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Madame Arana didn’t seem to notice her granddaughter’s dark mood. Either that or she was used
to it. She beamed as she buttered her bread. “Ah, a young girl’s first love. And now you have him. No more waiting at the altar. It is done. Tout de suite. Just like that.”
Elisabeth had him, all right. A tiger by the tail.
But had marrying Brendan been less about saving face and more a drastic last-ditch effort to hold on to him? A desperate measure meant to force a pledge made out of duty by a callow twenty-year-old? If so, she was a simpleton.
Oh, he’d given her all she asked for. Had awakened a wicked craving within her and then sated it with delicious thoroughness. He’d even allowed her a glimpse of more than his usual icy cynicism. But what did it mean if duty still drove him and nothing else? Fulfilling the letter if not the spirit of their vows? Could she live with that?
Was she insane to want to dare the deep waters when sense told her to remain satisfied with the shallows?
Did it matter when all hung upon such a precarious knife edge?
“You mustn’t fret. Helena knows what she is doing. She would not ask it of young Douglas if she did not think their bargain would work out.”
“Grand-mère!” Helena snapped again.
Nerves fluttered Elisabeth’s stomach, making her relieved she’d not taken that helping. “Didn’t think what bargain would work out? What have you asked of Brendan?”
Helena put down her wineglass. Crossed her arms in front of her, her gaze steady and inscrutable. “Douglas is Máelodor’s only hope of finding the Sh’vad Tual. We’re using this to our advantage. Luring Máelodor out from the shadows where he’s hidden for so many years. Once he’s exposed, the brotherhood can no longer dismiss his existence. We can move against him in force.”
“You’re using Brendan? He’s spent the last seven years running from Máelodor, and now you want him to stake himself out like human bait?”
Helena’s lips pursed, her body shifting ominously in her chair. “And why shouldn’t he? It began with him. It’s only fitting he should end it.”
A sliver of fear seeped in to join Elisabeth’s stomach’s nervous dance. “What began with him?”
“Douglas has told you nothing of his past?”
Helena sounded surprised.
Feeling herself on the defensive, Elisabeth met bold gaze with bolder. “He’s told me enough.” She didn’t like where this was headed. “I know Brendan’s powerful among his race. That he was a source of great pride for the old earl, much to the chagrin of Brendan’s older brother, Aidan.”
“But not what havoc he wrought with that great gift.” Contempt riddled Helena’s tone. She pushed back from the table to stand, leaning her arms menacingly upon the table. “Did Douglas tell you he was part of the Nine like his father? Like Máelodor? That’s why he ran. That’s why he hid. And that’s why he agreed to our bargain. Because if he didn’t, he knew I wouldn’t have hesitated to fulfill my duty and execute him for the cold-blooded, ruthless murderer he is.”
The word hit Elisabeth like a punch to the stomach.
Murderer? Was it true?
I can’t go home. Not ever.
Now she knew why.
“I want the truth, Brendan. All of it—not just the bits and pieces round the edges, but the whole stinking heap.”
“And good evening to you too.” Hair still damp from a bath, Brendan looked up from pulling on his boots, his cravat hanging loose against the open collar of his shirt. His jacket lying on the bed beside his waistcoat. A dab of paper stuck to his chin where he’d nicked himself shaving.
Ridiculous as it sounded, it wasn’t the glittering, lynx-gold stare he fixed upon her that sent heat flooding her cheeks. Nor the sudden bunch of his muscles that made her stomach tingle. Not even the slow, dangerous smile creasing the tiny sun lines at the corners of his eyes that set her heart galloping.
No, it was that dratted bit of sticking plaster on his jaw.
Evidence of his vulnerability. His humanity.
Her stupid, self-destructive, jelly-kneed infatuation.
“Answer my question,” she snapped. “For once.”
He dropped the boot to the carpet with a thud, creases deepening either side of his mouth, a guarded look instantly entering his gaze.
