Chapter 29
I half-wished that Cain would tell me what was going on. The other half of me wasn't so sure I wanted to know what horrors my brother was getting into and just trust that he'd come out of it alright.
Sometimes I'd come home just as he was leaving. Sometimes…okay, more often than not, Riff would accompany him. Most of the time, he wouldn't come home until late and I barely saw him anymore.
Mary and I continued our everyday life as though nothing had changed. But without Cain, it was difficult to see how anything could have stayed the same, but for the most part it did.
I still went to the clinic and Mary stayed home and studied.
I've never felt estranged from Cain before now. Whenever he left with Riff, or called Riff to come and help him, I felt an unquenchable pang of jealousy. Mary, noticing this, told me that Cain didn't want to rely on me as much as he used to.
"I don't think he wants us to know why," she said.
Even so, I think I knew:
All his life, Cain always believed he could count on me to be there to lift him up out of any pit he had gotten himself into. For the most part, he was right to believe that.
So why now stop believing in me?
No. I don't think that was it.
So said the guy that told me it'd take more than fifty men to make him go back…It actually took less than ten, right?
I shook my head, pushing that phrase to the back of my mind. It had been a month since then. Cain's been doing well fighting Delilah on his own (well…not entirely on his own, I thought dejectedly).
The phone rang and I picked it up.
"It's Mary! Something's wrong with Riff! I don't know what's going on, but Cain's freaking out! Please, come home!"
I hung up and grabbed my coat, closing the clinic. I called a cab, urging the driver to go as fast as he could to the Estate.
When I arrived, Cain was pacing about, his brow furrowed.
"What's going on?" I demanded, pulling him aside.
"Riff…he's been poisoned. There's no known antidote…"
"Where is he?"
"At the hospital—Jizabel, I…"
"What? Cain, there's time, do you know how he was poisoned?"
Cain nodded.
"What he was poisoned with?"
"Yes—"
"Then something could be done."
"Jizabel! The poison is a special venom bred in a certain breed of tarantulas that Delilah bred! Only Geraldi has the antidote! I can handle this myself! Why can't you just trust me?!"
My hand collided with Cain's cheek.
Cain raised his hand to his reddening cheek. "That Riff got poisoned having to protect you, Cain, is proof that you can't handle it yourself," I yelled. Cain looked at me, wide eyed. I relaxed my stance. "You don't have to fight them alone. You can trust me still."
"It's not that," Cain said, lowering his hand. "I'm tired of being protected. I feel so useless every time I have to rely on you and…it just gets annoying. I know a way to get the antidote…"
I leaned against the wall. "What do you intend to do?"
Cain smirked. "You'd never forgive me if I told you," he said. The way he smirked was unlike what he had been earlier.
"You have a plan I take it?"
"Like I said, you didn't hear it from me."
I shook my head and Cain headed over to his collection. He was right. I didn't like where this was going.
"Hey, Jiz, could you come with me anyway?"
I raised an eyebrow. "That bad?"
"You're not going to tell me you thought that I was replacing you with Riff are you? If so, I'll smack you harder than you did me, Jiz," Cain growled. "No one—not even Riff—can replace my brother."
I smirked. "Good," I said, ruffling his hair.
"Stop that," Cain growled. I curled my hand into a fist and rubbed it on his head with all my strength. "OW!! God! That hurt!"
"Don't be a baby."
"I'm the baby?!" Cain shouted….
"And furthermore!" I shouted. "You're not leaving the house until I say! No parties, no balls—not even a trip to the pub!"
Cain had been right. I didn't like what was going on between him and Delilah. Hence here I am after Geraldi gave Riff the antidote (don't ask me why—I've no idea) bearing down on my younger brother as though he was seven and not seventeen.
"Isn't that a little harsh?" Cassian asked.
"Hardly," I growled at him. I turned back to Cain.
"I can't even go with you to the Benjamin Family's next ball?" Cain asked quietly. My already hardened stare hardened further. "I guess that's a no…"
Yes, the next ball was coming up soon. I had been invited as Drew's escort.
