Rune gazed up at him through her eyelashes. “What’s your name?”
He carried her through the doors and into a small parlor room. “Ed.” He shook his head. “I mean,Edmund. My friends call me Ed.”
“Edmund,” she purred.
Over the guard’s shoulder, Gideon glowered at her.
“I’ll ask the housekeeper to fetch the physician.” Edmund put her down on the settee. “Stay here.”
“Of course.” Rune turned her glowing smile on him again. “I won’t budge from this spot.”
The moment he was gone, Rune rose from the settee. Gideon stood like a thundercloud by the door, still glaring at her.
Ignoring him, she peeked her head out into the hall, watching Edmund disappear around a corner. “Let’s find the nursery before he realizes we’re missing.”
When all was clear, Rune stepped into the empty hall.
Gideon followed.
Even the walls here were yellow. Like butter melting in the sun.
They passed household staff going about their duties: a woman hauling a basket full of laundry; a man bringing in fresh-cut wood from outside. Rune smiled at each one, acting like she belonged here. HopingBeguilewould work on them, too.
When they were finally alone, Gideon growled: “Was that really necessary?”
“Was what necessary?”
She found a set of stairs and climbed them. The nursery was on the third floor. Rune had noticed it from the boardwalk: an open window facing the harbor front, where a mobile of twirling clouds hung above a crib.
That room was their destination.
“You didn’t need to flirt with him.”
Rune bristled.Really?“My flirting got us inside. You should be thanking me.”
But Gideon was the opposite of thankful. He was surlier than ever.
“That guy doesn’t have a chance with you,” he said as they hit the second floor, where the stairs ended. “You know it. And I know it. Buthedoesn’t know it. Encouraging him to think otherwise is cruel.”
“Cruel?”Rune threw him a look, prickling as she strode downa hall with freshly washed floors and daffodil wallpaper. She looked around, searching for the stairs to the third level. “That’s rich, coming from you—a boy who hunts girls for a living.”
“Witches,” he corrected. “I hunt witches.”
A door opened further down. At the voice issuing out, they hesitated, glancing toward it.
“I left her in the front parlor,” said Edmund, the soldier she’d duped, as he stepped into the hall. “She couldn’t walk. I think it may be broken…”
Edmund was about to turn and spot them when Gideon grabbed the sleeve of Rune’s uniform and yanked her into an empty room, shutting the door behind them.
Rune blew out a breath, grateful despite herself for his quick thinking.
She glanced around. They were in some kind of personal library, with shelves full of books, a writing desk, and windows overlooking the water.
Luckily, the room was empty.
Rune cracked the door open to peer out. Edmund still stood at the end of the hall, speaking with the other staff member. Blocking their way forward.
They were stuck here until he left.
