“Little cakes for us, and I’ve a large basket of bread in the carriage for you to give your patients,” she said.
I grinned and bit into a cake. “Almond! My favorite,” I said, eyeing her suspiciously. “What do you want, Charlotte?”
“Whatever can you mean?” she asked sweetly.
“You only bring me almond cakes when you need something from me,” I said. “Otherwise, it’s lemon, raspberry, cream, chocolate…”
“What an exceptional agent you would make, Doctor. If only you would come and work with us atles DD!” She laughed.
I sighed. This wasn’t the first time she’d come around to recruit me. “Charlotte, I told you before. I am happy in my role. I will help the Order as I can, but I like not having to answer to anyone but myself.”
She pouted but winked at me. “Ah, well. They cannot say that I didn’t try! Now tell me, my friend, what do you know of the beast of Gévaudan?”
The cake turned to sand in my mouth, and I coughed.
“Wh—what? Why?”
She eyed me perceptively. “Well, you see, there have been some sightings here in Paris and because of my state, I’ve been tasked with hunting him down. It’s just that he doesn’t seem to want to be found, and I’ve exhausted almost all of my leads.”
I paled but tried to keep my face a mask of indifference. “Oh?”
“Yes,” she nodded, picking up another cake. “And I suddenly remembered that night in the cave outside Grandrieu…the way you looked at him. As if you’d seen him before—as if you knew him.”
I took a sip of my tea, alarmed to see my hands shaking.
“Me? That…that’s absurd!”
Charlotte cocked a brow, staring pointedly at my hands. “Darling, do me a favor and don’teverplay cards. You do not possess the capacity to bluff.”
I swallowed, not trusting myself to reply.
She sighed and placed her hands over mine. “Wilhelmina, I won’t force it out of you. If you don’t want to tell me now, that’s all right. I’ll keep your secret. But I know there is a connection between you, and if I know about it, someone else is sure to discover it. The Order is on his heels, and that means they’ll soon be on yours, too.”
My heart pounded. I’d run so far and so long from my past… I knew that it would catch up with me at some point. I just didn’t think it would be today.Here. Now.
Charlotte seemed to take pity on me and leaned forward to give me another hug. When she pulled away, her effervescent manner had returned.
“Now, of course, I’ll need your opinion on severalcrucialdetails about the wedding. Antoine tries so hard to be indulgent, you know, but every time I ask him about opinions on ivory silk versus cream silk versus eggshell silk, his eyes glaze over and he grunts something unintelligible. Do come over this evening, won’t you? I’ll have cook prepare your favorite foods if you’ll help me decide on decor,” she gushed.
Still reeling from her devastating news, I could only nod.
“Parfait! Au revoir, chérie, et à bientôt!”She hugged me a third time, kissed my cheeks, and whirled out the door of the clinic before I could find my tongue.
I blew out a breath. Lord, I needed something more fortifying than tea after that. I donned my cloak and closed up the clinic, fully intending on heading down the street to the nearby public house,Le Raisin Perdu.A full dinner and several glasses of wine, I think.
The sun had set, bathing the street in a soft seashell pink. This was my favorite time of day—when I gave myself permission to rest, relax, and try to prepare for the work that lay ahead. I closed and locked the door, and when my back was turned to the street, I froze. Something instinctive whispered through my body:run.
I whirled around, tripping clumsily over the hem of my skirts. I put my hands out, bracing for the fall, but it did not come. Strong arms saved me. When I opened my eyes, I found myself staring into the past I’d fought to forget.
Dark, pitch-black eyes bored into mine, and his frighteningly beautiful face softened into a devastating grin, displaying two full sets of fangs. He opened his lips to say something, and in that moment, I was certain my heart stopped.
“Good evening, Mina.”
* * *
