The Red Queen (28 page)

Aida came out of the bathroom. “No one will succeed the one and only Siren!” She snatched the towel from Bayrose with considerable force. “Let me take care of Lucia.”

Bayrose stepped aside with a sweet, docile smile, her heart slamming in her rib cage. She didn’t expect the nanny to eavesdrop on her private conversation with her lunatic half-sister. “Of course, Aida,” she said.
Old hag, wait until the day I dispose of you.

“Be nice, Aida,” Lucienne said. “Bayrose has been great to me. She’s particularly patient with me when my madness overcomes me.”

Instantly, Bayrose felt an inner power tugging in her, as if responding to Lucienne’s words. Could it be? Could the Shadow subdue the mad Siren? She noticed a very interesting phenomenon—Lucienne was more prone to listen to her and even obey her when she was her insane self. Bayrose felt lightheaded and thrilled at the new discovery.

“Where’s Jekaterina?” Lucienne asked Bayrose. “You said she was coming.”

“She’s always late, but she’s on her way here.”

“Then shouldn’t you call me after she arrives rather than drag me away from my morning run an hour ago? I’d prefer she wait for me instead of the other way around.”

“Don’t be petty, Lucia,” Bayrose chided. “When will you ever get over this grudge against Mother?”

“She didn’t abandon you,” Lucienne said.

“I did not abandon you, either, Lucienne.” Jekaterina strolled in. “I told you I left you to protect you.”

What did Mother mean by that? Hadn’t Mom chosen her over her sister? It hurt to hear that Mom had left Lucienne, but stayed with Bayrose as a way to protect her elder daughter. Who could be more powerful than Mom to rob her of her firstborn? 

With the Shadow in her, Bayrose knew her mother didn’t tell the whole truth.

Mom was concealing something. Something big. But what?

CHAPTER 24

HERITAGE

“I did not abandon you, either, Lucienne.” Jekaterina strolled in. “I told you I left you to protect you.”

Why didn’t her guards announce Jekaterina’s arrival? How had that woman gotten past them? Lucienne frowned. But could she really blame her guards? She’d visited the lab a handful of times when her mother worked. She noted that when Jekaterina spoke, people obeyed, more eagerly than they did her. Even Kian let Jekaterina have her way, despite that he insisted on putting her under tight surveillance. Jekaterina had bossed Lucienne around as well, and even she, the Siren, had almost fallen under Jekaterina’s authoritative spell once or twice.

“Sure,” Lucienne said to her mother, “you didn’t leave me in the care of the man who sold me and then poisoned me. Your protection program didn’t suck, and your heart was in the right place. So here I am, half mad and half dead. Should I applaud you for being the mother of the year, Jekaterina?”

Bayrose gasped. Evidently, her younger sister had never challenged their mother. But Lucienne wouldn’t indulge Jekaterina’s every whim.

“I do not measure motherhood by human standards,” Jekaterina said coolly. “Nor do I measure my love that way. You’re where you’re meant to be. All I’ve done is make sure of that.”

Lucienne laughed bitterly. “I’m where I’m meant to be? I’m a mad Siren. I inflict my people. And you made sure of that?” Her voice turned icy. “Choose your words carefully, woman. If my men think you were behind the scheme to poison me, they’ll take you out in a heartbeat. Even I can’t stop them.”

“It won’t be as easy to bring me down as you think,” Jekaterina said softly, “so there’s no need to threaten me. You’re as strong as I expected you to be. What can’t kill you only makes you stronger. As I said, I came here to guarantee your survival. I won’t accept failure. You’re the true Siren in an eon. You’re one of a kind, my daughter.”

The pride in Jekaterina’s tone sent chills through Lucienne. She talked as if Lucienne had been a successful experiment of hers. But the woman had produced the first female Siren.

“Very encouraging,” Lucienne said. “Now I see where my madness comes from.”

“At least you admit our connection,” Jekaterina said, a faint smile appearing on her lips.

Lucienne stared at Jekaterina’s smile, again stunned by her mother’s beauty. A thought flitted by her mind. Jekaterina’s physique was as perfect as Ashburn’s. She brushed aside an uneasy thought—her mother had reached out to Ash first. She could see the tie between them. And Ashburn had admitted that he felt a kinship with Jekaterina. What if she wasn’t the firstborn, but Ash was? He was a year older than her, and she was a year older than Bayrose. She hadn’t known she had a sister until two weeks ago. Blood called to blood. Was that why she and Ash were so drawn to each other? And if Ashburn was her brother …. A nauseating feeling impaled her.

