Dietrich sighed. “I should have known that would be your key takeaway. Yes, you fool. She loves you.”
“Why?” Alexander asked.
“I don't know, but I look forward to figuring it out. In the meantime, I look forward to saving the two of you.”
Alexander should have been able to focus more, but all he could think of as he sat in his chair with a book open before him, not seeing the words, was what Dietrich had said. Beatrice loved him, and he loved her, and he would do anything to have a future with her, including facing down the man who had murdered his parents and cursed him.
Time ticked by so slowly that it felt like an eternity before he heard the foyer door open and Jenkins answering gravely, “He is in his study.”
Alexander glanced at Dietrich, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the pages of the book. Dietrich simply nodded, as if encouraging him to stay the course.
Alexander could barely breathe. Was Beatrice safely hidden away, or had she grown tired of waiting and decided to come downstairs? He wouldn't put it past her—hopefully, Guinevere had been able to keep her away.
All he wanted was for her to be safe.
“I don't like to be kept waiting,” the voice he had heard so many times in his nightmares said as his study doors were pushed open and the sorcerer walked in. “Why are you hiding here?” he sneered. “Too scared to come out and greet me like a man?”
“Simply busy,” Alexander responded, standing up and putting his book down. “Running an estate takes quite a lot of work.”
Across the room, Rose stretched lazily in her kitten form. Her posture screamed ignorance, but her attention was fixed on the sorcerer, and that gave him hope.
Perhaps Rose would be able to help them. She certainly had enough reason to want to.
“You didn't care to come and meet your bride?” the sorcerer asked with a scowl as a young woman entered the study. Alexander glanced at the young woman in surprise. Could she even be an adult? No wonder it had been so many years between the betrothal and the wedding.
She looked absolutely terrified.
“I’m sorry,” Alexander said, “but she cannot be my bride.”
He wished he still held the book and had something for his hands to squeeze as he stared down the man who had the power to destroy everything—and everyone—he loved.
“For you see, I’m already married.”
At his words, the young woman let out a choked sigh of relief before turning pale and glancing at her father, who was slowly turning a bright shade of red.
“You cannot be married,” Lohndrey said. “I’ve been checking every time I travel through. You think you can lie to me, but I see no wife.”
Alexander glanced at Dietrich and nodded, and Dietrich slipped out of the room, smiling at the young girl as he did so.
Now that he had seen her, Alexander no longer felt hatred toward his intended bride. If anything, he felt sorry for her, for she clearly didn't want this any more than he did. Perhaps that was something he could use to his advantage.
“You are to marry my daughter,” Lohndrey said, “and I will not hear any different. Besides, if you are married, why are there preparations for a wedding happening in your foyer? Surely you do not decorate that way in everyday life.”
“I am renewing my vows with my bride tomorrow,” Alexander said. “You asked for a wedding to be prepared. You didn't specify who the bride would be, and the position of my bride has already been filled.”
Movement in the doorway caught his eye, and Alexander smiled at Beatrice as she entered the room, Guinevere behind her, and made her way to his side. She looked beautiful, wearing a stunning golden gown that swished around her ankles as she walked, her hair up in a fanciful arrangement.
She looked every inch like Lady Beatrice Dunham.
His wife slipped her hand into his and looked up at him with a gentle smile.
The trust she was placing in his ability to protect her was astounding, and he didn’t deserve it. He wasn’t sure he could keep her safe, and the thought made him move to stand partially in front of her.
“Meet my wife, Lady Dunham,” he told the sorcerer, who was a shade of red that Alexander had never seen on a human before.
“I won't stand for this,” the sorcerer said, raising his hands and pulling a wand from his pocket. At the bottom was an egg that looked remarkably similar to the cracked shells Alexander had found near Rose when he'd found her in the garden.
Was that where he drew his power from?
