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“You know I do not need it, want it, or expect it,” he responded. She turned in a flurry of skirts and followed his grandmother to the door. That left him with Anne, Finn, and Claire. He dropped onto a bench beside Anne. “What do you think of my marrying Miss Thorne?” he asked.
“I think it’s positively brilliant,” she beamed.
“With all due respect, Your Grace,” Claire interjected, “what you propose simply cannot be done.”
“I beg to differ.”
He looked down at Anne and tweaked her nose. “I vote that we go and retrieve Miss Thorne at midnight, by way of the fishes.” He looked up at Claire, whose mouth dropped open. Ashley pulled a single vial of shimmery dust from his coat pocket and passed it to Finn, who took it with reluctant fingers.
“It won’t blow me to bits, will it?” he asked.
“I cannot be certain.”
At the same time, Claire interjected. “It’s highly volatile,” she warned. “You should give it to me so it won’t blow up.” She held out her hand, which quivered just a little with what Ashley assumed was fear.
Finn tucked it into his own pocket. “If it blows off my dangly bits, I’ll have you to blame,” he warned. Her face colored profusely.
“Miss Thorne,” Ashley started. “I’d like for you to go now with my brother, Finn.”
She looked even more shocked by that than she had been by the dust.
“I’m not giving you a choice, Miss Thorne,” he said. “Finn will keep you safe until my return.”
“You plan to use me as leverage.” Her eyes narrowed and her toe began to tap.
“Perhaps I just want to spend some time with you.” Finn sucked absently at his teeth, a most annoying habit he had. “Don’t worry, little fae one,” he said. “I’ll take great care of you.” Finn looked a bit like a shark hunting for food.
“Where are we going?
” She did not look amused. She looked worried. Very worried.
“Well, if I told you that, it would no longer be a secret,” Finn said. “Come along and we won’t have to argue. I’d hate for my temper to cause this thing to explode.” He gestured to his pocket as he leaned closer to her. “My manly bits are at risk, you see.”
She was not amused. She shot Ashley one imploring glance. “Your Grace,” she cried. “You will regret this.”
He had a feeling Finn would regret it more. But he needed a hostage from the land of the fae just in case things didn’t go well when he got there. If he could get there at all.
***
Sophia sat with her face buried in her open palms, taking deep breaths and trying to still her skipping heart. She looked up from between her palms by spreading her fingertips. “Grandfather put all this in motion?” she asked Marcus.
“Evidently. He said he had some wrongs to right. He feels like this was the appropriate thing to do.” Marcus paced from one side of the room to the other.
“No one has ever traveled to the land of the fae before who is not actually fae! What if Ashley is harmed? What if he brings Lady Anne with him and something goes wrong?” She brought her thumb to her mouth to nibble the nail.
“Either way, I don’t see any good coming of it,” Marcus grunted. He flopped down behind his desk, obviously overwrought from all the pacing. “You cannot have him in your life, Soph. You simply cannot. You have to understand and accept that.”
A slow crawl of fear sneaked up her spine. Her body warmed with the heat of recognition. “What if I can?” she whispered.
“You can’t,” he finally snapped. Then he rubbed at his forehead in frustration. “I never should have left you alone on this mission. You have no idea how heavy my heart is with guilt right now.”
“I completed the mission.”
“And you broke every Unpardonable Error!” he cried. He jumped back to his feet and began his frantic pacing again. Then he stopped, leaned on his desk with the flat of his palm, and looked her in the eye. “You could be carrying his child.”
Heat crept up her face and into her hair. She was probably as red as a beet.
“You know what it was like living without parents. Sure, we had Grandmother and Grandfather. But it’s not the same.” He turned from her and dropped into the chair again. “Do you want the same fate for your child?”
