Sadie didn’t know if it was the admission of the demon’s presence or her power that stunned Pippa into uncharacteristic silence. She refused to use her power to find out, too. In fact, shefocused on strengthening her mental shields, not wanting any strong surface thoughts to sneak into her mind as Pippa tried to come to terms with this admission.
“Sadie,” Pippa finally said, “you are going to need to tell me a lot more than that. You can’t just say there was a demon in the manor and leave it at that!”
Sadie willingly recounted what had happened with the demon, skimming over the bits that had to do with her power, but not omitting them entirely.
When she finished, Pippa gave her a flinty stare. “So you are saying Lord Marstede knows about your telepathy and doesn’t care, but you still think I’m going to run away screaming?”
The sudden shift, when Pippa’s questions until that point had all focused on the demon, took Sadie completely off guard. “I—I don’t think you are going to run away screaming.”
“But you do think I will judge you for your power.”
“People are uncomfortable around telepaths. I have years of experience proving just how uncomfortable. Even if you end up being an exception, Pippa, you know as well as I that the more people who know a secret, the less likely it is to stay a secret.”
“That’s a load of sheep shit. If you go around telling random people, of course the secret will get out sooner rather than later. But telling your best friend? I can help cover for you! Spirits, if I had known, I could have given people excuses for why you hate spending time in the tavern instead of constantly pressing you to start working there.”
Pippa stood, looked at Sadie, then shook her head. “I’m going to go before I say something I regret. It hurts that you didn’t trust me, Sadie. Based on all the things you haven’t said combined with the very few things you have shared about your life before coming to Lamsdel, I think I understand why you couldn’t trust anyone, but it still hurts.”
Sadie watched her friend—former friend?—leave the room and stayed on the divan, recognizing the moment for what it was. The start of the end. She had lived through it enough times.
She had a few more days at the manor, then she’d return to Lamsdel, pack up her things, and search for a new place to call home. It was probably for the best, anyway. Staying in a village so close to Marstede would only have hurt. Maybe—maybe—she had considered the possibility that her relationship with Nicholas didn’t have to end the moment she left the manor, since Lamsdel wasn’t so very far away, but that was a foolish hope. Whether he wanted to spend time with her for a few more days, or weeks, or even months, he still didn’t want to build a life with her.
He’d met his mother’s terms, and now he’d want to enjoy his two years with no one talking of marriage.
???
The morning everyonewas due to depart Marstede, Nicholas woke slowly. He’d probably missed the ladies’ departures, and he couldn’t find it in himself to care about being a poor host. Not when he had slept so deeply because of the way Sadie had worn him out the night before.
Her enthusiasm had been a pleasant change after days of her holding back. He’d tried to figure out what was bothering her in the past few days, but she had insisted she was fine, merely worn out after everything that had happened with the demon.
He knew it didn’t help that she had admitted to being a witch. Thanks to his mother, no one pestered her about her power, but she wasn’t used to having even her potion-brewing acknowledged.
Nicholas gave her space when she insisted there was nothing he could do, but he planned to pin her down for a serious conversation today, now that the guests were gone.
He stretched beneath the covers, and his eyes snapped open when his arm encountered a cool spot where it should have met the warmth of Sadie’s body. He’d quickly become addicted to waking with Sadie cradled against him, and finding her gone was not how he wanted to start his day.
Since there was no reason to linger under the covers, he made quick work of rising and getting dressed. He went down to the breakfast room, expecting to find Sadie there, but his mother was the only person in the room.
Sadie’s absence filled him with foreboding. He closed the breakfast room door before his mother even finished saying good morning. He moved through the manor as quickly as he could without alarming his staff, but by the time he realized Sadie wasn’t in her guest suite or the brewing room, he gave up on maintaining any semblance of dignity.
She wasn’t anywhere.
Finally he returned to the breakfast room.
“Nicholas Ben—”
“Not now, Mother. You can scold me later about not seeing everyone off. I can’t find Sadie.”
His mother’s fierce expression suddenly morphed into one that looked suspiciously like pity. “She left, Nicky.”
“What?”
“All our guests went home this morning, Sadie included.”
“Why would she leave?”
Oh yes, that look was definitely pity. And a little disappointment. “Did you ask her to stay?”
“Not in those words, but I made my desires clear.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Spirits, she’s been in my mind. She knows how much I want her here.”
