Page 90 of Devil's Riches

Dammit.There was no way I could run off to the ballroom right now. It would make it far too obvious that there was something going on with me. I had to wait.

I lifted one shoulder in a nonchalant shrug and nodded. “It’s no big deal,” I said, aiming for a casual tone.

Edward smiled and put a hand on my shoulder. “Should we see your sister out?”

“Sure.”

He directed us down a hall that led to the north side of the house. Directly ahead, a large Palladian door opened up onto a terrace. A black car was idling beyond that terrace.

Edward waved at the man inside the car before heading down to give him instructions on where to go. I helped Sascha into the back seat, even though she kept pushing me away and insisting that she might transfer her germs to me.

“I’m sorry for ruining the night,” she muttered near my shoulder as I leaned down to say goodbye.

“You didn’t ruin anything. You’re sick.”

She shrugged listlessly and turned her gaze to the front.

“I’ll call you later, okay?” I said.

She nodded and clamped a hand over her mouth. “We should probably go,” she murmured through her fingers. “Unless you want me to vomit all over the seats.”

The driver nodded and started the car. It meandered down the curved road that ran alongside the house before turning onto the main driveway.

Edward put a hand on my shoulder. “Well, it’s just the two of us now. We’re dropping like flies,” he said. “I hope Sascha recovers soon.”

“Me too.”

He gestured toward the house. “Shall we finish dinner?”

I nodded and followed him back into the mansion. When we were back in the dining room, Edward picked up the champagne and held it above my half-empty flute. “Top-up?”

I shook my head. “No thanks. I should save some room for the party later.”

He chuckled and poured himself a new glass. “Smart thinking. Unfortunately, I love the taste far too much to resist it.” He took a sip before picking up his cutlery. “Anyway, I haven’t asked yet—how are your studies going at Blackthorne?”

I hesitated. “Honestly, not very well,” I said. “I’m probably going to have to drop this semester and redo it all in the spring.”

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that. Do you mind if I ask why?”

“It was fine at first. I was doing well. But then…” I trailed off and hesitated again. “It got too stressful for me to be there anymore because of the Butcher copycat. One of the girls who died was my neighbor.”

Edward’s eyes widened slightly. “That’s terrible,” he said. “I hope they make an arrest soon.”

I smiled thinly and stabbed my fork into my meat. “Me too.”

“How has your mother taken it?” Edward asked. “You being at Blackthorne while these awful murders are going on, I mean. I can’t imagine she’s very happy about it after everything she went through ten years ago.”

I nodded. “She’s worried. After the bodies were found, she called and asked me to go back to California. But I wanted to stay.”

“I see.” Edward lowered his eyes to his plate and cleared his throat. “I, er… I want you to know that Deborah and I regret the way things turned out with your mother.”

“You do?”

“Yes. She was so young when she left, and we let her go. We thought it was some silly teenage rebellion thing. But then she never came back, and we were stubborn, so we didn’t try to contact her.” He let out a deep sigh and shook his head. “We shouldn’t have been so stubborn. I regret it every day.”

“Oh,” I murmured. I didn’t know what else to say.

He glanced at his watch. “We still have forty minutes until the party guests start to arrive, so if we finish our dinner quickly enough, I can take you up to see her old bedroom. We never touched it after she left, so it’s still decorated the way it was when she was a teenager back in the 80s.”

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