Chapter 74: Chapter 74
After the attack, we had decided not to stay in New York any longer, so I had to quickly pack my bags and get to the airport with a whole caste battalion. All the guests of the evening had now taken the measure of the danger, and were ready to join us at Mortain Castle as soon as possible. An Airbus A380 had been reserved to contain all these people, while the small troop forming our arrival took the private jet back to Paris, the location of our second recruitment campaign. On the tarmac, Mike, who I had learned was Connor’s second in the Western Territory, came to meet me.
“I would like to thank you for what you did last night.”
“Many are dead,” I said, sadly.
“Many others would be without your intervention.”
“That’s possible,” I replied after a silence. “I have a question for you: How come you’re not following Connor’s way? He was your boss before he left.”
“On the contrary, I am following his way. Well, the one he had chosen before he changed his mind.”
His gaze darkened. I read in him his incomprehension and his will to choose only by his own convictions.
“When he met you at the wedding,” he continued, “he called me and told me about you.”
“Oh, good? What did he say?”
“He said your powers were beyond comprehension. It made him curious, and although it surprised me coming from a man like him, he seemed inclined to want to serve you. It’s for this reason that I cannot explain this reversal.”
“Guess he was more inclined to serve the Six after all,” I lied.
“Which we can call the Five now.”
“That’s right,”' I said, putting my right hand on his shoulder, a gesture that made him blush to his ears.
I withdrew my hand. My cell phone started vibrating in my bag. I grabbed it and apologised to Mike, who walked away.
“Hello?”
“I can’t believe you did this to me, Eve!”
“Ethan?!” I whispered, instantly recognizing his voice.
“How could you do such a thing to me?! Your own brother!”
My blood liquefied, my legs were shaking, my hand holding the phone could barely grip it.
“I had no choice.”
“A choice?!” he yelled at the other end of the line, “You’ve been drugging me all this time! How could you?”
“You tried to kill yourself during my wedding!” I cried, regaining my wits a bit. “What should I have done? Your letter was clear, you wanted to kill yourself to see if you would come back to life. What if that fails? If you don’t come back? What the hell was I to do?!”
“I don’t care!”
“You don’t surprise me,” I replied, while anger filled my voice. “You did this on my wedding night, damn it! You’re selfish!”
“Selfish? Selfish!”
“Yes, selfish! Do you think I wanted to get married this way? Do you think I asked to be the leader of the castes? Do you think I want to go into battle to fight a bunch of sick people who are murdering and destroying cities with a snap of their fingers? No, Ethan, I don’t. But I did, and what in this apocalyptic setting might have turned out to be something potentially beautiful and romantic, you’ve ruined it!”
“I suffered too.”
“I know you’re hurting, brother, and with Carmichael, I…”
“Don’t talk to me about him!”
“Where are you?”
“I won’t tell you.”
“Answer, Ethan!”
“I can answer you, but I would lie to you, as Carmichael knows so well.”
“What are you talking about?!”
“I’m talking about the fact that your husband lied to you all along.”
I was on the verge of hanging up as his arrogant and calm tone annoyed me. But at least he’d dropped the subject of his imprisonment and piqued my curiosity about something else. I wasn’t ready to believe him one hundred percent, given my brother’s mental state at the moment.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, so tell me where you are!”
They were waiting for me near the jet. The others had rejoined the Airbus, and I could see Carmichael in the distance gesturing for me to go. The wind had risen on the tarmac and my hair was whipping my face. I was cold despite the heat that my anger against my brother was fanning in my flesh.
“Do you remember the first time you came to Mortain?” Ethan continued. “Do you remember that Carmichael was away for a while and that I went with him?”
“Yes, I remember, so what?”
“We went to London. Carmichael wanted to give his father the impression that he was in control of your situation and prevent you from falling into his clutches.”
“I remember, Ethan, I told you!”
“When we were in London, Carmichael saw Olivia.”
The blood left my cheeks. My fingers tightened on the phone, my jaw clenched.
“He was aware that your best friend was being held by Magnus and, better still,” Ethan continued, “he was aware that he was experimenting on her with the DNA strains he possessed.”
“You lie!” I yelled.
“Ask him if you don’t believe me.”
Carmichael was running towards me, visibly tired of my not responding to his gestures.
“For the last time, where are you, Ethan?”
“Where do you want me to be? I’m going where my death will be welcomed with no questions asked. I’m going where our mother is and, better, I’m going where the power is.”
“Ethan?! No…”
“Farewell, my sister.”
He hung up. I still had the cell phone to my ear when I mentally stopped Carmichael’s run a few yards from me. My blood boiled, I glared at him.
“What?!” he said in incomprehension.
“Did you know about Olivia?”
“Who was it on the phone?”
“Did you know about Olivia?!”
He watched me for a moment, motionless, and exhaled a great sigh as if what he was about to say was going to free him from a weight. My stomach twisted like an invisible hand was compressing my stomach. I clenched my fists.
“I knew,” he said finally.
“You lied to me! She was my best friend!”
With those last words, my anger exploded and he was thrown backwards. Surprised by the scene, our travelling companions ran in our direction. Eric and Thomas were the first, followed by Henry and Sonia, then later all the others. Carmichael stood up.
“We couldn’t save her!”
“We could have tried!” I cried, tears in my eyes. “We could have tried!”
“She was lost. I wasn’t going to risk losing you for her.”
“For her?!”
