Page 75 of A Fragile Enchantment

Gods, why did he have to be here? She’d believed it would be simple, to aid him from afar and drift out of his life. But they were hopelessly drawn to each other like magnets. It frustrated her how easy and right it felt to fall into this pattern with him.

“I’m trying to find out who Lovelace is,” she blurted out. “Are you happy now?”

He lifted a brow. “In my brother’s wing of the house?”

Oh, he wasevil.She could tell by his deadpan tone and the cool glimmer in his eye that he was enjoying this. “I think it’s Princess Sofia.”

All of the amusement dropped off his face. “What?”

She winced. “I know it is treasonous to even suggest such a thing, but I have my reasons that I cannot—”

He huffed out a breath. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me. I’m not here to stop you.”

“You’re not?”

“No.” He pushed the hair out of his face and sighed, as though he were very put upon indeed, but she did not mistake the softening of his expression. “I’m coming with you. But I want my coat back.”

“Deal.” She paused, and suspicion crowded in. “Wait. Why are you helping me break into your brother’s chambers?”

“Because even if you’re wrong, he doesn’t deserve a moment’speace,” he said offhandedly, “and if you’re right, you’re in over your head. You have no one to protect you if things go south.”

“I don’t need your protection.” She very much did. But she would not give him the satisfaction of that admission.

“I gave you my opinion. Now give me my coat.”

Begrudgingly, she handed it to him. He traded her the one was wearing. It was warm with his body heat—and smelled like him, like garden soil and tobacco. It was more than a fair trade. Immediately, she slipped her arms into the sleeves and drew it tight around herself. Kit watched her with a peculiar, almost admiring, expression.

“What?” She looked down at her feet. “I look silly, don’t I?”

“No,” he said, almost shyly. “I mean, itishuge on you. But I like seeing you in my clothes.”

“Oh.” She cleared her throat, determined not to be flustered. “Ehm… So, do you have the key?”

He smirked, and her heart fluttered in response. She didn’t think she had ever seen the way mischievous looked on him. “No. But I’ve gotten in before. It’s easy.”

His eyes flickered golden, and a pulse of magic whispered over her skin. The plants around them stirred to life. Vines poured out of their pots and snaked into the keyhole. The wood groaned and splintered, and after a moment, the entire lock separated from the door. It struck the floor with a metallicbang.

Niamh stared at it despairingly. “Well, that is certainly one way to do it. But now he is going to know we were here. How are you going to explain that?”

“He won’t ask. He’ll assume I was looking for his whisky again.” The mirth faded from his voice. “Come on.”

He brushed past her, and Niamh hurried after him. Softly, she asked, “And you’re all right with letting him believe that?”

“I hardly see how it matters what I feel about it.” Prickliness radiated off him, before he dispelled it with a sigh. “I doubt he trustsme anymore—for good reason. I was a bad person before I left, to be honest. He was hardly managing himself, and it’s not like our old man gave him any examples of good parenting.”

She could still remember the raw, furious pain in Jack’s voice on the afternoon of the lawn party.You cut and run the moment things get difficult, just as Mother did. What good were either of you to me?

“I am sure he is not proud of himself, either. Desperation sometimes makes people act in ways they regret,” she said quietly. “Still, you were a child—and you were not yourself. Show yourself some compassion.”

Their footsteps echoed in the corridors. In the dark, the marble floor was as glossy as a sheet of ice. Kit walked to the center of the antechamber, where a mosaic on the floor depicted the family crest: a rose in full bloom, a drop of golden blood beading on a thorn.

“Where to now?” Kit asked.

Niamh looked around uneasily. “Ehm… Well…”

“Unbelievable,” he muttered. “You tried to sneak in here without a plan.”

“Just give me a moment. I’m thinking.” Three hallways branched off from the atrium. “Which one is Sofia’s room?”