Right here, honey.
She’s going to talk about that night when Ivy was shot. I know she is.
Deep breath. I’m right here.
“I need to tell you what happened between us, Camellia. It was never fair to you. I hated that. I hated it so much,” Marigold began.
Camellia shook her head. “It really isn’t necessary. It was a long time ago, Mari. I’m happy for you. Happy that you found Ken and your twin. That you have children.” She wanted her to stop. Please let her stop.
She can’t. Clearly, she’s needed to tell you for a long, long time.
Marigold took a deep breath and again waved Ken off. “I know what I did had to feel like betrayal to you. It was betrayal. I loved you like a sister. I still do. That never stopped. We grew up together. We shared everything Whitney threw at us, and most of it was ugly. We survived it because of each other. I survived his madness because of you. That meant Briony did as well. He took her from me, and he told me as long as I did whatever he said, she could live a normal life with a loving family. If I didn’t, he would make her suffer before he had her killed.”
Marigold took a firm grip on the stone mantel. She looked as if she might be trembling, but she refused to sit. She stood facing Camellia, making her confession in front of the others.
“He delighted in showing me photographs and later video of his men pointing sniper rifles at her. Sometimes it would just be a laser on the back of her head. He’d call me into his office or lab or greenhouse and just show me whatever he had and smile that smirky smile. He said if I ever told anyone, you especially, and he found out, he would have her killed.”
Camellia glanced at Briony and saw tears in her eyes. Jack shifted position just enough that he could wrap his arm around her, drawing her into him, partially blocking her face from the others in the room.
“He knew we hatched escape plans often, and he told me if any of us ever escaped, she would be shot. I don’t know how he got wind that someone was planning an escape, but he showed me a video of Briony swimming in a pool. There was a laser fixed on her numerous times. He told me I’d better find out who and report it to the guards or him immediately. If anyone was missing, Briony would be dead.”
For a moment she pressed trembling fingers to her mouth. “I wished a thousand times I had the courage to tell you about her. If it had been my life he threatened, I would have. If he hadn’t been threatening Briony, I would never have given you up. I just was so scared for her. I spent my entire life protecting Briony, and I just kept doing it. Then you were caught because I gave you up, and Whitney had his guards execute Ivy as punishment. I will never forgive myself. What happened to her is my fault and no one else’s.”
Why hadn’t she considered that Whitney would do something as heinous as blackmail Marigold emotionally her entire life so she would always feel guilty no matter what choice she made? He had to have taken her twin at an early age, or Camellia would have remembered her. Her heart ached for Marigold and Briony too.
She couldn’t help herself. She went to Marigold and stretched both arms up, palms out, as they’d done since they were girls. Mari took her hands automatically. They stared into one another’s eyes.
He couldn’t break us, Mari. You held out and so did I. We swore he wouldn’t break us. Remember that? We made a promise to each other that we’d make it out, and we did.
Marigold nodded, tears running down her face. “We did, didn’t we?”
Camellia nodded as well. “Yes.” I don’t know if Ivy is really dead.
Marigold nodded again. I’ve wondered myself whether she was alive. I thought I just didn’t want to feel guilty.
I honestly don’t think she is dead. But if she is, it wasn’t you or me. It was Whitney. Her death is on him.
“I’m really sorry for everything, Camellia,” Marigold said out loud, her fingers closing around Camellia’s.
“There’s no need to be. I would have done exactly the same thing. At least we live close and will have time to catch up. You need rest.”
“But you’ll come back?” There was a hitch in Marigold’s voice.
“Yes, of course.” Camellia would have hugged her, but Mari was still too fragile, and she didn’t want to bruise her.
* * *
“Lydia,” Lily greeted. “How nice to see you. How have you been?”
“Good. Everything’s been good, Lily. It’s been such a good time for me. I’ve been seeing someone. I never really thought I’d find someone I’d really fall for, but he’s a doctor at the research center where Dr. Adams works.”
Lily walked beside Lydia Fenamore down the long hallway to the room where Lydia did most of the therapy work for each of the GhostWalkers. “Is he a brain surgeon?”
“Yes, a brilliant man. Dr. Adams thinks very highly of him,” Lydia gushed.
Lily unlocked the door and pushed it open. “Brandon Adams has been my friend for a very long time, Lydia. When things went south for us here, he was the first person I thought of to help us, and he came through. As a rule, Brandon is a great judge of character. To my knowledge, he’s only gotten it wrong once or twice. What does Jacob Abrams think of your new man?”
Lydia stiffened, stopping just inside the door. She turned to face Lily, moistening her suddenly dry mouth with her tongue several times. Her gaze jumped from Lily’s face to look over her shoulder to where Jonas and Gator lounged against the opposite wall. Inside the room, Ryland and Kaden waited.
“What’s going on, Lily?” Lydia whispered.
“You tell me, Lydia,” Lily asked. “No, don’t. I take that back. You tell them. They’ll know if you lie, and they won’t be nice about it. I won’t stay, because the methods they use to extract the truth from people who betray us aren’t exactly approved by the general population. I suggest you tell them whatever they want to know, although they know most of it already.”
She turned and walked down the hall without looking back.
Jonas thought she looked like a queen even with her slight limp. He gestured for Lydia to step all the way inside the soundproofed room.
“We won’t be disturbed in here. You can scream all you want, and you won’t upset any of the women or Daniel,” Jonas invited, his tone mild.
Lydia gasped and shook her head, but when he came up behind her, she stepped inside because he gave her no choice. Jonas entered the room. Gator followed him in and closed the door. The windows were blacked out on purpose so those inside had complete privacy.
“None of you scare me,” she declared, obviously terrified but determined to go on the attack first. “It was so easy to undermine all of you. You’re supposed to have this tight bond, but really, you don’t, do you? Ryland, you and your wife can’t even look at each other. She deceived you over your son, didn’t she? Went against your orders and recorded the things your son can do anyway,” she taunted.