“Not similar.” Anne was breathing quickly. “It is the same, I tell you!”
“It cannot be. You unmade Sir Lewis.”
“No, I did not! I do not know why Lord Matlock said I did. I unmade his eyes, and when I woke up, they said he was dead.”
Eversleigh muttered a spell. “Can you move now?”
“No.” Tears leaked down her cheeks.
“Forgive me.” Eversleigh attempted to move her arm, but it did not budge, not even as Eversleigh's face turned red and perspiration broke out on his forehead. “No use.”
There had to be a way to free her. “Anne, can you unmake the ward?”
Anne closed her eyes. “No. It is as though nothing is there.”
What had Debenham done? And why was his magic like Sir Lewis’s? The notebooks, the ones in Sir Lewis’s study. What had been in the last one? Sir Lewis had been testing ways to control another man’sbody. His last notebook had shown some slight success.
That notebook had been filled. All of them had been. Why had he never realized there must have been another notebook with his last notes? He was a fool.
“Well, well, well.” Debenham stood in the doorway. “Having a party, and you did not even invite me?”
Eversleigh winked out of sight.
“Impressive trick, Eversleigh, but it will do you no good.” Debenham closed the door and leaned back against it. “All I need to do is wait for the servants to return. They will be able to find you by touch, and you cannot stay invisible forever. Your little diversion would have worked so nicely if I had not set the wards to alert me if anyone touched them. Sorcery can be so very useful.”
Darcy was helpless, and so was Anne. But Eversleigh still had a chance. He would not be able to break open the window and escape before Debenham could stop him, but perhaps Darcy could help. He pictured the window hinges in his mind and set a tiny intense fire burning inside them, feeding the fire with his own energy.
“Nothing to say for yourself, Darcy?” Debenham drawled.
“I was trying to decide whether I should call you Debenham or Sir Lewis,” Darcy said coolly. “It must be pleasant to be back at Rosings Park after all these years.”
Debenham started at that, but quickly regained his composure. “I do not know what you mean.”
Darcy encouraged the fire inside the hinges. If he could keep Debenham distracted a little longer, Eversleigh might be able to push the window out. “If that is how you prefer it, but I knew Debenham years ago, and you are not that man.”
“People change with time, Darcy.”
Hotter, hotter. “If you are truly Debenham, where did we first meet?”
“I have met thousands of people over the years. I do not recall most of them.”
Was that the smell of melting metal? “What college did you attend at Cambridge? Surely you can remember that.”
Debenham’s eyes narrowed. “This is a stupid game, and I am done with you.”
So it was true. The bottom seemed to drop out of Darcy's stomach. “Does Biggins know the truth about you? What would he think if he knew you could not remember your college?”
“I was at Trinity, you fool!” Debenham’s face was turning a mottled red.
“A good guess, given how large Trinity is, but Debenham went to Corpus Christi. Are you not going to release poor Anne from your ward? That looks like a very uncomfortable position.”
“You will not whisper a word about this to anyone, Darcy. I cannot kill you, but I can make you wish I had.”
“I have no doubt of that.” The threats meant nothing to Darcy but a way to buy more time. “How does it work? Does any part of Debenham’s mind remain?”
The sorcerer shrugged. “I neither know nor care.”
“A pity. I did like the man – at least before this.” Fire. Fire in the hinges.
