I turned away. Couldn’t push her too hard. I had to think my way through this. Argue with my head more than my gut. In the meantime, I had to hope that Rose could do the opposite.
If we could both find our way to the right answer, at the same time, maybe the shattered whole that was the sixth Thorburn grandchild, Rusty, Russel, Ross, whatever his name was, maybe he could figure out this situation. He, we.
It wasn’t quite Mara’s words, but her sentiments lingered, the warnings, the mockery, the observations.
Rose and I were at odds with one another. Not enemies, but still at odds.
If we could cooperate, so could the angel and demon.
I’d found my way to one part of the answer.
But there had to be more to it.
My eyes fell on one stack of books. Grandmother’s diaries.
Had Rose read them? How much knowledge had she gleamed?
Was her knowledge of grandmother’s plan or greater agenda influencing her decision here?
Alister spoke, “Jacob’s Bell is so damaged that I’m not even sure I’d want it anymore. There’s too much mess to clean up. I can’t speak for the others, but I helped build the junior council based on the idea that we didn’t want to wait until our parents vacated their seats before being able to take a hand in things.”
“Ironic,” the Drunk said. “Coming from the new leader of the Behaim family.”
Alister flashed what he probably thought was a winning smile. To people who didn’t like him in the first place, though, it was only annoying.
“Honestly,” Alister said, “If you want to make a deal of nonaggression, help us on our way? I’m not sure I care what you do.”
“You’re marrying Rose,” I said. “And Rose-”
“Will be protected,” Alister said. “As best as we can.”
I clenched my fist. “You’re not grasping what you’re up against.”
“I’m not stupid,” Rose said. “I’ve met grandmother’s lawyers more times than you have. I’ve put a lot of thought into them and how to deal with them. I just faced them down, on my way here. The barrier that Mara talked about? That would delay my arrival? It was them. More than a little upset about the state of the house.”
I kept my mouth shut.
“If it weren’t for my engagement with Alister, I don’t think they would have left me alone. They’re a big part of what I’m trying to figure out, moving forward. Striking a balance, keeping them dealt with. I honestly feel a lot more confident giving up the house, keeping the books, or as many as I can take, and moving forward with Johannes’ contacts and Alister’s family backing me. I think I can get the lawyers to agree to it. They just want the Thorburn family to keep going.”
She paused.
“What’s the alternative, Blake?” she asked. “You say this deal is a trap, some great conspiracy by an angel, but what’s the alternative? What do you propose?”
I clenched my teeth.
“Right,” she said. “Maybe an unfair question to ask you.”
“By your own admission, you’ve been through a lot,” Johannes said. “But don’t underestimate us. If worst comes to worst, we’re not incapable.”
“Trust me,” Rose told me.
There was an insistence in her tone.
I was almost instantly reminded of my own line of thinking. The thoughts I’d had about how to communicate to Rose without influencing her instincts.
Was Rose doing the same thing?
Did she have knowledge that she was forced to hold back? Putting her in the awkward position of having to communicate with me, getting me to play ball?
I looked back to grandmother’s diaries.
I stared at them.
Mara had talked about grandmother. Grandmother’s plan and motivations were still a great big unknown for me.
“The good thing is that there’s no rush,” Johannes said. “The bad thing is that I don’t think there’s an easy way to resolve this, and a deadlock is as bad as an inability to get everyone involved to cooperate.”
“We’re not about to get deadlocked,” the High Priest said. His tone was serious, grave.
I didn’t participate in the discussion. My thoughts were on grandmother.
Her plan.
What Rose wanted, or didn’t want, did it fit into Grandmother’s scheme? Or did it subvert that scheme?
I glanced around.
Sandra wasn’t here. Neither was Mags. Faysal Anwar, too, was absent.
“Where’s Mags?” I asked.
“With the Duchamps,” the High Priest said. “Who, thanks to your summoned crow, are in dire straits. Sandra was very nearly killed by the backlash from her own contingent.”
“We simply set it loose,” Alexis said. “We didn’t have time to give it more concrete instructions. Things were rather serious here.”
“All the same,” the High Priest said.
“They have dibs on the Ambassador,” Alister elaborated.
“And your familiar?” I asked Johannes.
“Faysal is managing my domain,” Johannes said. “Too many powerful agents that can’t be given too much free reign.”
I nodded slowly.
“Victory is in my grasp,” Johannes told me. “The Behaims are strong, but not unbreakable. The Duchamps have fallen. I’ve shown you all my strength. If this were a court case, you could consider this my offer of a plea bargain. If it were war, which it is, I’m offering peace. There is no longer anyone in play that cares to have Jacob’s Bell. Let me have it, let the others be, free to relocate if they see fit, and even if we are not creating or destroying as angels or demons might, we’re still creating a great work of change. That has to count for something.”
“A new order,” I said, only speaking so I wouldn’t be left behind or ignored as the conversation moved forward. My mind was still elsewhere. “One of the other locals told me you wanted to create a realm where Others could reside.”
“Power,” Johannes said. “But I would want that power to be untainted, and to attract the right types of Other. I need this house gone. Give me that, and I’ll share the power with each of you. Even at one hundredth of the total share, you stand to gain much. I can offer you that deal, Blake, but I think you’d appreciate having life again.”
“It makes sense,” Rose said. “All that Faysal has asked for has been to be allowed to guide the demon to the Abyss, still within its circle, where it can most easily be dealt with. Presumably by a greater power like a god.”
“Or an angel?” I asked.
“Maybe,” Rose said.
“An angel named Faysal Anwar?”
Johannes sighed. “Paranoia.”
My attention fell on the diaries again.
I’d only read the opening. I had only glimmers of an insight into who Grandmother was, otherwise. A snippet here, mentioning Barbatorem, a detail here, from memory of dealing with family or visiting the house as a very young child, the brief conversation over the inheritance.
A child born into the Thorburn family, who swore never to teach her own children the practice. A young woman who made a mistake, and saw innocents hurt for it. A bitter, sly, arrogant old woman who derided her family as failures, and arranged her grandchildren in the wrong order. Catching one by surprise, barbering the second, slighting Paige because she wouldn’t necessarily bear a daughter for the family.