Lord Davenport"s expression changed from annoyance that anyone would be visiting his wife, to intrigue when he heard Sessily had a castle to call her own.
The turtle fae also were known to be good-natured, but they lived by the sea and revered the power and steadfastness of the giant sea turtle. They were a minor fae kingdom, related to the major royal house of the Denkar fae who were much more warlike. If Lord Davenport had been targeting women of the main fae kingdoms, he might not have ventured into the turtle fae kingdom yet seeking a bride, so that might appeal to him also. He would be unknown there. The look of greedy speculation was written all over his face.
Sessily gave a small tilt of her head, acknowledging him, wishing she could correct the misconception. She was a dark fae, hunter type, trained as an assassin. She was certain he would not be considering her as a bride choice if he knew all there was to know about her.
She did not have the good-natured disposition of the turtle fae, but the much darker personality of the Denkar. If someone snapped at her, she could easily bite right back. The turtle fae would turn the other cheek.
But then Lord Davenport"s expression changed, and he stared at her, frowning, looking puzzled. “Have we met before?”
In a dark alley, she thought. Although she wasn"t sure how much he could have seen of her.
“I don"t socialize much,” she said softly.
He smiled at that. Easy prey. No one would even know that she died if he married her.
“You have family? A brother?”
A brother who would give her away to a snake like him? “No family.” She was sure her mouth twitched up a bit. He was already seeing if she fit his needs, planning his courtship.
“Doverton Castle is two fae kingdoms to the north. You must stay the night. Fae travel for that much of a distance can be…taxing,” he said.
It could be, but she was used to it. Not that she truly lived at Doverton. It was her cover after all.
But she often hopped from kingdom to kingdom in search of her appointed targets. Some fae rarely used fae travel, preferring horseback, walking, carriage rides. But she liked to get to where she was going. Fast. And unseen. The travel didn"t make her dizzy like it did the fae who didn"t travel that way much. Unless she traveled too great a distance.
She shook her head. “I couldn"t impose upon your generosity.”
“No, my lord is quite right. You must stay. Enjoy our hospitality,” Marguerite said, her expression pure joy.
And kill a lord, Sessily thought, and save you from your own folly.
Chapter 2
A knock at the open library door at Lord Davenport"s manor house caused Sessily to turn and see the butler, Gevus, standing in the doorway, his head bowed to Lord Davenport.
“My lord,” the butler said firmly, but with feigned respect for interrupting the visit between Sessily and the Davenports.
Sessily knew it had to be important or the butler wouldn"t have done so. He would have just sent the “interruption” on his way.
“What is it now?” Lord Davenport snapped.
“A Lord Fairhaven to see you, my lord. He says it is most urgent.”
The butler was visibly cowed in Lord Davenport"s presence, keeping his head low, his eyes averted. Although he hadn"t been when Sessily had spoken with him to gain entrance to the estate and have a word with the lady of the manor. He glanced at Sessily, but she couldn"t tell if his look was in warning or something else. Definitely, he was trying to tell her something. She wished she could read minds.
Had he read something about this Lord Fairhaven"s thoughts that concerned Sessily and her being here? She didn"t know any Lord Fairhaven so she didn"t believe he"d cause her any trouble. Unless he was a good friend of Lord Davenport and planned to whisk him away to some other gaming house or something of the sort tonight and thwart her mission.
“Send him to my solar,” Lord Davenport said, brows furrowed in annoyance.
“He wishes a word with Lady Davenport as well,” the butler said.
At that, Lord Davenport"s face turned ashen. Sessily couldn"t figure out whether he knew this Lord Fairhaven or not. But then the way he had turned so pale, he must know him. And he didn"t want the lord to meet with Marguerite as well.
“We have a guest. Lady Marguerite is entertaining her and will continue to do so. Send Lord Fairhaven to my—” Lord Davenport didn"t finish his words.
A tall stately man strode past the butler, bowed his head slightly at Lord Davenport and gave a more courteous nod to Lady Marguerite, but when he saw Sessily, he stopped in his tracks.
Gevus gave her a sympathetic look and bowed out of the doorway.
All at once, Sessily felt a chill wash over her. Something oddly familiar about Lord Fairhaven struck her. His height, his measured moves. His blue eyes staring at her with such familiarity. Blue eyes like midnight in a darkened alley, only now in the lantern lights of the library, they glittered like blue diamonds.
The man had shot the thief who had attacked her in the alley.
He was handsome, in a dark sort of way. His mouth was pursed in annoyance, his dark brows knit together in a tight frown. He meant business.
He tilted his head to the side a bit. “I believe we"ve met before.” He didn"t say it in a way that showed he was uncertain, but that he knew of a surety that they had met.
