“Very interesting, indeed,” Sinjin said, but no one spared him a glance.
“So what?” I asked, but I was already speculating on where this conversation was headed.
“The wards recorded a surge of magic coming from your bedroom last night,” Mercedes finished, looking at me accusingly as she stared me down. “I am curious as to what you were doing.”
The wards had undoubtedly captured Luce’s magic when he visited me, but there was no way I would surrender that information.
“You are the prophetess,” Sinjin responded, inclining his head toward her in a mocking sort of way. “Surely you can answer that question for yourself?”
Mercedes’s lips were tight. “Clearly I can’t, which is why I’m standing here right now.”
Sinjin chuckled. “Hmm, perhaps I am exhibiting my foolishness in asking, but does not the highest ranking of the witches possess a little something titled … magic?”
Mercedes narrowed her beautiful green eyes at the vampire. “Of course.”
“Then should it not follow that the chief of the witches should rely on her magic to answer the question as to why her security system recorded an uptick in activity?” Sinjin continued, eyeing her with a smile. “Hmm?”
“I’ve already performed a variety of spells that could possibly inform me of what caused the power surge.” She looked over at me uncomfortably, as if she didn’t like admitting as much with me standing right there. “All of my charms failed to yield an answer.” Then she faced Sinjin again, her jaw even tighter than it had been seconds ago. “Which brings me to why I’m standing here now, having to explain myself to you.”
“Just checking,” Sinjin responded with an artful grin.
Mercedes turned her attention back to me. “So just what was the reason that my wards recorded the spike?”
I opened my mouth to respond but was interrupted by Sinjin.
“Ah, this is very easily explained,” he said, shaking his head. “We were ‘power-fencing’ last evening, you know, thrust and parry, Bête Noire with her magic and I with my naturally superior abilities,” he finished, his attention focused on Mercedes. At first, I was confused as to why he would willingly come to my aid, but then I remembered his comment: how he preferred not to tell anyone that I’d tried to kill him. Who knew, maybe he was embarrassed by it?
“You were parrying?” Mercedes repeated doubtfully, her gaze switching from Sinjin back to me.
“No, we weren’t,” I stated, realizing there was no way she would buy Sinjin’s explanation. Luce’s magic must have registered very high on the magical Richter scale, which meant I had to have a very good alibi. And “power-fencing” with Sinjin wasn’t it.
“I am curious, Prophetess,” Sinjin began, rubbing his chin. “If your wards captured this apparent burst in magical activity last evening, why are you only now investigating it?”
Mercedes’s eyes burned in her face as she looked at Sinjin. “It was only brought to my attention early this afternoon,” she replied.
Sinjin shrugged. “Perhaps you should hire better informants. Time is of the essence with these things, you know?” Then he cocked his head to the side as if another thought just occurred to him. “Perhaps you could have caught the little imp red-handed?”
“Regardless,” Mercedes started, spearing Sinjin with an unfriendly expression before casting it on me, “just what were you doing?”
“I was trying to murder Sinjin,” I answered nonchalantly. There was complete quiet in the room for a few seconds before Mercedes eyed me warily.
“I do not understand,” she replied, shaking her head in visible anger.
I shrugged. “I decided I wanted him dead. It’s as simple as that.”
“Unfortunately, I must admit the little heathen hasn’t been the first woman from whom I have heard those same words,” Sinjin said, shaking his head like it was a pity.
“Explain how magic was involved in your attempt to murder the vampire,” Mercedes insisted.
“I used magic to deceive both Odran and Sinjin by making them believe the time of day was different than it actually was. Then I used more magic to disguise myself as my sister,” I explained. “All told, it required quite a bit of magic, which is what your wards, no doubt, must’ve picked up.”
“Parrying, were you?” Mercedes asked Sinjin with a frown that turned into a glare.
“Some would describe it as exactly that,” Sinjin smirked.
“Is what she’s saying true?” Mercedes continued.
