Violet stared ata face carved with rage.
Dear lord above.
This was Maxen Fury in all his grim glory. The set of his jaw, the fire in his eyes, so much like Drake’s, the unmistakable authority in his bearing. She had glimpsed it before, right after she and her friends informed him that his now wife, Calliope Turner, might have been kidnapped.
Stars, it was one thing after another tonight.
A sliver of guilt pushed into her chest. She and Drake had chosen silence when his brothers arrived. Had remained hidden. Heat climbed her throat. This was not merely a brother finding another brother wounded. This was a man discovering secrets layered atop secrets, and she was suddenly, unmistakably, placed in the middle of them.
“I thought you said if we ignored them, they’d leave?” The words slipped right out before she could stop them.
On the cot with her, Drake groaned while his brother’s eyes narrowed, fists clenching.
Foolish, foolish, Vi!
She peeked at Drake, but his full attention was on their new company.
“They down there,frère?” a voice called down.
“Yes,” the big brotherly beast growled.
“What I mean to say,” Violet said hurriedly, “is that I believed you were our pursuers.”
“I see,” the man said, giving no indication whether he believed her or not. “You could say we were that. Pursuers. Concerned pursuers.”
“Let off, Maxen,” Drake growled.
Violet cleared her throat. “I think I should go home. You should, too. I imagine you have some things to discuss.”
Drake looked back at her. “You’re not going back.”
Her eyes snapped wide. “Why not?”
“Too dangerous.”
“For you, perhaps. I’m in disguise!”
Drake shook his head. “Your hair was visible. I’m not taking the chance until I know the threat has been eliminated.”
Her hand reached out to capture a strand of her hair that had long since loosened from her cap. “I’m sure I am fine.” The face of the man who had first attempted to stab Drake flashed in her mind, and an uncomfortable knot formed in the center of her heart. She pushed the memory aside.
“I agree with my brother on this,” Maxen said. He looked over to Drake, who shifted to perch on the edge of the bed, reaching for the cognac that had been discarded at some point.
Violet snatched the bottle from him before he could raise it to his lips. “I need this more than you.” She took a healthy swallow, the liquor leaving a pleasant sting in its wake.
He merely arched a brow.
“I have a business to run,” Violet told them after the burn settled. “I can’t simply leave it.”
Another two brothers appeared behind the first one. She recognized them as Reaper and Knight, who had already caught them in a dungeon together. Reaper pushed past Maxen, whistling as he took in Drake’s loot.
“You stitched up,frère?”
“A mere scratch,” Drake answered.
Violet snorted, earning a hard look from the man himself.What? I didn’t say you fainted, she sent back with her eyes.
Reaper’s gaze lingered a fraction too long on Drake’s side, mouth curving into an unimpressed line. “You say that every time.”
