Chapter 29
The man repairing the wheel shouted as the coach began to fall while he was still in the process of working on it. He scrambled away as the gap-toothed woman’s cry startled everyone else into action. She threw up her hands and fled, causing the coach to tilt precariously, fully splintering the already weakened wheel, and sending shards flying over the road. The sudden weight also managed to crack the back-left wheel. As it began to bow, the coachman, along with the two male passengers, quickly ran off—just as the heavens opened up.
Rain pelted Cosette, quickly drenching her as she stood in horror, watching as the coach began to tumble sideways. She felt a firm grip on her arm, as she was thrust out of danger—just as the coach crashed to the ground mere inches from where she’d been standing. Unfortunately, the force that had pulled her to safety, combined with the slippery earth beneath her slippers, caused her to lose her balance. She fell to the ground in a messy heap of skirts and splattered mud.
Now that the ordeal was over, Cosette took a deep breath, and shoved her wet hair out of her face. She looked up to thank her rescuer, highwayman or no, but felt the blood drain from her face. Surely, that dark figure looming over her was an apparition. It was the silhouette of a man in a black-tiered greatcoat holding a silver headed cane. He wore boots that encased long legs, and hair that was as dark as a raven’s wing. Rain lashed his handsome face, but it didn’t seem to faze him as those dark, penetrating eyes fixed on her.
She opened her mouth to speak, but not a single sound came out.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going, Cosette?”
She closed her eyes. Oh, did she know that voice. It haunted her almost as much as Lilin’s had, but for entirely different reasons. “Scotland,” she said dully.
“No, you’re not,” Davien returned firmly. “You’re coming back to London. With me.”
With that, he bent down and lifted her into his arms. It wasn’t until she spied his dark, unmarked coach with Quinn atop the driver’s box did she begin to struggle. “I’m going to Scotland!” she insisted.
He tossed her inside his coach rather unceremoniously, and climbed in behind her. He shoved the dripping hair out of his face and glowered at her. “What is so important to you on that godforsaken island?”
“Nothing,” she snapped.
“Then why are you so eager to go?” he persisted.
She turned her head, a clear dismissal.
He sighed heavily. “Why are you being so unreasonable?”
She whipped back to him so quickly that her hair scattered rain droplets on him. “I’m being unreasonable?”
He calmly crossed his hands over his firm midsection. “Yes.”
“No.” She held up a finger. “What I’m trying to do is save you, and you refuse to cooperate.”
He dared to chuckle. “Do I look like a damsel in distress?”
Cosette grit her teeth. “No.”
“Then what makes you think that you need to run away?”
“I’m not running. But just in case you missed the small detail regarding my parentage,” she said with a sneer. “Not only am I the daughter of an evil succubus, but I’m also the offspring of your sworn enemy.”
He rubbed his chin and seemed to consider this for a moment. “That will make the holidays rather awkward, I agree.”
She glared at him. “Can’t you be serious?”
All amusement vanished from his expression. “Only if you will do me the same courtesy.”
She clenched her fists at her sides. “Haven’t I just explained—?”
He waved a hand. “I am quite familiar with all of that. I was there when it was all revealed, remember?” Davien tilted his head to the side, watching, waiting. “What I don’t know is how you truly feel about me.”
Cosette stilled. She knew that he wouldn’t accept anything less than the truth, so she offered a partial one. “I care a great deal for you.”
He lifted a dark brow. “And?”
“And what?”
“Is there nothing else you wish to say?” he prodded.
