Dangerous Gifts

by Mary Jo Putney

  She’d almost given up hope when Lord Ranulph abruptly appeared in front of her, his golden hair drifting in the wind like thistle down. Leah caught her breath at the suddenness. This time he didn’t wear the garb of a fashionable Englishman, but elegant garments of medieval cut, with a sword swinging at his side and dark hose that displayed the powerful muscles of his thighs. He was dangerously masculine, with an untamed light in his green eyes that made him seem far more alien than on their first meeting. But his tone was courteous when he bowed. “You wished to see me, my lady.”

  Setting aside her harp, Leah stood and curtsied. “Your magic is strong, my lord. I went to London, as you arranged, and became very successful, as you predicted.”

  “I know,” he said coolly. “I observed you in London myself.”

  She found the knowledge that he had spied on her disturbing. Had he eavesdropped on her private, tender moments with Duncan? She hated the idea.

  Remembering his ability to read her mind, she tried to suppress the thought, but guessed from his cynical expression that he knew how she felt. She made herself smile. “I won the love of a hero, as you said I could. Soon I will be married. If it is agreeable to you, I would like to settle my debt now.”

  “Your timing is impeccable, Leah.” He stalked across the clearing like a restless golden lion. “If you had not come here today, I would have summoned you.”

  Suppressing her uneasiness, she said, “You told me I would have three choices, my lord. What are they to be?”

  “Can’t you guess what I really want?” He stopped and turned to regard her with drugging eyes. “I want you to become my consort. I want you to live with me in Faerie, surrounded by music and beauty always. I will show you wonders such as you have never imagined. Come to me, Leah.” He extended one long beautiful hand.

  She felt the fierce power of his desire, the dark strength of his magic tugging at her. “No!” she said violently.

  She retreated until the backs of her legs were pressed against the fallen tree. “I don’t belong in your world, Lord Ranulph. I would never agree to such a thing.”

  His uptilted brows arched, and she saw that he was laughing at her. “But you will, my dear girl. It is the best of the choices I offer you.”

  She ran her tongue over her dry lips. “Tell me the other two.

  He began to pace around the glade again, his sword swinging by his side. “You say that you are to be married. Captain Townley, I assume.” Ranulph gave her a glance that demanded a reply.

  “Duncan and I have an understanding,” she said reluctantly. “After he has spoken to my father, our betrothal will be official.”

  “A handsome youth,” Ranulph said musingly. “A warrior hero.”

  Leah nodded warily, not sure where this was leading.

  The faery lord halted at the far side of the clearing and turned to face her. In a voice that chilled her to the bone, he said, “Your second choice, my dearest girl, is to bring me his heart.”

  Leah stared at Ranulph. “What do you mean? The fact that he has pledged me his heart does not mean that I can give it to another. Love isn’t like that.”

  The faery’s eyes narrowed. “I was not speaking in metaphor, Leah. Never fear, I shall make the task easy.” A silver dagger materialized in his hand, the blade glittering wickedly. “This is an enchanted blade. Even a small creature like you will find it easy to slide the dagger between his ribs and cut out his heart when he is dead.”

  “You’re mad!” Shocked beyond words, she gagged, on the verge of vomiting at the horrific image conjured by Ranulph’s words. To look into Duncan’s smiling eyes, then murder him . . . She pressed her hand to her mouth as her stomach heaved.

  Bland as butter, Ranulph continued, “I suggest that you do the deed when on a walk in my wood, so you will not have to go far to deliver your payment. You need not fear retribution from your own kind. Simply weep prettily and claim that you were set upon by a madman who slew your lover. No one will believe that a woman so beautiful, so fragile, so in love, could perform such a bloody deed.”

  He smiled satirically. “After a suitable mourning period, you will be free to seek another husband. That duke who mauled you in his garden, for instance. He was angry then, but I’m sure you could win him back with a single enchanting smile.” Ranulph pressed the silver dagger into her numb hand. The hilt was cool against her palm.

