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I stepped out into the yard, thinking I’d give the hubcaps an extra polish or something, and just then the front door of the manor opened. Rose slipped out, clutching her purse at her side. She glanced straight at the garage, as if that had already been her destination.
Maybe it had been. When I hesitated, she tipped her chin up with a flick of her gaze toward the apartment. She didn’t need to do anything more than that.
I hurried up the steps, my heart thumping faster. Had something gone wrong? A sudden vision darted through my mind of plunking her on the back of my motorcycle and ripping the hell out of here to who knew where.
And what, leave the other guys behind? That wasn’t happening. If she got the hell out of here, it’d be with them, not me. As it should be.
I left the apartment door unlocked. Stalking through the living room, I jerked the curtains shut. Grabbed the worn shirt I’d left on the armchair and tossed it in the bedroom laundry basket. I was just re-emerging when Rose ducked in.
She turned the deadbolt with a thud. Then she stood there in the momentary silence, her fingers tight around her purse straps, looking as if she wasn’t completely sure how she’d ended up there.
I stayed on the opposite side of the room. Easier to keep my impulses under control that way. “Rose?”
She let out a shaky breath. With a few quick gestures, she cast some sort of spell—maybe to make sure her presence wouldn’t be noticed from outside. Then she turned to me. “I’m sorry. I know you don’t want to get too involved. I just… You’re the only one who’shere.”
You don’t want to get too involved. Was that the impression I’d left her with? I guessed it made sense she’d have interpreted my actions that way after I’d pushed her away, even if I’d tried to tell her differently.
“It’s fine, Rose,” I said. “But if you want me to reach out to the other guys—”
She shook her head, cutting me off. “No. I didn’t mean, exactly— Iwantto talk to you. You’ll be honest with me. Won’t you?” Her gaze held mine, those dark green irises turned liquid with worry. Her distress made my chest ache. I had to step a little closer.
“Always, Rose. What’s going on? What’s the matter?”
“I just…” She looked at her purse with an expression as if she were afraid to put it down and yet hated having it near her at the same time. Carefully, she slid the strap off her shoulder and set it on the floor beside the door. “Everything’s ready,” she said, straightening up. “I cast the last spell. That wand my dad brought back from Cairo is in there.” She motioned to the purse.
“Did the magic work the way you wanted?”
“I’m pretty sure it did. It feels right. Well, it feels like I did it right. The other kind of right… That’s why I’m here.” She looked down at her hands.
I motioned her over to the sofa. “Sit down. Gather yourself. I don’t have any place else to be.”
Her lips twitched with a hint of a smile, but it faded quickly. She clasped her hands together on her lap as she sat down. Her gaze darted back to her purse.
“It’ll hurt people,” she said as I sat down across from her.
“That was the idea, wasn’t it?” I said. “Just enough to scare them?”
“Yeah. And I thought I was okay with that. But—” She met my eyes again. “Some part of me wants to do more than that, Gabriel. Some part of me wants toreallyhurt them for what they were willing to do to me. For what they would do to the guys if they found out I’d consorted with them.”
The ache in my chest expanded. Oh, Sprout. She’d never had to think about really hurting anyone before, had she?
“I think that’s understandable,” I said. “Hell,allof me wants to mess them up for messing with you.”
“But you wouldn’t.”
“Because I know it’d be more trouble than it’s worth. But you’re doing this so you and the guys can be free of your dad.”
“I know. I just…” She rubbed her mouth. “I feel like maybe I’m proving them right somehow—my dad and Celestine and whoever else. They thought my power was dangerous, and now I’m going to show just how dangerous I can be. I’m actinglikethem—lying, manipulating people to get my way. If I stoop to their level, what does that say aboutme?”
“Rose,” I said firmly, “they were scheming—still are scheming—to trap you in a loveless marriage where your husband and your father control every spell you cast. Where they can torture you if you try to go against them, for the rest of your life. Nothing you’re thinking of can be half as bad as that. Besides, it’s not the same. If you caught a fox in a snare and it bit you, is that stooping to your level or just fighting to survive?”
“I had other options, though,” she said. “I could have just run, like I was thinking. Hidden out somewhere until after my birthday, when Dad couldn’t go through with the plan anyway.”
“But you don’t know that he wouldn’t have found you before then, and then you’d have been in even more trouble,” I pointed out. “And even if you’d managed to stay away for long enough, the second he found out about the guys, you’d have been screwed. You stayed here for a reason.”
“That’s the other thing. It’s not just me. If I make a mistake here, they’re all going to have to live with the consequences—or die with them—too.”
I clenched my hand against the urge to reach out to her. “We all know you’re doing the best you can.”
