Page 33 of Betrayal from Beyond
“Scotland Yard and the Crown are searching for her because she has committed treason.” Niall glowered. “I’m looking for her because, while she has eluded them, she has made threats against my family and made an attempt to kill someone in my household.”
“That’s our Petra, making enemies wherever she goes,” Preston said bitterly.
“Will you give us the address so that we may find her?” asked Kara. “We shall happily remove her from Tom’s sphere.”
“She has a cell awaiting her,” Niall added.
Preston began to gather his papers. “I’ll take you myself. You’ll never get near Tom otherwise.”
*
They stopped atScotland Yard, as it was so close. Fortune was with them, and Wooten was in his office. He spent a precious few minutes scolding them for investigating on their own, but he came along with them in their carriage—and he organized a wagon full of constables to follow.
Niall and Wooten murmured together as her husband caught the inspector up on everything they had learned, while Kara watched Mr. Preston.
The engineer stared silently out the window. She had the impression that his mind was far away. He startled her, then, when he spoke. “I know you have questions. Everyone does, when they find out about my childhood.”
She lifted a shoulder. “I had an unusual upbringing myself. I know it’s not always easy to share. But I am interested in learning what I can of Petra.”
He nodded, his focus still on the passing streets.
“We were kept separately,” he said after a few moments. “There were other children in the school, but the five of us were not meant to interact with them. We had our own living quarters and separate schoolrooms. The rules were strict.”
“I imagine Petra was not one for following rules, even back then,” Kara said with a snort.
“No. She was not. She snuck out to the other dormitories, on the regular. What a bully she was, even then. A despot. She ran those children with an iron fist.”
“Does she run Tom the same way?”
“No.” Preston shook his head. “Their relationship is more…interdependent. They fuel each other in the worst ways.” His mouth twisted. “Tom used to say that I was the angel perched at one shoulder and Petra was the devil on the other—but he was wrong.”
“In what way?”
“It is the headmaster’s voice that rings loudest in Tom’s head. Always telling him he isn’t quick enough, perceptive enough, intelligent enough. When Tom is given a choice, it is always those feelings of inadequacy that spur him down the wrong path.”
“Matthew Hanlin has a great deal to answer for,” Kara said quietly.
Preston grunted in response.
“And is Hanlin’s the voice that drives Petra?” she asked.
“Hell no.” The engineer gave a bitter laugh. “She would never grant him such influence over her.”
“What is it, then? What makes her so…warped?”
“Damned if I know.” Preston sighed. “Petra craves attention. She doesn’t particularly care what sort. Fear and loathing feed her as much as fondness.” He shrugged. “They do say her mother was much the same. Being crowned Princess of Wales was not enough for her. She wanted to be adored—but she didn’t want to work for it. When she found herself disregarded—by her husband, by the royal family, by England’s people—she was happy to become notorious instead. All she had to do was indulge her every craving.”
“Petra certainly does not seem lazy,” Kara said. “Or ruled by those sorts of passions.”
“No. She is not. I believe she deliberately did not wish to be compared to her mother. Certainly, the headmaster understood her craving for attention. He praised her, lifted her above the rest of us. He flattered and cajoled her into becoming one of England’s greatest minds.”
“But that doesn’t explain her cruelty.”
“No. Perhaps she was born with it. Or she might have early discovered her taste for the fear in others.” He paused. “Honestly, I believe her soul is deficient. She cannot or will not focus on anything beyond herself. She does not care whom sheharms or what sort of havoc she wreaks, as long as it brings her the attention she craves. People are only a means to suit her ends. Tom is a prime example. He admires her. He wants to please her. But Tom is weak. He will act against his own best interests to bask in the briefest moments of her approval.”
“Then I can understand why you would wish to keep her away from him.”
Preston cast her a careful look. “The duke said that Petra has threatened your family. I don’t know the story, but I am an engineer, Your Grace. I am putting the pieces together in my head. Were you, by any chance, involved in the destruction of their wretched League?”