“It is,” Sinjin said, his ice blue eyes sparkling in the low light of the room. “Thrusting and parrying can take many forms, including attempted murder.”
“And what a shame that she wasn’t successful in her attempt,” Mercedes said under her breath as she faced me again. Her suspicion was still evident in her features. “You do realize that any attempt to murder the queen’s protector is punishable by death?”
“Now, I guess you’ll inform me that you must have my head!” I exclaimed sarcastically. Inwardly, I breathed a sigh of relief because it appeared that Mercedes bought my explanation for the wards’ surge in magic. As long as I could keep my tangled web securely woven and away from the real truth, I was looking good.
Mercedes addressed Sinjin. “Would you care to press charges against her?”
Sinjin eyed me narrowly, but I saw a smile turning up the corners of his mouth. “Hmmm,” he said, “that is quite a loaded question. Her demise would restore my evenings to me to do with as I like.”
“Will you or won’t you?” Mercedes demanded impatiently.
“Not this time, my good prophetess, not this time,” Sinjin said as he shook his head, his eyes never leaving mine. “Gumption and unbridled ambition should never be discouraged.”
I held his eyes, but I didn’t respond to his comment. Meanwhile, Mercedes turned on her heels and started for my bedroom door. When she reached it, she paused with her hand on the doorknob and turned to face me. “You might have convinced your sister that you’re trustworthy, but you will never convince me.”
I nodded, but the expression on my face told her, in no uncertain terms, that I didn’t care. I remained quiet as I watched her leave my room and heard the sounds of her footsteps as she walked across the wood floors, heading for the front door. At the sound of Mathilda clearing her throat, I glanced down at her.
“I do not share the prophetess’s perspective, child,” she said in her high-pitched and melodious voice. “I believe there is true goodness inside you,” she continued before reaching out and touching me above my heart. “I can feel it.”
“Maybe you can talk Mercedes into feeling it too?” I suggested with a dry laugh.
Mathilda continued to smile up at me and nodded. “She will see it in time, child, as will everyone else.” Then she turned around and offered Sinjin a broad smile, covering his hand with her much smaller one. “You are doing a very good job with her, Sinjin,” she complimented him.
Sinjin didn’t say anything, but merely nodded as he politely covered her hand with his and walked her to my door before they both approached the front door, talking about something that I failed to hear. I walked into the living room just as Sinjin closed the door behind Mathilda. He turned around to face me while shaking his head.
“Well, I must confess that I believed you were smarter than you looked but, apparently, such is not the case.”
“I don’t care that Mercedes knows I tried to kill you,” I snapped, throwing my hands on my hips. “I’m more than sure that anyone who knows you would definitely understand my reasons why.”
Sinjin dropped his head back as a hearty, unrestrained laugh escaped him. “Very well-articulated, Bête Noire,” he said mockingly. Then the laugh and smirk vanished from his lips. “Perhaps you successfully detoured Mercedes from the real reason her wards recorded a surge in magic?”
I was surprised and my eyebrows arched up accordingly, to which Sinjin chuckled. “The real reason?” I repeated,
pretending to have no clue to what he was referring. “That was the real reason.”
“Really, my little hellion, you do not give me the credit I deserve.”
“I don’t believe you deserve any credit,” I responded tartly as I took a seat on my bed again and decided ignoring him might be the best course of action.
“Well, I can foresee that this conversation will go round and round with no end in sight,” Sinjin said as he clapped his hands together. “Thus, I suggest we change it.”
“And talk about what?” I asked unenthusiastically. Sinjin eyed me with a drawn brow as he walked to one end of my room, turned around and then walked to the other. “Pacing,” I called out, pretending to play charades with him. “You’re pacing, um, you’re worried about something? How many words in the phrase again?”
“What in blazes are you going on about?” he demanded in an irritated voice as he stopped pacing and turned to face me. He crossed his arms against his chest and regarded me with exasperation.
