She smiled to herself, thinking about how some things never changed, even two hundred years later. “That sounds great. Thank you, Your Grace.”
“My pleasure. Oliver?”
“I’ll take care of her, Father.” He led her out of the study. “Have you ever been to England before?” Oliver asked as they walked down the hallway.
She bit her tongue just in time. “No, this is my first trip.” In this century.
“It’s very different from America.” They turned a corner and walked toward the main foyer.
“I’m sure it is.”
Oliver opened his mouth, but stopped when they heard voices coming from the end of the hall.
“… you know where to find me, Duncan.” Charity sighed and placed a hand on his chest. “You know I’m always ready and willing to—”
Oliver cleared his throat to announce their presence. While Charity didn’t pay them any mind, Duncan’s entire body tensed when he saw them, but made no move to step away from the other she-wolf. “Done with your meeting?” he asked in a casual tone.
“Yes.” Though what she really wanted to say was, why is this bitch still touching you? “I’m really tired, I’d love to take a nap before dinner. Oliver?”
“I’ll show you to your room, of course.”
As they walked by, neither Duncan nor Charity said anything, and Julianna held her head high, not minding them. Easier said than done, when all she wanted to do was rip that bitch’s head off. And Duncan! He just let her grab him all over. Didn’t stop her, didn’t even try to conduct their intimate chat somewhere private. Nor did he mention she was his True Mate.
In fact, he hadn’t mentioned it once since they got here. Not to anyone.
“Julianna?”
Oliver’s concerned tone jolted her out of her thoughts. “Yes?”
“We’re here.”
They stood outside one of the doors in the long hallway on the upper floor of the house. She recognized it, because it had been Elise’s room when they were here. Glancing down the hallway, she saw her own room a few doors down. Thank goodness she wasn’t assigned there, because she wasn’t sure she was ready, and today was already taxing as it is.
“Your luggage should be inside,” he said. “But if you’re missing anything, just use the intercom, and someone will come help you.”
“Thank you, Oliver.” She paused, waiting for him to leave, but he didn’t budge. “Was there anything else?”
“Yes.” He hesitated. “About Charity. I hope you don’t think I’m overstepping, but I sensed some tension—”
“Are you going to tell me that she’s harmless?” she asked in a challenging tone. “And that I shouldn’t mind her?”
“Gads, no.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I was going to say, don’t trust her.”
Now that caught her by surprise. “But she’s one of your clan members.”
“I can trust her when it comes to clan matters,” he clarified. “However, she can be a bit … single-minded when it comes to her goals.”
And was one of her goals landing Duncan? Unless she already did. “I … thank you, Oliver, I’ll keep that in mind.”
He bid her goodbye, and she walked inside, then leaned on the door as it closed behind her. Closing her eyes, she took a deep, calming breath.
Not that it worked, because all she could think about was Charity and her greedy little hands all over Duncan. Her wolf too was seething and urging her to go and wipe the floor with the bitch’s face.
There was obviously some history there, and while she wasn’t one to slut-shame anybody, having her own past, she couldn’t help but feel … betrayed? Used? Did Duncan really come here to protect her? Or to rekindle his romance with Charity? A seed of doubt had planted in her mind.
You don’t even want him, she told herself. No, not exactly. She didn’t want a True Mate and all the expectations and baggage that came with it.
“Argh!” She threw her hands up in frustration and walked over to the bed. One good thing was that at least her coming back to Huntington Park hadn’t triggered that dark mood. Though she had been dreading coming here, seeing everything so different made it easier not to think of this place as it had been two hundred years ago.
She wondered how Reed and Elise were faring. Would they go see everyone’s graves today? Or would they wait a bit?
A ringing sound jolted her out of her thoughts and made her reach for her phone. Checking the screen, she saw that it was time for her call with Lucas before he went to work. They had exchanged emails but hadn’t really sat down to talk. She sent him a text to give her five minutes, then set up her laptop and clicked on her video call app.
