Страница 84 из 90
“All of the chaos she enticed.” Hector rolls his cigar between his fingers. I turn to face him and Scarlet. Two people I never had an interest in knowing, yet I’ve woken with the will to do it anyway. “Lucan was fighting to keep me alive so that I could” —I flick my hand up and down my stomach “—and Veronica wanted to kill me, but in a way that would destroy Brantley, so she became close to him, knowing he would never allow anyone near me if he didn’t trust them completely. She was smart. Pla
ed her destruction when he was a child, but she was angry. I don’t think it was from Lucan either, though getting someone pregnant at twelve is nauseating, but even before her life with Lucan, who apparently gave her everything, she had a rough life. She rolled all of her events into one task, and that was to destroy. She knew if she used the curse, she would have an excuse to take me when the time came. It was all a cover-up.” I take in a deep breath. “As soon as Brantley and I finally started getting closer, Lucan knew Veronica would begin the first phase of her attack, so he started sending ‘texts’ to me. To entice Brantley to get jealous and push us together faster, I’m assuming. It didn’t work because I never told Brantley about the texts, not until recently. Then when he started coming to me in my sleep, he came as Brantley in hopes that it would draw some unspoken trust out of me, but he didn’t realize I would catch on that it wasn’t him. He still enjoyed tormenting something that belonged to his son—” I wince, suddenly exhausted. “I think they were both severely unstable, but I think above all—” I look around to all of the people sitting in this room. All wide awake and listening. Tillie is still sobbing into Nate, as is Madison with Bishop. “I think they just really liked the game and being the instigator of it all. Both of them were working against each other, but they enjoyed it. I don’t know what kind of mind games and riddles you all played in the past, but I get the feeling it’s a generational thing that skipped me—until Lucan and Veronica.”Brantley rests his hand on mine. His thumb glides over the rock on my finger as his other is on my lip. “I don’t think I’ve told you this—” The corner of his mouth turns up slightly. Not enough to call it a smirk. “But I love you.”
My heart flatlines.