She smiled. “It’s a pleasure.”
Lovelace seemed flustered. His gaze kept slipping to her belly. “We must get you off your feet.” He motioned toward the castle. “Come. I’ve set out tea. I’m so happy you’re here. There’s been no joy in this castle for decades. It’s about time we had tiny feet pattering around again.”
It took Lovelace several steps to realize we weren’t following. He stopped and turned back, one brow lifting in question.
Sampson stepped forward, taking a protective stance in front of Lea-Nina. “We aren’t staying, Lovelace. Stop pretending this is anything but extortion. She’ll kill me and, once the baby’s born, she’ll kill Nina. You know this. Desiree won’t wish to share the child’s affection with anyone.”
Lovelace dithered, his long fingers twitching together and apart and then winding together again. “She’s not as bad as you believe, brother…”
“Isn’t she?” Sampson asked. “Look around you, Lovelace. She’s destroyed everything. Why do you stay and let her destroy your life too?”
“I can’t leave her alone!” Lovelace said, clearly appalled.
“It’s what she’s brought on herself,” Sampson said, his voice filled with passion. “Come with us, brother. You have a family she’s keeping you from. Be my brother again. And let Desiree choose her own path. You don’t owe her your life.”
More dithering and twitching ensued. Lovelace clearly didn’t know how to respond. I sort of understood. Change was hard. And Lovelace had found a certain level of comfort in his life, despite how dreary it was. But he was slowly but surely shriveling up under his sister’s tyranny.
Lea reached a hand toward Lovelace. He looked at it, his face filled with awe. Finally, he clasped her fingers and lifted them to his lips. She smiled. “Come with us, Lovelace. Be an uncle to our child. Live again.”
Lovelace stared at the bump he believed contained a child. He moved closer, holding a palm above Lea-Nina’s belly. He glanced at her. “May I?”
Sampson opened his mouth to deny his brother, but Lea shook her head. “Let him, darling. It won’t do any harm.”
Sampson stared at her as if to ask if she was sure. Lea nodded. She reached for Lovelace’s hand and placed it over her stomach. A beat later he jumped, his eyes alight, and grinned from ear to ear. “It moved!”
Lea-Nina laughed. “He’s very active.”
“Please, brother. I need your help,” Sampson said, wrapping a grateful arm around Lea’s shoulders.
Lovelace reluctantly took his hand away. I watched as he pulled himself upright, straightening his shoulders. Above us, a ray of sunlight bathed the ground where we stood. Just a flash of light, but the warmth felt delicious in the moist cold of the place.
He nodded. “What do you need from me?”
Sampson looked relieved. “Help me keep Nina safe. I’ll try to talk reason to Desiree, but if she doesn’t relent, we’ll need to exile her in Loveland.”
Lovelace flinched, taking a small step back in horror.
I was afraid we were going to lose him at that point. But he swallowed hard and nodded. “You mean to engage the power threshold?”
“Yes. Will you stand with me, brother? It will take the power of two to perform the rite.”
Lovelace sent another lingering look toward Lea’s fake but apparently moving belly and sighed. “Yes. In truth, I’m relieved. I’ve known for a long time that she was out of her mind. But she kept to herself, so I let it be. But now…” The gray cast to his skin deepened. “She’s hurting people. And I know you’re right. She’ll hurt you. She’ll hurt Nina. And, in the long run, she’ll harm that precious child. I can’t have that on my conscience.”
“All right then,” Sebille said, weary of delay. “Let’s get this show on the road. We have a very sick hobgoblin to save.”
Lovelace spared her a quick glance, and something lit his eyes for a beat. “What do you need from me?”
“We need to find Obsession and get a sample to send to our physician. Can you help with that?” I asked.
“I can. Come.”
I had to nearly run to keep up with the long-legged man. Despite his unhealthy looks, he didn’t seem feeble in any way. He led us to a gate that was set off a ways from the castle. Black metal fencing, thickly interwoven with dense green vines that had one-inch-long thorns on them, ran as far as the eye could see in both directions. The vining was too dense to see through the intricate balusters to the garden beyond.
The gate was topped with a beautiful heart scroll. Hearts were also spun into the metal of the elegant balusters. If the metal hadn’t been chipped and rusty on nearly every spike and baluster, it would have been beautiful.
Lovelace laid a hand on the uppermost heart and screamed at the top of his voice, “Aelfsvald. Aelfsvald. Aelfsvald.” He gave us a smile. “I do apologize for yelling. Poor creature’s deaf as a post.”
We waited for a long moment, until a loud whirring noise warned us the gardener was coming.
Lovelace looked at Sebille. “You’re a fairy, right?”
She frowned and then nodded. I could tell from the expression on her face that she wondered how he knew. He shook his head. “I’m familiar with the Keeper’s acquaintances.” He jerked his chin toward the whirring sound.
“Aelfsvald is loyal to Desiree. He’ll protect her with his life from anything he feels might endanger her.” The whirring was mere yards away. Lovelace lowered his head toward Sebille and spoke softly. “You know how to induce sleep?”
Sebille blinked in confusion. Then understanding lit her face. She nodded.
“Good. I don’t wish him harmed. But he’ll try to stop you.”
The whirring stopped, and a rusty voice came through the vining. “Yes, Master Lovelace?”
“Aelfsvald. We have guests at the palace. Denzel has returned to us and brought his lovely wife. They are with child.”
The latch on the gate lifted. The heavy iron
