Page 86 of Bloodgrove

Will glanced toward the window, beyond which it was nearly dark. The storm gathered new strength and rattled the panes. No sensible person would be traveling in such weather.

Elodie raised an eyebrow and followed the butler at a brisk pace through the undecorated corridors. Wind whistled through the gaps around the windows, and the candles inside the lanterns flickered.

Just as Will hurried into the entrance hall behind Elodie, the gate swung open beneath a gust of ice and revealed the looming silhouette of their visitor. He did not need the two black dogs shaking snow from their coats to recognize the dark stranger.

Eric stepped into the torchlight and handed his fur hat to the butler.

“You made it!” Elodie took two more steps toward him before remembering that they hated each other.

Jealousy turned Will’s smile bitter, but he forced it down. He would give it no room, not when his goal was to bring these two together.

“Of course.” Eric bent over Elodie’s hand and breathed a kiss to it. Snow sifted from the broad shoulders of his military coat. It fit perfectly around his narrow waist and fell snow-crusted to his ankles.

“How did you get here?” Will blurted.

Eric’s gaze shifted toward him, a trace of frost still lingering within it. “My aunt lives nearby. I rode.”

The butler cast a worried glance at his pocket watch. “Esteemed guests, the sun has just set. The servants and I will bring food and wine. Duke Wilkinson has set aside a rare bottle for you.”

“One bottle will not be enough,” Eric said. “I will make myself presentable, and then I will join you for the blessing.”

Chapter 46

There was singing for the solstice—but not as Will knew it. Every light in the castle had been extinguished, and outside, snow and wind battered the windows, while silence settled over the halls.

The butler led the procession, carrying the only lit lantern, its dancing glow barely illuminating the unfamiliar halls. Behind him walked Eric and Elodie, who held a bundle of smoldering herbs in one hand, their thick smoke filling the air with spice. Blood dripped from her other hand, and at every doorway she drew a glyph and a circle.

But Will could not take his eyes off Eric. In a deep voice, he sang incantations in a language Will did not know. His words rose with the smoke into the shadows of the vaulted ceilings. Eric marked the doorframes as well, though he used ash the cook handed him.

The air crackled with magic and with something older, from a time when the gods still walked the earth, when nights were still dangerous, when the world was still filled with mystery, before progress and human greed tipped the scales.

Will shuddered, but followed them in silence, his heart filled with pride for the two mages.

At last, the servants shut themselves inside their dining room, and Elodie blessed the door behind them.

The library was comfortably warm, but Will shivered when Eric sealed the door with a spell. Elodie’s blood ran down the veneer and gathered in the molding. A gust struck the windows so violently that the candles trembled.

“What exactly are you planning in here?” Eric asked. He was seeing the library from the inside for the first time, and Will flushed. He hadn’t expected Eric to make it after all, nor had he expected to have to explain himself.

“I thought we were searching the library for clues?” Eric added as he wandered between the shelves, where small lanterns stood at regular intervals along the baseboards. The air was golden in the candlelight.

At last, Eric came around the corner and discovered the nest around the sofa. Pillows and blankets lay scattered across the rugs, and small tables were covered in pastries and cookies, arranged perfectly for lying down and indulging. His dogs had already curled up before the fireplace.

“Did Duke Wilkinson prepare a romantic evening for his fiancée?” Eric laughed, and Will wished to disappear between the books. Somewhere deep in the dark corners of his heart, he hoped that one day he might spend an evening like this with Elodie and Eric, but he knew it would not happen tonight. He wasn’t even certain he wanted the other man to know what Will and Elodie did together.

“Is it not delightful? Wilkinson would never have thought of it—this is all Will’s doing,” Elodie said brightly and dropped onto the sofa.

Surprised, Eric turned toward him, only to find Will frozen in place.

“Is that true?”

“The cookies were my idea. I am surprised the duke allows wine,” Will managed and slipped past Eric toward the fireplace. He would rather stare into the flames than be forced to endure Eric’s mockery.

“It is beautiful,” Eric said dryly. “This is my first solstice without my family.” Will heard his footsteps behind him. “We have very similar garlands at home.”

Will pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, desperate to feel anything other than embarrassment. Of course Eric had immediately recognized the details Will had borrowed from his visit to the Arcos family.

Fingers tugged at his sleeve, and Elodie smiled up at him. “Come. We can still have a good evening despite Eric’s miserable face. The room is beautiful enough that he will hardly be noticeable.”