Vivy’s laugh broke free—half disbelief, half joy. “You are mad.”
“Undeniably,” he said. “I am madly yours, darling.”
“You’re mine?” She still couldn’t believe it. If this was a dream she didn’t want to wake.
“Yes,” he said. “And you are mine.”
She rolled her eyes. This was no dream. This was real and he loved her. “And entirely impossible.”
He tightened his hold. “Marry me. You are my light and I am honored that you trust me, even if I don't know if I deserve that trust or if I deserve you... I probably don't, but whatever has happened, whatever will happen, the way that you make me feel is a blessing I never thought I would have. I promise I will never lie to you again. You are my love always, and I just want the chance to be yours.” This time it wasn’t a demand, but it was a near thing. “Say yes and I will arrange a special license and you can come home with me.”
Vivy’s eyes stung. She did not know when her throat had tightened like this, when she had begun to feel as though she might weep. She had loved him for years and now he stood here, speaking the words she had never dared hope to hear. Vivy lifted her hand to his cheek, feeling the warmth of him on her palm. “Yes,” she whispered, the single syllable carrying every secret wish she had ever tucked away. “From the moment I first saw you my heart was yours. My love for you gives my life meaning, it gives my life a purpose, and it brings me more joy than I could ever have imagined. It’s worth any risk and I want all of it. I want you forever.”
Dash’s eyes softened, only for an instant and then he kissed her again as if the world might fall apart if he did not.
Behind them, Sabrina made a satisfied sound. “Well,” she murmured, “How wonderful...”
Lionston stepped fully into the room, he dropped his gaze to Halford sprawled senseless on the rug. “Someone remove this man. Take him to the warehouse where I can question him later,” he said mildly. Then he looked at his wife and said in a tone filled with love, “Sabrina, my love, you must stop baiting criminals.”
Sabrina smiled sweetly. “But it is so much fun.”
Vivy clung to Dash, still trembling with relief and wonder, and thought… The true trouble with spies was that once you loved them, you belonged with them forever. It was true with her and with Sabrina.
Epilogue
The Lion Watch headquarters had never looked more innocuous than it did in the bright wash of late afternoon. Clerks moved quietly through narrow corridors with ledgers tucked beneath their arms. Candles burned in sconces as though the building were nothing more than a sober counting-house, occupied by men who concerned themselves with tariffs and shipping schedules rather than secrets and treason. Outside the street was filled with ordinary London life—hawkers calling, wheels rattling, horses’ hooves hitting the street as people bustled about.
Inside, however, the air was taut with purpose. Halford sat in a small room with a bolted door and a single narrow window set too high for any man to see out of. His wrists were bound, though not with the crude knots of a common constable. The Lion Watch did nothing crudely. Even their restraints were efficient—linen was wrapped firmly around him so the blood flow was preserved, and pain was avoided unless they required him to feel pain. They had left him there to wait. Waiting, Dash had learned, loosened tongues in ways threats did not. A man’s imagination could be more persuasive than any blade.
In the adjoining chamber, Lionston stood over the long table where maps were spread, and papers lay in neat stacks. The duke’s expression was controlled, yet the tension in his shoulders betrayed him. His gaze kept returning to one document in particular—the list Vivy had pulled from her father’s study and Dash had delivered to him. “This is an abomination,” Lionston said at last, in a low tone. “Every name on that list,” he began. He tightened his jaw before he continued, “It reads like an invitation to slaughter. Our slaughter…”
Dash remained near the wall with his arms folded and his posture still. His composure had been hammered into him over years, but there were some things it could not blunt. He could still see Vivy’s throat as Halford held a knife to it. Her pale skin and the faint line of red where the knife had kissed it and drawn blood. He had kissed her there later, as if he might erase the memory by force of will.
It had not worked. “It reads like someone has been watching us for a very long time,” Dash said. He hated to admit that. They were spies and were supposed to notice such things.
Lionston glanced at him. “Or someone has been feeding information from the inside.”
A silence settled, heavy and uncomfortable.
“Who do you think it is?” Dash asked, though he already knew the answer. “Has Slothington discovered anything yet?”
Lionston made a sound of displeasure. “He is still digging into Avonridge. He insisted on discretion. I will speak with him after he has had more time to uncover something.” He sighed. “Unfortunately, he requires time. Which I dislike as much as you, but there is not helping it.”
Dash almost smiled, but it would have been humorless. “Time has never been your favorite commodity.”
Lionston returned his gaze to the list. “Nor is patience.” He tapped a name marked missing, then another. “These are not men who vanish without reason.”
“Unless they are dead,” Dash said quietly. Neither of them wanted to believe that, but they had to consider the possibility.
Lionston’s gaze hardened. “Unless they are.” It was there in his tone…the same fear that Dash had. If they were indeed dead, whoever targeted them, could come after them all.
A knock came at the door. One of their men leaned in. “He’s ready, Your Grace.”
Lionston nodded once. “Bring him.”
They did not bother with ceremony. Halford was escorted in and seated at the table across from Lionston and Dash. His face was sallow, his hair disheveled, and sweat dampened his forehead. His gaze darted toward the door more than once.
Lionston did not raise his voice. He did not need to. “You threatened a duke’s daughter,” Lionston said in a mild tone. “You entered my house with a pistol and threatened my wife. You are either remarkably foolish or remarkably desperate.”
