“Since when is loyalty a problem?”
“It’s a weakness.”
“So what are you saying? I should stop caring?”
She tsks her tongue at me. “They have been telling me this… thing… all my life. This saying, Cooper. Telling me that I should use adversity to rise. To aspire. Life is a challenge and we are only put here to overcome.”
I huff. “Sounds familiar.”
“Yes. It should. They use that for everyone. But they’re not wrong. You can only help people so much. You can set them up for success, but then you have to back off. You have to give them enough rope to either climb out of that hole they’re in or kill themselves with it. You have been given a lot of rope. Much more than the rest of us, that’s for sure. And you’re using that rope in the wrong way. Instead of climbing out of that hole you’re in, you’re letting people use it to climb down and join you.”
I’m starting to get pissed. “How the fuck do you figure?”
“Misery loves company. You think you’re helping them. You’re building a team. But you’re not, not really. You’re dragging them down.”
“I’m not seeing the wisdom of this fireside chat we’re having, Mona. So if you’ve got a point, please make it.”
She smiles at me. It’s kind of a sad smile. “Let them go, Cooper.”
“So just… what? Walk away and leave them here?”
“Maybe. Or. Maybe something else? If I had all the answers, I wouldn’t be surrounded by bodyguards twenty-four seven, would I?”
“Why do you have bodyguards? I’ve never understood that.”
“Because I’m a slave. It’s that simple. I’m a slave and in a few short years, I will be used for unspeakable things. Did you know I was on the Olympic swimming team once?”
“You were?”
“Yeah. I’m a very strong swimmer. But they doped me before a meet and, well. That was the end of that. But the reason I’m such a strong swimmer is because when I was small my nanny told me the truth of who I was and what they would do to me if I didn’t get out. She was a very nice English lady and they killed her for telling me those things. That’s how I got this accent. I talk like her to remember those things she showed me. They were horrific things. Things I will never forget, even if I didn’t keep her accent.”
“Fuck, Mona. How old were you?”
“Five, I think. After they killed her, I decided I would run away. I didn’t understand the layout of the area, right? I thought the water was the way out. So I started swimming. Trying to get across the lake. They came and got me every time, but eventually I made it across. I was very determined. And that’s when I realized there was a school over there. And it was filled with all the people who were over here. So what was the fucking point?” She shrugs. “There was no point. I was too small, too ignorant, and too weak to change anything. So I gave in and went along. But now, Cooper, I’m not small, I’m not ignorant, and I’m not weak.” She looks at me with narrow eyes. “And neither are you.”
“I know this. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
“You’re not hearing me. You’re falling for all of it. They set these traps for you and you take their bait every single time. Stop taking the bait. I’m gonna say one more thing, and then you’re going to leave. Dante’s plan. What was it?”
I shake my head. “Stupid fucking plan.”
“What was it, Cooper?”
“Divide and conquer. But we’re the ones divided, not them. They’re more together than ever.”
“We are divided. That’s true. But we need to be because we’re never getting out of here together.” She stands up, walks over to the massive double doors, opens them, and says, “Thanks for stopping by, Coop. I hope you have a very merry Christmas.”
“That’s it?”
“Don’t forget your present. And tell Cadee I said hello next time you see her.”
I look down at the small gift box on the couch next to me, then stand up and shove it in my pocket. “What about Dante? Can you set up a meeting?”
“Goodbye, Cooper.”
“Fuck it,” I mumble, walking past her. “But if this all goes to shit, I’m gonna blame him. This was all his idea.”
“And yet you went along, didn’t you?”
I pause in the hallway, so angry. “Thanks for the reminder, Mona. I’ll make sure not to go along next time.” I walk through the foyer and a meathead is already waiting at the front door. He pulls it open for me and then Mona gets the last word.
“Probably a very good idea, Cooper.”
Back up in my room I open the present and find a High Court College tie clip. It looks like it came straight out of the bookstore, but upon closer inspection I find the same words that are on the cufflinks that were given to me after Cadee’s baptism, or whatever the fuck that was.
Divide et impera.
OK. What is this? Then I remember the tie. I go into my closet and look around. I brought all the gifts home with me when I left school for winter break. The tie is still in the box it came in. I didn’t even take it out to look at it.
I lift it up and study it. Not light gray, like I thought at first, but silver. Not a typical color for a school tie. They are usually blue, sometimes gold, but this is the same kind of tie my father sometimes wears. In fact, wasn’t he wearing a tie like this during the dorm dedication?
No. He was wearing a silver suit but a blue and gold tie. I remember that because he was very school spirit that day.
But here’s the weird part I didn’t really notice at the time—when he came to see me at the inn that evening, he had changed into a dark gray suit and he had on this tie. Or one just like it.
I hold it up to the light, looking for clues. Then take off my cufflinks and spread all three pieces down on the coffee table.
I have no idea what they mean, but they must mean something.
It takes me a good long time to figure it out. But eventually a text comes in on my phone and suddenly it all makes sense.
CHAPTER THIRTY - CADEE
Sausage.
Such a stupid word, but at the same time, powerful.
I gave it that power. And I used that power.
Cooper hasn’t been back to my room since Christmas Eve. I was not invited to spend Christmas with the Valcourts. They weren’t even here at the mansion that day. Jack and Leela were hosting that day at their house, and the staff was off, of course, so I spent the entire day with Ax.
I think that surprised Leela when I returned the next morning. I had deliberately turned off my phone when I slipped out of the house and met Ax in the driveway and I didn’t turn it back on until he dropped me off.
Leela was all curious about what I had been up to. She was super suspicious but I knew exactly what to say to handle that situation. “I don’t understand why you’re fixated on where I was, Leela. It’s not like I’m a prisoner, right?”
She looked at me with that fake-ass smile of hers and sucked in a deep breath. “Of course not. I just wanted to make sure you had a nice time.”