  She stared at the shining weapon, her horror intensifying. “I can’t. I won’t.”

  He tilted his head, wicked, inhuman amusement in his eyes. “I didn’t think you would. That’s why I waited until now. It would take a fierce woman to kill her lover.”

  “You needn’t have waited so long,” she said in a shaking voice. “I could never do such a thing even to a stranger.”

  “You are that sentimental about all mortals?” he said, surprised. “If I had realized the extent of your squeamishness, I would have come to claim you sooner.”

  More than anything else he had done, that statement made Leah realize how utterly alien he was. He simply had no understanding of humans. “What is your last choice—my firstborn child?” she said bitterly. “If you ask that, I swear I shall use your dagger right now.” She raised the weapon in shaking hands and held it to her breast, wondering if she would have the strength to kill herself. He’d said the blade was enchanted. Perhaps it would slide home easily . . .

  Ranulph leaped across the clearing in one bound and wrenched the dagger away from her. “Goddess, and you think I’m insane? ” he said furiously. “I don’t want your life, nor another man’s squalling brat.”

  He tossed the dagger aside. It vanished in midair. More calmly, he said, “A babe fathered by me—now that would be more interesting. The Folk are not prolific, but in an eternity of mating, we are bound to produce a child now and then.”

  He truly intended to own her body and soul. Shaking her head in revulsion, Leah said, “You owe me another choice, Lord Ranulph. Whatever it is, it cannot be as evil as what you have already suggested.”

  He smiled at her, as splendid and amoral as a wild beast. “Your last choice is not evil at all. Such a simple thing.”

  She laced her trembling hands together. “Don’t play with me, my lord,” she said tightly. “Just tell me what you want.”

  “A simple thing,” he repeated. “But, I think, the highest price of all. If you decline the other choices, it will cost you your beauty.”

  Chapter Seven

  Leah stared at Ranulph, her eyes wide and shaken. “My beauty?”

  He winced inwardly at her distress, but it was necessary. He’d set the order of the choices deliberately, knowing that her first reaction to leaving her own kind would be refusal. Only after hearing all the choices would she take his proposal seriously.

  Careful to keep all sympathy from his voice, he said coolly, “Don’t play the fool, Leah. Refuse me, and you’ll become again the plain creature you were before. Dull and colorless, almost invisible. Most people will not really understand the change, though anyone who saw you during your London triumphs will be unable to remember why he thought you such a great beauty then.”

  His voice dropped. “But your suitor will remember. He’ll look at you with shock and revulsion. How many times did Captain Townley praise your beauty? How often did he murmur in your ear about your loveliness? When your beauty vanishes, so will his love. You will live the rest of your life alone and despised.”

  He gave a bored shrug. “I suppose that since masculine honor is involved, you may be able to hold him to the betrothal. In that case, you will have the pleasure of living with a man who despises you for deceiving him.”

  Her eyes, an emerald mirror of his own, filled with tears until she closed them. Her exquisitely expressive face revealed that she was imagining exactly what Ranulph had described: rejection by her lover, a return to her empty existence.

  Judging it time to change his tactics, he said softly, “Now do you understand why I said that becoming my
consort was the best choice? Come with me and I shall give you passion and beauty beyond your wildest imaginings. Great caves shimmering with secret jewels. Forests with a majesty that would humble the greatest human cathedral. We’ll ride the wind and sing the seas, and you shall never regret your decision.”

  Confident that the web of words he’d spun would change Leah’s mind, he stepped forward and took her hand between both of his. Goddess, but she was lovely. He felt himself hardening with desire. Passion would sweep away the last of her doubts.

  He drew her into a kiss. Her mouth was soft, her scent as fresh as spring flowers. He used all his erotic skills, he focused all his desire, weaving an enchantment that would leave her begging for more.

  But it didn’t work. She tore herself away, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand in revulsion. “Do you think I could ever prefer your touch to that of Duncan?” She lifted her harp and clutched it like a talisman against harm. “Perhaps you can cloud my mind with magic, but I will never be your whore voluntarily.”

