Ruthless (The House of Rohan 1)

“He will,” Charles said.

“No, I mean…Marcus. What if he hurts him?”

“Not a chance in hell. ” He looked at her with his twisted smile. “You haven’t had to listen to him for the last week. The man was dead from the moment he dared a look at you. ” Before she had time to digest this he continued. “And I’m sorry, but I’m your brother-in-law. I’m afraid neither Lydia nor I could stomach the notion of Etienne. ”

She managed a brief smile. “To tell you the truth, neither could I. ” She tried to rise, but her ankle twisted beneath her and she was forced to sit again. “Are you certain Rohan won’t be hurt? And what did Marcus mean about…the man he killed. ”

“Sir Christopher Spatts,” Charles said with a note of grimness. “I have no earthly idea why he did that. He came down into the…er…one of the rooms being used for the Revels, singled out Sir Christopher and threw a glass of wine in his face. The man was no match for him—I’ve never seen Rohan more vicious or more deadly. ”

A faint smile touched Elinor’s lips. “Good,” she said softly, managing to startle her new brother-in-law.

He didn’t ask, however. “I’m afraid Rohan didn’t think this through. You’ll have to take Marcus’s carriage back…”

“No,” she said with a shudder. She looked back at the entrance to the ruins. “Should it be taking this long?”

Reading shrugged. “That depends. ”

“On what?” she tried to keep from shrieking.

“On his opponent’s skill. And just how Rohan wants to make him suffer. I imagine he’ll want to make it slow and painful. ”

“I’ll be patient,” Elinor said grimly.

“You’re a bloodthirsty creature, aren’t you?” Charles said.

“On occasion. ”

Charles shook his head with a faint laugh. “You two are a better match than I would have thought. ”

They began the slow walk back to the horses, Elinor leaning on Charles’s arm. Her panicked flight into the ruins had taken what seemed like moments, but the walk back felt endless. She kept looking behind her, desperate for a sight of Rohan.

They finally reached the horses. The sun had moved lower in the sky, the wind had died down, and overhead she could hear the wheeling and cawing of the seabirds as they soared above the cliffs.

When she looked back, Rohan had emerged from the underground cavern and was shrugging back into his coat. She waited, her fury building as she watched him saunter down the pathway to where they were waiting.

He was in one piece, unharmed, and he didn’t look at her, merely handed the sword back to Reading.

“What are you doing here?” Elinor demanded, her voice shaking with tightly controlled rage.

He glanced at her, and a faint smile curved his mouth. “I believe I was saving your life. ”

She ignored the treacherous softening that his smile always seemed to start. “Why? ‘A one night’s tup isn’t worth a lifetime of support. ’ It should hardly be worth a trip across the channel. ” She might have almost laughed at the look of dawning horror on his face. “Fortunately it appears that I have inherited my father’s estate after all, so you won’t be obliged to pay for your momentary weakness. ”

He didn’t move for a moment. And then he simply turned and started walking toward his horse.

Furious, she said, “Is that it? You seduce me, insult me, and then you simply walk away when I throw your appalling behavior in your face. ”

He paused, then turned. He looked tired, and there was blood on his sleeve. Not his blood, she knew. The blood of her enemy, and she felt a secret joy. “I don’t believe there’s anything I can say. ”

He didn’t want her. It hit her with crushing misery. It didn’t matter that he’d come all this way to save her life, the truth was he truly didn’t want her.

She made a strange, gulping noise. He would leave, and she could wail to her heart’s content. In the meantime she would be stoic, calm. She would show no weakness.

The sob somehow escaped, and she tried to cover it with a cough. She was so caught up in trying to control her own misery that she didn’t realize Charles Reading was suddenly at a discreet distance, and Rohan was standing in front of her.

“What do you want from me, Elinor?” he demanded, his voice rough.

“Nothing…you can ever give me…” She choked back another sob. “It’s all right, I understand. You don’t want me, and why should you? But I don’t understand why you killed Sir Christopher, and why you came all this way, when you really don’t care…”