“Tell me.”
She was trembling. She couldn’t tremble. She had no place to fall apart. She had no right. Evidently, she didn’t have enough force of will to win. But she could keep the Archangels from seeing it. Hearing it in her voice. Recognizing it in her eyes, where she thought the devastation should have been painfully obvious. Tears clogged her throat, but she had enough will toforce them down. Tears would do no good. Tears could wait, just like always.
“I’m sorry, Georgie,” her brother Michael said, his severe face even harsher. “Our superior dispatched all three of us to be with you.”
She nodded. She did nod, didn’t she? She wasn’t quite sure. Everything suddenly felt encased in ice. Even her trembling heart.
“How? The battles are over.”
“He was freeing one of our people from a prison. There was…an...explosion.”
That hit like a punch to the chest. She was suddenly terrified that every time she closed her eyes, she would see Grey disintegrate before her. She would hear his screams, whether he’d screamed or not. She couldn’t ask.
“Did he save the other man? The one he went to find?”
“He did.”
She nodded. “Can they...” She swallowed, cleared her throat. “Can they bring him home for burial?”
Michael didn’t even shake his head. She could see the devastation in his eyes as well. And Rafe’s. And Gabe’s.
“I should be comforting you,” she said, reverting to what she knew best. “You knew him far better than I.”
“You were married to him,” Gabe protested.
She managed a smile, although she suspected it looked like a rictus. “For all of two days.” Then she laughed, as if the irony of the situation really did amuse her. “In fact, we’ve been married so short a time I don’t even know which estate has the family plot. At least we can put up a stone. Have a service.” She realized she was rubbing at her temple and pulled her hand away. She didn’t have time. She had no time. She had so much to do, and she hadn’t even told the girls.
Oh, sweet God, the girls.
“His man of business should know,” Michael said. “About the plot.”
She managed another grim smile. “I am his man of business. It was an added bonus to the marriage. Along with my money came my expertise. It is just that the expertise never extended to where to bury my husband.”
She could tell she was appalling Rafe. Rafe the healer. Rafe should have known though, how she would react. It was the only way she had ever been allowed to react to anything.
“Should we call for Mother?” Michael asked.
She shook her head. “She and Father will be at the military review in Hyde Park. And later a spectacle. All the heads of state are here.”
She sounded so matter of fact, as if she didn’t feel as if she were the one disintegrating, collapsing into that terrible void that had opened up inside where there was room for nothing but pain and tears.
Tears she didn’t have time for.
She must have been silent for too long. The boys were looking uncomfortable. But then, what did one do after delivering the kind of news that tore a person apart?
“Will you...” She had to swallow again. “Will you tell the family for me? Tell them to not come stampeding over, please. The girls won’t need all that fuss.”
“Is there anything else we can do?” Rafe asked, Rafe the Healer.
She blinked. Tried to think. Couldn’t come up with anything. She couldn’t even comprehend the idea of asking them for help. That was her job. It was always her job.
Just like now.
“Not right now,” she finally managed. “I need to tell the girls. And the staff. And I imagine Grey’s solicitor. There is an heir who needs to be found.”
They stood up. She stood up. Michael came up to her and wrapped his arms around her. She returned the gesture. After all, Grey had been Michael’s friend.
Had been.