The blank screen lit up as soon as the call connected, and her brother’s face popped up on screen. Much to her surprise, his wife, Sofia was next to him.
“Hey, how’s it going guys?”
“How’s it going, guys?” Sofia huffed. “That’s all you have to say after sending us an email saying that the mages attacked?”
Her sister-in-law’s tone made her wince. “Um, sorry? I knew we were going to chat today, so I thought I’d save the story for when we were face-to-face.” She looked at her brother accusingly. “Are you making Sofia do your dirty work now?”
Lucas put his hands up in surrender. “Hey, she was the one who insisted on being on this call when I told her about your email.”
“I swear to God, I nearly gave birth on the spot. I had to see you were okay.” Sofia exclaimed. “How are you? What happened? Everything okay? How’s Elise and Reed?”
Julianna took a breath and told them everything that had happened since they arrived. Well, almost everything. She left the part about Duncan being her supposed True Mate and the painting, because frankly, she didn’t think Sofia could take any more excitement. “… and you’ll be happy to know that the Alpha of London has also agreed to an alliance.”
“That’s great news, Julianna,” he said. “I knew you could do it.”
“I had every faith in you,” Sofia interjected. “Now, maybe you should come home and—”
“No!” That came out more forceful than she wanted it to. “I mean, I should finish our trip. The Alpha’s hosting us for a few more days. It would be rude to just up and leave.”
“I suppose.” Lucas sighed. “We should plan out your next trips. I’m thinking we have that side of the world covered, you could go to Asia or Australia next. But”—he rose up from his seat—“I should get to the office.” He leaned down and kissed Sofia on the cheek. “Daric’s coming in today for a meeting, I’ll definitely let him know about the Royal Archives and the Caelkirk clan’s warlock friend.”
She waved goodbye to her brother and was about to close the laptop down when Sofia held up a hand.
“Wait,” she said. “Don’t log off yet.”
“What is it? Is something wrong? The baby?”
“I’m fine,” Sofia said. “But, now that Lucas is gone, tell me what’s bothering you.”
Julianna crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh, is this an interrogation, Detective?”
Her intelligent blue-gray eyes narrowed at her. “You just seem … I don’t know. Off.”
Could Sofia tell she was lying? “I’m fine.”
“You know, I didn’t have any brothers and sisters, but I like to think that you, Adrianna, and Isabelle are my sisters now,” she began. “I hope you can tell me what’s on your mind.”
She knew Sofia was sincere, and frankly, she felt the same about her. But this whole thing … she just didn’t know what to say. It might take an entire day to tell Sofia about Duncan and what she was feeling right now. “I’m sorry. I just can’t right now.”
Sofia let out a resigned sigh. “I suppose I’m two for two with the Anderson siblings right now.”
“Two for two?”
“Isabelle.” Sofia’s nose wrinkled. “She’s acting weird. I don’t know. But she won’t tell me what’s going on with her.”
H
er protective instincts flared. Maybe it was being away from her annoying sister, but if there was something wrong with Isabelle, she had to know. “What happened?”
“She’s been skipping out on dinners. Sometimes she’ll go missing for a few hours, and no one can track her down.” Sofia sat her chin on her palms. “She forgot she volunteered to throw me a baby shower.”
“What? Oh no.” She felt terrible. “I’m sorry, Sofia. Isabelle can be self-centered sometimes. Maybe she was having a bad hair day.” She felt so bad for Sofia. “I’ll throw you a shower when I get home,” she promised.
“Really?”
She knew next to nothing about babies or showers, but she would manage. And she’d make Isabelle plan it with her after giving her a piece of her mind. “Listen, I should go.”
“All right,” Sofia said. “I’ll let you go. But if you need to talk—”
“You’re the first call I’ll make.”
They said their goodbyes, and Julianna shut the laptop lid. Walking over to the bed, she plopped down. There was time for a quick nap, then she would have to go downstairs and face everyone. She closed her eyes, and sleep came easily.
