From over her head, I saw Robert beeline straight for Aveen. The man had the gall to try and warn her away from me. Where’d he get off, sticking his nose in my business? He didn’t see me going around the place telling every woman what I thought of him, did he?
Eithne batted her thick lashes, drawing me back to the situation at hand. I could deal with Robert later. “What would your husband think?” I asked, forcing myself to pay attention.
Eithne’s giggle left my stomach lurching. “What he doesn’t know,” she whispered, pressing a gloved finger to her lips.
This sort of shite happened more often than not—the joys of marrying for money, wealth, and position over a genuine connection. I stepped closer to the doorway, a breeze kicking up at my back. “The gardens look lovely this evening, don’t they?”
“Perfect for a moonlit stroll,” Eithne agreed, offering a pointed look before sinking into the night.
I finished my drink, abandoned the glass on the closest windowsill, and started after her.Just shy of midnight.Perfect timing.
I caught up to her by the path, tugging her deeper and deeper into the garden until we reached a trellis of budding roses. When Eithne caught my cravat and dragged my mouth to hers, a different face flashed in my mind. Aveen was all I could smell. Aveen was all I could think of.
Kissing this woman was like trying to catch a feckin’ salmon with bare hands. Wriggling and thrashing and wet.
I came up for air, trying not to make it obvious I needed to wipe my mouth and doing my best not to gag. Eithne took the opportunity to tug at my belt, but I had no intention of being caught with my cock out when Ned came by. He’d never let me live it down.
In the distance, I heard footsteps, too light to belong to Ned. When I told Eithne I would be right back, she licked her lips and told me to hurry.
I found Aveen stomping through the gravel, scowling toward the garden.
I had one job to do tonight, and if this woman didn’t get her arse back into the feckin’ ball, she wouldn’t live to see tomorrow.
Ned knew there was to be a woman in the garden at midnight, but if he found two, I knew he’d try to take them both.
I evanesced to a bench closer to the house, removing my glamour. I didn’t want to be someone else with her. For a few minutes, I just wanted to be me. “Spying is terribly rude,” I said.
Aveen’s skirts billowed when she whirled. I swore I could taste the anger rolling off her in waves. When she saw me, she startled, her gaze raking down my face with such intensity, it felt like flames licking my skin.
“These are my gardens,” Aveen insisted. “I suggest you take your tryst someplace else.”
“And I suggest you go back to the party.”
She propped her fists against her hips, leaning forward until we were nose to nose. “Lady Eithne is married, you know. She has a husband right inside.”
As if I cared whether the woman was married or not when she had sent an innocent man to his death. “That sounds like her problem, not mine.”
“I should’ve known a . . . a man so lacking in morals wouldn’t care about sacred vows.”
“Ah, here now. If you’re jealous, I’d be more than happy to show you how lacking in morals I really am once I finish out here.” As soon as Eithne was dead, I could meet her in her chambers. Was there any icing left?
“I’m not jealous.”
The lie tasted of honeysuckle and sugar. Shewasjealous. Over me. The realization shouldn’t have sent a thrill up my spine. “Liar.”
Before I could force her to return to the house, the ground beneath my boots trembled. The telltalethump thump thumpof hooves pounded the earth.
The heavy fog of death lingering on a carrion breeze burned my nostrils.
Aveen stood there scowling as if she hadn’t heard or smelled any of it. “You are the worst person I have ever—”
Ned was coming.
Ned was here.
Ned was going to find Aveen.
I evanesced, stifling Aveen’s insult with my hand, dragging her against me and pulling her as far into the laurels as I could. My magic slipped free. I hoped it would be enough to conceal her from Ned. I swore I felt my heart thundering. Or maybe it was just Aveen’s hammering through her body to mine.