I shrugged. “Charades.” But there was nothing in Sinjin’s face that said he had any idea to what I was referring. “You’ve never heard of Charades?” He shook his head. “And you’ve been alive for more than five hundred years?” I asked, dumbfounded.
“Odran brought it to my attention,” Sinjin started, clearly changing the subject.
“I guess that’s a no,” I interrupted him.
“Blast this Charades game!” he burst out impatiently, throwing his hands in the air. “No, I do not know what your silly game is and nor do I care to!”
“Calm down,” I responded, holding my hands up in submission. “Someone’s in a bad mood today. Sheesh!”
His glare steadily gave way to an expression of slight irritation, his left eyebrow arched dramatically. “Odran brought it to my attention,” he repeated. “That he took you to one of his fae lands, with the intention of forcing information from you.”
“Yep, he did,” I said with a yawn. “So what?”
Sinjin cleared his throat and didn’t seem pleased with the information. “How was he able to pry this information from you, Bête Noire?”
I shrugged like the answer was obvious. “With mead that he offered me to drink. Turns out it was tainted with a charm.”
Sinjin nodded, as if he expected my response. “Tainted with what sort of charm?”
“Um,” I started as I bit my lip and thought about it. “I’m not sure exactly but I think it was some form of a love charm.”
“I see,” Sinjin responded immediately, his eyes boring into mine. “And…what information was he able to learn about you?”
“Didn’t you just tell me that Odran came to you and told you all of this already?” I asked, frowning at him as I shook my head. “I’m really not in the mood to tell you something you already know, Sinjin,” I started as something else occurred to me. “Unless…”
“Unless what?” he demanded immediately.
I felt a smile break out across my lips. “Unless you are so old that Alzheimer’s has set in and you really can’t remember that Odran already told you all of this?” I laughed as soon as I saw his expression. He wasn’t amused.
“I am not interested in the information Odran told you,” he said snidely.
“Then why did you just ask me,” I started but he shook his head and sighed in exasperation, interrupting me.
“Good Lord, Bête Noire, you are vexing to no end!”
“Love you too,” I grumbled as I leaned back on my bed and reached for my book which was sitting on the nightstand.
“What did Odran…do to you?” Sinjin demanded.
I glanced up at him from where I’d been honing in on my book and smiled as soon as I realized what he was getting at. “Oh, you mean because of the love charm on the mead?”
“Yes, that is what I mean,” he said instantly.
And that was when I decided that it was time I played a game with Sinjin for once. I slapped my book closed and sat up, eyeing him innocently. “When you ask me what Odran did to me,” I started, trying to keep a straight face.
“Physically, Bête Noire!” Sinjin spat out, sounding frazzled. “Did he touch you?”
“Oh, okay,” I answered with a nod. Then I laughed. “I wasn’t sure what you were referring to…like did you mean what did he do to me or what did he do to me?”
“Just answer the bloody question,” Sinjin responded as he shook his head.
“Well, he definitely touched me!” I said with a laugh and a knowing expression, all the while absolutely loving playing the role of puppeteer for once.
“Where did he touch you and what did he do?” Sinjin insisted, approaching my bed immediately.
I shook my head. “I think it would be better to ask me where didn’t he touch me?”
Sinjin pulled back from me immediately and his eyebrows met in the middle of his forehead in an expression of anger. “Where didn’t he touch you?” he repeated. “What does that mean?”
“I’m sure you’re aware that fae magic is pretty strong right?” I asked.
“I am aware, yes.”
“Well, I drank a shee-it load of that charmed mead,” I started, facing him with wide eyes as I shook my head. Then I focused on my feet as I tried desperately to summon any acting ability I might possess. I took a few deep breaths and then looked up at Sinjin again, who was studying me intently. I bit my lower lip and shook my head, trying to portray someone who was on the verge of tears.
“What is it, Bête Noire?” Sinjin asked in a soft voice. “You can tell me.”