She woke up feeling disoriented, and for a moment, Julianna thought she was somewhere else.
“Jane?” she called. “Jane, is that you?”
When she opened her eyes and stared up at the canopy of her four-poster bed, it hit her. Jane was gone. Turned to dust by now. So was everyone else she had known within the walls of this grand house. Their faces flashed across her mind. Eleanor. Jeremy. The dowager. William. Rossi. Jane.
Her lungs stopped working, and her chest felt like it was caving in. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out, not even a gasp as that gloomy feeling took over.
Hands clawed at the sheets, pulling them off as she rolled over and landed on the floor with a loud thud. Air rushed into her body, and she could breathe again.
In. Out. In. Out.
As oxygen filled her lungs, she realized where she was. And when she was.
She closed her eyes again.
Some might say she had some form of PTSD from her time travel experiences. Maybe she needed some professional help, but how could she explain to a shrink—or anyone, really—that she was feeling depressed because she met some people who had become dear to her, then they were gone in a flash?
It was silly anyway. They all lived full lives and then they died. That was how the world worked. It sucked for her that she had felt close to them, and now they were gone. But she had to move on. It’s okay to miss them, Reed had said.
But some days, it was just too hard, and she couldn’t let that dark, depressive feeling take over because she didn’t want to lose control. It had been bad before, but today had been the worst. Even her wolf, her constant companion since she was thirteen years old, didn’t know why she was feeling this way. It didn’t understand why these memories were making her feel so sad. Maybe she should go home and just leave everything behind.
The alarm on her phone going off jolted her out of the deep recesses of her mind. Slowly, she got up and opened her suitcase to get ready for dinner.
A shower and fresh change of clothes had helped somewhat. Hopefully it wasn’t a formal dinner, as she put on a simple pencil-cut skirt and a green silk blouse. After applying some makeup, she headed downstairs to the library, which thankfully, was still in the same place as before. The Alpha, Reed, and Elise were there, talking to a couple of people that she guessed were members of the clan. Duncan was absent, but it was early still for dinner.
“Are you all right, Julianna?” Elise asked when they found themselves alone, as the Alpha wanted to show Reed some important document.
“Huh?” Did she sense something was off? “Me? Yeah, I’m good.”
The hybrid frowned. “I know it can’t be easy for you. It wasn’t for Reed.” She glanced over at her husband. “We went to visit the graves this afternoon.”
She swallowed. “How was it?” Though she didn’t want to know—didn’t even want to think about them—she asked anyway because that seemed polite.
“It was terrible,” Elise admitted. “Reed … he’s barely keeping it together.”
Julianna had no plans of visiting their graves, and she definitely wasn’t going to now.
“But ultimately, I think it’s good for him,” Elise continued. “To start the healing process. I think … I think you should go too.”
Her heart clenched. “What? No, I’m fine,” she insisted. “I don’t need—”
“You’ve been having a hard time dealing with this too,” Elise said. “Maybe you need to—”
“I said I’m fine.” How did she know? Julianna clenched her fists at her sides. This was something she had to get over by herself. Just needed some distraction and—
Her entire body went tense as Duncan entered the room. But he wasn’t alone. Charity was beside him, looking like the cat that got the cream. Once again, her arm was wrapped around his, but he delicately removed it as he started walking toward them.
“Are you all right?” His eyes narrowed at her.
“I’m great,” she snapped. “Good thing you found the time to join us.”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
Before she could answer, Wadsworth the butler announced that dinner was ready. She didn’t bother waiting for anyone and headed straight for the dining room. However, in her haste, she bumped into Oliver.
“Oomph, sorry.” While he wasn’t as large as Duncan, he was still solid, plus the momentum caused her to stagger back. Oliver reached out and grabbed her by the waist to stop her from falling over.
“Fancy bumping into you here,” he quipped.
