Page 28 of Haunted Hearts

“I’m sorry about everything.” Lillith sat down on a chair, and fidgeted with the candle on top of the table. “I mean, the feud, and the betrothal, of course. It wasn’t my idea that things turned out like this.”

“What was your idea?” he asked, walking up behind her. “By the way, you never told me why you came with your sister to Skull Manor.”

He gently placed a hand on her shoulder from behind and felt her body immediately stiffen.

“I’m here to protect her,” she said, surprising him with her answer.

“Protect her?” He chuckled. “From what? Or should I say whom?”

“She’s afraid of you, Blaze. She thinks you’re a warlock and doesn’t want to be near you.” She looked up with wide blue eyes, blinking twice in succession.

His fingers slowly slid off her shoulder. “Is that what you think, too?”

She let out a sigh and stood up and turned to face him. “Honestly, I’m not sure what to think anymore.”

“What does that mean?” Blaze crossed his arms over his chest.

“It means I know your mother reads futures with cards and has some strange ways about her.”

“That’s my mother. Not me.”

“And then there are a lot of rumors about you and your family.”

“There will always be rumors and gossip in life. You need to learn not to listen to it, or you’re no better than those who are spreading the lies.”

“Some people even think you had something to do with my father’s death.”

“What?” he gasped. “I can’t believe I’m even hearing this out of your mouth.”

“I didn’t say I believed it.”

“But yet, you’re here in my solar poking around. That tells me you don’t trust me. You’re looking for something. What is it?”

“What makes you think I’m not here looking for another kiss?” Her eyes flashed up to him, drawing him in. He never could stay angry at her when she looked at him in that manner. It was a cross between a playful, flirting action, and one that told him she needed to be hugged. She was also giving him that cute little pout again that drove him mad.

“If you were truly here for a kiss, you wouldn’t have moved away from me when we were over by the bed.” He moved away from her before he was tempted to touch her soft skin again.

“Mayhap I was playing hard to get.” She followed him across the room, winding the end of her long locks around her fingers. He knew Lillith well enough that she only did that when she was extremely nervous.

“Lilly, I don’t know what this game is you’re playing with me, but I don’t like it. And I sure as hell don’t believe it, either.”

Her slight grin turned into a frown. “All right, so I wasn’t in here for a kiss,” she finally admitted. “Do you want to hear the truth?”

“Yes. I do. I thought we never expected anything but the truth from each other, sweetheart. That’s what made our friendship so strong through the years.”

“You’re right. You at least deserve that,” she said, looking down and to the side when she told him, rather than looking directly into his eyes. “If you must know, I am in here looking for a dagger with moons and stars on it. The hilt is also carved into a skull. It’s the dagger your mother gave you for your birthday one year. I remember it.”

“I see.” He slowly unfolded his arms and went over to a trunk and popped it open. He dug down into it and then held up something shiny. “Do you mean this?”

“Oh!” she gasped, holding her hand over her mouth when she saw the dagger.

Blaze walked over and held it out for her to take. She shook her head and backed away. “This is what you were looking for, isn’t it?”

“I – I – Blaze, that is the dagger that Milo said he saw on the ground next to my father’s body. Isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is,” he told her, not even trying to conceal the fact.

Her gaze slowly went from the dagger to his face. He saw fear in her eyes, and that was something he never wanted to witness. Now, she was afraid of him just like the rest of them.