“Ah, but you’ve just encountered Georgie. Give it time.” Then she shook her head. “To that end, we’d better leave before she chases an entire team of footmen up here to scare away the bats.” There was the faintest pink in her cheeks as she smiled up at him.
Damn it all. He needed to be careful with her. She was Daniel’s cousin, the daughter of a well-regarded viscount, a proper girl. If he’d kissed Poppy or if her sister had stumbled upon them… How had Stephen Blackburn been trapped? Daniel never told Alec the specifics of their friend’s downfall. Still, he doubted it had anything to do with his old friend looking for magical books in an attic with a pretty witch, but it could happen anywhere, doing anything, he supposed. Though he didn’t know Poppy Elstone well, he felt certain she deserved better than a crippled and magically impotent warlock for the rest of her days. Her touch was intoxicating and he could easily lose himself in pursuit of that feeling for the rest of his life, but that outcome wouldn’t be inherbest interest. Alec needed to keep that in the forefront of his mind.
“Best find your grimoire,” he said, taking a step back from her.
“It’s right there.” She gestured to an ancient book inside the old trunk, atop a pile of clothing. An elven star, tinged in gold, emblazoned the front cover.
It was indeed a grimoire if he’d ever seen one. “Right you are,” he agreed. “We’d best hurry.”
CHAPTER6
Goodness!So many thoughts and emotions swirled around Poppy, she was certain she wasn’t giving each one the proper attention it deserved. Her fingers nearly hummed as she carried the Branwyck grimoire back to the sitting room where Laurel was still awaiting their return. After all these many months, did she really have the answers to everything that she and Laurel had been looking for? Right there in her very hands?
Part of her was annoyed with Georgie for spying on her or perhaps for just spoiling…
Her cheeks heated anew. Alec almost kissed her in the attic. Hadn’t he? She thought he’d meant to. The predatory look in his ashy grey eyes. The serious expression on his face and the way he’d caressed her cheek with his thumb. And then he’d leaned toward her with such purpose…
Oh! The thought made tingles ripple through her. She’d seen his face so often in her dreams over the last year. Part of her felt like she’d known him forever. But she didn’t know him. Not really. She knew he was Daniel’s friend, which did not necessarily recommend him, if she was honest. She knew he hailed from a line of Promethean witches and warlocks who also claimed a connection to Merlin. And she knew he no longer possessed any magic.Dormant for a dozenyears, he’d said. Was that by choice? Or had something happened that made him lose the ability to wield magic? Something particular for Prometheans, she wondered. Did their fires simply burn out over time? Of course, he hadn’t offered any information on the hows or whys, and she hadn’t wanted to pry, but…
Goodness!Hadhe meant to kiss her? Or had she imagined it? It was difficult to focus on anything else, even with a whole world of magical answers now at her fingertips. Curse Georgie for following them to the attic! Would it have been too much to ask for her younger sister to be nearly anywhere else in the world in that moment? If they’d just had five more minutes to themselves, five more uninterrupted minutes—
“Once you’ve opened the book,” Alec began from just behind her, the deep timbre of his voice sending a fresh set of tingles coursing through her. “I’ll leave you and your sister to it. I feel I’ve abandoned poor Daniel for too long as it is.”
Poppy glanced back over her shoulder to find the cavalry officer regarding her with such a serious expression that the newfound buoyancy of her heart dropped more than a bit. Shemusthave imagined that he meant to kiss her. He wouldn’t look at her in such a serious way, otherwise, would he?
“Of course,” she replied evenly. “I’m sure he’ll be pleased to have your company.”
Behind her, he sighed. Was that a sound of relief? Or frustration? Perhaps, exhaustion, even? Oh, what she wouldn’t give to know what he was thinking, what he’d been thinking…
Poppy forced a smile to her face as she crossed the threshold of the sitting room. Laurel bounded off the settee, her brown eyes alit with wonder.
“You found it?” She sounded surprised as she raced to Poppy’s side, reaching her hands out for the grimoire.
But Poppy shook her head. “Not so fast, Laurel Elstone.Ibraved the bats for this.” Then she settled on the edge of the settee and looked down at the newly acquired treasure in her lap.
The dark leather cover was adorned with a Celtic seven-pointed star that shimmered slightly in the afternoon light. Poppy ran her fingers over the symbol in reverence, wondering how many Branwyck witches before her had been in possession of that book. What mystical knowledge would she obtain now that she had her family grimoire?
“Whatareyou waiting for?” Laurel complained as she tucked herself right beside Poppy on the settee.
Near the threshold, Alec watched the pair of them, his keen gaze assessing them enigmatically. She pushed thoughts of him from her mind, knowing she would revisit the entire adventure in the attic again once she was safely alone in her chambers. For now, the Branwyck grimoire begged for her attention.
Poppy focused on the book in her lap and put her new found knowledge to good use. “Aliese,” she said, fully expecting something to happen. However, when she tried to open the cover, it was sealed just as firmly closed as it had been when she and Laurel had tried to open it the year before. Had she said the word wrong? Poppy tried again, this time more forcefully. “Aliese!”
When the cover still wouldn’t budge, she finally turned her attention to the cavalry officer who was regarding her with an expression she still didn’t understand. “What am I doing wrong?”
Supported by his cane, Alec started across the floor. “Do you think the Branwyck witches would protect their family book with a word just anyone could use?”
Poppy hadn’t really thought of that. Then again, all of this was new to her. How was she to know what the Branwyck witches would normally do? Even if she was one? “How do we open it then? You said you knew.”
“A drop of your blood,” he said and gestured to the grimoire with a nod of his head. “Right there in the middle of the star.”
“Myblood?” She winced slightly at the idea. No one had mentioned blood until this moment.
“Or hers.” He briefly glanced in Laurel’s direction before returning his ashy gaze to Poppy. “Blood always tells.” He stopped before her. “How better to make certain your family’s greatest secrets are kept safely within that circle for all time and eternity?” Then he retrieved a dagger from inside his Hessians and lifted the blade out to her. “Just prick the tip of your finger with this. Should do the trick.”
Oh, Poppy did not like blood. She didn’t like seeing it. She didn’t like thinking about it. In fact, she felt slightly lightheaded all of a sudden just from the discussion of it. Luckily, Laurel was well aware of Poppy’s weakness in that regard and said, “I’ll do it. She braved the bats, and I’ll never hear the end of it otherwise.”
Alec handed the dagger to Laurel who promptly touched a finger to the tip of the blade. When a ball of blood formed there, Poppy had to look away to keep from fainting.