“You can’t blame me for trying to keep you alive and not handing you over to Magnus.”
“You had no right to decide for me. If I had known that Olivia was in London, I would have gone to save her, I wouldn’t have abandoned her.”
“And that’s exactly why I didn’t want to tell you!”
“Get out of my sight!” I yelled desperately.
“You can’t do that,” Henry said, as if allowed to burst into the conversation. “We are at war, and our infighting…”
“… Shut up. Shut up, Henry, SHUT UP!”
Anger made me expel him as well. Everything was a mess in my head. I thought for a moment despite the chaotic slump my anger caused. My eyes fixed on Johnny.
“I’m going to Paris with Eric, Thomas and Johnny,” I declared in a cold voice. “The rest of you will accompany Carmichael and our guests to Mortain and train them for war before he departs for Hong Kong.”
“But you can’t…”
“Yes, I can, and I will, I tell you! Besides, I’m taking the jet.”
Striding toward the jet, I caught a glimpse of Carmichael’s pathetic look. Henry and Sonia went to join him. Marion did the same. Caleb spoke to Eric before Eric showed up with Carly Stanton.
“I don’t think I invited Carly to join us,” I said dryly.
“Look, I’m not sure what’s going through your mind,” she said, “but…”
“You don’t come!”
Giving her that command, I slammed her mouth shut so hard she tried to use her hands to try to open her jaw. Thomas and Eric ordered her to relax while Johnny went to my left. Eric grabbed my arm and forced me to stop.
“Damn, calm down, Eve!”
“He knew that Olivia was a prisoner! He always knew that and we left her there alone. They tortured her, and now she’s dead!”
“Who told you that?”
“Ethan,” I replied, looking down.
“Ethan?! How…”
“I don’t know! I need to call Mortain and find out what happened.”
“Okay, but calm down,” Eric told me. “I have to take Carly with me. You know that, since Blake, I can no longer stay in your presence without her. We don’t know what could happen.”
“I don’t want her by my side, Eric! It’s too much to ask of me after what I have just learned. I trust you, so do the same! But if you really want to stay with her, I understand. Nothing obliges you to follow me, make your choice.”
“You want her to go with Carmichael?” Johnny asked, waving a hand at Carly, telling her to get out of here as soon as possible.
“Of course I want her to go with him!”
“I hope he travels economy class, that motherfucker!” Johnny said without warning.
Eric and I whirled around in his direction, our bewildered faces saying a lot about our thoughts. Despite these revelations and the sadness that overwhelmed me, Johnny still managed to make me smile. Olivia was his best friend, so I knew he was as furious as I was, and yet he still managed to play down the situation with a joke of his own. His presence soothed me, while a headache threatened to fry my brain.
Eric made his choice and we boarded the jet where the hostess, already present on the outward journey, didn’t hide her surprise at seeing only four passengers boarding. The captain was worried about Carmichael’s absence, so I reassured him by explaining that my traitorous husband was taking another flight. Then, I decided to relax in the bathroom and take a hot shower. The towels were placed near the sink, I used them to wipe the mirror fogged up with water vapour. My reflection sent back a weary face. I was so concerned about knowing Ethan was on the loose, trying to find the Five to carry out his suicide plan. Drying my hair and changing into clean clothes, I joined the rest of the group. A well-opened bottle of champagne sat on the table by the sofa, and without asking permission, I drank it straight from the bottle. This day was definitely shitty.
“And what do you plan to do about Carmichael?” asked Thomas. “Even though I’m not his biggest fan, I think I understand his motivations.”
“It has nothing to do with his motives. He owes me the truth. Olivia deserved more. She had nothing to do with any of this, and because of me, she died.”
“Because of Magnus Burton Race,” continued Thomas.
“Carmichael didn’t do or say anything to help her. That’s all I see.” Eric said in a dull voice.
I took a sip of champagne from the bottle, happy to know Eric was on my side. I watched him and had to admit that it was thanks to Carly that he was able to stand beside me now. Only, I was almost certain that their relationship had turned into something deeper, and I didn’t like it, but who was I to judge? How could I be so selfish when I was now married, queen and destined to fight a war? Eric had no place in my life, and if he was happy, then I had to be happy for him. I suddenly regretted having fired Carly and felt guilt on the horizon, but pushed that feeling away by remembering the complicity that also bound her to Carmichael. And this time again, I looked like a child mad with jealousy. Pathetic.
“Eric,” I said, “forgive me for forbidding Carly to come with us, I had no right.”
“It was out of anger, I understand, Eve.”
“Although, I’m not unhappy that the four of us are together for a bit.”
“I was going to say the same thing!” said Thomas. “Like in the good old days! Isn’t it, Joe?”
“Oh yes, and anyway, Carly is too old for Eric. Go on, admit it,” Johnny continued. “She’s over forty, that woman, and I don’t really like her rattling voice. The more I think about it, the more I tell myself that you would really be better off with a guy like me.”
“You’re going to stop that right away,” said Eric, laughing.
“You know what, Eric?” I said. “I’m willing to give you this bottle and admire the spectacle of seeing it smash on Johnny’s skull.”
“Your guy is at least three hundred years old.” Johnny challenged me. “And dumping Thomas for an old man, that’s brutal. An old man, a castle and power, you had no chance, Panchak.”
And we continued all the way in this teasing atmosphere. The hostess, in the face of such success, had uncorked four more bottles of champagne, and when we arrived in Paris, we were all completely drunk.