“What do you mean?” Elara demanded, cocking her head.
“I mean, I have allowed this rebellious side of yours to slide for far too long,” Adrian replied. “I thought that if I kept my guard up, I could allow you to sneak off at night. Such a rare thingfor a lady your age to be allowed to do, but I did, as I thought it was helping you as long as you did not get into trouble. Now that I understand you have been continuing the investigation into Evander all this time, I cannot allow it to go on. You will no longer be allowed out of the house after seven unless escorted by Bridget or me.”
Adrian almost sounded regretful as he issued the decree, which only made Elara laugh bitterly.
“Adrian, please,” she said. “You know I cannot let this go, and your men have no idea what I truly do or where I go.”
“Maybe not,” Adrian begrudged. “But they will be stationed so close to you from now on that there will be no opportunity for you to elude them. I will post them atop the roof if I have to, but your nightly adventures are over, sister.”
“This is unfair! You cannot force me to stop looking for him, Adrian!” Elara exclaimed, feeling her heartbeat quicken.
Adrian grabbed her shoulders so suddenly that she gasped. He dragged her close, and with the wild look in his eyes, she was not sure what he was about to do next. Even Bridget had frozen by their side, unsure what to do.
Then he let out a wary sigh, and as he closed his eyes, he shook his head and pulled her into a tight hug.
As Adrian’s arms closed around her, Elara’s eyes stung without warning. For a moment, she was not standing in her brother’s study at all. She was thirteen again, trembling in a darkened room, and it was not Adrian’s arms that held her but Evander’s. She could still feel the weight of his chin resting atop her head, still hear the quiet certainty in his voice as he murmured into her hair.
‘There is nothing I would not do to keep you safe. Always come to me. Always.’
The memory dissolved as quickly as it had come, and Elara was back in the present, blinking in the study’s brightness. She let Adrian hold her for a moment longer, her throat tight.
He made me that promise, she thought.And I intend to keep it for him.
“This business with Augustus Harcourt and Evander must be let go, Elara,” he insisted, his tone low and resigned. “Do you not understand that I have already looked into this rumor myself? It was just like all the others, a wild tale meant to lend mystery to our brother’s death. Evander is dead. As is his murderer. I must move on with my life as the new Duke of Redgrave, and you? You will finally have the debut you were never afforded.”
Adrian pulled away from their embrace, his piercing blue eyes filled with more sadness now than with rage. He reached toward her face, gently taking her chin between his thumb and the knuckle of his pointer finger, and gave her a gentle tug.
“Put your efforts into preparing for that,” Adrian gently insisted, letting her go as he stepped back. “Taking a husband is no simple choice. You must know yourself, Elara.”
Still hurt by her brother’s refusal to listen, Elara took a step back from him and shook her head.
“I do know myself, brother,” she replied coldly. “It is obvious that it is you who do not understand me.”
Adrian’s dark brows furrowed as his blue eyes flashed with pain and his jaw clenched.
“All right then,” Bridget announced airily, stepping between the siblings as they stared each other down. “I believe it is best for us all to take a moment to cool our tempers, yes? Adrian, darling, I believe I hear young Samuel’s cry. Would you be so kind as to bring him to me?”
While Elara heard no such cry, she noticed that at the mention of their young son’s name, Adrian’s stance visibly relaxed, and, right before her eyes, he became almost a different person. She watched, fascinated, as Adrian pulled his wife into his arms and kissed her lovingly on the cheek.
“Of course I will,” he answered, his deep voice soft as he spoke to his wife. “I shall be but a moment.”
Bridget smiled affectionately up at Adrian, and after he gave her cheek a final gentle stroke, he let her go and left the study.
“Did you truly hear Samuel’s cry?” Elara asked as the two were left alone, her thoughts drifting to the baby she had heard the night before. It had sounded close, as if it were in the very room with Constantine.
Bridget’s lips lifted up toward a smile.
“No, but I feel that he is awake from his nap,” Bridget replied, taking a seat on one of the cushioned chairs.
Elara raised a curious brow.
“How do you know that?” she asked.
“I believe all mothers can sense their children in some way or another,” Bridget replied, her tone honest. “Just like your mother still senses Evander.”
Elara’s heart skipped a beat, and she stepped closer to her sister-in-law.
“Are you saying you believe me?” she asked in a hushed tone.
