I didn’t ask any more. I didn’t want to keep reminding Archer about it. But long after he fell asleep beside me, I lay thinking. I understood now what drove him to patrol the Court most nights, to sit protectively watching over his charges. What that level of vigilance was doing to him, I didn’t know. No wonder he so often looked tired and weighed down. But I didn’t know how to stop it, not when he’d had so much taken from him. I didn’t know if it was even a conscious impulse on his part anymore, to guard his family.
The way he spoke about his mother… I was supposed to believe he’d forgiven her.Hewas supposed to believe he’d forgiven her. But I had the feeling he’d pushed it down inside himself and ignored it. Which was a perfectly good coping mechanism most of the time. I was all for denial when it came to me, but it worried me to think of Archer ignoring such a huge emotional wound.
My mind was jumping from one topic to another, and each time I tried to follow a line of thought, another intruded. Why had June decided to overlook ten years of being banned and turn up on the doorstep today? She’d said she wanted to see me, but she could have messaged and we could have met anywhere. When I thought back over our conversation, it was clear she’d been trying to find out from me what Archer thought of Chris, but why did she suddenly want them to be on good terms again after so long? Maybe it was uncharitable of me, but I didn’t trust her an inch. She was up to something.
I reached for my phone and sent Jack a text.Spill the tea on the Smythes. June Smythe in particular.
Two minutes later, he replied.Do you have any idea what time it is, you wanker?
Do Not Disturb’s a thing.
Not if you’re expecting a baby, he pointed out.
Fair enough. Smythes?
Never heard of June Smythe, but the family are two-faced snakes. One of them married into the Clarkes and tried to mount a coup about ten years ago. It didn’t go well. Flaming may have been involved but neither family will speak about it so all we know are rumours.
Dragon-on-dragon murder was probably not something either family wanted to advertise.Shit,I sent, because though we joked about flaming, and I knew dragons were dangerous, I didn’t think that sort of thing happened these days.
Maybe it’s unfair to tar the entire family with the same brush, but Dad warned me before the moot to be careful if I ran into any of them. Now can I go to sleep?
Yeah. Thanks.
Why are you asking?Jack’s brain seemed to be waking up.
June Talbot née Smythe keeps inviting me to things and I was wondering if she had ulterior motives. No way was I telling him what they’d done to Archer years ago.
And why are you awake at ten past two? Oh God, no—you’re with Mr R, aren’t you? Jane Eyre just got ploughed.
Extremely thoroughly, I informed him.
Fuck off,he begged.
Putting my phone aside, I speculated about what the dragon tea on the Shaws might be. Maybe I’d ask Archer tomorrow. I thought we were probably seen as average, normal dragons who minded their own business.
I wondered how well June and Chris had got along with Archer’s father, but I didn’t want to bring up old, painful historyto Archer. His dad sounded as if he’d been a liability as head of family, but he was still his dad.
I should visit Lillian tomorrow. She’d know the family history, and I could make my queries sound like general interest in the Talbots. She’d evidently been close with Archer’s grandmother because they’d catalogued the library—
The library. I’d been drifting off to sleep, but that thought brought me fully awake. June’s concentration on the library when she visited might have been meaningless if Chris hadn’t been so insistent about it when talking to Lillian. The library meant something, I was sure of it.
Archer was still asleep. Pressing a light kiss against his temple, I slid out of bed and dragged on my jeans. The house was warming up as spring advanced, but it wasn’t exactly cosy.
I made my way along the landing and down the stairs, wincing at the creaking floorboards and hoping they wouldn’t wake Archer. He needed to sleep after the day he’d had. I hissed as my bare feet touched the stone flags of the hallway. So much for it being spring. If I was going to stay here, I’d need to get some slippers before next winter.
I froze, and my heart thundered in my ears. If I was going to stay? Archer had never even hinted that was what he wanted. Yet somehow, I thought he did. And I didn’t want to leave my Mr Rochester now he was the softer, more open hero at the end of the book. Sure, I’d have shagged the earlier Mr Rochester until I couldn’t walk, but I hadn’tlovedhim. Now, though, I loved Archer more than anything, I knew that he loved me, and I wanted to stay with him.
Well, that was straightforward. My mind made up, I crossed the hall to the library, seeing a strip of light under the closed door. We must have left the lights on earlier. Neither of us had been in a fit state to notice on the heels of June’s visit.
I pushed the door open and wandered in. I didn’t know why I was here, just that the library seemed important. And now that I was standing here with freezing cold feet in the middle of the night, I looked at the shelves upon shelves of books and realised what a stupid undertaking this was. Archer might have some idea, or we could ask Lillian what was so important about the library. I was sure she’d have some acerbic words about the ignorant youth of today, but if anyone knew, it would be her.
Right now, I’d go back to my nice warm bed and cuddle up to my nice warm dragon for the rest of the night.
As I turned back towards the door, I saw him.
“What—”
Chris came at me fast, grabbed me by the throat and slammed me back into the bookshelves.Fuck.The hard edges of shelves thumped against my skull, back and hips, making me grunt in pain.
