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“Shit!”
The cup slipped out of her grasp, smashing onto the patio bricks. Tea geysered upward like a small fountain and shards of delicate china exploded in all directions.
“Shit, shit, shit!” Brynne dropped to a crouch and began collecting the mess.
“Here, let me help you with that.”
She did not want to look up and acknowledge the decadently deep voice or the man it belonged to. Although there was no ignoring him—not when he’d stood across the courtyard from her, and most certainly not when he was hunkered down next to her, half-naked and radiating preternatural heat and masculine power.
This close, his unearthly spicy scent licked at all of her senses. And everything female in her responded, no matter how hard she tried to pretend he didn’t affect her.
“I’ve got it,” she murmured, her voice coming out of her in breathy rasp. “It’s just a broken cup. There’s no need to help me.”
“I know there’s no need,” he said, continuing to pick up the errant pieces.
Brynne blew out a sharp sigh. “I’m not usually so clumsy. I don’t know how I did this.”
“You must’ve been distracted by something.”
Did she hear him correctly? And was that the hint of a chuckle in his voice?
As much as she wanted to get away from him without so much as a glance at his too-close, handsome face, her head snapped up. He was staring at her, a grin tugging at the corners of his sensual mouth. And the arrogant gleam in his incredible blue eyes was unmistakable.
“I wasn’t distracted,” she informed him tightly. “I don’t get distracted.”
“No? So, you came out here deliberately to watch me?” His cocky grin widened. “I’m flattered.”
ng that whatever intel she helped to collect from the London GNC official’s house this evening could be used to bring the Order closer to defeating Opus Nostrum only made her all the more eager to get started.
“Someone’s up early.” Brynne sailed into the kitchen, already dressed for travel in a crisp button-down and dark slacks. “Usually I’m the only one awake and walking around before sunrise.”
Carys swiveled her head away from her coffee and toast to smile at the other daywalker. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“Anxious about the party tonight, or about the Order’s mission in Dublin?”
“Both,” Carys admitted, watching Brynne walk over and put a kettle on for tea. “What I’m worried about most of all is Rune.”
And worry was only part of what she felt for him. She ached without him.
She felt marrow-chilling fear and unbearable dread to think that he was back in the company of the father who’d hurt him, betrayed him. Abused him so hideously.
Brynne leaned against the counter and faced her. “You really care about this male, don’t you?” She tilted her head, frowning as if she was trying to make sense of the idea. “You can forgive him even though he lied to you?”
Carys let out a sigh. “I forgave him as soon as it happened. I understand why he lied, and it doesn’t make me care any less. Haven’t you ever loved someone, Brynne?”
“No. I haven’t.” She blinked, then lifted her shoulder in a shrug. “Like your mother, for the first twenty years of my life, I didn’t even really know who, or what, I was. My handler controlled everything I did, everyone I came in contact with. I grew up thinking I was unwell, some kind of freak. After the truth came out—after the manufactured life I’d been living was exposed as a lie—I felt I needed to start my life all over again. After wasting all of those years, I wanted to do something purposeful, something real. Most of all, I never wanted to allow anyone to control me ever again. I don’t ask for permission. And I don’t let anyone tell me no.”
Carys recalled her advice from the other day in Boston. “As you told me, if I really want something, I have to reach for it.”
“And you did.” Brynne smiled in acknowledgment. “I’ll be glad to have you with me tonight at the councilman’s party. With your shadow-bending ability and photographic memory, you couldn’t be more perfect for the task.”
Carys nodded. “At least I’ll have something to keep my mind occupied while I wait for word about the mission to Riordan’s place.”
“We’re going to be kept in constant contact once the Order arrives in Dublin. You’ll also be wired to Gideon here in D.C. while you’re in Fielding’s house. I’m sure everything’s going to be fine.”
Carys hoped she was right about that. But the simple truth was, no one had been able to promise her that she’d see Rune again. They couldn’t make that promise.
Rune’s fate was in his own hands now.
