“It’d be in your best interest to listen to Caroline and stop talking now.” Darcy’s voice was as icy as the wind that blew across the yard. “You had no right to try to give me a love potion. If you had come forward to talk tous, maybe we could have helped after what happened to Easton, but now you’ve tried to kill Elizabeth twice.”
“Well, it’s her fault.” Louisa jabbed a finger in my direction. “She should’ve kept her gold-digging hands off of you.”
My mouth fell open at how hypocritical it was to call me a gold digger after admitting she was trying to use Darcy to save Caroline after she lost her money. “What did I do?”
“You threw yourself all over Darcy even though he’s completely out of your league. You’re nothing more than a half-breed.” Her face grew red, and she cut a hand through the air. A towering wave formed over the lake, the crest roaring like a beast about to strike.
“Louisa, no!” Caroline cried as the water surged toward me.
Darcy yanked me to him and formed a shield around us. The wave crashed against his magic with a deafening boom, shaking the ground.
I glanced around to make sure everyone was okay, but Louisa was already preparing another strike, this waveeven bigger than the first. The water coiled around her like a snake, and her eyes burned with desperation.
I broke free of Darcy’s grasp and spun around. “Louisa, stop! You’re making a mistake.”
Her lip curled in a sneer. “The only mistake was letting your kind spend time with us.” The water whipped forward, and I braced myself for impact.
Before the wave reached me, Charles jumped forward and snapped a silver cuff on Louisa’s wrist. The wave splashed to the ground, and I let out a tight breath. Louisa sagged and started to sink into the lake, but Charles caught her. He put the other handcuff on and carried her back to shore. “I’m sorry, Louisa, but you’re under arrest.”
Her expression crumpled, and she turned her face into Charles’s chest.
I stepped forward, and Darcy’s grip on my hand tightened. Not that I owed her any explanation, but if Darcy and I had been clear from the start, maybe Jane wouldn’t have gotten hurt.
“Just so you know, the only reason Darcy and I have been spending so much time together is because we werestuck like this from a spell that went awry.” I dropped Darcy’s hand and tried to step away, and the invisible cord pulled taut.
Louisa turned to face me, her eyes wide. “You aren’t dating?”
“No,” Darcy and I said at the same time.
“We can’t even stand each other,” I added automatically, even though that wasn’t true anymore. I couldn’t stand Darcy at first, but now? Somehow he was exactly who I thought he was and not who I’d thought he was all at the same time.
“I’ll take her back to the house,” Charles said.
Most of the men followed him, and Caroline trailed behind, her eyes red. “I’m sorry,” she muttered to me as she passed.
I blew out a breath. “I’m glad that’s over. For real this time.”
“I wish itwasover.” Darcy ran a hand over his face. “Now that we’ve solved the mystery, things are just getting started. I need to call my uncle and let him know what happened. We’ll have to figure out how to handle Louisa’s case, and…” He trailed off and gave me a worn grin. “Anyway, I think it’ll be a long night. Do you want to sit down?”
“Yes.”
We filled Jane in on what happened, then returned to Darcy’s room. I joined him on the couch along the wall. The soothing lull of his deep voice as he made phone call after phone call coaxed me to sleep as the adrenaline drained from me.
The next thing I knew, sunlight streamed across my face. I was lying among silky sheets, my cheek pressed against something warm that rose in fall with steady breaths.
I stiffened, keeping my eyes shut for a second while I tried to figure out how to extricate myself from the situation. The steady thump of Darcy’s heart was at odds with my racing pulse.
“Morning,” Darcy said.
Darn it. I’d given myself away. I sat up and smoothed my hair, retying it in a loose braid to keep my hands busy. It also gave me an excuse not to look at him.
“Sleep well?” Darcy said as if I hadn’t just been using him for a pillow, but I could detect a faint hint of amusement in his voice.
“Sorry, I fell asleep on you. I mean, not literally on you, but, you know…” Sitting on the couch was the last thing I remembered, which meant Darcy must’ve carried me to the bed.
“No problem. It was a long night, and you deserved the rest.”
“So did you.” I glanced at the dark circles under his eyes. Even with them, he was unfortunately attractive. Curse him.
