Blaze (Virtues & Lies 3)

When we reach the top, all five of us stand, measuring each other. I’m sandwiched between Ryan and Lucian, the cool air whipping about us.

I’m taken by the man staring me down. His eyes are as dark as an abyss, a direct contrast with his grey hair. Pink lips framed by a short, well-kept beard, he’s as handsome as his grandson. And as surly by the set of his mouth and eyes.

Ryan holds out his fisted hand, allowing whatever’s in it to drop until it’s hanging off the tip of his middle finger.

At the sight of it, my heart begins to race. The way the gems glitter in the sunlight is different to how they shone in candlelight. All the times Casper sat twirling them between his fingers when I would sketch him. He wore the rosary as though it was a piece of everyday jewellery. Like a person might wear a crucifix.

“Where did you get that?” I ask Ryan, grabbing it at the same time as Casper’s grandmother. “He wore it all the time.”

We face each other when she takes it from both our hands.

“He gave it to me when he told me to bring you here.”

“What does it mean?” My question comes out sharper than I intend with my discomfort.

“Blood,” Beatriz answers my question, fingering the ruby bead before moving on to the sapphire one, just as Casper used to. “Mercy.” I feel her watchful gaze on me as she fingers the rest of the beads—emerald, citrine, and diamond. “Salvation, hope, and peace. Sangre por la vida. Piedad del enemigo. Salvación para sobrevivir. Esperanza para amar. Paz en la muerte.”

Blood to live. Mercy for the enemy. Salvation to survive. Hope to love. Peace in death.

My eyes dart to stark blue ones. Tear lined, they don’t appear so severe and cold.

“Hello.”

Her wobbling lips are butted by dimpled smile lines that soften her already kind features.

“Hello,” I choke out.

Taking my hand from my belly, she holds my palm up before coiling the rosary onto it. “Yours now.”

“Blood, mercy, salvation, hope, and peace.” The words are muted by the sadness lining her voice as she guides me to her side and then walks us inside. “My father taught us those things; I taught my Casper. They make greatness. Great men.”

He was greatness embodied. I knew that from the moment I allowed him to put me in his car. A kind gesture masked with his cocky attitude. Maybe that’s why he was so easy to fall in love with. Impossible to shy away from.

“And women,” she adds. “Greatness makes kings and queens, but more importantly it can destroy them.”

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nbsp; Chapter 20

RYAN

The last couple of days have been crazy. I know we’re being watched, I just don’t know by whom. Walking out of the bedroom I’ve been allocated at the opposite end of the hall from Fleur’s suite, I continue down to the kitchen.

Before I make it down there, I race back up the stairs. Fleur hasn’t left her room since the day we arrived, and although I suspect she’s tired, I can’t ignore the need to check on her.

It’s obvious that I can’t stay away from her. So easy to understand why Casper turned his back on everything for her.

Casper.

Fuck, my head tells me to turn around and walk away, but everything else is overruling it.

I rap lightly on her door in case she’s resting. Knowing this is a terrible idea given all that’s happened. All I’ve said. Everything I’ve thought of doing to her. Every touch, taste, and sound of hers I’ve coveted.

“Yes?” Her voice filters through the ornately carved, hardwood door.

I take a deep breath as I crack it open slowly to find her sitting by the window. The early spring sun bounces off the light green panelled walls, shining off the gold thread in the light blue and cream upholstery and drapings.

It’s funny how quickly the space has captured her soft scent, and as wrong as it is…how much I’ve missed being surrounded by it.