Page 62 of The Elementalist
“Again, no one outside the family knows the real reason I was sent to Ironside… except you. I realize the man’s dead, but please keep that secret. About him and Brittany, I mean.”
“Sure. The last thing I need is to piss off one of the Founding Families. Especially one related to the girl who’s stolen my heart.”
“Do you always talk like you’re in a 1940s detective film?”
“They have specific classes on that at the private investigation academy.”
Crystal laughed. “You are so full of it.” She glanced sideways at me. “There’s no academy, is there?”
“Nah.” I smiled. “So you think this will work? With Nigel I mean. Can your grand—err, that woman really do anything?”
She shivered. “That woman has information that could end presidencies. She can keep Nigel away from me. It might only take her letting it leak to the other families that he plans to make an artifact like you mentioned.”
“Sorry for butting in back there. I know you asked me to let you do the talking.”
“It’s all right. You made a good point and the look on her face when you inserted yourself into the conversation was priceless. Even if nothing else happened today, seeing that would’ve made the trip worth it.”
“I take it the two of you won’t be besties, then?”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Do they teach understatement in the private detective school, too?”
“It’s not a ‘school,’ it’s an ‘academy,’” I said with an overacted posh accent.
“Hah. And no. We never got along. I’m not Sterling’s actual daughter, after all. Heck, the old bag barely tolerates Mother’s presence. She once told me that she understood I didn’t ask to exist, so she didn’t blame me for that, though she felt I belonged at an orphanage and had been allowed to live there at the manor as a charity case.”
“Ouch. Maybe she’ll feel bad enough about the past eleven years to change her mind about you living there again?”
“I’m not sure, Max baby. Maybe. It did seem strange that she almost felt sorry for me. Maybe she’s getting emotional in her old age.” Crystal brought the car to a stop at the intersection between driveway and road, then turned left after a brief look in either direction. “The estate is all Bradbury. My mother is basically a guest. I’m sure if not for my two brothers, Grandmother would’ve sent her back to the Darceys. Since the boys are Sterling’s offspring, Grandmother treats them wonderfully. I suspect she will eventually invite me back under pressure from Arthur. He is, after all, my half-brother, and as you could see, he seemed to come around and accept me.”
“This is all like something out of medieval Europe.”
“Basically.” She jumped and eyed the rearview mirror. “Someone’s coming up behind us.”
I peered back at a newish Camaro full of high schoolers. “Just kids.”
“Ugh. I’m going to be jumpy for a while. I hope they hurry up and do something with Nigel.”
“What are you expecting them to do?”
She shrugged. “Like I said, it might only take her telling the other families what he wants to make. They’d all be petrified he’d turn it on them... and, in turn, silence him.”
“Silence him, how?”
“The families have their ways.”
“Do I want to know?”
“Hang around me long enough and you are bound to find out.”
“Then I have every intention of finding out. Oh, and I would like to add, I have ways of silencing him, too.”
“I know you do, and if it comes to that, we can discuss other ways to deal with that murderous asshole.”
I admired the beautiful forest passing by around us, still not quite sure how to feel about everything that happened to me—or that vampires existed. Ididknow one thing… Nature gave me this power for a reason, and that reason appeared to be keeping the supernatural peace. I guess I’d become something of a sheriff myself, only for stuff no sane law officer would believe—or be equipped to deal with.
“So… what do we do from here?” I asked.
“I’m going to return to Ironside for a bit until things cool down. I don’t expect Nigel to give up right away, but if I’m out of his reach, it’ll allow time for the pressure to build and maybe get him to back off.” She looked over at me. “Thank you for your help, Max.”
