Marek looked at the phone screen. The call hadn’t dropped.

“Where did you hear that?” The cantankerous grandmother was gone. Though her voice still vibrated with age, this was the voice of Agent Dell. Marek had only heard it a few other times in his life.

Marek swallowed hard. “I will tell you that, once this mission is over,” he said quietly.

Another silence, before she said. “You’d better, Marek.”

He winced. “Yes, Grandmother.”

There was another beat of silence before she started speaking.

“This is what I heard. No one spoke about it in full. It was always just bits of information. Things I heard and pieced together.

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