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His muscles coiled, Evan stalked along, shadowing her under the cover of the woods as she led the mare a hundred strides onto the trail that led to the main road. Fallen leaves crunched under the hooves on the trail so she couldn’t hear his motion.
Damn that he’d taken her on this trail every time they’d ridden in the last week. She’d have no trouble navigating it with the dappled moonlight shining down through the trees that had lost half their leaves.
Far enough.
He wished the brandy was fully out of his blood at this point, but it wasn’t and he couldn’t chance losing her in the forest. Words would just have to cut through the muddle in his head. Better words than he’d used earlier.
Evan cut to his left and intercepted her.
Juliet jerked to a stop and the horse nudged into her back as a small scream erupted from the shrouded figure atop the horse.
He glanced up at Ness, not able to see her face in the fold of the cloak she had covering her head, and his glare dropped to center on Juliet. He was unable to keep his voice from shaking for the rage in it. “You think to just walk out of here? Slink out in the middle of the night?”
“If you’re not here to help me, Evan, step aside.” In the shadow of the trees, the smallest fleck of light caught her eyes and he could see fury raging in her blue irises.
Fury he knew damn well he’d put there. It didn’t matter. She wasn’t going anywhere.
“I need to talk to you. Privately.”
She looked up over her shoulder at Ness sitting on the horse. “Excuse us for a long moment.”
The dark hood and cloak hid Ness from the world, and he couldn’t even make out the whites of her eyes.
Ness shifted on the horse, her voice a breaking whisper. “But Juliet—”
“I will be right back, I swear.”
Before she could turn back to him, Evan grabbed her free hand and tugged her to the side. She dropped the reins and he pulled her into the woods where he could talk to her away from Ness’s ears. Ten paces and her heels dug into the ground, stopping all momentum. Probably not far enough, but it would have to do.
He turned around to her as she wedged her wrist out of his grip. “Ye can’t do this.”
“I can and I am. You’re going to stop me? You’re going to set her back in front of Gilroy and watch as he beats her to death? You want her blood on your hands? I know that is not the man you are, Evan. And we are losing time. We need to leave now.”
“No, you need to come back to the castle.” Notching his voice down to where he could control it in a grumble of a whisper, he stepped closer to her. “We will work this out. Whatever it takes. I will talk to Gilroy. He won’t hurt her. I’ll make this right.”
Her head shook, her arms in the fold of her cloak lifting to cross over belly. “I can’t do that. I promised Ness I would help her, and the only place she’s going to be safe is far, far away from Gilroy. I know you don’t see what your brother is. But I do.”
“You don’t understand who he is.”
“I think I understand perfectly the monster that your brother is.”
“No.” The word cut out sharp from his mouth. “Gil is the only one.”
“The only one, what, Evan?”
“He was the only one when we were children that would grab my hand. No one else would. Our father would leave the room after railing at me, and Gil would sit with me and tell me that our father was wrong. That I wasn’t a monster sent by the devil. That Father was mean and spiteful and that I didn’t have to let his words into me. I could ignore them. My brother was the only one—the only one that tried to take away the pain.”
Her eyes closed to him and her shoulders lifted in a deep breath. “Who he was when you were five, six, seven years old is not who he is now. That boy—it sounds like you needed him. Needed him like no other. But that boy is not who your brother is now, Evan. Why can’t you see that?”
“You don’t know him—not like I do.”
Her hand waved in the air between them. “It doesn’t matter right now. Ness does. You didn’t see how desperate she was—what she was about to do.”
He exhaled an exasperated sigh. “I can protect her. You need to trust me.”
“Can you?” Her head cocked to the side, her harsh whisper cutting into the night air. “Are you going to follow Gilroy around every minute of every day? Never leave the castle again? Never let your brother behind closed doors with her? She’s his wife, Evan. His property. There is nothing you can do and you cannot guarantee her safety for the rest of his life.”
He exhaled a bitter sigh and his arm flew up at his side. “What about us?”
