Chapter 15
Claire
Claire now knew four things she hadn’t known before.
One, bears could be domesticated.
Two, the people dressed up in Rococo finery in the other room were some of the most influential people on the planet.
Three, Jack’s suit color was not a random choice. A lot of people worked in different capacities for what Jack called The Royals. Jack was a pimpernel, and the pimpernels were color-coded by region. Jack’s region was cobalt; hence, the distinct color of his suit.
Four, the banner hanging over the main entrance was one of four banners that everyone in their society was organized under. And by coincidence—or maybe not by coincidence at all—Jack, Margot, and Ren were all members of different banners, and Claire—if she joined the society—would belong to the fourth banner. Malachi’s banner.
That’s about as far as they’d gotten before getting entrenched in the topic of Malachi.
“Nothing he does is an accident,” Jack was telling her, eyes intent. “Always remember that. He’s meticulous.” There was a slight pause before he added, “More meticulous than you.”
In a weird way, that made Claire feel better. Or maybe she just felt better knowing Jack knew Malachi, and they weren’t arch enemies, but Jack wouldn’t exactly call him a friend either. When it came to where everyone stood with Malachi, they were all hedging except Ren.
Ren clearly hated the man.
“Ren called him a ‘second son’ a few minutes ago,” Claire said. “What does that mean?”
Jack cast a look toward Margot, seeming to check if she wanted to answer. Based on her expression, she didn’t so Jack took the reins.
“Royal lines follow birth order,” he said. “Oldest sons and daughters are the only ones born into the potential of becoming kings and queens. Malachi is a twin, but the second born. That means his brother will unilaterally take over the family business once he rises to king.”
That sounded a little one-sided, but Claire knew her opinion was about as productive as a sneeze on a breeze on the topic, so she just nodded and kept on listening.
“A second son has more freedom than the oldest,” Jack continued. “He can marry who he wants and follow his own interests. But he still lives his life in preparation to fill in for his brother, should something happen.”
“That’s sounds…biblical,” Claire said.
Jack nodded. “It’s exactly that. Mainstream culture has changed a lot over the millennia, but the Royals haven’t. Malachi will carry on his brother’s name, both in business and family, if something happens. In the meantime, he is free to live as he wishes.”
“He’s … a backup son?” There was just something sad about that, even if Claire didn’t dare say it out loud in current company.
“Basically,” Jack said.
“And a backup father for his brother’s kids?”
“Yes.” It was Margot who spoke this time.
“And a backup…king?”
This time Jack shook his head. “No. Malachi will never be a king. Only an oldest son can be a king, just as only an oldest daughter can be a queen.”
If possible, Claire was more confused than before, but he saw her make the mental decision to move forward. “Okay. So I guess what I need to know moving forward is whether he’s a good guy or bad guy in all this.” She looked each of her friends in the eye, including Ren. “Do we trust him?”
Ren shook his head. “Never.”
Jack looked undecided. “That’s a tough one.”
To Claire’s surprise, Margot looked thoughtful at the question but didn’t go so far as to say anything.
“Well, that clears that up,” Claire said, getting a smile out of Margot with her sarcasm.
“You’ll find Malachi to be a man who follows his own mind,” Margot said after a moment. “You know how they say to keep your friends close and your enemies closer?”
Claire nodded. “Yeah?”
“Malachi belongs in the third, less talked about, category,” she said. “Whether he’s your friend or your foe, he is always playing a long game with total faith that the ends justify the means. That means he will betray an ally and help an enemy if he believes his actions to be for the best.”
Jack nodded. “She’s right. He’s undermining his father by bringing you here tonight. I can’t tell you why he did it, only that there will be consequences for his actions. His life will get harder—”
“—which he would have factored into the choice before making it,” Margot added. “So there’s no point in feeling bad for him.”
“But it still makes no sense,” Claire said, trying to find the right box in her mind for the man. She didn’t like things that couldn’t be sorted, and she found it hard to believe that someone could be genuinely unpredictable. People inherently followed patterns.
Case in point, she was already pretty sure Malachi would be predictable when it came to Margot. The two of them had some sort of connection everyone was talking around. Claire was just about to bring it up when Margot distracted her with an interesting detail.
“With Malachi, things only make sense in retrospect.”
Now that Claire could work with.
“It’s one of the things that makes him so dangerous,” Ren bit out. “I don’t trust him for a second.”
“But his track record is a positive one,” Jack argued. “There are no tales of him causing anyone direct harm.”
“Only leading them into harm,” Ren muttered.
Jack nodded. “True. He opens doors, but he never forces people through them.”
His words sparked up memories of Claire’s conversation with Malachi back in Las Vegas. “That’s what he did earlier tonight in Margot’s office.”
That caught Jack’s attention. “You were in Margot’s office?”
Claire felt her cheeks pink as she nodded. “I tried to use the system to find the two of you.”
Jack and Margot shared a look of concern.
“Did you happen to trip any of the alarms going in?” Margot asked, clearly thinking of something specific, even though her words were vague.
Claire immediately thought of the countdown clock on the wall. The one that zeroed out right before Malachi had appeared.
