Harker searched my face. “Is he—do you think he’s still alive?”
“I believe he is. I’ve had a dream—a kind of vision, much like yours—and I think we may yet save him.” I took a deep breath. “Though maybe you wouldn’t choose to.”
“The only thing I blame Jack for is his roughness with you. If you were my sister and I thought a man had hurt or compromised you, I would put a bullet in him, too.”
Though I was relieved Harker hadn’t lost all compassion for Jack, I hesitated, dreading how he might react to the rest of what I had to say. Before I could go on, he said, “We’ll discuss this. But first I would like you to eat something.”
He moved to kneel beside the fire, where he carved off a hunk of crisped meat and placed it on a costly-looking dish that rested on the hearthstones. Then he spooned something lumpy and glistening from a pot that hung over the flames.Stewed apples.Again my mouth watered.
He handed me the dish along with a knife and fork. Too hungry to worry over how it looked, I pulled meat from the delicate bones with my fingers, licking away the grease. Once I’d cleared the plate, he filled it again. I ate that, too, and drank two more cups of tea.
Sinking back with a sigh, I said, “That may have been the best thing I’ve ever eaten.”
He laughed. “You’re just depleted. I’m happy to see your appetite. It will help you get your strength back.”
He took the dish and handed me a towel so I could clean my hands and face.
“Do you feel well enough to talk more now,” he asked, “or would you rather sleep?”
“I think it best we talk.” I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep again until I’d told him everything.
“All right.” He sat back down in the armchair. “You said you’ve had a vision?”
“Yes.” The blanket that covered my chest had slipped while I was eating, and I tugged it back up. “It was almost exactly like the one you had, with even the small details you described. But Jack was in my vision, too. After the handfasting, Goosevar brought him to us—alive.”
Harker shifted in his chair. “I hope he is,” he said carefully. “But do you think it might simply have been a dream? Inspired by my vision, and your fear for Jack.”
“I know what a dream feels like, Harker. That’s not what this was. It’s still so clear and real in my mind that it’s like it actually happened. I think it may have come to me through your connection to Goosevar, because of your ... connection tome.”
Color stained his cheeks again. The vigor that my blood returned to him had made him easier to read. In the same careful tone, he asked, “What do you think it means?”
I held his gaze. “Goosevar is offering us a way to save Jack. A kind of trade.”
His face was still.Toostill. “You mean to say Goosevar is attempting to use Jack to force our hand. That he will spare Jack if we marry.”
“... Yes?” I was wary of his outward calm. “What I’m wondering is whether we can trick him into thinking we’re giving him what he wants.”
“Trick him how?”
“If we did marry,hypothetically—”
“No.” I flinched at the iron in his voice. “I amnotmarrying you, Mina Penrose. Hypothetically or otherwise. I don’t begrudge Jack his protectiveness, but neither am I willing to trade your life for his. I very much doubt Jack would want that, either.”
“It wouldn’t have to be that, Harker. Please hear me out.”
Might as well have lit a powder blast in a tin mine. “It would be exactly that! Have you forgotten what happened to my mother?”
“I haven’t,” I assured him. “But Harker, it needn’t be a real marriage.” Nowmycheeks flamed, and I hoped I wouldn’t have to explain myself further on that point. “We could speak our oaths and get Jack back. Goosevar need never know anything else about it.”
“He will expect achild, Mina.”
I sniffed and adjusted my grip on the blanket. “He can’t force us to make one.”
Our gazes locked, and I would have bet all the coins in my chemist’s tin that both of us were imagining the same thing. I could almost feel his hands on my skin ... his breath in my hair ... his lips on my lips ...
Was it possible that he wanted to touch me as much as I wanted him to?Not as his prey, but in the usual way.
His eyes broke away. “You’re not thinking. You couldn’t go back home with Jack. The ruse would require you to live here. You would never have a normal life. A real husband, or children of your own. None of the things you deserve.”
