Aria of Betrayal (An Aria For The Vampire Book 3) by Philippa Norcross & Michael Anderle

Author:Philippa Norcross & Michael Anderle [Norcross, Philippa & Anderle, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2023-08-23T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Cora hurried down to the main floor. She checked the drawing room, wondering if they’d have gathered there again, but it was empty. Her next guess was the small sitting room off the entryway, one of the house's most frequently used rooms. It probably ranked after the kitchen and dining hall if she had to guess.

Antonova, Charlotte, and Andrea were in the sitting room. Antonova looked like she was holding court, as usual, Charlotte was keen-eyed and ready to work, and Andrea was curled up in the corner of a sofa with her arms wrapped around her knees. She looked about as miserable as Cora had felt before she’d walked in the door.

She reflected that it wasn’t a great look for a thirty-something to be as miserable over an awkward conversation with a friend as a ten-year-old about her brother being sent to kill her. Cora probably needed to get some perspective and maybe stop feeling quite so sorry for herself.

She drew a quiet, deep breath and let it out slowly, thinking about a candle flame the whole while. The practice had started as a breathing exercise from her singing teacher in her undergrad, meant to help her connect with her diaphragm and learn to sustain her breath, but she’d rapidly found it helped with anxiety too.

Everything is going to be okay, she told herself. You are a perfectly capable adult. Whatever you don’t know, you can figure out, and you can always ask for help.

By the time she sat on the couch near but not right next to Andrea, she was a good deal calmer and more collected. She still didn’t have anything resembling a plan, but it was a much better starting place than freaking out.

“Hey, Andrea. Is it okay if I sit here?” She leaned toward the little girl. “I can move farther away if it would make you more comfortable.”

“There’s fine,” Andrea replied dully.

“Thanks.” Cora settled in. “Charlotte said you wanted to talk?”

“Uh-huh.” Andrea uncurled herself into a sitting cross-legged on the couch, looked one by one at the other women, and addressed Charlotte. “I know you said your source is good, but I need to see him to know for sure.”

“See Andrew, you mean,” Charlotte clarified.

Andrea nodded. “I need to see him myself. And talk to him. I need to know for sure that he’s changed sides and wants to kill me.”

Antonova tilted her head. One stray piece of white hair fell over her ear. “You believe you will be able to tell if you can talk to him.”

“Yes.” Andrea sat up straighter and looked Antonova in the eyes. “I know you’ll say this is stupid, and maybe it is, but I don’t see any other way. He’s my brother. He knows me, and I know him better than anyone else. If I don’t find out now, if I don’t deal with this now, I’ll never know for sure whether it was real. Whether he really meant it.”

She swallowed hard and looked down briefly, then brought her gaze back up to Antonova’s.

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