“I told Ace to let her in if her attempt was good enough,” Malachi’s voice said from the doorway. Margot jerked around in surprise, Ren’s hand flexed, and Jack’s chin came up half a notch at his appearance, but the man gave no notice. “Claire was good enough to bypass a traditional system, so she was allowed to enter. Ace locked up after we left.”
“You told her about Ace?” Margot didn’t sound mad when she asked, but maybe a little jealous.
“They met,” Malachi said simply, stepping further into the room.
Jack stepped protectively between Malachi and Claire. “No point in you being here unless you plan on clearing a few things up.”
Malachi’s perfect brow arched. “Such as?”
“Why did you bring Claire here tonight?”
“Because I believe people deserve a right to choose their own fate,” he said, focusing in on Jack. “Didn’t you just say yourself that I open doors for people, and they get to choose if they want to walk through them?”
Ren shook his head. “It’s always a trap with you.”
“It’s always my endgame,” Malachi corrected, his green eyes pinning Ren down as if he’d spoken out of turn. “Whether or not you fall into a trap of your own making along the way is up to you.”
Ren’s nostrils flared in anger, but he didn’t seem to have a quick comeback for that.
“Is Ren right?” Jack asked. “Is this a trap?”
Malachi considered that then shook his head. “No. I’m offering Claire a narrow path, similar to the one the rest of us are walking.”
Jack looked skeptical. “Against your father’s wishes? I don’t buy it.”
“What’s the endgame?” Margot asked.
Claire’s eyes dropped to Malachi’s thumb, checking for his nervous tic, but it stayed away from his ring as he replied. “Where’s the free will in telling you all of that?”
“Well, maybe we’re at a point here where we’d prefer a sneak peek over free will,” Margot said. “Ever think of that?”
“Always,” Malachi said softly, and Claire believed him.
In that moment, it struck her how lonely Malachi must be. It was the only commonality to everything she’d observed about him that night.
Yes, eyes had followed him like a celebrity when they’d entered the ball, but no one but his mother had greeted him. If Malachi had allies, they weren’t public about it, and his relationships with his servants seemed to be respectful but professional. Add all that to Jack’s claim that he was straining relations with his father by bringing her, and the only person Claire could think of who Malachi might have a personal relationship with was his mom.
Yet even she hadn’t known what Malachi was up to tonight.
Claire took in the man’s perfect visage with a new eye, realizing it, too, was strategic. A costume. A role.
Did anyone see the real man underneath it all?
If not, what was he hiding, and why?
Claire could see why Ren didn’t trust him.
“It’s fun to watch the wheels turn in your head,” Malachi said, smiling at Claire from across the room. “It’s a shame we’ll have to train you out of doing that.”
“Are you here to flirt with Claire, or help her?” Margot snapped.
“Help her, of course,” Malachi said evenly. “Or at least open a door. The rest is up to her, if she decides she wants this life.”
“I do,” Claire said, surer of that than anything else in her life. If there were skills to learn to help her become as amazing as Jack, Margot, and Ren, Claire wanted in on that. She might never be strong, like Ren, or borderline psychic, like Margot, or a master illusionist, like Jack, but she definitely wanted to know anything Malachi could teach her.
“Are you sure?” Malachi teased. “Ren will say I led you into a trap when things get rough later. And they will get rough. No one in this room will tell you otherwise.”
Claire didn’t need to look around the room for confirmation. Jack had lectured her on the downfalls of joining his life for more hours than she could count. But the truth was it was only when caught up in a case that Claire felt as if she was living up to her potential. Margot had been one of the first to observe that when Claire was thrown into a situation—without having the chance to obsess beforehand—she was quite clearheaded.
The smaller her world, the larger her anxieties and need for control. But throw her into a mountain palace with the richest people on the planet and somehow she held it all together. She hadn’t counted anything since seeing the windows outside, and the only time she’d counted to three since coming in was while they were waltzing. She’d actually forgotten to do it while walking down the stairs. The mirrors were far too fascinating.
For whatever bizarre reason, she was more functional in Jack’s world than the one she was born into. Even if she had never met Jack, she’d want to step into that.
It was impossible to convince Jack of that, it seemed, but it was true. And if Jack wouldn’t see that, maybe Malachi would.
“I’m certain,” she said, making sure Malachi saw the answer reflected in her eyes. “But Jack says you’re a second son and have no say in whether I’m hired or not.”
“Technically true,” Malachi said.
“No,” Margot corrected. “Totally true. Your father will make that call. Or, if not him, Oz will.”
Malachi sent her a cautionary look. “He hates being called that.”
The comment got a rare eye roll out of Margot. “Well, be sure he has his people call my people to tell me so I can make a note of that.”
“You could try talking to him yourself.”
Margot’s only response was to laugh, and Claire felt the conversation teetering back into bickering territory. Jack was the one who stepped in to get it back on track.
“Can we get back to Claire, and why you brought her tonight?” he asked.
“Yes,” Claire agreed. “How do I fit into all this?”
“You don’t,” a new voice boomed from the doorway, dripping with disdain. Margot flinched to attention and Malachi stilled before turning to face the door.