  He stared at her, shocked that she could resist his sensual spell. Who would have thought that she had such strength? He produced his magic mirror with a snap of his fingers and held it up as a reminder of what she had looked like. Ruthlessly he used an image of her at her worst, with her eyes swollen and her nose pink from crying. “Is this what you choose?” he said cruelly. “Or will it be your lover’s heart?”

  She paled at the image in the mirror, but said resolutely, “Return me to what I was, Lord Ranulph. I was plain all of my life. I . . . I can learn to be plain again.”

  “You don’t know what you’re saying!” he exclaimed, incredulous. “It was bad enough to have no looks before, but now you have known the delights of beauty. The adoration, the power, the fame. To lose those things after briefly tasting them will be infinitely more painful than never to have known them.”

  “Do you think I don’t know that?” she cried out, clutching the harp even tighter. “But I can bear it. I shall have to, since both your other choices are unthinkable. I could never harm Duncan, nor any other innocent. Nor can I give up my whole world to become the slave of a creature who is as beautiful and alien as a tiger.”

  “I want you for my consort, not my slave!” he snapped in a voice like a whip.

  “Isn’t it slavery if I go against my will?” Her mouth twisted. “You and I are made of different stuff, Lord Ranulph. You think beauty more valuable than freedom, more precious than another person’s life. I can no more understand that than you can understand me. Goodbye, my lord. I presume that by the time I reach my home, I will be plain again, and our bargain will be fulfilled.”

  She slipped away from him and headed across the glade. Before entering the woods, she paused to say quietly, “I . . . I’m sorry that I cannot be what you wish.”

  Stunned that she was really leaving, for an instant he stood frozen. Then he gave a wild shout of anger. “No!”

  He flung both arms to the heavens, and thunder boomed from the clear autumn sky, rolling across the wood with a force that shook the trees. Leah flinched, and he saw alarm in her eyes.

  Realizing that if she feared him all hope was gone, he said tightly, “I shall not harm you, Leah. Not now, not ever. If ever you become disenchanted with being plain and lonely and despised, you know how to summon me.”

  She gave a faint nod of her head, but he knew with despair that she would never change her mind. Except for her music, she was as much a mystery to him as he was to her. Was that because she was a mortal, or simply because she was female?

  Saturated with pain, he watched her disappear among the trees. She was gone, and he was alone.

  Then rage returned. With a gesture of his hand, he removed the faery glamour that had dazzled all of London. Viciously he contemplated how her lover would react to the discovery that his ravishing betrothed was now as plain as a barn mouse.

  The restless churn of his anger turned toward Kamana. Damn the treacherous female! Her predictions that Leah would come to him were empty, more of her mocking games. She would answer to him for her lies. She had power, but he was her equal. She would be unable to refuse if he summoned her.

  He closed his eyes and visualized Kamana until her exotic, teasing image was burned in his brain. Then he uttered the words of Power that would bring her to him, against her will if necessary.

  She’d pay for her interference and lies, the traitorous witch. Aye, she’d pay.

  Leah was still shaking when she reached home. Not wanting anyone to see the tears on her face, she crept up the back stairs and into her bedroom.

  Shadow still lay on the bed. At Leah’s entrance, the cat opened her eyes and gazed at her fixedly. Leah tried to smile. “Don’t tell me that you’ll abandon me, too. I would have thought that at least my cat would accept me as I am now.”

  Shadow leaped from the bed and came to rub Leah’s ankles, purring warmly. A little comforted, Leah scratched the cat’s neck.

  Then she turned to her mirror. Any faint hope she’d harbored that Ranulph might not exact his price died. Drab hair, thin figure, ordinary gray-green eyes reddened from tears. She glanced at her left palm. In the center, she could still see the faint iridescent glimmer of the cut Ranulph had made when they’d sealed their bargain. Apparently it would be the only lasting sign of what she had been.

