Chapters (25)
“I’ve got to go.” She stood up.
Hypatia rubbed a tired hand over her face. “Don’t leave here mad, Cece.”
“No one calls me Cece but my family,” she said, tone icy and distant as Abaddon’s peaks.
Hypatia reared back like she’d slapped her, and Celeste guessed she had. But she’d hurt her first, she reasoned, and worse.
Celeste left, walking past Lilitha, who was lounging on the settee pretending to read the paper. The saloon girl gave her a nasty smirk on her way out, but Celeste ignored it. Lilitha was nothing to her. But Hypatia? Her betrayal was a punch in the gut.
She made it back to the boardinghouse in a daze. Mrs. Ruth called out from the dining room, where she’d left out a late supper. Celeste called back something about not feeling well.
Once in her room, she stripped off her clothes and fell into bed. The bed she usually shared with her sister. Mariel’s spot was cold and empty. Celeste ran a hand across the sheets.
“I would have understood,” she whispered. “You could have told me.”
Mariel wasn’t there to answer, and she might never be if Celeste couldn’t find out what had truly happened in that room last night. She couldn’t understand why Mariel would lie to her about the laudanum and the bed… unless she was protecting someone.
Celeste rolled over onto her back to stare at the ceiling. That had to be it. Whoever this Daniel was, Mariel must be lying to protect him. It would be just like an Elect to drag Mariel into some mess and expect her to cover for his nefarious dealings.
Her gaze fell to the window. It was locked tight, the curtains pulled against the night. During their affair, the open window had been a sign to Abraxas that she wanted to see him, that he was welcome. She thought about opening it now. She wanted to ask what he thought of this new revelation, whom he thought Mariel might be protecting.
But she couldn’t. She had been lucky to leave their last encounter with her soul and her dignity intact. She didn’t dare risk seeing him again, no matter how alone she felt.
She turned her back to the window and forced herself to sleep.