"She never came home," Uncle Hugo repeated softly.
Sitting on his couch, Genie could see her uncle's palpable grief. Even nearly thirty years later, the loss of his mother still haunted him. His mother, Genie's grandmother. Genevieve Villareal. The woman Genie's own mother had never spoken of, but who she'd named Genie after. The reason, Genie realized, her mother insisted on calling her Genevieve.
"What happened?" she prompted gently.
"I... don't really know," Hugo sighed.
"After her fight with Luna, she left with your grand-père Jacques for a Halloween ball," Hugo continued. "It was a masquerade, one of those gaudy society things full of aristos, politicians, business people... the rich, the powerful and the beautiful. I think one of the things Luna was so angry about was that she'd planned on going. It was the kind of thing she and your grandmother did together.
"This one was hosted by Baron Charm... the old Baron Charm I mean. Baron Augustus Charm IV. My mother drilled the names and titles of the nobility into my head," he added with a wry smile.
"Anyway, she... died... at the party," he sighed, his voice suddenly heavy with grief. "She had gone out into the garden at Stoneridge House. When my father found her she was... just... gone. Just gone. She was healthy. She wasn't even forty... but she just... died."
"No one knows what happened?" Genie asked.
"There is no official explanation," Hugo said grimly. "There were plenty of theories, mostly rumors and gossip. There was a police investigation, of course, and it brought all my father's organized crime connections out in the open. The press latched onto the idea that he was responsible. That he'd poisoned her for her fortune... except, my grandfather had tied everything up in trusts, so he couldn't touch the money. In the end, the police couldn't prove anything. No one could even figure out how she died. There was no sign of poison or injury. She was just dead."
Something in Hugo's eyes made Genie ask, "What happened?"
"It was a few days after," Hugo said. "I overheard my father talking with one of his... associates."
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"They killed her!" Jacques snarled. "There's no other explanation. The fucking autopsy says she was in perfect health... apart from being dead. Who else could it be?"
"Yes, you're right, my lad. There can be no doubt, the Council killed her," Count Vladislaus Straud IV said softly. "But now is not the time for careless action."
"They killed my wife!" Jacques shouted, tears shining in his eyes. "Now is the time to rip their hearts out! Like they've done to me!"
"This is what they want, Jacques," Count Straud insisted, his voice strangely full of compassion. "To provoke you into acting without thinking. They will pay for this, I promise you... but you need to trust me. You need to be patient."
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"I don't know who they were talking about," Hugo said. "I never wanted anything to do with my father's world, and after that... I blame him for your grandmother's death, Genie. He didn't kill her, but it's obvious some underworld rival killed her to get at him."
Genie said nothing. The horrified look she shared with Jenny said enough. Her grand-père had been talking to Count Straud, a master vampire of the Dark Court, and Straud had blamed her grandmother's murder on the Witches' Council. Her grandmother was another casualty of their shadow war. It all comes back to the damn war, Genie thought.
"Anyway, I'd had enough," Hugo continued. "I'm sorry to say I walked out. I didn't want to have anything to do with my father or with the Villareal family. I know I should have stayed... for Luna and for Max... but I didn't. I'll aways regret that."
"Looking back, I understand now that we all reacted very badly to my mother's death.
"Like I said, I left. I moved out, finished school and went to culinary school. I tried to keep in touch with Luna and Max but honestly, I didn't do a good job of it. Our father, I realize now, just checked out too, in his own way. At the time, I just saw him throwing himself into his crooked deals and criminal syndicates. Max was pretty much left to run wild. I didn't find out until much later, but I guess that this was about when he started his little gang, terrorizing Bath de Rill. At the time, I thought Luna was the one who handled it best of all of us. I realize now, I got that completely wrong too. Hindsight is a bitch."
"You see, Luna just stepped up. Fifteen years old and she took over running the house. She managed the servants. She handled the household accounts and paid the bills. She even tried to make sure Max went to school, though I'm pretty sure he out-maneuvered her on that one. I didn't know it at the time, but she was the one who made all the arrangements for our mother's funeral. All while keeping up with her own studies.
"She stopped being my goofy, annoying little sister. She stopped playing games with Max and she sold off her Voidcritter collection. She cut herself off from the few friends her age that she had. Instead, she threw herself completely into being the Lady VonWindenburg - quiet, polite, presentable, and always camera ready. I never saw her shed a tear or lose her cool. No matter what happened, she just put on a polite smile and carried on.
"I probably should have known she was screaming inside, but I was too busy with my own screaming to notice."
"God," Genie shuddered. "She never came back from it, did she?"
"I think that's the worst part," Hugo replied. "There were a few years there when she did.
"When she was eighteen, she went off to Britechester, to attend university. I don't know if it was her idea or our father's, but it was what she'd said she wanted. After all, I had gotten my culinary training and refused to claim the VonWindenburg title. So, Luna went after her Economics degree, planning to get a seat on the Bank board and really claim the role, if not the title, of Lady VonWindenburg.
"I don't think she expected to meet someone, much less someone like Gwen Silveroak."
"I don't think there is anyone else like Gwen," Jenny said with a little smile.
"She never did tell me me how they met," Hugo continued. "But somehow they just clicked. Gwen had recently lost her mother as well, and I think they bonded over that. Gwen introduced your mother to Cassie Goth and to your father, Rohan. Through their first two years at University, they were inseparable."
"So I've heard," Genie groaned.
"I don't want to go there," Hugo chuckled. "Let's just say they were all very close. I saw them all a few times, during those years, usually around the holidays. Luna was... happy. She was my goofy little sister again. It was like Gwen brought back something fun and playful inside her, and Cassie and Rohan encouraged and supported them both.
"Unfortunately, something changed in their last year. Their little group just fell apart. Cassie and Gwen went their separate ways. Rohan stayed with Luna... but when I saw her after graduation, she'd shut down inside. She was the Lady VonWindenburg again, through and through. She started working at the Bank. She and Rohan got married."
"Why did they get married?" Genie asked. "I mean... they don't even like each other."
"I think Rohan loves your mother, Genie," Hugo said gently, "and I think she genuinely cares about him too. Their marriage... I don't really know Genie. We haven't had a real, honest conversation for years... and the closest to one that we did have..."
"What?" Genie prompted.
"It was a little after they'd gotten married," Hugo said. "I ran into your mother at a nightclub, of all places...
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"Everyone, raise a glass," Luna shouted over the music. "To the late Baron Augustus Charm IV... may the smug bastard rot in Hell!"
"Luna, what the hell," Hugo said, pulling her aside.
"Hugo," Luna grinned drunkenly. "It's my big brother Hugo! Did you hear? Did you? 'Ding dong, the witch is dead!'"
"Yeah, I heard," Hugo nodded. The news had chilled him to the bone. "He died in his garden, during a dinner party. Just like..."
"He deserved it!" Luna spat, her eyes suddenly wild and shining with unshed tears. "He got exactly what he deserved... "
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"I almost think I could have gotten her to talk," Hugo sighed. "To really talk about your grandmother, that night, but she ran off. She's never let her guard down like that around me since."
Genie searched her uncle's face, looking for the elusive horror, the unspoken fear, that had flashed in his eyes and vanished a moment ago. She refused to meet Jenny's eyes. Refused to see the suspicion she knew was in her friend's eyes. That she knew was in her own.
"I'm sorry, Genie," Hugo sighed again. "I don't know if any of that was helpful at all."
"It was," Genie nodded, shocked. "I... I think I understand now. At least a little..."
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Special thanks to OrangeYams who created for me the custom pose of Jacques holding Genevieve in this chapter's second picture. - L