“We’re not as connected as you think,” Lucienne said icily. “And you can’t tell the difference between sarcasm and a compliment, can you?”

“More than you know,” Jekaterina said. “But let’s not waste time on empty words. This isn’t why you summoned me.”

“I didn’t summon you,” said Lucienne.

Jekaterina darted a glance at Bayrose, who appeared uncomfortable.

“Mother,” Bayrose said, “you haven’t had time for me since your arrival, so I took an initial step and arranged this family reunion.”

Jekaterina’s eyes suddenly sharpened like a dagger, turning the rich color of fiery amber. Lucienne saw that her half-sister couldn’t help but shrivel under Jekaterina’s gaze. Their mother’s eyes returned to brown a second later. Lucienne almost thought she had imagined it.

Her maternal family wasn’t any less predatory than her fraternal one. Lucienne rose and held her sister’s shoulder, but Bayrose didn’t relax. Lucienne gave Jekaterina a defiant look, more than ready to slap back any unkind words from her mother’s mouth.

Jekaterina’s eyes softened, no longer piercing. She heaved a sigh. “Rose,” she said, “you haven’t excelled at manipulation since you were a child, so don’t start now.”

Had Bayrose called her to drag her away from Vladimir on the beach? Lucienne’s arm left her sister’s shoulder.

“Reality is but a perception,” Jekaterina continued. “You’ll not be your sister’s shadow if you choose not to be. You’ll become
shadow
only if you stay weak.”

Bayrose’s face paled like the dead. It took great effort for her not to tremble. That was the strongest emotion Lucienne had seen from her younger sister. She wanted to hold Bayrose again to support her, but her instinct told her not to. Why did Jekaterina keep using the word
shadow
? Lucienne thought of the shadow in her mind the other day when Bayrose had been near. Was there a connection?
No, I’m being paranoid again.

“I’m sorry, Mom, if I disappointed you,” Bayrose said, as if she wanted to be invisible.

Jekaterina never showered much sunshine on her younger daughter. A sudden realization hit Lucienne. Her sister hadn’t lived a fairytale life with their mother. For the first time, Lucienne felt a kinship toward Bayrose. “Bayrose is not my shadow,” she said, “and she'll never be anyone's. She’s building a life here. Is it that hard to encourage your own daughter?”

“Bayrose isn’t the one who needs to be encouraged,” Jekaterina said. “You are.” She sat on a chair facing her two daughters,
an unmistakable look of ancient exhaustion in her eyes. Lucienne’s heart softened a notch. Despite Jekaterina’s failings as a mother, she’d been working day and night in the lab to find a cure for her daughter. 

“Anyway, I was planning to visit,” Jekaterina said. “I made progress.”

Lucienne held her breath.

“I believe you’re no stranger to ancient technology beyond human perception,” Jekaterina said, her gaze fixing on her oldest daughter. “Modern humans call one type of science quantum mechanics. Ancient humans called it the oldest magic—knowledge from heavens. Same face, different names.”

“Like yours?” Lucienne blurted out.

“One day you’ll get over your animosity toward me,” Jekaterina said.

For a second, Lucienne saw a terrible loneliness and weariness in her mother’s eyes, and she was suddenly ashamed for being spiteful. “Maybe,” she said in a low voice, “I can try.”

Jekaterina gave her a forgiving look.
“Ashburn’s Spike is fueled by old magic as well as quantum mechanics. The line often blurs. Spike’s power source is just like Xρόνος—the Eye of Time.”

Lucienne’s heart stuttered. How did her mother know about the Eye of Time? Jekaterina, however, kept her mask in place. Lucienne glanced at Bayrose through the corners of her eyes. Did Bayrose know about the ancient entity? Did all Sealers elders know about Ash and the Eye of Time? Anxiety rained on her like acid. Sphinxes wasn’t powerful enough yet to fend off all nations if they all came to her door to take what she held in secret.

“My team cracked part of the code last night,” Jekaterina said. “The code points to Xρόνος and—” She stopped and turned to her younger daughter.

Bayrose widened her eyes like a child caught stealing. She cleared her throat and forced a certain boldness into her voice. “You never told me about Xρόνος—the Eye of Time. What is it, Mother?”

“It’s not your burden, Bayrose,” Jekaterina said.

Bayrose’s eyes darkened. “I’m not a child. I’m only a year younger than Lucia.”

