Besides, he enjoyed seeing her wear his ring. One day, she’d accept a ring for her other hand, and everyone would know that she had accepted him. But for now, the charm ring would have to suffice.
With his demon-detecting charm ready and Sadie’s focus charm finished, it was time to seek out Beatrice.
Unsurprisingly, they found her in the library. She had made herself comfortable in the far corner by the floor-to-ceiling window that let in a maximum of natural light while sacrificing a minimum of shelf space. There had always been a well-padded chair by the window, but at some point since Beatrice’s arrival in Marstede, a desk, overflowing with books, had been added.
Nicholas wondered where the desk had even come from. It wasn’t the one from his study, and it wasn’t any of the small side tables scattered throughout so many rooms in the manor. For a second he wondered if, instead of a lap desk for writingcorrespondence, Beatrice traveled with a full-sized desk shoved in the carriage with her.
Sadie stifled a laugh as she walked next to him, and he suspected she had seen his thoughts. Did that mean the charm he had made wasn’t helping her?
I haven’t tried to focus my power yet,her thoughts slipped into his mind,and you were picturing Beatrice crammed into a carriage with a desk rather “loudly.”
Nicholas grinned. He liked being able to communicate with Sadie privately. They’d have to establish some signal so that he could initiate the communication once her telepathy was under enough control that she didn’t hear even his “loud” thoughts accidentally.If she didn’t bring it, I really don’t know where the desk came from.
Sadie rolled her eyes, but her small smile quickly gave way to seriousness.I’m going to focus on her now, in case I can hear the demon, though my protective charm isn’t reacting at all.
The new charm Nicholas had engraved for himself that morning had started vibrating multiple times. But each instance corresponded exactly with when Sadie spoke to him telepathically. He didn’t think it was alerting them to a demon. Nor was it working as he had hoped.
It still might detect the demon, though.
“Beatrice,” Nicholas said softly, not wanting to startle the woman who hadn’t noticed their approach, she was so absorbed in her book. “Sadie and I were hoping to ask you a few questions.”
Beatrice looked up from her book, frowning.
Nicholas glanced at Sadie, and she answered his unspoken question mentally.I don’t hear anything amiss; I think she is just annoyed we are interrupting her.
“Questions about what?” Beatrice asked politely, though her frown didn’t smooth away.
“Demons, if that’s a topic you know anything about,” he answered.
Every iota of irritation in Beatrice’s demeanor vanished. She closed her book and sat up straight. “Demons? Why?”
“Because we think there might be one at Marstede. We are hoping you might have read something that could help us determine if our fear is well-founded, and if so, how we can handle the situation.”
“Given the books in this library alone, I’d say your fear is very well-founded.” She gestured at the books covering the desk.
Nicholas looked at them, but they were mostly leather-bound tomes without titles. His ancestors’ journals and other old books he’d never had much interest in.
“Those are all demonology books?” Sadie stared at them with wide eyes.
“I wouldn’t classify most of them as demonology texts,” Beatrice answered. “Most are diaries and a few are histories of the area. A handful are grimoires. Only one is a true forbidden demonology tome.”
“I own a forbidden demonology tome?” Perhaps he should prioritize cataloguing his library. Though he’d need someone as phlegmatic as Beatrice to do the job, or he’d risk getting in trouble if there were any other forbidden texts lurking about.
Beatrice pointed at a particular nondescript book in dark brown leather. “The Demon Realm and Its Inhabitants, which really shouldn’t be banned, as it gives a clear picture of exactly how dangerous demons are and the hidden dangers of dealing with them. If more people understood those points, they wouldn’t be as tempted to think they could benefit from interacting with demons. But, it could also probably be used to work out how to summon demons, so I suppose I see why it was banned.”
Nicholas looked from the book to Beatrice to Sadie. “I think we need a couple more chairs. It seems we have a lot to discuss.”
???
Rather than summoninga servant or moving away from Beatrice’s collection of books, Nicholas pushed a divan from the opposite corner of the library over to face her chair. Sadie offered to help, but it was quickly apparent that her dress caused more issues than her added strength could outweigh.
All she could do, therefore, was watch as he worked. When he was halfway across the space, Nicholas looked up and caught her staring.
You can’t look at me like that,he thought at her. He’d mastered the art of projecting his thoughts so that her power was certain to pick them up quickly.
Why not?
Because I’m fairly certain even Beatrice would be scandalized if tossed you on this divan and did all the things that look makes me want to do.A series of images followed, Nicholas’s thoughts lingering on the one where he bent over her from behind, her hands braced on the back of the divan, her skirts pushed up above her waist.
