He shook his head. “No, Cordelia. You have to believe me. I would never do that. I know what you are. Okay? And I love you for it.”
“Bullshit,” she raged. “Tell me what it means!” The walls rumbled again, and one of the doors blew open.
Gordon rushed to close it. “It’s something she kept saying before she died. It was the last thing my mother ever said to me. I wrote it down because I know it’s at the heart of her death. Something was chasing her through those woods. Something did that to her. And I want to know who, and why. Wouldn’t you?”
“That’s us then?The pair?You think Eustace and I did that to your mother?” Cordelia wanted to hurl the book at him. She’d already been married to one liar; she was not about to go down that road again. Whatever his reasons, this was inexcusable.
Gordon slapped his chest. “Of course not. But I’ll admit, at first I wasn’t sure. Nothing here makes sense. Except you.”
“Don’t do that,” she warned, eyes blinking with fury. “Do not patronize me. I will not be toyed with!”
He dropped his hands to his hips and looked away. “What do you want me to say? I should have told you the second we started sleeping together. But it’s only been a few days, Cordelia. I didn’t want to scare you away. I was working up to it.”
“Too late,” she told him, shaking with rage and disappointment.
“Can we talk about this calmly please? It’s not like I’m the only one keeping secrets around here.”
She glared at him. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Gordon scoffed. “Do you seriously think I don’t see what’s going on with you and your sister? Do you think I don’t notice? The tree, the rain, that earthquake the other day? You walk around here like you expect to get ambushed at any moment. You let yourself into my house in the middle of the night. I took you off the propertyonetime and you passed out. First your aunt living here like a recluse, now you and your sister refusing to leave. And those runes that keep showing up?”
“So, tell me, what does it all mean?” she demanded. “Because we sure as hell don’t know!”
He narrowed his eyes. “You know a hell of a lot more than you’re saying.”
“I think you should leave,” Cordelia told him, her jaw so tense she practically chipped a tooth on the words. “I don’t know you, and regardless of what you think, you don’t know me. And we should keep it that way.”
He threw his hands up. “Fine. I’ll go as soon as the party is over.”
She shook her head. “No. I want you gone before noon. Pack your shit and don’t come back.” She narrowed her eyes into dangerous slits. “You know what I’m capable of if you do.”
His mouth hung open. “But-but the party! Cordelia, please. Don’t do this. It’s not safe.”
“We have it under control. We don’t need you, Gordon.” She glared at him.
“Let me help you,” he tried again, lowering his voice, softening his features. He reached for her arm.
She pulled away. “You can’t help me,” she said coldly. “You’re not one of us.”
His face fell. “You and your sister can’t walk into that alone.”
“Watch us,” she said, turning for the door.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVETHETOOTH
CORDELIA SLAMMED THEfront door so hard it nearly fell off its hinges.
Her sister emerged from the library with a puzzled expression. “Something wrong?”
“Everything!” she spat, heading straight for the dining room and its well-stocked bar. This time, she didn’t even bother with a glass. She just unscrewed the top of the brandy bottle and took a large swallow.
Eustace watched from the doorway. “Lovers’ quarrel?”
“Not anymore,” she said, panting out the liquor’s heat.
“You always do this,” Eustace told her. “Push them away. Every time you start to really fall for somebody, you pick a fight. That’s how I knew John wasn’t right for you. You never challenged him because you never let him get close to your heart.”
“I do not,” Cordelia argued.
