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“So your grandmother kept it from you.” He walks around the vat, circling me. “Thirty-five years ago, I was promised a marriage to your mother. It would secure my hold onto my empire. Deter the supposed bad luck. Ensure a healthy union to allow our families to prosper.”
He stops in front of me, cocking his head. A few gray strands land in his eyes, but he brushes them away.
“She rejected me. Ran off with another man. She went against us all. She brought misfortune to everyone. She was the only woman in her generation. Maple was too young, I didn’t have time to wait to marry her. And so I had to find someone outside of the families.”
The pain in my shoulders intensifies, but I shove it down. The information dump is…a lot.
“But the replacement died in childbirth with my son. And my claim as the head of family weakened. My brother chomping at the bit to take my place.”
Wait this has to be…
“Are you Kale’s dad?”
I can’t see much resemblance.
His lips twitch. “You know my son?” He waves his hand. “That boy is practically useless. Except for the chemical below you. The poison that, in tiny doses, can bring me back control of this city. To annihilate the other families and become the sole leader.”
“What does any of this have to do with me?”
“Revenge. You are the last daughter of the Barleys. Removing you will eliminate the joining of the families. Their bond will be broken. Their bad luck will fester. And I will sweep in to destroy the remaining families once and for all.”
His entire plan seems…flawed.
And I open my mouth to tell him that, but he moves back to the panel.
“And now it’s time to finish what I started. First, your father. Then, your mother. And now my final piece of revenge. The last evidence of my shame.”
Bark!
Beanie is freaking out now, spinning in circles, the tiny loaf is clearly attempting to escape. The phone cord-turned-leash loosens, but she is still trapped.
And all I feel is guilt for dragging her into this.
“Look, if you try to kill me, it’s not going to end well. Just like it didn’t last time,” I warn Romaine.
But he scoffs, ignoring me. “That was a one-off.”
And he doesn’t hesitate again, slamming down on the panel.
62
The Right to Romaine Silent
Romaine
After decades of shame and embarrassment, there is nothing better than it coming full circle.
To finally eliminate the last memory.
My hand slams on the panel, but nothing happens.
What the—
Bark!
I move to silence the dog, but my foot steps in the chains on the ground, and as soon as I do, the machine cranks to life. The chains tighten before I can move.
Tangling in my foot, and strangling my ankle, they drag me up into the air.
