Tansy giggled, looking younger and happier than I’d seen before. “Yes. That’s what I said. Why do you look so confused?” She gently ran her cool fingers along my brow, studying the cut there. I winced. “Claire, how hard did you hit your head? We should take you to the healer before we pack our trunks.”
Imogen’s croaking laugh echoed in my ears. As if I could hear her mocking me through the layers of rock. As if to sayI wasn’t lying about any of it. Not the story. Not my death. Not Bastien’s inquiry about how to break our matebond. I began trembling all over in a way that not even the horn’s power could calm.
“We should leave,” she continued. “Together. You, me, Devlinn, and Alec if he shows back up. We could be each other’s family.”
I was speechless. They wanted to run away?With me?They wanted to be my family? No one besides Bastien had ever offered me that kind of unconditional love. No strings attached. No need to prove myself. Just acceptance.
Her attention narrowed on the cut on my brow, and she grimaced. “This is what magick does,” she said. “It consumes everything in your life.Everything. And His Grace, he wasmadefrom magick. Reborn in it. He cannot escape it. But we can.”
Leave? Bastien? The words didn’t even make sense. “No. I can’t leave. I’m His Grace’s sanguine partner. I am under contract.”
They huddled closer to me. “Claire,” Tansy said in a soft voice, “we love His Grace as much as anyone in this castle. He has paid us well and treated us even better. But there is going to be a war that even his army can’t stop. I can feel it.”
“We found a ship that sails south,” Devlinn added. “It’s not far from here. We can board it and never look back. We can live in peace. Away from magick. Away from all this pain.”
I stared back at her in disbelief. I hadn’t come anticipating this.
“Doesn’t that sound nice?” Tansy asked. “Seashells and sand?”
I closed my eyes and saw the little pile of seashells that had appeared to me earlier. The ones I’d conjured with the horn.The ones that Imogen had greedily taken.I thumbed over the bloodstone Bastien had given me, thinking of him. Feeling into the bond between us. It was endless. My love for him was endless.
My future, my everything, was tied to him. And not justbecause he was my mate, but because he was the person I wanted.
“I have love for you both,” I admitted. “And if you want to find this island and drink rum from coconuts, then I wish you well. But I have to stay here.” I couldn’t stand the sad looks on their faces, so I continued, trying to explain something that I couldn’t. “I haveobligations.”
Tansy frowned. “What obligation could be more important than to yourself? To find a quiet place to settle in peace?”
An uncomfortable tightness formed in my throat. There was so much I wanted to say, but our marriage was kept secret because the situation with the High Prince was so precarious. And I certainly couldn’t tell her about Mama. So I just shook my head.
“Then why stay?” she asked. “Claire, the Duke is kind. After what happened to you, I know he would let you leave. He would understand. He would want you to be happy.”
He would. He would want me to be happy. But what she couldn’t know was that no world existed where I was happy and not with him. And even though Bastien said and did things I didn’t agree with, we did have one thing in common. We were both concerned about the safety of those we loved more than our own happiness. He had the people of Roselyn, and I had Sera.
“Happiness is hard to hold on to,” I said quietly. “It’s not a rabbit you can trap, or a place you can visit. It slips through your fingers. I’ve learned there are things more important than being happy all the time.”
“Like what?” Devlinn asked.
“Duty. Honor.” I paused, thinking of the little baby that I wanted to hold more than anything. “Love.”
Tansy drew in a surprised breath. “Is that it? Do you love the Duke?”
Chapter 10
Interlude
Did you miss me? I bet you did. You’ve been thinking about me ever since the story started, wondering if I would return. Hoping I’d interrupt for a little one-on-one chat.
You see, I understand your desire better than most. Probably because I’m a demon, and demons are pure want. But not in the mortal sense. We don’t sit around wonderingifwe’ll get what we want. For us, it’s only a question ofwhen.
And oh, I’ve been patient. So, so patient.
What’s that? You want to know exactly what I’ve been waiting for? If you sayplease, maybe you’ll get your wish. Go on. Say it. Right into the pages. I can wait.
Mm. What a bad little girl you are, conspiring with a demon. When you bite your lip, it’s hard to say no, but I think I’ll let you squirm a little longer. You look good like that.
What Iwilldivulge is my realm of specialty: sex and disease. You’re giggling at that, are you? Pretending those things don’t cross your mind? Or maybe you’re intrigued.Either way, it won’t surprise you to learn that mortals are always begging for my help.
Want your good-for-nothing boss to itch and ooze for weeks? Bring me an offering. I love a good goat. Need revenge on a cheating husband? I’ll turn his manhood into a rotting stump and make sure he lives long enough to understand exactly why I did it.
