AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"We can take her together," Conall said. "Not on the train, but in a carriage. Private, quiet, and as fast as we can manage."
"It would take days by carriage," Asterion said.
"But less risk of being seen."
"The women here needpeace," Isabel urged.
"So too, does she," Asterion answered her sharply, clearly at the end of his patience.
I shook my head and drew his eye. "No more peace. It doesn't cure me."We both know what I really require, I wanted to say, but my tongue grew dry and the words wouldn't leave my head.
Asterion studied me for a long moment, Conall shifting restlessly, Isabel tense and determined. He sighed at last and shook his head. "Very well. Rest tonight and tomorrow. We'll have a long journey ahead of us on Saturday."
CHAPTER5
PROPOSITIONS AND PARTINGS
“Monsters can be very high-handed," Lillian murmured as I packed an outrageous amount of clothing—more than I'd certainly had time to wear while staying in Grace House.
I wasn't sure why Lillian had come to the house today. She was free of her duties in chaperoning me now. But she sat on the bed, reminding me to take the robe, the perfumes, the dresses, all the silly little things Asterion had delivered into my keeping.
"I'm sure there's somewhere else you might go. Not so far from here," she added, her hands fidgeting in her lap.
"Do you not trust Asterion?" I asked.
Lillian shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. Marius does, and he doesn't like or trust very many people at all. But he respects Asterion, and I'm sure he'll keep you safe."
"I'd leave on my own, but I…" I paused and Lillian's head tipped, waiting patiently for me to finish.
I could start over. Maybe not in London while Birsha was searching for me. But if I took the clothes and perfumes and even some of the art that Asterion had filled these rooms with, I could sell them all and I'd have the money to run away and start over.
"I don't want to," I admitted, a faint laugh escaping on a sigh.
A knock rapped on the door, but Marius entered without waiting for us to answer. "Isabel's making arguments about luncheon, but she won't speak to me."
Lillian sighed and picked up her cane from the bed. "I'll speak with her. You'd think she'd warm up now that she's getting her way."
"She's cold-blooded, and I almost say that with respect," Marius answered.
He caught Lillian by the elbow as she moved toward the doorway, pressing his lips to her temple and then slipping a whisper into her ear before she left.
It was the first time I was alone with the basilisk, and even with his dark glasses hiding his deadly gaze, the force of his stare was almost tangible.
"I can offer you my protection," he said, sudden and rigid.
I paused, my hands still gripped around the silk of a gown. "Your protection?"
"I can ward my own house. Asterion may come and go as he pleases. You wouldn't have to…run off to some rubble in the wilds of Wales."
I opened my mouth but found I didn't have a simple answer ready. "Why offer this?"
"Lillian likes you," Marius said, sighing and sitting down in a chair. He was elegantly handsome, but there was a pristine quality to his good looks that left me cold. "She hasn't had the opportunity of many friends in life."
Suddenly, Lillian's objections to Asterion leaving with me made a bittersweet sense. "Oh," I said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
"I am just as capable as the minotaur of providing you with luxury," Marius said, shrugging.
I licked my lips. They were still healing, and I found myself nibbling at the scratched skin while I thought.
