While Vexley struggled to stand up and brushed his coat, paler than death, the Angel loomed over me again.
“I know I’ve made quite an ill impression on you, Lady Draymoore.”
He had somehow removed his gloves.
His knuckles traced the side of my neck, his touch electrifying.
I parted my lips, struggling against the sudden urge to lean into his touch.
Was this magic, or was this man able to make any lady’s knees weak at will?
“But I assure you, we’re doing this for the good of all humanity. You have no idea what we’re facing in our battle.”
“We?” I rasped.
“It’s more than the two of us fighting for this cause. We are a legion.”
He tapped the head of his cane, where the morbid skeletal snake and cracked skull flashed with some odd light.
His hand slid down, brushing the black lace framing the deep neckline of the dress.
A touch so indecent that I struggled to slap his fingers away—or do something, anything—but I couldn’t.
I stood there, hypnotized by those otherworldly eyes, unable to move a muscle, unable even to speak.
The pressure of his index finger over the swell of my right breast became painful.
A sharp, searing pain pierced me.
I bit my tongue to muffle a scream so hard that the metallic tang of blood filled my mouth.
The smell of burned flesh made my nostrils flare.
I looked down in horror.
The dark symbol—the snake and the skull—was burned into my skin.
My knees buckled.
Panting like a cornered beast, I opened my mouth to ask what the hell he had done to me.
But then, the scarred red edges softened and disappeared, and my skin was intact again—except for a few freckles.
And he was back to leaning against the mantelpiece, watching the flames with cold, indifferent eyes.
“You’re marked now, Lady Draymoore. This symbol will reveal itself in three weeks. And when it’s visible, you’ll die.”
His voice was even, as if he were discussing the weather. Not my death.
“Three weeks to get us the information, Daphne,” Vexley chimed in, adjusting his tie.
“If Emrys suspects anything about your mission, any connection with us, you’ll die much sooner. Be very, very discreet. I’m sure you can come up with some story.”
I swallowed dryly.
“Who are you?” I finally managed.
Without looking away from the flames, the stranger chuckled.
