I sighed. “At last we get down to business.”
“If we must. So. I gather you want to remove this girl from him.”
“Yes.”
“And how are you doing this? With your servants and that human?”
“Yes.”
Now Dorian didn’t say anything.
“Hey, I know it’s crazy, but I don’t have any choice.”
“Which is why you come to me.”
I nodded, and at long last, I saw the wisdom of Volusian’s plan. If Dorian really could destroy this castle, he’d be a pretty good asset on a rescue mission.
“Despite my compelling story about protecting my own kind, you actually think I would go against Aeson.”
“Volusian-my servant-told me you two don’t get along.”
“He’s right. Aeson is one of our strongest leaders, but I don’t like the way he rules or deals with his so- called allies. Yet, that doesn’t mean I can walk over there with you and openly oppose him.”
“But you said earlier-”
“That I would help. I still will. I’m just not going to do so in person.”
Whatever kindly feelings I’d been building toward him disappeared. My voice turned icy. “Okay, so what are you going to do?”
“I have a servant here who used to be one of Aeson’s men. I’ll send him with you as a guide.”
“What good is that? My spirits already know the way.”
“They don’t know the back ways. My servant knows the place intimately. He is far more likely to get you in unseen. I don’t know much about human tactics, but I imagine even in your world, subtle and stealthy is safer than marching in openly. Especially when you’re outnumbered.”
I slouched back in the chair. “I suppose.”
“Now you’re pouting,” he teased.
“No, I’m not.”
“I don’t mind. It’s charming.”
“No, it’s not.”
He touched my chin to turn my face toward his. “It is. But it’s still unwarranted. Would you have helped me even a little if I’d come to you in a similar way?”
“No.” I didn’t even try to make a pretense otherwise.
He withdrew his hand, still smiling. “We are all honest tonight. Well, then. I suppose I should introduce you to Gawyn.”
“Wait,” I said. I stood up uncertainly. All of this honesty talk had put me in mind of Kiyo. So had the sex talk. Okay, everything made me think about Kiyo lately.
“You have another question?”
I studied Dorian carefully. He was one of the gentry, but something about this brief encounter made him… well, if not exactly trustworthy, then less untrustworthy. And really, he was the closest thing I might have to a true gentry resource.
“Yes. I do.”
I took off my jacket and then turned around, facing away from him. I wore no backless tank top today and had to completely pull off the long-sleeved shirt I had on. After a moment’s consideration, I took off my bra too.
“Oh,” said Dorian. “I think I’m going to like this question.”
I wrapped my arms around my breasts, still keeping my back to him. “Do you see the scratches?”
“Of course.”
“Do you know what they are? I think something Otherworldly made them.”
I heard him stand up and approach me. Moments later, his fingertips lightly grazed the marks, following their tracks. His touch was slow and considering, one that truly sought to feel me. It shouldn’t have been erotic-for a lot of reasons-but it was anyway. His fingers trailed all the way down the scratches and then back up.
“I can’t tell you what made them,” he said at last, “but I can tell you they were magically inflicted. If I had to guess…I’d say you’ve been marked.”
“Marked how?”
“I think whoever-or whatever-made these did so to track you. As long as these are on you, the maker can find you.”
I shivered, and it had nothing to do with being topless or the fact that his fingers were still on me. “Can you get rid of them?”
“No. They might eventually go away on their own, but I can’t tell you when. Who made them?”
I hesitated. “A man.”
Dorian spread his fingers out so that his palms were facedown on my back. “I’d be hard-pressed to scratch you like that standing here. I’d need to have my arms around you.”
I didn’t answer.
I could feel his soft laughter against my skin, and somehow, he now stood closer. “Why, Eugenie Markham, slayer of gentry, what have you done?”
“I don’t know.”
He ran his hands down my back until they rested on my hips. “And that’s killing you, isn’t it? That you might have let something you despise touch you like that. Did you enjoy it?”
“None of your business. And you’re standing too close.” I turned around, still wrapping my arms around me as I stepped away. “The inspection’s over.”
“If you wish. I’m not sure you really want it to be over.”
“I don’t do…” I stopped.
“Gentry?” He stepped forward again, resting his hands on my arms, holding more tightly than he needed to-not that he needed to be touching me at all anymore. I should have decked him, but I didn’t. He had considerable height on me but had to lean down to close the distance between our faces. He smelled like cinnamon. “You know, in spite of your deadly reputation, any man in this keep would bring you the world to be your lover. Come to my bed tonight, and I’ll take you to Aeson myself. I’ll fight by your side.”
I stared up at him, half tempted. I needed the help. And he wasn’t too hard on the eyes. But I couldn’t do it, no matter how reasonable he’d seemed tonight. I had gone to Kiyo unwittingly. I couldn’t have sex with another of the gentry, knowing exactly what he was. That instinct wouldn’t budge.
“No. You have plenty of women out there,” I said lightly. “You don’t need me.”
“None of them will conceive like you. Your body promises many children.”
“Not likely. I’m on the pill.”
“The what?”
I explained it to him, and while he didn’t back away from me, his eyes looked like he wanted to. He sighed. “I don’t understand humans. You’re gifted with fecundity, yet you stifle it.”
“The world’s overpopulated. And I’m not ready for a baby.”
“I don’t understand humans,” he repeated.
“And here I thought we’d made such progress. I guess you can let go of me now.”
“My offer still stands.”
I felt my eyebrows rise. “Even with no chance of pregnancy?”
“Don’t discount your many charms. I’d still sleep with you for other reasons.”
“Like what? I mean, aside from the fact you’d probably sleep with anything female.”
He looked down at me and then back up to my face, giving me the feeling I wasn’t covering my breasts very well. “I won’t bother with the obvious things,” he said. “Honestly the main reason…well, in one night, I think I might have convinced you that not all gentry are monsters. Might. You still have a long way to go. But you’ve already been intimate with one-or something else from this world-and you can’t stop thinking about it. And not because you hated it. You’ll mix that with what you’ve seen tonight, and then you really won’t know what to think.