His voice was as soft and dangerous as before. Vampires didn"t exist in the fae realm, but if they did, she"d swear he was one the way he seemed to be able to charm her into submission with just a dark look.
“Odd that you should say that,” Lord Davenport said, “but I was thinking the same—”
“At the queen"s masked ball,” Lord Fairhaven said to Sessily, bowing his head to her as if he had just been reunited with the mystery woman of the ball.
Like Cinderella from the human tales? And next, Sessily would have a fairy godmother.
Right.
Sessily laughed at herself for thinking something so far-fetched. He was the one who had rescued her from the bear-like thief. He shot the man right in front of her! And he had called her a boy! The queen"s ball, her foot. Yet, in a way she had been like a woman of mystery when he"d seen her in the alleyway, fighting to get loose of the giant thief, and when he was dead, she just vanished into thin air.
“I—” She meant to say Lord Fairhaven had to be mistaken, but he quickly strode forward, took her hand with one swift move, his eyes never leaving hers and kissed her hand with such finesse, she could have swooned!
Yet she was not the swooning type. But still, no man had ever kissed her in such a manner!
She ground her teeth, tried to pull her hand free to set him straight, but his mouth curved up in a trace of a smile before he said, “Surely you remember me.”
Oh, right, she remembered him. How could she not? Tall, dark, handsome, and deadly.
Just her type, she realized. If she"d ever given a guy-type much thought. At least he could probably understand her occupation better than someone who would not have stuck his neck out to rescue her and shoot a man dead.
“But,” he said, drawing out the words in an ominous way as he tightened his hand fractionally on hers, “I missed your name.”
“Oh, my, a masked ball,” Lady Marguerite twittered. “Introductions are in order. This is Lady Sessily of Doverton Castle. Two fae kingdoms north of here.”
“Really,” Lord Fairhaven said, his gaze never straying from Sessily"s.
At once, she wondered if this Lord Fairhaven knew there was no Lady Sessily living at Doverton Castle. Actually the way he said “really” and the way his eyes sparkled with dark delight, she knew he knew she wasn"t from Doverton Castle. How could this man be in her way again when she had to get rid of Lord Davenport before he killed Lady Marguerite?
She couldn"t believe this!
Again, she tried to pull her hand free, but Lord Fairhaven wasn"t through toying with her.
“I like this gown of yours much better than what you wore a
t the ball.”
So he wasn"t confused as to having met her. She was beginning to think that he thought she was someone else that he truly had met at the… which queen’s ball?
“I didn"t think I"d ever see you again,” Sessily said, sweetly, again trying to free her hand, without success.
Controlling fae. She wondered which kingdom he was with. Which kind of fae? Denkar fae? The hunter fae? That would fit with the way he had killed the thief so eloquently. Then again, wouldn"t she have seen him around sometime?
No. She didn"t get out much. She attended Queen Irenis"s ball only, but never played at seeking Crown Prince Deveron"s hand like most of the unwed ladies did. That just wasn"t her.
She didn"t think Lord Fairhaven could be of the warlike dragon fae either. They preferred a bow and arrows to guns.
“I"ve been searching for you. You hide your fae dust trail well,” Lord Fairhaven said smoothly.
Assassins were good at that, or what use would it be in being one?
“How is the queen doing?” she asked, changing the subject, trying to learn more about him.
“She is doing well,” he said, the harshness back in his voice.
“Which queen are we speaking of?” Lady Marguerite asked.
Lord Fairhaven waited for Sessily to say, but when she didn"t, he studied Sessily"s expression to see how much his words and actions affected her and offered, “Queen Quinnette.”
Sessily didn"t flinch, but the name could make a lesser fae quiver at the sound of it. The woman was a changeling, a queen of the cobra fae, and a holy terror.
“Oh,” Lady Marguerite said, and the unspoken words remained that. Anyone who danced at that queen"s court and lived to tell of it was either lucky or just as dangerous as she was.
“I believe it"s time I escorted you home, Lady Sessily,” Lord Fairhaven said, his tone unmistakably commanding.
She stared at him in disbelief, her jaw dropped. The arrogance of the man!
“Excuse me,” Lord Davenport said. “You said you wished a word with me, Lord Fairhaven. The lady is staying with us the night.”
For the first time since Lord Fairhaven had targeted Sessily, he turned to look at Davenport as if he"d forgotten he was even there.
“It"s about your gambling debts. You owe my cousin. He owes me. I expect payment in full tomorrow eve, the latest,” Lord Fairhaven said, his voice low and threatening.
Sessily"s skin chilled. Davenport glanced at Marguerite. Would her dowry go to pay off Fairhaven? Or had Davenport already spent it? Marguerite had paled visibly. The poor woman didn"t know what she"d gotten herself into with marrying the monster. But Sessily would get her out of it soon enough, if Fairhaven would leave her alone.