  She inhaled painfully and forced herself to stare at her reflection. Had he made her plainer than before, or did her appearance seem worse because of the contrast to what she had been? No matter. This was the face she was born with, and would die with. She reminded herself that she’d had no real choice. Murder was unthinkable, and so was going into whatever strange, inhuman netherworld Ranulph called home.

  She winced as she remembered Duncan’s worshipful gaze, the number of times he’d told her that she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. He was too much a gentleman to break his pledged word when he saw what she had become, but Ranulph was right. It would be even worse to live with Duncan and know that he despised her than to live without him. She must release him from the betrothal.

  The thought of losing him shattered her last shreds of composure. She threw herself onto the bed, sobbing uncontrollably. Shadow followed and touched her cool nose to Leah’s cheek, but that did nothing to allay the pain. Merciful heaven, Leah would have been better off if she’d never met Ranulph of the Wood, or if she had been wise enough to refuse his damnable bargain.

  Or would she? She rolled onto her side and cradled the cat’s warm, fluffy body. The cost of Ranulph’s bargain had been bitterly high, but she had learned what it was to be beautiful, and that beauty was not an unalloyed blessing. She wouldn’t miss the hungry stares of strangers, or the resentment of other woman.

  Nor would she miss the endless balls and parties. After the first excitement of being admired had worn off, she’d realized that she was simply not a very sociable creature. She preferred a country life with her music and a small circle of friends, and would no longer yearn for the delights of London.

  And Ranulph’s bargain had allowed her to learn the joy of loving. Someday, when the anguish lessened, she would be glad of that.

  But now the wound was still too raw. She buried her face in Shadow’s silken fur and wept.

  Exhausted by tears, Leah dozed. She was jerked awake when one of the housemaids tapped at her door. “Miss Leah, there’s a fine young gentleman called Captain Townley here to see you,” the girl called through the door. She giggled. “He’s just spoken to your father. Is there going to be an announcement?”

  Leah pushed herself upright with a gasp of shock. Dear Lord, Duncan had already arrived and asked her father for her hand! She had thought he wouldn’t come until tomorrow at the earliest. But he was impatient, as she had been.

  She raked her fingers through her hair. She couldn’t possibly see him like this. In fact, perhaps it would be best to write him a note. She’d apologize profusely and say that after serious consideration she had d
ecided that they would not suit.

  An image appeared in her mind of what his expression would be when he read such a letter. She realized that Shadow was staring at her, disapproval in the great golden eyes. The cat was right. It would be unforgivable to take the coward’s way out and leave Duncan to a lifetime of wondering what had gone wrong. When he saw her, his love would evaporate painlessly, leaving him free of the misery that tormented her. She could find some small solace in that.

  “Miss Leah?” the maid called again. “Aren’t you in there?”

  “Ask Captain Townley to wait in the morning room,” Leah replied in a strained voice. “I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

  She went to her washstand and splashed her face with cold water to reduce the redness. For pride’s sake, she would look no worse than absolutely necessary. Luckily, her apple green gown was very pretty, one of her London acquisitions, and it made the best of her slight figure and fair complexion. Her hair was a disaster, so she combed it out and tied it back simply with a green ribbon, leaving it soft around her face.

  Shadow was watching again. In her mind, Leah heard the words Beauty is as much confidence as it is physical perfection.

  Leah blinked, realizing that was true. Lady Wheaton was not a classic beauty, but her graceful posture and confidence always made heads turn when she entered a room. Leah had carried herself differently after she’d become accustomed to her faery beauty.

  Remembering how she had felt when she made an entrance and known that all eyes were on her, she raised her head proudly. She would not hold Duncan against his will, and she would not weep in front of him.

  Farewell. Shadow was suddenly next to Leah, the golden eyes somber.

  Leah swallowed hard at this unexpected loss. “I’m going to lose you, too, aren’t I? You came with Ranulph’s magic, and now you must leave since it is gone.”