“Sandy Harding is full fae.”
“Danielle Harding’s mother,” Torben says.
I nod. “Which makes Danielle half fae.”
30
ASTRID
Torben rises from the table in a rush. “I need to get to Greenhollow at once. Is Danielle Harding still unwed? Does she remain at the Hardings’ manor?”
“I don’t know,” I say, getting up from the table with far less haste. Not because our situation isn’t urgent, but because I’m still struggling to process the idea that someone other than Tris could be guilty of controlling Marybeth. I haven’t seen Danielle Harding in four years. The scandal happened right before we moved to Tulias, which was where we lived when my father first became the queen’s prized artisan. Could Danielle have held a grudge that long? Would she have gone so far as to make her cousin try and poison me?
I remember everything Marybeth said and try to reconcile it with this new possibility.
“I’ll be back tonight.” Torben’s voice echoes from somewhere down the hall.
I stare at the empty kitchen doorway, realizing he’s already left. I propel my feet after him, jogging to catch up. When I manage to find him, he’s in the parlor, shrugging on his coat. I pin him with a glare. “What do you mean you’ll be back tonight?”
“I’m leaving for Greenhollow at once. I’ll try and speak with Barton Harding—perhaps his wife and daughter as well—and see if I can learn anything more. Marybeth might even be there. If she is, I’ll be able to smell her. If she so much as tries to mask her scent with a potent floral aroma, I’ll smell that too and know it’s her.”
I put my hands on my hips. “I missed the part where you decided to go without me.”
He pauses in the middle of straightening his coat collar. His eyes lock on mine, making my breath catch in my throat. “It isn’t safe for you to come.”
“Well, I’m not staying here.”
“Yes, you are. The Hardings know you. If Danielle recognized you after a brief meeting for tea at Lady Christine’s, then her family will recognize you after everything that happened. From what you’ve told me, you can’t change what others see once an impression has been formed.”
“That’s true, but—”
“And they know you as Astrid Snow, correct?”
“Yes, but…I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”
Torben finishes straightening his coat, then strides over to me. He stops a mere foot away. “That’s exactly what you’ll do. Even if the Hardings have nothing to do with your father’s murder, we can’t have any trail leading to your name or location.”
My mouth falls open, but it takes several moments before I can summon an argument. “Huntsman, didn’t our agreement state we’d investigate together? You could learn information that only means something to me. Remember?”
“I’ll share everything I’ve learned afterward,” he says. He holds my eyes for another beat, his gaze so intense it seems to steal all the air from the room. Then he brushes past me and into the foyer.
I follow hard on his heels. “Leaving me here when I was still recovering was one thing. I would have hindered more than helped. This time I really can help. Ineedto help.”
He marches straight for the front door. “You can help by staying safe.”
“Torben, please don’t leave me here.”
He must hear the desperation in my tone. Or smell it, perhaps. He pauses with his hand on the door handle, then slowly turns to face me.
I take my chance and close the distance between us. “Please let me help. This is my father’s murder we’re dealing with. Whatever happens to me doesn’t matter—”
“Itdoesmatter.” Torben’s tone is sharp, icy. “I’m doing this for you.”
I don’t know how to take that. How to take the glimpses of fervent protectiveness I’ve seen all day. I try to remind myself it’s simply because of my magic, because of that first impression I formed on him when I was just a baby.He sees me as weak and vulnerable, remember?But after what happened between us last night, it’s hard to feel like that’s the full truth.
Torben releases a heavy sigh and runs a hand down his face. “Fine,” he says, the word almost a growl. “There’s only one way I’ll take you with me, and that is if you can control your magic and show your true face.”
My eyes go wide. “What? Why?”
