Shit. Aveen’s father.Shit. Shit. Shit.
“I’ve been hoping to speak with you regarding—Keelynn?”
I needed to get the hell out of here. To evanesce. He’d already seen me, but Edward DeWarn didn’t exist.
If Aveen found out, I’d ruined her sister . . .
It doesn’t matter.She already hates you.
Her sister’s tears glistened in the moonlight. This was bad. So feckin’ bad. “Father . . . I . . . We . . .”
“What is the meaning of this?” the man bellowed right in my good feckin’ ear.
“It’s not what it looks like, sir.” Not that the truth mattered in these situations. Still, I hoped he was a reasonable man.
What was I saying? He’d forced Aveen to marry Robert Trench.
“This caught on her dress and—”
The man caught me by the collar. I swallowed every instinct telling me to make him pay for his insolence. I could kill them both. Make it look like an accident. Murder-suicide over his daughter’s death.
What was wrong with me? I couldn’t kill my soulmate’s entire feckin’ family.
“Youdarecome into my home and accostmy daughter?” Lord Bannon snarled, spittle flying against my face.
It was some effort to keep the glamour in place and add a tremble to my voice that didn’t sound murderous. “It was an accident. I swear.”
Why wasn’t the girl saying anything? Had she been out to trap me all along?What was the point in any of this if she didn’t marry Robert?
“What good is the word of a scheming bastard who lured an innocent young woman into the shadows without a chaperone?”
“Father, please,” a tiny voice came from behind him. “This is all a misunderstanding.”
Finally. She speaks.“It’s true, sir,” I said. “A simple misunderstanding.”
Lord Bannon shoved me. My spine slammed against the wall. “I misunderstand nothing,” he snarled.
“My dress ripped,” the sister continued. “And . . . And the ambassador was offering me his coat until I could change. That’s all. Father, please. You must believe me. I’m telling the truth.”
A believable lie, even if the delivery left something to be desired.
“The truth?” Lord Bannon cursed. “You think that matters in these situations? When people hear about this, she will be ruined. No one will want her.”
No one wanted hernow. If Robert cared for her at all, he would’ve agreed to marry her. Had he? No. And now, here I was, with my back literally against a feckin’ wall.
If I evanesced while he held me, I’d bring him too. I needed to get him to let me go. I needed to play along. “I understand how this unfortunate situation could affect Keelynn’s prospects for a husband. I am happy to make this right.”
The man’s fingers still gripping me loosened.
“That’s madness!” Aveen’s sister cried, clawing at her father’s arm. “No one saw us. No one has to know.”
Lord Bannon let me go, then pried her fingers free, turning toward a door beyond the window.Once we were out of sight, I’d vanish. He’d tell no one for fear of people thinking he was mad. I’d return to Tearmann and never have to see any of these awful humans ever again.
A pair of ice-blue eyes flashed in my mind.Help her.
I’m not the hero,I wanted to shout.I’m not selfless or kind or good.Hadn’t I already proven that time and again? Why the hell would I even consider doing something to help a woman who wanted nothing to do with me?
I didn’t want to letherdown.