Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 99206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
“I wanted to hear for myself.”
“You do not trust me to tell you all?” he asked, lowering her to the ground but keeping firm hands on her small waist.
“Nay,” she said softly. “I trust you, but . . .” She turned her head from him.
“Reena,” he said gently and forced her to look at him. “Tell me.”
The traitorous tears she feared would spill started, and she could not fight them.
He wiped them away one by one. “Tell me, Reena.”
She answered with reluctance. “I had to listen for myself and hear so that I could protect you. I could not bear to lose you.”
Magnus leaned down and kissed her with a tenderness that made her spill more tears. “You will not lose me.”
“Aye, I will not,” she said adamantly. “I will be by your side when you visit with Kilkern.”
Her tears were as stubborn as she was, and he wiped them away, only to have more follow. “You will not be with me.” He held up his hand before she could argue. “You will not go with me, and you will not hide and travel along in secret or follow in secret.”
“I will not remain behind,” she said, as if threat-ening.
He raised a brow. “How foolish would it be to take you with me when you are the very person who could help him achieve his goal?”
“How foolish of you to go to him when you know it is a trap?”
“Do you think me a fool?”
“Nay—” She stopped and stared at him. “You have a plan.”
He nodded.
Excitement stirred in her. “You will tell me of this plan?”
“For your own safety, it is better you do not know.”
Her excitement quickly deflated, replaced by annoyance. “Should I not have a choice in this matter, since it is me he seeks?”
“Nay, this is between Kilkern and me, and I will have no interference,” he warned in a sharp tone.
Reena would not concede. “You do as you must and I will do what I must.”
“Reena,” he warned again, his dark eyes swirling with a mist of anger that would soon erupt if she was not careful.
“This argument needs to wait for another time,” said the familiar harsh voice of the Dark One from the shadows. “There is someone who needs your immediate help.”
Chapter 30
The three retired to the solar, the Dark One finding his own passage there while Reena and Magnus climbed the stairs. Once inside, the door was latched, more candles lit, and questions asked.
Magnus looked to the darkest recesses of the room.
“I am here,” the deep voice confirmed.
“Then tell me what this is about. Who needs my immediate attention?”
“Mary.”
“What of Mary?” Magnus asked, his body tense, his eyes focused on the dark, shadowed corner.
Reena walked to stand closer to Magnus, at a distance where she could at least reach her hand out to him if need be.
“I will tell you all that I know.” His deep voice lost some of its harshness as he spoke. “I met with a man who told me that he was a friend of Mary’s family and that she is in immediate danger. She has been safely hidden for over ten years due to the generosity of her benefactor, but those who wish her harm are close to discovering her whereabouts.
“He does not know her location, only that there are three possible places the woman could be hiding, and it is imperative that she be found before it is too late.”
“When I sought a safe shelter for Mary, I purposely misdirected my path so that none would be able to find her,” Magnus said.
“I found Mary’s true location.”
Reena’s hand went out to Magnus, and he took firm hold of it as soon as he felt the brush of her skin against his.
“And what did you do with this information?”
“I kept it to myself until I could discover if this man spoke truthfully to me or if he himself meant the woman harm.”
“He confided the truth to you without any persuasion?”
“He needed no persuasion. He was visibly upset when I reported my findings to him and he confessed that two men were after Mary, one protected and the other was out to do her harm. Knowing both men’s reputations, he did not feel that either could be trusted, so he sought my help. He asked that I take Mary to a safe place until he could determine her true benefactor and seek his help.”
“And you returned here because I am one of the men whose name was mentioned.”
“Aye, you were one of the two.”
“And the other?” Magnus asked.
“Decimus.”
Reena felt Magnus tense, and she tightened her grip on his hand.
“I fear he will find her soon, which is the reason I returned here. You have much that concerns you now and it would not be wise for you to leave here. I can see to this matter for you and take Mary somewhere where she will be safe and where no one will find her.”