The term might have been spoken lightly, but there was nothing light about the knowledge that her brother and her former fiancé were imprisoned in the dungeon below. There was nothing heavy about it either. She had come to Brighton to be free of powerful men. She had opened a shop and decided on a life designed specifically to exist outside the orbit of men like him. And then she had gone and fallen in love with the most dangerous one of all. The irony was not lost on her. Neither, if she was being entirely honest, was the fact that she did not regret a single moment of it.
“This is serious,” she remarked to Calliope, who nodded.
“Very,” Calliope said. “Deveraux had convinced them he’d joined their side, that he’d been hurt. They hadn’t found him before his uncle did.”
“His uncle raised him, then?”
Calliope nodded.
Violet recalled the man with the cane in her shop and shuddered. There had been something about him that had set her teeth on edge even then. “He must be an excellent liar to have deceived them all.”
“Yes.” Calliope sighed. “Which means Maxen will tear Brighton apart stone by stone until he finds him. The whole of Britain, even. And the rest of them will not be far behind.”
Violet’s gaze found Drake, more rigid than she’d ever seen him. “I’m not going to be able to return to my shop, am I?”
“Neither am I,” Calliope said, not denying the claim. “Not for the time being, at least. Things are about to change again.”
“Again?” That sounded ominous.
“Maxen is overprotective on a good day. Now, he might become an unbearable overprotective beast.”
“You don’t sound like you mind.”
Calliope shrugged. “I didn’t follow my dream to Brighton; I escaped my fate to Brighton. It took a while for the realization to dawn, however. But when it did... All I did was want to stay.”
“With your husband.”
Calliope smiled dreamily. “Yes.”
Violet nodded, Calliope’s words striking a chord. She, too, had come to Brighton to escape. A life without the control of men had been her dream, a life free of dictation and punishment. She couldn’t claim she’d exactly escaped that, to be frank, given her future husband. If Drake thought her to be in danger, he’d dictate and demand and take charge, but it would be from a place in his heart, and that was all she wanted.
Perhaps that was the true dream.
To be fiercely protected.
“I heard you met his uncle?” Calliope asked. “Can you describe him? I would rather be prepared than not.”
“I shall do you one better, I shall sketch his likeness.”
“Thank you.”
“This is going to drive me mad,” Violet muttered. “I feel helpless.”
“Believe me,” Calliope said with a chuckle. “There are times that it’s helpful for them.”
“Of course.” Her gaze swept the brothers. “The stubbornness of males.”
“Ah,” Calliope murmured. “You must learn their tells. It may prove vital to your sanity.”
Violet glanced back at the woman. “I beg your pardon?”
“Maxen grows quieter the angrier he becomes. Drake paces. Dagger polishes weapons that are already spotless. Saint broods, as does Knight, though they are different broods. You’ll see.” She leaned closer. “And Reaper’s coin is the key to his moods.”
“What about Serpent?”
“He ebbs and flows like the tides. In any event,” Calliope said gravely. “That is how you know something is about to explode.”
“Well,” Violet said lightly, “it is comforting to know their formidable reputation is entirely deserved. What else can you tell me about each brother?” Violet asked. That might be the best way to become more helpful in the future. Learning the lay of her new land.
