Page 29 of The Black Key

“I can help. I can help you save your sister.”

That is not what I was expecting. Cora laughs at my expression. “For a price, of course.”

“I’ll do anything.” The words sound fuzzy.

“I’m sorry? I didn’t quite catch that.” She releases her hold a fraction.

“I’ll do anything,” I mumble.

“I was hoping you would say that.”

She lets me go and moves to sit on the couch. “Come here,” she says, patting the spot beside her. I sit in a daze.

“I will not reveal your presence in this palace. I may even be able to help you get to your sister. But you must do one thing for me first.”

I wait. She knows I have no other response to that than yes.

Cora’s smile is terrifying. “I want you to kill the Duchess.”

“What?” I gasp. “But . . . but . . . why?”

Her face goes very still. “Do you really need to ask? She murdered my daughter.”

It takes me a second to wrap my head around this. “Annabelle? I never saw you treat her like anything but a servant.”

“Just because I couldn’t act like her mother doesn’t mean I didn’t love her,” Cora snaps. She turns away, her gaze falling on a small portrait in an oval frame on the mantelpiece. “I remember the day the Duchess came to me and told me I had been authorized to have a child. I was so happy.”

The word authorized makes my skin crawl.

“And when she came out she was so tiny and so . . . silent. At first I was terrified she was a stillbirth, but Dr. Blythe assured me she was perfectly healthy. She just . . . she would never speak a word.” Cora brushes at something on her cheek. “I always wondered what her voice might sound like.” She stands and walks to the mantel, picking up the picture. “Another House might have had her drowned for being defective. The Duchess cared for me, though. She let me keep her, let me train her. As long as she proved useful.”

“She was more than that,” I murmur.

Cora’s head whips up. “You don’t think I know that? I brought something good into this circle. I brought something pure and innocent and it was destroyed. I was powerless to do anything to stop it. She promised me. She promised. And then you came along and fell in love with that stupid companion and got her killed.”

“I’m so sorry.” The words feel hollow, meaningless. Feeling sorry won’t bring Annabelle back. “I loved her too, you know.”

“I know.” Cora puts the picture back on the mantel. “That’s why you will do this for me. For the love you bore her and the debt you owe me.”

“Why do you need me to do it? Why not some other servant in this palace?”

“Because another servant would turn me in for money or higher status. You don’t have that power. I could have you arrested right now. The Duchess could have your head cut off, or simply tie you up in the medical room with your sister. Either way, you’re dead.”

She makes a good point. “Why don’t you do it yourself?”

Her expression is pained. “I can’t. I have been with the Duchess since she was ten years old. No matter how much I might want to, I . . . I cannot kill her.”

I might hate the Duchess, I may want revenge for Annabelle, but cold-blooded murder is not something I can see myself doing either. But I see only one option here—to agree to Cora’s plan. And if I can wait until Auction Day . . . I might not have to kill the Duchess at all.

“All right,” I say. “I’ll do it.”

“Of course you will.”

“And the Auction will be the perfect time,” I say.

She frowns. “The Auction is a month away.”

“Think about it. She’ll be distracted then. Lots of commotion, dress shopping, dinners being planned . . .” I’m a little concerned at how convincing I sound, even to myself. “You’ve been waiting for months already, what’s one more?”