God forgive me for what I am about to do, he prayed silently. He felt so much angst and sorrow and confusion that it was difficult to push it all aside. Was he doing the right thing? Was he rushing through this? He tried to imagine if this was someone else, someone who wasn’t related to a woman he was coming to adore. Would have acted so hastily? Probably. With such evidence, there was no reason not to. It was that realization that give him the confidence to do what he needed to do.
The men guarding the prisoner backed away as Val approached from behind. Mat’s head was still lifted, still searching the crowd desperately for his father, having no idea that death was stalking him.
But that last glimpse of his father was not to be. Mat never even knew what hit him; one moment, he was looking for his father, and in the next minute…
Nothing….
CHAPTER NINE
Vesper was halfwaydown the Street of the Merchants, where the jeweler stalls were located, when McCloud caught up to her.
“Where are you going?” he demanded, reaching out to grab her arm. “You are not leaving until you and I discuss what has happened.”
In tears, Vesper yanked her arm from her father’s grasp. Standing in the middle of the street as they were, she didn’t care who saw them. So much of what they’d tried to keep private had come out, so there was no privacy left to be had.
No pride left to salvage.
“There is nothing to discuss,” she hissed. “Your evil has finally caught up with you. I am glad Val knows;glad, do you hear? I am going to return to Eynsford and pretend I do not have a father and a brother who murder and steal. I am going to forget about everything over the past few weeks and if you do not leave me alone, I will tell Lord Eynsford about you. I will tell him what a despicable creature you are.”
McCloud had his entire world rocked that morning and was in no mood for his daughter’s dramatics. Reaching out, he grabbed her by both arms now so she couldn’t get away.
“Listen to me, you foolish wench,” he muttered. “Regardless of what you told Val, he has sent me after you. Do you know what the means? It means that he still cares for you. It is very possible that he will forgive you. I will not let you ruin your life because you hate me. If Val will marry you, then so be it. I will not see you again. But do not run from a man who still wants you.”
Vesper was wrought with such anger and grief that she could hardly hear her father’s words.
“Damn you,” she snarled, trying to pull her arms free. “Damn you for coming back into my life with your schemes and horrors. Why would you do this to me? I was happy at Eynsford; I had respect and a good position. And you came and ruined it all! I shall never forgive you!”
McCloud was having a time keeping his grip on her. Vesper was strong for a woman, that strength now fed by her anger at him.
“I do not care if you do not forgive me,” he said. “But if you want to salvage your life and not live with regrets for always, then think about what I have just told you– Val still cares for you. I believe he will forgive you. You had no role in what has happened and he will understand that with time. Are you going to throw that all away in a fit?”
His words were starting to sink in. Vesper’s struggles lessened but she wouldn’t look at her father. The sight of him sickened her. She was convinced that everything was ruined and her only thought was to leave this place, to run back to the safety of Eynsford. Perhaps there, she would forget about the dark-haired, green-eyed god that was Val de Nerra. Perhaps in time, she could convince herself that he had been a dream and nothing more. But she was in such agony at the moment that it was difficult to think clearly.
“I do not understand how he could forgive such a thing,” she said. “He discovered that which you were attempting to keepfrom him. And my brother… when you came to Eynsford, you left him alone. Did you not think he would wander and strike again? Did that not occur to you?”
McCloud sighed heavily, with great emotion. “What was I to do?” he asked. “Bring him with me? Mat does not function well outside of his world at Durley. He would have been a miserable fit of a man. I had no choice to leave him behind when I set out for Eynsford.”
“You should have caged him!” Vesper shouted. “Did you hear what they were calling him, Papa? The Angel of Death. Did you know that? Did you know what terrible things he was called?”
McCloud was struggling to keep above the guilt and regret that was grasping at him. “I heard,” he muttered. “I knew. But I will be truthful– I did not expect to find him in town this day. Even when the mob gathered, it did not occur to me that it was for him.”
Vesper was beside herself with frustration. All of it was too much to take for a young woman who’d had so little excitement in her life. “If you did not restrain him before you left, then you should have known he would leave,” she said. “Now he has killed again? All of that blood he has spilled is onyourconscience, Papa. It is your soul these deeds have stained.”
McCloud knew that. He was a condemned man and he had resigned himself to that long ago. “It is as you say,” he said. “There is no use speaking on what has already been done. I cannot change anything. What matters now is what the future will bring. You must return to Val… reconcile with him. He is a good man, Vesper. He is everything I am not. Go back to him now and I shall leave you alone. You will not see me again.”
Vesper considered that. She genuinely did not want to see her father again, not after the havoc he’d brought to her life in just the short time they’d been reunited. Maybe he was right; maybe there was the possibility that Val would forgive her fornot having told him what she knew. Was he worth the attempt? With every breath she drew, she believed he was.
Perhaps her father was right for once.
“Very well,” she said, taking a deep breath and endeavoring to calm herself. “I will return to Val to see if anything can be salvaged. But you will keep your word– return to Durley and stay there. Do not speak to me or contact me. I do not ever wish to see you again.”
McCloud was grieved to hear those words but he knew it was for the best. “You will not, I swear it,” he said, depressed. “But allow me to return with you to see to your brother, at least. I must see what has become of him.”
“Youknowwhat has become of him.”
“Val promised me he would see to him. He will spare your brother, I know it.”
Vesper didn’t say a word. With a lingering glance at her father, one full of disgust, she turned and headed back the way she had come, back to the square where hundreds of people were still milling about.
