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“Care to share?”
“No.”
With a slight shrug she stood, her fingernails tapping along the side of her glass. “Maybe after Draper’s visit?”
“Maybe not.”
She smiled, her eyes twinkling. For all of her elegance, Juliet had a wild streak deep within that skirted danger far too easily. And peppering him with questions about Draper and a woman from his past was dangerous. A fact she knew quite well.
She moved to the sideboard to set her glass down. “You will excuse me, then.”
“Do you plan to stay at the Willows for long?”
“A day or two, maybe. I’ll get the women in order—curb their enthusiasm for bringing this place into the current century.” Her shoulders lifted in a sigh. “I find myself thinking the Den tiresome as of late. The same of everything, all the time.”
He knew it as well.
The slow eroding of his soul, day in, day out, dredging in the worst of humanity. He’d thought he’d become immune to it, and then Pen had shown up. Reminded him what he used to be once upon a time, and the second he’d set foot back into the Den of Diablo, the weight of it had landed like a boulder onto his shoulders.
So much so he’d needed to get out of London—not just to avoid the happenstance of Pen looking for him, but to avoid everything in his life if only for a few days.
It would only take a couple of days. Two, three days at the most and he’d get his senses back about him. His head right. The ice in his veins back. And then he could go back to London.
Juliet slipped out the side door of his study just as Draper walked in from the main hall.
“Rune, good to see you.”
Rune smiled—a far too easy smile for a man that rarely did so. “As it is to you. Your message said you’re calling in a favor?”
“I am. Thank you for trekking out here.” Strider poured his old friend a glass of cognac and handed it to him before grabbing his own glass and motioning to the chairs in front of the fireplace. “How goes the expedition planning?”
Rune took the glass from him and sat. His hand ran through his light brown hair. “Good. Hiccups, of course, but we’re past those. We’re set to sail for the Yucatán in another week.”
“Perfect.” Strider sat down opposite him. “Would you mind taking the ship a bit farther south than you were planning?”
Rune cocked an eyebrow. “That, I can do. What’s the favor?”
“You’re unimpeachable—between your connections from theFirefox, your father’s reputation, and the countess you just married—you’re the exact person I need.” Strider took a sip of his drink. “And frankly, the only one I trust.”
Rune’s hands clasped around his glass. “What do you need of me?”
“I need you to talk to some people for me.”
“Talk to some people? That is all? Where?”
“In Belize.” Strider reached into an inner pocket of his coat and pulled out a folded sheet of vellum. He handed it to Rune. “Here’s the list.”
Rune unfolded the paper and scanned the list. “Who are they?”
“Two were witnesses to my birth and the third a priest. All knew my father and mother.”
Rune’s jaw dropped and he looked up from the paper. “Does this mean you have proof?”
Strider nodded.
“Shit. How did that happen?”
“Someone from the past.”
