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We’ll talk. We’re not far, but you’d never find your way in on your own.

How about you form a picture in your mind and I’ll see if I can take us there?

Well, we can give it a shot. He supposed part of the process for them moving forward would be to explore not just the nature of the elf-lord power that she could channel, but also in what ways their rose blood connection amplified each of their natural abilities.

He took a moment to settle his mind and focus exclusively on his retreat. The warrior vampire in him was always thinking two or three steps ahead, like his need to contact Harris and see how things were going. For now, he centered his thoughts on the lake house, then squeezed her hand as a signal.

Oh. The surprised sound of her voice, made him open his eyes and look at her.

What is it?

I … I can see everything. The lake, your beautiful home, the trees on a rim of hills surrounding a beautiful expanse of water. The north side has reeds and the south a narrow beach. It’s exquisite.

He stared at her for a long moment. You’ve described it exactly. Her violet eyes glowed as she looked inward at the image in his head. He didn’t get it. The woman beside him was so different from the woman he’d known as the queen. Was Davido right? Had he misjudged her? And had he done so on purpose? But this made no sense. What would he possibly gain from thinking bad of her?

Let’s go, he pathed.

The quiet slip through space happened again and much to his amazement, she had no trouble teleporting through his security system. Which meant if Margetta ever learned of the location, she’d find it easy to break through as well.

But he wouldn’t worry about the Ancient Fae right now.

He now levitated above the wood dock. Releasing her hand, he descended to plant his boots on the seasoned, gray planks.

The gibbous moon cast a glow across the water.

Rosamunde landed beside him and made a complete circle. “This lake has to be three hundred yards across and you say you own it?”

“I do. I purchased it from a fae woman who’d lost her husband to an Invictus attack in the area. She moved to the U.S. shortly after with her five children. I didn’t blame her for leaving. Her husband was one of several extended family members who‘d been recently murdered.”

She turned toward him slightly. “You’re one helluva man. I just want you to know that I know who you are and I admire you fiercely.” She smiled, if ruefully. “The truth is, I wanted to become more like you and I hope I have.”

He stared at her. Was this truly Rosamunde, the cold, authoritative royal living in a remote, stone castle?

Everything he’d believed about Rosamunde seemed to be falling away before his eyes. She wasn’t the indifferent, cowardly person he’d believed her to be. Yet, how could he suddenly shift his opinions, when he’d held to them like a drowning man?

Maybe he should, as Davido suggested, take a hard look at why he’d been so quick to judge Rosamunde in the first place. Why had he refused to believe her about her lack of power to battle her aunt?

When he saw that she was looking toward the house with curiosity, he encouraged her to look around. He would welcome the time apart.

She glanced at him over her shoulder. “You don’t mind?”

“No, of course not. Unless you’re in league with Joseph. Should I start nailing everything down?” He didn’t know why he was teasing her.

At that, she smiled and raised an arched, playful brow. “I’ve thought about going into business with him more than once. That gremlin has more money than the Goddess herself.”

He stared at her as she turned and headed up the dock toward the small, single-story house. His heart ached in a strange way, something he didn’t get. Except that, he actually liked Rosamunde and he’d never expected to, not in a million years. But it did help to see her out of her intricate braids and flowing gowns.

He recalled what Davido had tol

d him, that Rosamunde was never intended to be queen, that she’d only been filling in for the past thousand years waiting for Quinlan’s daughter to come into the world.

Her life had been no picnic. She’d been orphaned by Margetta at a young age. He couldn’t imagine what that had been like for her. She’d also suffered every day of her life as she channeled the elf-lord power and experienced severe pain in order to support the veil of mist. She’d lived a life of sacrifice, something he valued.

As he watched Rosamunde open the sliding door that led into the living room, his gaze spanned the row of full-length plate glass windows that ran the length of the house. The kitchen was at one end and his master bedroom at the other with the living room in between.

In the space of a few hours, Rosamunde of Ferrenden Peace had become a complete mystery to him. He’d had her all figured out, to the last cell of her seemingly selfish body. Yet what he felt from her, and the level of her vulnerability, pummeled his heart. How had he ever believed her soulless?

As he moved in her direction, crossing the dock to join her in the living room, he realized the elf-lord power had remained with him, probably because of Rosamunde’s proximity. Again, he sensed her vulnerability. “You’re being very open with me right now, aren’t you?”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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