Page 26 of The Beastly Earl

“He needs his father. He needs you to take some interest in him,” she said fiercely as she leaned forward and poked him in the chest.

The dark anger hardening his features made her regret poking him as a sudden wave of trepidation swept through her. The Earl of Argaty was clearly not accustomed to someone taking him to task, but she’d said too much to stop now.

“That’s enough.” The quiet command went unheeded as Louisa glared at him.

“Didn’t you see the look on Ross’s face this afternoon when you were so kind to my son, but ignored him?”

“I said enough.”

“What you did this afternoon was cruel and heartless. Are you really so blind that—“

“Enough.”

The word was like a thunderclap over her head, and Louisa swallowed the rest of what she’d been about to say. For a brief instant, guilt and what she thought might be pain flashed across his face before his rugged features became a cold, stony façade. Beneath his icy stare, she remembered her reference to him being blind and flinched.

It had been a tactless remark. She’d overstepped the line in her effort to make Ewan see how much Ross wanted his father’s approval. She could have found another way to point out Ewan’s lack of consideration where his son was concerned. Apologies weren’t always easy for her, but he deserved one. Swallowing her righteous outrage, she clasped her hands in front of her.

“I’m sorry.” She wanted to add more, but she was certain anything else she might say would detract from her sincerity.

The cold anger reflected on his features didn’t thaw. Her heart skipped a beat at his expression. Not even Sebastian had ever eyed her with such raw fury. Despite the icy finger scraping down her spine, she remained where she was, fully prepared for the man to rain all manner of hellfire and retribution on her head.

“We will not speak of this again.” The quiet inflection in his voice made the force of his anger all the more threatening. “You are here to school the boy—nothing more.”

“Yes,” she said in a meek manner she barely recognized as one she possessed.

“Unless there is something else, outside of my personal affairs, you wish to discuss, you may go.”

It was the coldest dismissal she’d ever had handed down to her. In fact, she couldn’t remember anyone ever rejecting her so scornfully. The knowledge only emphasized how much of the family recklessness she possessed. The Rockwood trait for treading where angels feared to go had been handed down to her in abundance. Louisa nodded slowly and turned to retreat. She’d almost reached the door when a wave of dizziness rolled over her.

Oh God, not now. The last thing she wanted was the an dara sealladh taking control of her body before she was out of Ewan’s sight. The man would think she was feigning the episode in an effort to soften his attitude toward her. She stretched out her hand hoping to reach the door, but failed before she was pulled into a familiar well of darkness.

A cackle of laughter filled the air before she saw anything. Almost as if someone had abruptly pulled back a curtain, she saw the shadowy figure of a small boy sitting on the floor with his back to her. The child laughed again, and the malevolence in the sound filled the space around her until her skin was as cold as if she’d fallen into an icy burn.

In the next instant, she was staring down over the boy’s shoulder at a small brown rabbit bleeding and squirming wildly in an effort to escape the boy’s grasp. In the child’s other hand was a knife covered in blood. As she watched in abject horror, the boy jabbed the tip of the knife into the rabbit’s hind quarters. The small animal squealed in pain, and with a gleeful chuckle, the boy pressed the knife into the animal’s chest and opened the rabbit up with a slow downward stroke.

The small animal shrieked with pain before it went limp. It was a horrible sound, but it was the child’s laughter that terrified her even more. The suddenness with which the darkness parted and became light was a blessing. But it failed to prevent the powerful surge of nausea cresting over her. Bile rose in her throat, and it forced her to bend at the waist and vomit.

Another rush of bile rose up in her throat as her body tried to purge the evil that had touched her. This was the first time the an dara sealladh had ever made her physically ill. Although her brother occasionally suffered migraines after a particularly strong vision, Percy had never mentioned anything such as this.

Despite her physical reaction, she knew the child’s laugh and cruelty was a memory she would not forget for a long time, if ever. Directly behind her, Louisa heard Ewan's a quiet oath echo in her ear before he summoned Asadi with a sharp command. The nausea had already begun to fade as Ewan’s steel arm awkwardly wrapped around her waist to support her.

The chill of the artificial limb’s metal sank through his shirt and the wool of her gown to cool her skin. The sensation was a distinct contrast to the warmth of his hard, muscular body pressing into her side as he guided her to a nearby chair. The loud noise of the study door flying open made her wince as Ewan's man-servant charged into the room.

Still feeling off-balance, Louisa barely heard Asadi’s quiet words of concern followed by Ewan’s reply. Her elbow resting on the arm of the chair, she pressed the heel of her hand against her forehead. Not once since her first experience of the an dara sealladh had she ever been made ill or so deeply disturbed by a vision.

She’d always viewed her ability to be a gift and had used it discreetly when helping to solve her family, friends or even her own problems. But what she’d just seen went far beyond anything she'd been shown in the past. A shudder rippled through her at the thought, and she jumped violently as Ewan’s gloved hand touched her shoulder.

“Drink this.” The glass he handed her contained a generous amount of brandy. She shook her head.

“No, I’ll be—”

“Damn it, Louisa, do as you’re told.”

At the sharp, authoritative order, she accepted the brandy snifter. The first swallow washed away the foul taste in her mouth, but she coughed at the fiery sensation it made on its way down her throat. She tried to give the drink back to him, but he didn’t take it.

“Drink all of it.” The command made her wrinkle her nose with distaste, and as she met his gaze, he scowled at her. “God in heaven, woman, are you always so stubborn?”

The glass halfway to her lips, she started to reply, and his frown darkened with a touch of the anger she’d witnessed earlier. Taking the path of least resistance, she didn’t argue and choked down a second gulp. By the third drink, she’d adapted to the taste, and was able to finish the alcohol without coughing.