Page 65 of Thief of Night
“So,” Fiona said, when he left. “Tell me about your people, Charlie Hall.”
“My grandmother’s in prison for murder,” she said, going for brutal honesty. She needed to establish some quick intimacy between them, if she was going to gain Fiona’s trust. It was a gamble, but she thought it could work.
Fiona didn’t seem rattled by Charlie’s disclosure. “My ex-husband was a monster, so if I think badly of you, I will be obligated to think worse of myself. Are your parents also criminally inclined?”
“Dad’s homesteading with his new wife. Mom’s sitting on a fortune of rare Magic cards.” She didn’t mention that she was the one who was criminally inclined. “My sister can tell your future.”
“I see,” Fiona said.
“Also, if this is one of those situations where you were going to take me aside and offer me some money to stay away from your grandson, don’t bother. That’s not going to work.”
That made Fiona laugh. “Oh, am I supposed to thinkyouare corrupting Remy Vincent Carver? Teaching him a love of spray cheese or inducing him to graffiti the sides of buildings? Ruining his good name?”
“You both know I am also at the table, correct?” Red asked, but the talk of names had to make him a little uncomfortable.
Charlie rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine. But Adeline’s friends said as much last night.”
“She’s very possessive of him,” Fiona said diplomatically, with a glance in Red’s direction. “She always has been. I suppose that before Remy came, she was all on her own in that big house. I’ve always thought she was terrified of being alone again. And scared of what my ex-husband would do to her if he didn’t have Remy as a target for his ire. That’s the only excuse I can come up with for her choices.”
Was Fiona talking about the lawyers and the strings Adeline was putting on Red getting his inheritance? Did she know about the other stuff?
No, Charlie realized. She was angry for a totally different reason. She believed the story that he’d been locked in the basement of the mansion for a year while everyone thought he was dead and that Adeline never went to the police, never reached out to Fiona, never did anything to help him.
“And you two always got along like a house on fire,” Fiona went on.
“Exactly like that,” Red agreed, his tone making the words mean something else.
“So I need to say this.” Fiona looked down at her drink. “You don’t have to protect me. I want you to understand that I am not frail, even if I’m old. I buried a daughter. You’re all I have left in the world.”
“No,” Red said. “I’m not.”
The waiter returned with their food, placing the plates down in front of them. Ignoring him, Fiona grabbed hold of Red’s hand and squeezed it.
“You are,” she insisted.
“What do you know about shadow magic?” he asked, pulling his hand free. Charlie’s heart thudded. Surely, he wouldn’t tell her. Surely, he wouldn’t.
Fiona’s attention sharpened. “Not so much, but not nothing. I was aware my ex-husband had an unhealthy interest in the occult and I was curious about what had so captivated him. There are people in my circles with Cabal connections, ones who’ve bought shadows at events held for that sort of thing.”
“The Cabals punish members who are involved in selling shadows,” Charlie said.
Fiona took another sip of her drink. “Well, it is hideously expensive, so I imagine there’s some risk on their end.” Then she turned to Red. “I should never have let you go to Salt. That’s what he wanted from you, wasn’t it? Your friend, the one you talked to all the time? The one I thought wasn’t real?”
Charlie dragged a fry through truffle mayonnaise and put it into her mouth. The flavor wasn’t preciselygood,but somehow, she wanted more of it.
Fiona spoke into the silence. “I didn’t realize until many years later after you left my care that you had shadow magic. I don’t know if it was something you wanted. I don’t know what you can do, but I am sorry for the position it put you in.” She frowned. “Are you still part of that world?”
“I never won’t be,” Red told her.
“Whatever Salt asked you to do,” Fiona said, “whatever you’ve done, I want you to understand. I am always on your side.”
“Stop,” Red told her.
“Even if you’d killed that Rose Allaband girl, I would have been on your side. I wouldn’t have liked it, but I would have helped you.”
“Stop,” Red said again, more firmly, a note of panic in his voice.
She reached across the table, as if she meant to take his hand again. “I know you have every reason to be angry with me—”
