“What’s going on?” The words came out strangled, and I could hardly see straight, but I wasn’t going to give either of them a way out. “Tell me. First Sofia, then Irene, now you—”
“Perhaps it would be best if we continued this conversation inside,” said Henry with a grimace. I gritted my teeth and nodded, leaning on him as he helped me into the room.
Inside, I realized it was a bedroom. While it wasn’t dusty, it had the feeling of disuse, and as Henry helped me maneuver around the broken glass on the hardwood floor, I saw a mangled frame lying on the ground, its picture bent and torn. Smiling up at me was the photograph of a girl who couldn’t have been much older than me, with freckled cheeks and strawberry-blond hair. Next to her stood Henry, and he looked much happier than I’d ever seen him, all of the tension from his body gone.
“Who’s that?” I said, but I had a sinking feeling I already knew.
Henry glanced at the picture, and pain flashed across his face. He waited until he’d helped me to the bed before answering, and even then he wouldn’t look me in the eye. “Persephone,” he said in a fragile voice that threatened to break. “A very long time ago.”
“Not too long ago,” I said, eyeing the image. “Not if you had cameras around.”
“It is not a photograph,” he said, bending down to retrieve it. “It is a reflection. Look.”
His hands shook as he handed me the picture, and as I examined it, I noticed it had a depth to it that photographs didn’t. It seemed to shimmer, as if it was a pool of water, and Persephone and Henry were moving. Not so much that it looked like a home movie, but she blinked, and I could see his arms tighten around her.
“She’s beautiful,” I said softly. Part of me was jealous, knowing I could never live up to her memory, but I was so consumed by sadness for what Henry must have gone through that I pushed it aside. “I’m sorry.”
He waved dismissively, as if it were no big deal, but when I handed the picture back to him, he took it gently and passed his hand over the surface. It smoothed out as if it had never been damaged. “As I said, it was a long time ago.”
A cough tore my attention away from him, and I looked up to see James lingering near the doorway. My eyes narrowed. “What?”
“You asked why I was here.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the door, shutting it firmly. Behind it I heard a squeak. Ava was still out there, but this wasn’t something I wanted her to overhear.
“And you still haven’t told me.” I winced as Henry gently touched my ankle.
“He is my successor,” said Henry, and I looked at him sharply. “He will take over my duties if I fade.”
A wave of horror washed over me, and I stared at James, disgusted. “Is that why you tried to stop me from coming here? You knew I was his last chance, and you thought if you stopped me, you’d have a clear shot at the winner’s circle?”
“There is no winner’s circle,” said James. “It isn’t some competition, all right? This is hard on all of us. We’ve been trying for a century to find someone to take Persephone’s place, and if we don’t—”
“If you don’t, then you get to take Henry’s place,” I snapped. “Yet here you are, trying to ruin it for him.”
“Because I thought you wanted out,” he said, his jaw clenched so tightly that I could see a muscle twitch. “You said—”
“Henry was right. I didn’t understand, and I’m not about to walk away and kill him if I can help it.”
James shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other. “I never thought you would. But the terms of the agreement are final, and if you want to leave, there isn’t anything we can do to stop you. If Henry holds you here against your will, then we have every right to step in.”
“Wait,” I said as what he was saying slowly dawned on me. “What do you mean, we?”
Next to me, Henry frowned, his brow furrowing so deeply that for a moment he didn’t look like himself. “James,” he said, a warning.
James straightened, his arms falling to his side. “I don’t care if she knows.”
“The others will,” he said, but he made no move to stop him.
James took a hesitant step toward me, as if he wanted to reach out to me, but I gave him a cold look, and he fell short. “I’m a member of the council.”
My heart nearly stopped. “You’re on the council?” I sputtered. “You can’t be. You’re—you.”
“Astute observation,” he said, more to himself than to me. “Listen, Kate—I don’t care if you believe me or not. Well, no, I’d like it if you did, but I don’t expect you to. You can hate me all you want for trying to take you away from Henry, but I’m only trying to do what’s best for you.”
“And you think what’s best for me is to live the rest of my life knowing I’m the reason Henry dies?” Hot tears threatened to spill out of my eyes, but I blinked them back, forcing my voice to stay steady. “Not to mention what’s going to happen to my mother.”
“You wouldn’t remember any of this if you decide to leave,” said James. “That’s also part of the deal.”
“Enough about this stupid deal.” My voice broke, and my cheeks turned hot. “This is my decision, not yours. You can’t go behind my back and end this just because you think you know what’s best for me. I get to say when this is over, not you.”