Page 21 of Broken Kingdom

“But President Benoit is a wolf,” he says. “You could smell it on her.”

I shrug. “I know. But maybe Hammer is confused? But it had to be President Benoit that Jean-Paul was talking about to the prisoners. That’s who Hammer was going to sacrifice tonight if you guys hadn’t retaken the campus.”

The old man, now with a bright red-and-white-striped towel wrapped around his torso, lifts his head from the box of crackers Ford was also thoughtful enough to acquire, and says, “Did you say Benoit?”

After a brief hesitation, Ford says, “Yes.”

The old man’s eyes widen. “Coralie Benoit? Hammer’s ex-wife? We all thought she was dead. I’m pretty sure he did, too.”

“I think he did,” Ford says, as I pick my jaw up off the floor and Layla shoots some serious side-eye Ford’s way from her seat by the door. What in the world? We just out that Hammer is Juliet’s dad this morning. Ford came clean about that after the entire debacle with Alexander. And now we’re learning that Juliet’s dad was married to President Benoit? “Until recently, anyway,” Ford adds. “She was hiding at Lost Moon University.”

The old man’s forehead furrows. “She should have hidden better. She has phoenix in her bloodline. That’s how the daughter inherited it. And in the bloodline is enough for the spell.”

“So, you’re saying Juliet is Benoit’s daughter?” Layla pipes up, anger creeping into her tone. “And when were you guys going to share that with the rest of the class? I guess I can understand keeping the Zion thing secret as long as you did, but this was right under our damned noses.”

“Agreed,” I say, arching a brow Ford’s way.

Ford clears his throat, looking uncomfortable as he says, “I told you; Natalie didn’t want us to tell anyone about Hammer. For our own safety as well as the school’s. And Juliet didn’t know her mother was alive until we arrived at Lost Moon. There’s no love lost between them. Honestly, it seemed like President Benoit didn’t care what happened to Juliet as long as she kept the connection between them quiet.”

“Coralie wasn’t a happy bride,” the old man says. “When the wedding was announced, I remember there were rumors that her pack forced her into the marriage in exchange for a payout from Hammer. They basically sold the girl.”

“A lot of us have been sold on the marriage market,” the first woman—Vivian she said her name was on the drive over—pipes up. “That isn’t the child’s fault. Children are innocent.”

“I don’t know why her mom did what she did,” Ford says, adding in a softer voice, “But I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys. I wanted to, but that was Juliet’s call, and she wasn’t ready. You know how she is when she’s hurting. Finding out her mom abandoned her as a baby to be raised by a psychopath hurt her. A lot.”

“As it should,” Vivian mutters around another cracker. “Poor kid.”

“I’m sure that was terribly painful,” I agree, “but now isn’t the time for secrets, Ford. Not between us. If we’re going to have a shot at saving Juliet, we need to know everything. Quickly.”

“Agreed,” Ford says. “But let’s step outside.”

“You should,” Vivian agrees. “We’re not traitors, but you never know with strangers. That’s why you keep your good friends close and treat them like family. Or, better than family, if you treat your family like Jean-Paul treats his. Thank you for what you’ve done for us, by the way. When we take back our pack, you’ll have always have family in Montreal.”

“For life,” Chastain agrees. “Anything you need, all you’ll have to do is ask.” His piercing blue gaze connects with mine. “Especially you, Catherine. I can’t ever repay the debt I owe you, but I’m sure as hell going to try.”

Surprised to find myself blushing a little—compliments from beautiful boys, even starved, weak, damaged boys, aren’t something I’m used to as “Variant scum”—I nod. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat. And I wish all of you well.”

Breaking eye contact with Chastain, I follow Ford outside and around to the side of the waiting room with Layla close behind me.

There, he proceeds to give us such an earful—growing up in the Zion pack with Juliet as her stepbrother, both of them being sold into slavery and told the other one was to blame, their escape and eventual reconciliation and learning that they have another secret sibling who was trapped in our world when the portals to the Parallel collapsed—that by the time our backup arrives, my head is spinning faster than the blades whirring atop the chopper.

But there’s no time to slow down and process all Ford’s confessions.

The strike force is ready to move, and we have to move with them. Fast. Before Juliet ends up another casualty of this unexpected war.

Twelve

Juliet

By five, my hair is styled into an elaborate up-do, my makeup has been professionally applied—including fake eyelashes that make my lids feel oddly heavy—and I’m dressed in a simple blue sheath dress for the trip from the salon to the church, where my altered wedding dress will allegedly be waiting for me in the bridal suite.

By five-thirty, I’m standing at the back of the church, while the wedding planner explains what to do when I hear my musical cue.

“What about my cousin?” I ask. “She’s my maid of honor. Won’t she need to walk down first?”

The wedding planner, a tiny Asian woman named Nicky with cheekbones so sharp they look like they could cut glass, nods. “Absolutely. We’ll also have a flower girl from the pack. So, flower girl first, then Bethany. But they’ll walk during the initial instrumental. It’s when you hear the shift for Here Comes the Bride that the doors will be opened by the attendants, and you’ll begin your walk.”

She snaps her fingers and the closed doors in front of me part like magic, letting out a gust of cool, magnolia-scented air that stirs the hem of my sheath dress. It looks like Jean-Paul went with the orange calla lilies he mentioned for the floral decorations, but the candles glittering throughout the sanctuary are magnolia infused and so pungent the entire space is already suffused with the smell.

---