AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She wasn’t, but Conor knew it wasn’t his place to say. She tossed away the knife, pushed her damp hair off her face. “I’m fine, I think.”
Ruan glanced around. “I’m surprised we found you. It’s dark as a coal scuttle out here. The others are waiting back at the house.” His gaze flashed from one to the other. “So we should start back?” He made a move to leave. “Perhaps?” He shrugged. “Anyone coming with the man carrying the lantern, or do you two want to stumble about in the dark?”
“You take Ellery back. I’ll be along.”
She gnawed her lower lip, mistrust swirling in her blue eyes, her bundle clutched to her chest like a shield. What the hell would he do if she decided to keep running? Pick her up and carry her like a sack over his shoulder? He’d be damned if he’d let her walk out of here alone and defenseless, no matter what he’d promised. She could hate him all she wanted, but he wasn’t going to let Asher get to her.
The light from Morgan’s lantern splashed yellow light across the grass as she approached through the field. “This is the second time I’ve had to tramp about in the dark looking for the two of you. It’s becoming a bad habit.”
She wore baggy breeches tucked into tall boots and one of Jamys’s cast-off shirts, her hair pulled back in a knot. Her long, loose, ground-eating strides were more suited to a soldier than a young lady of quality, but Morgan had snapped her fingers at Society a long time ago. “Everyone’s worried. I had to threaten Gram to keep her from coming along.” She shot a disgusted look in Conor’s direction. “Men. Of all the chuckle-headed things to do.” To Ellery, she said, “You’re safe with him, you know.”
Whether it was Morgan’s reassuring presence or her words, Ellery relaxed a fraction. Her grip on her bundle loosened, and she no longer looked like she’d bolt if given the chance.
“I don’t know what Conor told you, but it’s dangerous beyond the protection of Daggerfell. If it’s true that you’re…” she paused, flustered, “if Asher is searching for you, then you’re better off here.”
“Conor did tell me that—finally,” Ellery answered, her voice hard and sharp-edged as glass.
“Well, that’s something then.” She motioned for Ellery to follow. “Come on. We can commiserate over the stupidity of the male species as we walk.” She rolled her eyes. “I could go on all night.”
Ellery gave a shuddering breath, misery and anger bright in her dry eyes. “Let’s go. I’m tired.”
Conor relaxed the breath he’d been holding. Ellery was furious, but she wasn’t foolish.
The women moved off, Morgan’s lantern lighting the way. Ruan hesitated. “Conor?
Are you coming?”
“Go. I’ve things to do.”
Ruan shook his head. “She’ll get over it in time. You know women. Emotional. High strung.”
“Right.”
“You just wait. A week or two, and this will all blow over.”
“It’s best this way. She’s better off. I’m better off.” When Ruan acted unsure whether to leave, Conor threw him a hell-fire grin. “But it was damn good while it lasted.”
Ruan answered with a shaky laugh, but the sober light in his dark eyes told Conor his cousin knew what he was trying to do. He nodded. “Come when you’re ready.”
Left alone, the night was his.
He looked up at the moon, bloody and orange as it rose through the branches.
Funny, but he’d wanted all along to keep his distance from Ellery. Had held the crush of feelings locked inside. Had fought the need to touch her, hold her, stamp her as his own. Tonight, he’d finally gotten his wish. She despised him and—what twisted the blade deeper still—she feared him.
There was no future with her. Even when she lay in the crook of his arm, the curve of her cheek soft against his skin, her breath warm and even as she slept, he’d known there was nowhere to go from there. He’d shed that part of him when he’d taken up the life of the amhas-draoi.
He loved the thrill and the rush of excitement that came with every use of his power. He scorned anyone who suggested another way. Mocked anyone who told him he might find equal pleasure in a family, a home.
If he survived the coming days, he’d go on alone. And if he didn’t?
He slipped off the stile. Melted into the trees, leaving the question hanging on a breeze.
He’d have his answer either way in a week.
The house stood glowing and warm, the lighted, comfortable rooms shooting a new pain into Ellery’s heart. This was a home. This was a family. It was everything she’d always wanted. Everything she’d never had. Seeing the concern and love that passed between the Blighs ripped open a longing she’d thought she’d put behind her when she’d left the army’s tail and stitched together a life of her own here in England.
Only in these last few days had she begun to imagine a life like this. Starting a family of her own. Starting a life with someone who loved her, not because she could darn a sock or cook a meal, not falsely out of penury and need. But because he loved what and who she was. Because he could dream and hope and imagine a life, too.
