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His eyes gleamed. “I do rather have an appetite, but I’m afraid you’re mistaken about the weather. It’s raining.”
“Is it? How dreadful,” Charlotte said, perhaps with a touch too much melodrama. “We’ll have to eat in the back.”
In private. Such a tragedy.
The amused smirk on Ethan’s face said he shared the sentiment. He flipped the sign on the door from open to closed and turned the lock.
Hiding a vampire and helping him rejoin society under a new identity was much easier than Charlotte expected. She had help, of course. Solenne volunteered the use of an old cottage on her estate for him to hide until it was safe to rejoin society. Alek had to tolerate having Ethan in his territory, but they managed with only one altercation.
Monsters. They had to make a dramatic production of everything.
While Ethan remained hidden, Charlotte announced her plans for a library. Lionel’s diaries and papers would form the heart, a unique collection of someone who struggled with the Nexus mutation, as she had taken to calling the condition. Beast and monster were terms filled with bias.
Her sister-in-law protested, but Charlotte reminded her it was her money to do with as she wished. She could waste it all on gambling and drink, and wasn’t it fortunate that Charlotte merely wished to give books away? As it was, Charlotte sent all the invitations to Lattice, who happily attended all the social functions Charlotte could not stand. The tactic kept her occupied and out of Charlotte’s hair, much to everyone’s satisfaction.
After that, it was a simple matter of advertising for a librarian, interviewing a few people, and welcoming Mr. Ethan Adler to the Boxon Library.
News from the Aerie trickled in slowly. The army was very hush-hush over what they found. Broken old junk, in Ethan’s words. Hardly the treasure trove they hoped for. Charlotte hired a private inquiry agent to track down the people left behind in the Aerie. Lemoine used the money Ethan gave her to purchase a boarding house in Sweetwater and ran it with ruthless efficiency. No surprises there. She also employed Orianne and a few others who fled the Aerie. Jane proved more difficult to track down. Word eventually reached Charlotte that Jane returned to her family homestead.
Hal vanished altogether.
In the back, there was a cozy reading nook with plush armchairs. On a sunny day, the light came in through the windows and bathed the space in a golden glow. Today rain droned against the glass pane. Charlotte spread the picnic blanket on the floor and borrowed pillows from the armchairs. This was cozy, just the two of them. Finding time alone was difficult. While Charlotte fully embraced the reputation of being eccentric, people did talk. She couldn’t afford to be too scandalous, lest people look closely at Ethan.
She missed the small intimacies they once shared, reading side by side on the settee, sharing meals every evening, and just the ability to touch him whenever she pleased. At this stage of the plan, they couldn’t afford to be too familiar. Sharing a bed was out of the question. On the rare occasion he did visit her bedchamber, he had to wait for an overcast night to hide the moon and starlight. Despite being so close, they had to continue with this farce for a little while longer.
She handed him a thick sandwich wrapped in paper. In a soft voice meant to keep their conversation private, she asked, “Have you given more thought to Luis’s offer?” Luis volunteered to return to the West Lands to make inquiries about Ethan’s absent brother. A giant green mountain of an orc would be hard to miss, yet no one reported any orc sightings.
“I have not. Perhaps it is best for him to remain missing. I tried to help him, and I made the situation worse,” he answered. Despite the blithe and carefree tone of his response, his brows furrowed. He worried. He always would. That was one of the things about him that she admired, the consistency of his fierce and deep affection.
“Do you miss it? Being lord of all you surveyed?”
He bit into his sandwich, chewing thoroughly before answering. “Not in the slightest. Do you regret our arrangement? All the pretense and fake names?”
Charlotte set aside her sandwich and planted both hands on his knees. She leaned in. She knew their situation would eventually come to an end. Ethan would not age and draw attention. She would share his long life. They wouldn’t be alone. Solenne and Alex, Luis and Miles faced the same situation, though they were public about their condition. Perhaps the infamous Lord Draven would have faded from memory enough for Ethan to come clean about his nature. Wouldn’t that be noteworthy, a library with the diaries of a beast curated by a vampire? Or perhaps it would be time to move on to the next adventure. Either way, they would share it.
“There is nothing I regret about you, love,” she said.
The kiss was gentle, a quick press of lips. Her intention was innocent enough, but the kiss soon grew heated. She wanted to touch him. She missed touching him. Propriety be damned.
Ethan looked around, verifying that they were alone. Satisfied, he licked his lips. He placed a finger under her chin. He wore a hungry expression. Charlotte shivered.
"Care for dessert?" he asked.
"Absolutely," she answered.
He pulled back and said, "Take a quick lap around the floor to see if we're truly alone. The last time your father was hiding in a nook. I'll clean up here."
She shuddered at the memory. Thankfully, before they had gotten too carried away, Ethan heard another heartbeat.
"I'll return," she said, rising to her feet.
A circuit around the library could be completed in a matter of minutes. The building was not overly massive and did not have so many nooks for patrons to linger.
"Done. We are alone," she said, rounding the corner to return to their tryst.
Ethan knelt on one knee and held out a silver ring. The palm of his normally pale hand was pink, injured from the silver.
"Good heavens, what are you doing?" she asked, snatching the ring away. "You're burning yourself."