“Ha ha.” Oliver was handsome in that smooth and dashing James Bond kind of way, but he just didn’t do anything for her. Maybe it was because he reminded her too much of Reed—who was like a brother to her—or maybe because he was Reed’s descendant. Well, technically, Duncan was too.
“Excuse me.”
Speak of the devil. Duncan was standing behind them, an inscrutable look on his face.
“Oh, sorry, looks like we’re holding everyone up.” He let go of Julianna, but offered her his arm. “Shall we?”
“Let’s.” She took his arm and allowed him to lead her into the dining room, not even glancing back at Duncan, though she could feel his gaze burning a hole in her back. Oliver sat her down near the head of the table and took the seat next to her. Reed and Elise were across from her, next to Duncan. Unfortunately, the seat beside him was empty, and of course, Charity took it.
Great. Just what she wanted. A front row seat to the Duncan and Charity show.
“Duncan,” Charity sunk her claws into his arm. “Do you remember that cute little bar in Brixton we went to for your birthday?”
Ah, the curtains just went up. Julianna reached for her wine glass and took a sip.
“I recall Oliver and Alan were there too,” Duncan said. “And your boyfriend. What was his name? Jason? Johnson?”
She laughed, a sound that grated on Julianna’s ears. “James.”
Fucking how much of this did she have to endure? Taking another big gulp of wine, she concentrated on the short buzz the alcohol gave her before it burned off.
“Did you find your rooms all right?” Oliver asked.
“The room is beautiful,” she said. “And very comfortable. In fact, it was so comfortable that I almost didn’t wake up after my nap.”
“I’m glad.” He was studying her again, his brows drawing together. “I still can’t put my finger on it … why you look so familiar.”
“Er, maybe I just have one of those faces?” She took another sip of wine. Did he see the painting too? Come to think of it, Duncan never told her about how Rossi’s portrait ended up in Caelkirk, and she never really thought about it until now. Maybe Oliver had seen the painting when he visited Duncan. “So, what do you do, Oliver?”
As Oliver talked about his job in London at a hedge fund
, she tried to listen and give her full attention to him. Of course, it was difficult, because Charity’s tittering voice kept ringing in her ear, and the urge to glance over to them was too strong. The one time she did, she immediately turned her head away because Charity and Duncan’s heads were bent close together, and her wolf wanted to leap out and claw the bitch’s eyes out.
“That sounds fascinating,” she said, almost mimicking Charity’s voice.
“Really?” Oliver raised a brow. “You’re interested in accelerated share repurchase in the European markets?”
Heat crept up her neck. “I … Sorry.” She took another swig of wine. “I’m an idiot.”
He chuckled. “It’s all right.” His eyes darted across the table, then his face changed expression. “I hope you remember what I said earlier.”
“About not trusting Charity?”
“Yes.” He sipped on his own wine. “And don’t judge Duncan too harshly.”
“Don’t judge …” That pit in her stomach grew. Did Oliver confirm her suspicions about the two of them? “Duncan’s none of my business.”
“If you say so.”
The rest of the meal passed without any more conversation from her as she concentrated on the food. Of course, it all tasted like ashes in her mouth as she could see from the corner of her eye how Charity was manipulating the conversation so only she, Duncan, and occasionally Oliver, could join, totally excluding anyone else.
Finally, the dinner was over, and Julianna wanted to shout hooray. Another moment in this dining room and she would have gone bonkers.
“How about we all head into the city for a night out after dinner?” Oliver asked as the plates were being cleared away. A few of the London wolves agreed.
“You go ahead,” the Alpha said. “Show our guests a nice time out.”
“Maybe one drink?” Reed looked at his wife.
“I guess an hour or two won’t be bad,” she said. “Julianna?”
A night away from this place and Duncan was exactly what she needed. “I’ll grab my coat.” It was a good excuse to leave the dining room, and she took her time going to her room to grab her purse and coat. She was coming down the stairs to wait in the foyer, but when she saw who was waiting there, she nearly turned around.
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