Chapter 37 What Really Happened to Lucius
Cadence woke up at sunrise. Naomi had already gone back to her own room, unable to sleep, but there was someone else in the room with her. She met Severus's gaze warily, unsure what to expect.
"I am unaccustomed to being caught under such…intimate circumstances. I should have found a more secure place in which to…tend to myself. However, when I told you to leave, I meant the room, not the house…and if I had thought that you would want to…join me, I wouldn't have been so defensive." Severus explains hesitantly, choosing his words carefully.
"I'm sorry…"She murmurs sleepily.
"You can trust me." He states firmly.
"I know…I'm just not sure how. I don't want to get you into trouble." She answers honestly, too mentally exhausted to fight with him.
"Tell me what the Ministry wants with you." Severus requests, holding her gaze.
"You see, that would fall under the 'getting you into trouble' part." She objects, pushing herself into a sitting position. "Harboring known fugitives is against the law. If you don't know about it, then you're not breaking any laws."
He narrows his eyes at her, willing her to tell him the truth. "You can't run forever."
"That's what Markus said," She mutters, "I think I should run while I still can."
"You don't have to run from me. I can help you." Severus insists.
"Have you heard from Jaxon's parents? Or Roderick?" She asks, changing the subject.
"Not yet," He answers impatiently, annoyed that she was avoiding what they needed to discuss.
"Don't expect to. Jaxon's parents are like my father. They want to own her. She's their property. They'll be back for the book though." She tells him.
"Draco is taking care of our plans for getting Jaxon back. He can handle it. The book is safe here. What I'm most concerned about is you." Severus pushes. "Let me help you."
"You can't help me." She snaps.
"You don't know that. You won't know that until you tell me what happened." He points out.
"You'll find out eventually, Severus, whether I want you to or not. There's no reason to talk about it now." She replies defensively.
"Taking into account that I will find out either way, I see no reason not to discuss it now." He counters, using her words against her. "Self defense isn't a crime, Cadence."
"Did Markus tell you?" She demands defensively. "I told him to keep his mouth shut."
"He didn't tell me anything," Severus smirks, "But you just did."
Jaxon yawns and stretches out. She was sore…and annoyed that she was no longer waking up in a comfortable bed. That was all Cadence's fault. If she hadn't been so determined to leave, they wouldn't have gotten caught. She sits up and frowns. The man sitting in the next cell was watching her curiously.
"Can I help you?" She asks, raising an eyebrow and studying him.
The man had long, straight blonde hair that fell past his shoulders. There was short stubble on his chin. His clothes, which looked as thought might have cost him a lot when he had first bought them, where now filthy and tattered. He looked familiar, but Jaxon couldn't quite place him.
"Who are you?" He asks curiously.
"Not a friend of the people who locked you down here." She answers, studying the rusty bars that looked as though they might snap if he got angry and violent enough. Know her parent, that's what they were hoping.
The man laughs bitterly, "I would hope not…What's your name?"
Jaxon hesitates before replying, "What your name?"
"I already know my name, and therein that question holds no relevance to me. What I am curious about is your name." He counters, standing up and moving closer to the bars.
"Pandora," Jaxon answers quickly, not wanting to provoke him. "My name is Pandora."
"My name is Lucius. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Pandora."
Jaxon rolls her eyes, "I'd agree, but the circumstances aren't that pleasant."
"So…how far did you get?" Markus asks curiously.
"She didn't actually tell me anything, but whatever happened was in self defense." Severus answers, "Why don't you fill in the details for me?"
"I can't," He answers simply.
"Ah, yes. Because she told you to keep your mouth shut." Severus returns in annoyance.
"Actually, the main reason I won't tell you is because I only know the Ministry's version of things, and Merlin knows they never have the full story." Markus replies, "The Ministry's interpretation is hardly ever accurate. I would like to hear it from her as well."
"Have you ever considered, godfather, that in order for her to open up to you, it might be wise for you to open up to her?" Draco points out.
Severus frowns. "What do you mean?"
"Tell her about what you've done. Just talk to her. It got me pretty far with Jaxon." Draco answers, "Perhaps you should tell her about the last girl you were with…the reason you've been on the sidelines for so long."
"Woman, Draco, not girl." Severus snaps at him.
"Crystal was sixteen. That's only a year underage, bit I think we could consider her a girl rather than a woman, Severus." Draco returns.
"Yes, I'm sure that will go over beautifully." Severus snaps sarcastically, "I want to be with you. You can trust me. I will protect you. Oh, yes, and have I mentioned that I have a history of rape?"
"You and I both know that the only reason you did it was because of the Dark Lord." Draco objects.
"Because that will make a world of difference," Severus counters, "It's perfectly fine that I violated her because a dark wizard told me to. Not even I see that as a good excuse, and I'm the one who did it. Or better yet, how about I tell Cadence that it really doesn't matter that I violated her because I killed her afterwards so it's not as though she had to live with it for that long. I have no doubt that such a confession will win over a woman such as Cadence. She won't be able to resist me after I tell her that!" Severus finishes, his tone smothered with sarcasm.
"You're not trying to get her to throw herself at you, Severus; you're trying to get her to understand you. Thanks to Annette, she very well may be under the impression that you'd go off and bed any woman willing. I think she needs to hear the truth." Draco insists.
"She would hate me for that." Severus mutters.
"Right," Markus agrees, his eyes darting back and forth between Draco and Severus, "She couldn't handle the skeletons in your closet any better than you could handle those in hers."
Severus raises an eyebrow at him, letting his comment sink in. He didn't like it…but they had a point.
"It was only a suggestion, Severus." Draco replies simply.
"What are we doing about Jaxon?" Severus asks, studying him.
"I want to wait a few days and see what they do. There's someone else there, other than her parents and Roderick. I want to know who it is. If they don't make a move by Wednesday we'll try to go in after her…"
Severus nods, satisfied that Draco had a plan.
"Didn't I say we were supposed to snatch all three of the brats? Not just yours!" Bella inquires furiously.
"Yes, yes…we're still working on the other two." Eleanor answers quickly, "Trinity was easy to grab, but Roderick's brat fought back and Conners was protected by that auror."
"And Trinity didn't fight back?" Bella frowns.
"She flailed about a bit but was stunned enough for us to grab her." Eleanor explains. "However, seeing as we already have that one, I would suggest that we focus on the other two.
"You should have focused on the one that had the book, not the one that was easiest to capture." Bella snaps, "We need the book in order to proceed with the plans."
"If you think you could do a better job, then go ahead." Eleanor sneers, "What should we do next?"
"You use the resources available to you, of course." Bella smirks, "Does that worthless husband of yours not work at the Ministry of Magic?"
"What your point?" Eleanor pushes impatiently.
"Does the Ministry not have a price on Melinda Dawson's head? And do we not know where she is located?" Bella rolls her eyes, explaining it to her as though she were speaking to an irresponsible teenager. "We send the Ministry after Dawson, and then your husband steals her from the Ministry. While they're distracted with getting Dawson back, we take Connors."
Eleanor smiles, "I like that plan."
"But first, we send a message to Severus." Bella adds quickly.
"It won't do us any good to tell him about it!" Eleanor objects.
"We're not going to tell him anything. We're going to send that whore of his back into the picture. Her presence will divide the house…if she survives Roderick's attack." Bella smirks, "We wouldn't want to risk the men becoming attached to the girls."