"Er…Lord Jizabel?"
I turned to the maid. "What?"
She held up a package. "It's from Lord Gladstone."
"Send it back," I growled. I turned back to Cain. "Are we clear?"
"Very," Cain said.
"Good. Go to bed."
"It's only nine thirty!"
I smirked. "I know. Bed. Now."
Cain glowered and dragged his feet upstairs. I turned around. The maid was still there holding the package. "What?" I asked.
"Sir, the package can't be returned. The messenger was very specific about that."
"Then burn it—"
"Er…well…if you want, sir you could talk to the messenger."
Well, at least it wasn't Cassandra himself who brought it. I rolled my eyes and followed the maid into the foyer.
A youth with messy blonde hair and brown eyes saluted me. "Hello, Dr. Disraeli," he greeted. I recognized the kid. "Sorry to bother you so late."
"Why are you here?"
"Oh? You remember me? Darn," he shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "Oh well. I'm Kaiser," he pulled one of his hands out of his pocket for me to shake. "Put'er there."
I didn't take the hand. "I thought you worked for Dr. Geraldi."
"I do," Kaiser said, lowering his hand. "Lord Gladstone asked me to run a favor for him."
"Asked?"
"Okay, more like threatened me. I'm a homophobe, just so ya know. Or at least, that's what Dr. Geraldi told me."
"I really don't care. Take this," I grabbed the package and handed it to him, "back to Cassandra."
"Can't," Kaiser said.
"Excuse me?"
"I can't. I got this for you. From Lord Gladstone," he pulled out a letter and handed it to me. I took it and ripped it apart. Kaiser just blinked and shrugged. "He said you might do that…oh well, the letter's main content that I was supposed to tell you that you were supposed to keep it for whatever reason. Personally I don't care if you throw it in the trash, but Lord Gladstone insisted that you open it—hey! Who's the chic?"
I blinked and looked behind me at Mary. She was watching from the railing, curiously. I turned back to Kaiser. "Off limits," I snarled. "Fine. I'll open it. Then most likely re-gift it if not destroy it."
Kaiser shrugged.
"Why aren't you leaving?"
"I have to make sure you do open it."
I groaned and ripped the wrapping and opened it. Oh God, no…a midnight blue, satin ball gown gleamed back at me. Mary ran down the stairs and looked at it.
"Wow! It's pretty!"
"It's going to the incinerator."
"Wait! Jizabel, why not just have it resized to fit Drew?" Mary suggested. "It's to pretty to throw away."
That could work! I turned back to Kaiser. "There, I opened it, now get out." Kaiser shrugged, winked at Mary, and walked out the door. My eye twitched. "Mary, stay away from that kid."
"Don't worry," Mary said, "I will. I don't like creeps."
I ruffled Mary's hair. "Good little sister. So well behaved. Unlike another younger sibling I could mention."
"You're really mad at him, aren't you?"
"Mad? No. Furious is more accurate."
Mary inched away. "You're doing an awfully good job at hiding it, Big Brother."
I smiled at Mary. "Am I? Because it's taking a whole lot of self control not to throttle him." I handed the dress back to the maid. "Take this to the seamstress and ask her to fit it for Lady Drew Benjamin, if you would."
"Yes sir."
"So…can I go since Cain can't?"
"What?" I asked, looking at her, mildly surprised.
"Please? I've never been to a ball yet. Just a bunch of tea parties and such and I've never been to an actual ball."
"I don't think they'll be anyone there you'll know. You're still a child, Mary…"
She gave me what Cain and I dubbed "the Look." No matter what Cain and I did to tell her "no," whenever she uses "the Look," we can't seem to fight back.
Her eyes wide like a puppy, her bottom lip trembled….
I caved. I called the maid back. "And ask them to make Mary a dress with a sky blue color."
"Yay!"
"You owe me," I growled. Mary skipped to bed.
