Page 99 of Where Dark Hearts Devour
A distant memory prods at my mind: Savero at twelve years old, his back pressed against the boating shed, with the barrel of a gun aimed at his forehead. It’s an image I’ve recalled many times, usually in the haunting depths of sleep, but I can never see the person holding the gun. This time, as Augie keeps talking, I trace the arm holding the gun. It looks familiar. It’s an arm that held me often as a child; a hand that shook mine as I became a man.
I shake the vision away. It’s almost twenty years old. Unreliable.
It couldn’t have been Father.
Especially after Savero saved me from drowning.
My brother may not be the most likeable or honorable made man in this city, and he may not like me, but I owe my life to him.
“You were never like that,” Augie continues. “You accepted things as they were. You understood this world at a young age. You were unemotional, logical, sensible. Savero is hotheaded, irrational ... He has a temper he simply can’t control. He’s a loose cannon, and in this world, that is a dangerous thing indeed.”
A thought makes my stomach reel. “Did Savero know this was Father’s plan?”
“No. God no.” Augie, rightly, looks horrified by the prospect. I can’t think of a single thing more painful than to hear you’re not considered fit for the role you were born for.
“What was Father going to do?”
“He was planning to talk to you both on his sixtieth birthday.” Augie shakes his head again. “You know how your mama always said she wanted at least one of you to ...”
“... live past the age of sixty,” I finish. “Yes. That’s why I chose to leave.”
“Your papa never made it that far.”
“I know. It was a shock to us all,” I say. “I still can’t believe he died of a heart attack. He was fit and healthy.” A thought occurs to me. “The autopsy ...”
Augie presses his lips together and nods. “I insisted Savero show me the report, but it was all there in black and white. Cardiac failure,” he says with a sigh. “It really was down to his heart.”
I pick up a glass of water and drink it down in one go. The summer heat is getting to me more than usual.
“I wouldn’t have accepted the job anyway,” I say, standing to button up my jacket. It’s time for me to go before the thought burrows itself any deeper. “I don’t want to be don any more than my brother wants to be anything else. I couldn’t take that away from him.”
Augie stands. “You’re leaving already?”
I sigh heavily. “There’s nothing for me to stay for.” The lie settles uneasily in the pit of my stomach.
“Please think about it. It’s what your father wanted.” There’s a grave note in his tone.
“There’s no need,” I say with finality. “I could never do that to Savero.”
Then I turn to leave, and though Augie’s gaze tugs at me like a rope, he doesn’t stop me.
Trilby
Sera looks up, and a shadow falls over her face. I follow her gaze, craning my neck upward.
“Savero,” I say with a forced smile.
I hate how timid my voice is with him. I wonder if I’d still sound this way if I weren’t so petrified he might see through to my true feelings.
“You can leave.”
My heart leaps into my throat.He knows.
Then his gaze flicks briefly to my sister. “I will take Trilby back to her rooms.”
He wasn’t speaking to me. My pulse thrums in relief but is now fueled by the fear of being left alone with him.
“Um ...” Sera glances at me. “Okay.”
