“Implications don’t hold up in court, my dear.” The cake left behind a greasy residue on my fingers. If I didn’t clean them, I could stain my clothes. Edward and I both had an aversion to stains. I dragged a serviette from the coffee table to clean my hands. When I sat back, I found her still staring at my mouth. “If you want to kiss me again, all you have to do is ask.”
She shook her head, as if breaking out of a trance, wide blue eyes flying to mine. “I’d rather see your dagger.”
This woman. She was funny. Pity my mother was bound to destroy her. “That can be arranged.”
Aveen shifted closer, her hands falling to my shoulders as she lifted to her knees and leaned forward until I could taste the sweetness of her breath.“Rían?”
What was it about the way she said my name? “Yes, Aveen?”
Chills slid down my spine when her fingertips grazed the hair by my ears. “Get out of my house.”
She thought she could tease me?Foolish human. Two could play that game. I slipped a hand to the back of her neck, beneath her curls, my lips skimming her thrumming pulse. “I’ll be back.”
I evanesced to the garden, remaining close enough to hear Aveen let out an indignant sound.
The sister came in a moment later, asking what Aveen was doing, and she told some lie about a hair pin that left my lips curling into a smile. A smile I quickly squashed.
I didn’t want to like the human, let alone care for her.
I could handle attraction. Get it out of my system.
Caring?
Far too dangerous.
A vulnerability I couldn’t afford.
5
I foundmy brother bent over the desk in the study, his head in his hands and a telltale bottle of puítin open at his elbow. He didn’t bother looking up when I crossed the threshold.
“What do I need to know?” I asked, sinking onto the edge of the desk so that he had to acknowledge my presence and plugging the decanter to keep the smell of that rot from giving me a headache first thing in the morning.
Tadhg slid a sheet of parchment toward me. “The usual. Another trial in some shite town on the east coast.”
“Which shite town would that be?” All the towns in Airren were shite if you asked me.
“See for yourself.”
I collected the missive, scanning the scrawled words for a location.Graystones. Two Danú were to be tried, one of whom happened to be Molls Gardner.
“With the trial today, there’ll likely be executions set for tomorrow or the next day,” Tadhg went on. “Seeing as Ruairi is already in Guaire, he can just swing by—”
“Ruairi is useless. I’ll go.”
For the first time since I’d come in, Tadhg raised his head. His bloodshot green eyes swirled with shadows. The ledger of the lives he’d claimed with his curse sat at his elbow. I’d bet my new waistcoat that if I checked the storeroom where he kept the bodies, there’d be one more than there was yesterday.
“Why would you volunteer? You never volunteer to do anything,” he said.
That wasn’t entirely true. I’d volunteered to murder him on more than one occasion. “I need to visit my source,” I told him. “This way, I can kill two birds or whatever shite they’re saying nowadays.”
He grabbed the decanter, popped the top, and lifted it to his lips. His throat bobbed as he drank. After he slammed it back onto the desk, he used his shirtsleeve to clean the drops from his mouth. “Are you ever going to tell me who it is?”
“Not a feckin’ hope.” If my brother knew half the shite I did, there’d be no hope of him keeping it to himself. Even if he did have the best of intentions—and he most assuredly didnot—his truth curse was a liability. The less people knew, the better for everyone involved. Meaning me. The better for me.
“Swing by Guaire first. Bring Ruairi with you.”
“Why on earth would I want that animal tagging along?”