Chapter 6
Natalie stepped into the hallway, eyes on Cornelius. From the way he was going to the basement it seemed likely his conversation with Anne hadn’t changed anything.
“Why bring Anne into this, Natalie?” He didn’t look at her, but he did stop walking. “She’s worried enough as it is. Asking her to talk me out of what needs to be done… I should have known that would be how you’d deal with this.”
“She cares, Cornelius, the same way I do.”
“Nothing will change my mind. This is what needs to be done, whatever you might believe. Someone has to stop Titus.”
“You’re probably right about that, but that doesn’t mean it has to be you. I don’t want to lose you, Cornelius.”
He turned to look at her then. “Natalie, you lost me a long time ago, and nothing you say will change that, because I will never forget the way you treated our son.”
“Nothing I can do now will change the past. Jonathan will never return to Glimmerbrook, so I can’t undo the damage with him, but we have a chance, Cornelius. You’re the father of my children.”
“Yes, and I will keep being a father to them.”
“Unless you die in a failed attempt at being a hero, leaving them fatherless as well as brotherless. Then Nicholas will take your place on the Council.”
“Maybe it’s better that way.”
“How can you say that?”
“I’ve made my decision, Natalie. Nothing will change my mind. You, Leonora, Anne… I know I’m doing what’s best for Glimmerbrook, so this is the path I will keep walking, however many times you try to talk me out of it.”
“Your brother should not be on the Council. He didn’t treat Jonathan any better than I did.”
Cornelius closed his eyes. “We’ve been through this already.”
“He’s an uncle. It’s not the same.” Natalie shook her head. “You’re the one who wants to change Glimmerbrook. Doing that is something that will be far easier if you’re on the Council, and Leonora has been trying to stop the ritual from going ahead. Get Wolfgang and Beatrice to boycott it. Then you have a chance.”
“Neither will agree, because they know what it means if they go against Titus.”
“It buys time. That’s better than nothing.”
“Only Titus will know it was me who convinced them to make a different choice, which will likely still lead to him choosing to put Nicholas in my position, and then what do I do? Yes, my brother ends up being in the ritual, but then his sons will be old enough to take his place. I don’t have any other choice.”
“Cornelius…”
“Please stop. I’m done arguing about this, with both you and Anne. Leonora said she’d help, something I hope I’ll be able to hold her to, but if not I’ll do this alone. Titus needs to be removed.”
Knowing so much more than he could say to Natalie complicated everything, but even if Cornelius shared everything there was no doubt she’d be arguing the same way.
“However much I agree with that I don’t see how you’re going to be able to make that happen.”
“Of course you don’t. That’s because you don’t know everything, and there’s more I can’t share with you than I can.”
Julian’s memories, from the time he spent watching over Anne, seeing every moment of pain Titus caused her, along with other families within Glimmerbrook. How he’d do whatever he had to do in order to keep her by his side. It didn’t matter who he hurt in order to make it happen.
“Why not just be open with me?”
“Titus can See. He already knows more than I want him to. It’s entirely possible he’s watching this, in the hope he’ll be able to learn exactly what I know, and that’s not going to happen.”
“You’re assuming he’s worried about the plan you have. From what I know of him I don’t imagine him seeing you as a problem, and if you are it’s likely he already has a solution.”
“Well, it’s nice to have you be honest with me, Natalie.”
“You know I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Did I?”
“Honestly, I can’t see Titus worrying about anyone, if what Leonora told you is true.”
Natalie wasn’t wrong, but there was one person who’d worried Titus, and that was Julian. With Julian gone someone had to claim the power of the birthplace of magic to finally be able to stop Titus, hopefully for good.
“It is.”
“Titus told you?”
“No, Anne did. She shared what she could with me, and that’s the reason I want to help her – she went against Titus to be open with me, to explain what was going to happen if I took part in the ritual.”
“He’d forgive her.”
“Probably, but it’s about so much more than that. Imagine living multiple lives the way she has, Natalie. With Titus as a brother.”
“I understand why, Cornelius, but all of this will be for nothing. She doesn’t love you.”
“Yet.”
“Anne is never going to love you. Even if Dante hadn’t come into her life she was in a relationship with our son. Falling in love with her…”
“Wasn’t a choice.”
“Of course it wasn’t. This is a choice, and one I can’t understand, because you’re not going to be part of her future in the way you imagine.”
“Only Titus can See what the future might hold, and even if it was possible he wouldn’t be honest with me. He’d tell me exactly what he thought I needed to hear to stop me from doing what has to be done.”
“Anne deserves to live her life the way she wants, Cornelius, after all this time. Forcing her into a future she doesn’t want…”
“How about we stop talking about this? You think you know enough to be able to share your thoughts, but you don’t, and then all you do is insult me, which I don’t want to listen to any more.”
“Maybe I don’t. Ever since you shared your body you’ve been different. Our relationship wasn’t good before that. Now you’ve made the decision Anne is more important to you than anything else it’s much worse.”
“Glimmerbrook is more important to me than anything else. The entire reason I wanted to help Titus with the ritual was because I thought it was going to change things for the better, but I see now how wrong I was. He is part of the reason those without magic are treated so badly, which means removing him has to be part of the solution to that.”
“Only he never wants them to leave.”
It was more complicated than that, and something else Cornelius wasn’t able to share with Natalie. “He wants control over all magic. Those with new magic are simply the children of any without magic who survived elsewhere, but he hates them, because it means part of his plan failed. You don’t see it the way I do.”
From the way she studied him it seemed she might actually be listening. “Jonathan isn’t safe out there?”
“Until the ritual he’s safe. After that I don’t know, but it’s another reason I have to do this. I can’t let our son be another of his victims.”
Slowly, Natalie nodded. “Find him when this is all over, Cornelius. Bring Jonathan home. This is where he’s meant to be.”
“No, Natalie. He needs a chance to live his life the way he wants to.”
“Without Titus here he has a chance to be with Anne. You know how he felt about her, and she does love him. I could tell from the way she talked about him.”
“Jonathan hates Glimmerbrook. It’s best he stays wherever it is he built his life.”
Before Natalie could say anything more Cornelius was through the door the led to the basement, lock in place to keep her from following him.
That was always going to be Cornelius’s response. He wasn’t going to find Jonathan because it meant Anne definitely wasn’t going to choose him, even though the bigger issue with that was Dante. What was he going to do about that? Natalie breathed in deeply, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks, certain her husband was gone for good. It was unlikely they’d be able to fix things before, but with who he’d become it was never going to be possible.