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If it’d only been myself I had to worry about, I might have marched right over there without magic and let them think whatever they wanted about my visit here. But it wasn’t just me. Dad still controlled the estate. In a lot of ways, he controlled Gabriel’s fate. If I brought magic to bear against him over a matter like that,Icould be the one who ended up imprisoned by the Assembly.
Gabriel rubbed his jaw. “You could stay here until— Oh, damn. Your dad will want to introduce you, won’t he?”
I nodded, calming my breath. I was a witch. I was alight with magic. There had to be a way.
My mind leapt back to an urgent trip I’d made a few days ago, to listen in on a conversation between Celestine and Derek. I’d pulled my magic around me and let it transport me right from one room to the next.
From the garage to the house wasn’t that far. I thought I could do it. Dad might be calling for me to come down even now.
My gaze darted to Gabriel. “This is going to look strange,” I said. “But I have to go right now.”
“Rose?” he said. I was already moving. I swiveled on my feet, faster and faster, picturing the comforting glow of my reading lamp, the rows of built-in bookcases, the cozy four-poster bed. My spark blazed up through every nerve. Then I whipped my arms around my body.
My skin went cold. The world went black. With a snap, I was lurching on my feet across the hardwood floor of my bedroom.
I’d been right. “Rose?” Dad’s voice carried up the stairs, through my locked door, sounding puzzled.
“Coming!” I hollered back and combed my fingers through my hair, finding my balance. I could do this. I’d already done it. I was here. No witch could tell I had magic when Iwasn’tusing it.
I hurried out and down the stairs. Dad and Derek were already standing in the foyer. And so was Matilda Gainsley.
She was a short, knobby-chinned woman with a bun of pale orange hair. Her dark eyes considered me as I descended. Moldy cinders, I already didn’t like her, if only because I had the feeling she didn’t miss much.
And also because she wasn’t Meredith, who should have been here. I swallowed hard.
“Hello,” I said. “Sorry, sometimes I get wrapped up in a book and just tune everything else out. You must be Mrs. Gainsley. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Miss Hallowell,” Mrs. Gainsley said. She clasped her hand, as dry as her voice, around mine just for a second.
“Well,” Dad said, “let me show you to your rooms. You should get some rest after that trip. We can get started going over your duties in the morning.”
“I’ll be up bright and early,” Mrs. Gainsley said. “I always am.” The smile she gave me looked a little bit sharp.
I trailed after them as they headed up, and Derek came along behind me. He stopped beside me when I reached my door. Dad pointed out the estate manager’s office to Mrs. Gainsley and then directed her down the rightward branch in the hall toward the adjoining sitting room and bedroom that served as the private quarters for the resident estate manager and her consort.
“Well, maybe things can start to get back to normal,” Derek said in a hesitant voice. “As normal as they can be with your stepmother missing.”
How had he been feeling about that—not knowing where his accomplice had run off to? I’d have taken more pleasure from his uncertainty if he hadn’t turned to me right then. Turned to me and leaned his hand against the door frame so close it brushed the side of my arm.
“Rose,” he said, leaning his head closer too.Thatwas the same tone he’d used on Polly, the girl from the cleaning staff I’d heard him fooling around with and insulting me to. Apparently my previous coldness hadn’t quite put him off.
How dare he think he had any right to get intimate with me after everything he’d done to me and planned to?
I pressed my hand against his chest and pushed. “Not right now. Back off.”
Derek’s eyes darkened. He didn’t move, only dipped his head even more. His nose grazed mine, and my stomach flipped, threatening to eject the lemonade I’d been drinking all over his nice linen shirt.
“I think it’s about time we started acting more like two people about to be married,” he said, with an edge in his voice that sounded almost like a threat.
My fingernails dug into my palm. Every inch of my skin screamed to shove him away with a burst of magic. But I couldn’t reveal that much to him. The Spark knew I couldn’t trusthimwith the knowledge that I’d somehow come into my magic.
“If you’re going to act like this, I’m thinking we shouldn’t get married,” I said, letting acid creep into my own tone, and pushed harder with just my arms.
To my relief, the comment and the shove was enough to dislodge Derek. For the moment. He took a step back and looked at me narrowly for a second before he relaxed his expression.
“I’m sorry if I overstepped,” he said. “I wouldn’t want anything to interfere with our consorting. Not with your birthday coming so soon.”
He said it calmly enough, but that was definitely a threat. He thought I still needed him to kindle my spark.
