Chapter 28
I stepped toward the door. "Mary, please don't chase off the new governess," I snapped. "It gets annoying each and every time I find out we need to hire a new one."
"You get annoyed?" Cain snapped. "I'm the one hiring them!"
"You should be glad that I'm sharing your pain then," I said, grabbing my coat. "I'll be gone tonight, just so you know."
"Gone? Going to Drew's?" Mary asked.
I nodded. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Morning?" Cain asked, smirking.
"Mary, hit him for me."
"No!"
"Cain get back here—"
I closed the door behind me and walked along the street. When greeted, I'd smile and nod my head.
I unlocked the door to the clinic and stepped inside. Simon greeted me from the chair and jumped down.
"Hungry, are you?" I asked, heading into the back and laying out a saucer of milk for him. Simon drank happily.
The phone rang. I frowned. Who would be calling so early in the morning? Standing, I went to answer it.
"Jizabel!" Uncle Neil said. "Have you read today's paper?"
"No. Not yet." Said paper was on the desk. I picked it up and looked at the headline. It was about the murder at Butterfly mansion. Cain already told me about it, so I scanned it while Uncle Neil talked.
"The girl Lukia told the authorities that there was another person, other than her grandmother, staying in the tower! Jizabel, I'm worried that it might be…"
I set the paper down on the table. "Uncle, don't you think you're acting a little paranoid?" I asked. "If you think that it was father, Cain would have told me."
"Unless he didn't want you to know," Neil interjected. "It probably isn't the first thing Cain never told you."
It wouldn't be, that was for sure. "Or if Cain really didn't see him, then even if Father is alive, Cain wouldn't know."
"Jizabel…"
"I won't believe that my father is alive," I said, "Not until I see him with my own eyes."
There was no answer.
"Uncle?"
"You are absolutely convinced that Alexis is dead?"
"I saw him jump from the castle window to his death with my own eyes," I lied.
"I know. But did you really see if he died, Jizabel? There was no body, was there?"
I grit my teeth and the scars on my back began to ache. True, we did not look for the body. Cain and I didn't care about that at the time.
Even if there was a chance that Father was alive, the chances are quite slim.
"We did not look to see if there was a body or not," I said, leaning against the wall. "As soon as Father jumped, Cain and I went to London and stayed at my flat."
I smiled, but dared not mention that I allowed Cain to drink or had a "celebration" with the other conspirators. Uncle Neil didn't need to know.
Besides, he'd have my head if he did. Then Cain's…and the others…
But that is beside the point.
"Well, if Cain didn't tell you anything, I could ask him."
"Uncle—"
"You are more than welcome to think I'm paranoid, Jizabel. I would rather not risk learning that Alexis is alive too late if it can be helped."
I relaxed my shoulders. "I see. Well, then you'll be seeing Cain?"
"I'll be heading over right now. Goodbye, Jizabel."
"Goodbye, Uncle."
He hung up. I set the receiver down and sat down at the desk. Cassian entered and looked at me with a frown.
"What?" I asked.
"I could ask the same," Cassian said. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
I shook my head. "No. At least not yet."
Until I saw Father or Cain himself told me that he had seen Father, I refused to believe that he was alive…
Big Ben tolled midnight when I bid goodnight to the Benjamins. As I walked, I listened to a violin playing in the night.
The song playing was dark. Haunting. I wondered what it was.
The fog began to clear as I was passing the Thames.
I glanced at a boat floating in the river. When I turned away, a shout—from the boat—stopped me.
"UNCLE NEIL!!!"
The voice, without a doubt, belonged to Cain.
I ran to the dock just as the boat pulled in. "What happened?!" I demanded when Cain pulled the boat in.
"Uncle Neil's been shot!"
I stepped in and helped Cain pull Uncle Neil onto the dock. "Call an ambulance," I ordered, examining the arrow. Cain ran. I cursed the light.
I didn't want to risk causing more damage than what was already done. I didn't even know what I was dealing with.
Cain returned with an ambulance. I barked orders to them as we moved Uncle Neil to the hospital…
Cain handed me papers. I took them curiously. "What are these?" I asked.
"Information about the organization that Dr. Geraldi was talking about. It's run by Father."
"Cain—"
"Father's alive," Cain interrupted. "I followed Uncle Neil to Westminster Abbey after seeing him earlier today. While there, I saw Father…"
"Cain, do you know how mad that sounds?" I hissed, shaking him. "We poisoned him. I pushed him out the window myself. Father is dead."
Cain shook his head slowly. "It was like poisoning him and even pushing him out the window was nothing to him. He wasn't even scratched."
I released my hold on Cain and the papers I had been clutching in my hand fell to the ground. I sat down.
"Jizabel," he said. "Big Brother, I didn't tell you everything about what happened at Butterfly Mansion. I didn't see Father, but he was there. I heard his voice from behind me. I couldn't look…"
"No. I know."
If Cain looked around for Father when he heard his voice, it would be to confirm what he didn't want to believe.
The door opened and a doctor came out. "You're Lord Neil's relatives?"
"His nephews," I clarified, standing again. "How is he?"
"He'll live."
Can and I relaxed.
"But it was difficult removing the fragments."
"Fragments?"
"The arrow exploded inside him. It might be difficult for him to return to a normal life…"
"May we see him?" Cain asked. The doctor nodded and led us into the room. Uncle Neil was sitting up, flipping through the paper. When we entered, he looked at us and smiled.
"Well, Jizabel, I can't imagine the last time I've seen you in a tuxedo."
I snorted and shook my head. "I'm glad you can jest so much after such a terrible ordeal, Uncle," I said, taking his hand. Cain sat on the edge the bed.
"Cain's told you, I see."
"He has."
"What I want you boys to do is watch yourselves. Carry weapons with you wherever you go if you must, but be armed."
Cain and I looked at each other, then back at Uncle Neil. We nodded. When we bid our goodbyes and hopes for a quick recovery, Cain and I left.
"What's on your mind?" I asked.
"Just that…we have to stop Father," he said. "Probably by staying one step ahead just as we did when we decided to kill him."
I frowned and pulled Cain aside. "Listen to me," I growled. "I'll handle it—"
"Again? By yourself? I discovered the arsenic in the sugar cubes."
"Cain—"
"And even if you were planning to quit school until Father was dead, you went back to College."
I winced, "Against my wishes, Cain. Father threatened to kill you if I didn't."
"So said the guy that told me it'd take more than fifty men to make him go back," Cain spat. "It actually took less than ten, right?"
I released my hold on him. Cain fixed his coat. I didn't think he held it against me.
"I know more about the way Father works, Jizabel. I have a better chance of fighting him."
"Cain. I can't allow it. As your older brother—"
"I'm not asking your advice," Cain snapped. "I'm ordering you to stay out of my way as head of the Hargreaves Family."
"It took four men and a child to pull it off, Cain!"
Cain shook his head. "No it didn't. Who poisoned Father's pipe and switched the arsenic with rose hips?"
He was right. I didn't have to do anything to get rid of Father. It was all Cain. A small, seven-year-old was able to do everything that we wanted to pull off. I just never saw it. I always saw it as a group effort between brothers.
I embraced him.
"Jizabel?"
"If you need help, Cain…"
Cain relaxed. "I know where to find you."