“Then stop acting like a child,” Jekaterina said. “I need to talk with Lucienne alone, if you’re kind enough to excuse us.”

Bayrose looked like she’d been slapped and was about to stomp her feet to protest, but under the weight of Jekaterina’s gaze, she recoiled. She turned to Lucienne, visibly hoping her sister would stand up to their mother again. With the same mask her mother had, Lucienne watched a sour Bayrose exit.

“Sane and insane,” Jekaterina’s voice reduced to a hush, “are both parts of you. Blood Tear only triggered what was already in you when you were made Siren. We all have demons and angels inside us. Your most inner part can only come out freely, disguised as your insane self. It must manifest itself at some point when your dormant gene is awakening.”

“I don’t think so,” Lucienne snorted. “You don’t know me.”

“I know more than you think I know,” Jekaterina said. “Now, I must prepare you.”

Prepare my ass!
“Sane or not,” Lucienne said bitterly, “I’m running out of time. I won’t hang in there for long. You can prepare for my funeral, but Kian won’t let you have a hand in it. You haven’t earned it.”

“You’ll survive. I’ll make sure of that. I didn’t go through this much hardship to just give up on you. I already have part of the code. It’ll purge the poison in you, but we’ll need Ashburn’s assistance.”

Ash held the key to the antidote, but he wouldn’t and couldn’t give it to her. Lucienne had a sinking feeling that Ash and Jekaterina were speaking of the same cure. “What is the part of code?” she asked. 

“It’s you and Ash.”

Light sliced through the recesses of Lucienne’s mind. Ash had mentioned the cosmic conspiracy a few times—some force was trying to bring him and her together to remake the world. Seraphen had said that when the two of them came together, they’d cause the extinction of the human race. But what exactly had the creature meant by coming together? Copulation? Or did it require she and Ash merge their powers? She had Forbidden Glory, and Ash had TimeDust.

An ill omen rose with her suspicions. A chill Lucienne hadn’t known slithered up her spine. The woman could manipulate her genes and birthed the first female Siren in an eon. The way Jekaterina talked about the Eye of Time suggested she’d been acquainted with it long before Ash had come into the picture. Ash had admitted that he couldn’t penetrate any part of Jekaterina’s memories without her letting him in, and she’d flipped only a corner of the veil for him to get a glimpse. Who could have that kind of power on earth?

“Who are you really?” Lucienne demanded.

“I’m your mother, and a mother thinks best for her daughter and her race.”

Lucienne narrowed her eyes. Her race? For a split moment, her mind wandered to the female image on the pillar of the Rabbit Hole. She darted a glance at Jekaterina’s ears to see if they were pointed ears, but her mother’s long, flowing hair covered them. It couldn’t be. Mother’s hair was brown with strands of strawberry blond instead of silver. But she could wear a wig.
No, stop this.
Lucienne couldn’t be so important that she stood in the pivotal position of a “cosmic conspiracy.” She was being paranoid again, even when she possessed the coldest clarity at the moment. The poison had grown more aggressive. 

But her mother had referred to humankind with such contempt, as if she wasn’t one of the “inferior race.” Was she?
Stop it
. It was even more disturbing that Jekaterina had used a singular when she’d said “a mother thinks best for her daughter.” Was it a slip of the tongue, or did Jekaterina make another choice when it came to her and Bayrose? It was obvious that this time she’d chosen Lucienne.

What kind of mother was that?

Supposing the cosmic conspiracy was true, Lucienne—even being poisoned—had greater use to Jekaterina. She—not her sister—had been picked to mate with the specimen Ashburn Fury.

Facing Jekaterina, Lucienne felt out of depth.

“I can’t lie, Lucienne. It’s not in my nature.” Jekaterina rose to her feet. “It’s up to you whether you can trust me.” Compassion and understanding softened Jekaterina’ features, but the motherly tenderness didn’t last long. “I need to go back to the lab. Time can’t be wasted.” She headed toward the door, her gait more graceful than any human. “I’ll have the full code for you.”

“Wait,” Lucienne called out.

Her mother turned to her at the door with an arched brow.

She did resemble her mother. Lucienne stifled a sigh. “I have one more question—and don’t lie to me.”

“I won’t lie, daughter.”

“I must know Ashburn’s heritage,” Lucienne said. “Is he—my brother?” Her heart beat so hard that she was certain it would explode, depending on Jekaterina’s answer.