I shook my head again and when I spoke, I made sure my voice was cracking. “It’s just…I drank so much of the mead and it messed with my head! When he got me naked and kissed me all over, I couldn’t say no!” I glanced up at him and scrunched my face into something that I hoped resembled someone crying. “And when I saw what was underneath his kilt! I just…I just couldn’t look away! It was so…so immense!” I looked down at my hands and held them a foot apart. “It was as if someone had gone into the forest and felled the largest tree, something incredibly long and just as wide! But it…it was attached to him, Sinjin! And it moved! It moved like it had a mind of its own!”
“Yes, well,” the vampire muttered but I didn’t give him the chance to continue.
“And when I looked at it…” I shook my head and then brought my hands to my temples, burying my face into my palms. “I knew I shouldn’t want to touch it, to feel it, but I did!” I looked up at him again, continuing to shake my head. “And when he entered me, I felt as if he would split me apart right then and there!”
The alarm on Sinjin’s face suddenly made me lose my composure and I erupted into a fit of laughter. I couldn’t seem to stop myself.
“What?” the vampire started, anger flushing his features. “Why are you laughing?”
“I’m laughing,” I started as I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. “Because your reaction was priceless.”
“I do not understand,” he barked back at me. “Then your story is not true?”
“No, it’s not true,” I said with a frown, my tone of voice suggesting that he was an idiot for ever thinking it was true.
“Then the Scottish ape did not take advantage of you and you are still…intact?”
“Nope, he didn’t take advantage of me and yes, I am still ‘intact’, as you call it,” I said, even though I wondered if the few stolen kisses counted as taking advantage of me. Hmm, probably not. “Nothing happened so you can go back to my sister and tell her there’s nothing to worry about.”
“The queen was not the one who asked me to inquire,” Sinjin responded stonily.
“Then who did?” I asked.
“No one,” he responded and then looked decidedly uncomfortable. “I was curious.”
“Curious?” I repeated, studying him as I narrowed my eyes. I could tell he wasn’t telling the truth.
“Yes, curious.”
I studied him for another few seconds
before I felt a smile break out across my lips. “You weren’t curious. You were jealous.” I was surprised to hear the words come from my mouth but before I could stop them, they were already out.
“I do not care to discuss this matter with you any longer,” Sinjin said and then turned on the ball of his left foot and started for my door. When he reached the door, he paused and then turned back to face me. “And just for the record, I was not jealous.”
“Envious works too,” I called out after his retreating figure.
ELEVEN
Three Months Later
“Rand and I have set a date for our wedding which will be in exactly four months from today,” Jolie announced happily as we walked along the beach just below Kinloch Kirk. She wrapped both of her hands around her swelling middle and faced me with a joyful smile. “Christa, of course, isn’t happy about the announcement because she wanted us to have one big happy wedding with her and John.”
“I’m sure she’ll get over it,” I responded with a smile. I’d met Christa maybe a handful of times and I liked her enough, although I wasn’t convinced she was the sharpest tool in the shed. But she was a good friend to my sister and always had been so it was for that reason that I tolerated her. That and she wasn’t around much which didn’t give her the opportunity to get on my nerves.
“I hope so,” Jolie answered with a sigh as she glanced down at her belly which was just starting to show. “I don’t want to wait too long for the wedding since I’m getting bigger every day. And I don’t want the wedding to be too close to my due date.”
“So in four months’ time, you’ll be, what, eight months along?” I asked as I tried to do the math quickly in my head.
Jolie nodded and then sighed as she glanced out at the ocean. “And I’m sure I’ll be huge and won’t look a bit like a bride.” She didn’t sound happy about that thought.
“Eight months pregnant and huge or not, you’ll still be a beautiful bride,” I answered with a reassuring smile. “And I’m sure Rand thinks you’re even more beautiful with every day that passes.”
“Thanks,” she responded as her eyes found mine again but the expression on her face said she didn’t exactly agree with me. “And, yes, that’s what Rand says, but I’m sure it’s just to make me feel better about the way I look.” She glanced down at herself and shook her head. “I can’t imagine getting any bigger than I already am and I’m only four months along!”
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