With the mention of the gambling debt owed him, all Fairhaven did was tighten the noose around Marguerite"s neck. Men and their gambling. They made a shambles of everything. Her father included.
Sessily jerked her hand free of Fairhaven"s steel grasp. “I"m staying the night with Lord and Lady Davenport. Thank you very much for offering to take me home though.”
Fairhaven narrowed his eyes at her. The gold ring didn"t show around his pupils, but his eyes had darkened to midnight. Why did he want her to leave here so badly? Did he think she"d tell them he had killed a thief? Why would she?
No, it was something else.
He moved so quickly, she hadn"t expected his targeting her again. He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her close, whispering in her ear this time, “Come with me and I won"t tell them what you really are.”
A shiver shot straight up her spine.
He couldn"t know. Nobody knew. Except for the assassin guild master. Well, and Lord Davenport"s butler.
She swallowed reflexively, biting back her anger. She had to kill Davenport before he murdered his wife.
“Let go of me,” she said in a whisper back, a threat in her voice.
But Fairhaven only smiled in a smug way and said, “You will not stay.” He turned to Davenport. “We need a moment alone. ”
“We do not,” Sessily said, countermanding his request.
“Lord Davenport?” Fairhaven said, his words so harsh, Davenport nodded and took a step back. He motioned for Lady Marguerite to come with him.
Sessily could have strangled Lord Fairhaven. “Let…go…of…me.”
Fairhaven waited until the Davenports departed the library and shut the door, and then he said, “You will leave with me. You are not stealing from these people.”
She gaped at him. He thought she was a thief? Not an assassin? Of course! He had thought she was trying to steal from Davenport last night, then had the run-in with the real thief.
And now here she was again, only this time she"d wormed her way into the Davenport"s home as if she was a family friend.
Was he afraid she"d steal something that might be valuable enough that could have paid off Lord Davenport"s debt to Lord Fairhaven"s cousin, and then Lord Fairhaven would have been appeased?
She would have felt relief that that"s all this was about except for the problem with him being in her way again. And she was certain he wouldn"t want her to kill Davenport when Fairhaven might not recoup his winnings from his cousin.
“I"m not a thief,” she said, tilting her chin up.
He raised his dark brows. “Not a thief? Yet you dressed in male breeches and a tunic that were so dark they blended with the night? Wore your hair back and covered it with a hat?
Pretended you were a boy?”
“I did not pretend I was a boy.”
“You didn’t do a good job of it. A boy would not have smelled as fragrantly as you did.
And you"re wearing the same sweet fragrance tonight.” He nuzzled her neck with his face, and she slapped it, before she even knew what she was doing.
As dangerous as he appeared, it wasn"t the smartest move she could make.
To her astonishment, he laughed. But then his expression turned stormy. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to pay my respects—”
“What was Ginny"s favorite pet?”
Again, Sessily"s mouth dropped in surprise, though she quickly recovered this time. He knew the family. Knew Ginny. She hadn"t even known the lady"s nickname. Sessily would never be able to convince him she"d truly known Marguerite"s deceased cousin. “I don"t know.”
“The correct answer. You didn"t know Ginny, only learned enough to obtain entrance to this household. Where are you from?”
When she didn"t say, he added, “I know you"re not from Doverton Castle. I"ve been there many times. It"s in the turtle fae realm. You are not one of them.”
Had he been everywhere? Knew everything? Who was he?
“So what am I?”
“I"m not certain. An enigma. But I will discover the truth about you, believe me, dear lady. I doubt you have a title either. Have you already stolen some of the silver?”
If only he knew she was an assassin, and how she was ready to add him to her list.
“Are you friends of Davenport?” she asked, sidestepping his question.
“The lady, yes.”
“But not of the lord himself?” She assumed if Fairhaven ever learned she"d killed Lord Davenport—once she finally accomplished the deed—and if Lord Fairhaven was truly his friend, he"d track her down himself and make her pay.
This job was getting more complicated by the second.
“He owes my cousin a debt, which is owed to me,” Lord Fairhaven said, the intonation being this was strictly a business deal.
“And if Lord Davenport dies and can no longer pay his debt?” she asked.
Lord Fairhaven"s eyes widened, and the blue of his eyes sparkled like when a fae was most intrigued.
Which surprised her. Why wouldn"t he be upset?
“Then my cousin would expect the debt be paid in a marriage arrangement to the lady,”
Lord Fairhaven said darkly.
“You would marry Marguerite?” she asked, so surprised she couldn"t
stop herself from querying, although it was none of her business, but most of all she shouldn"t have cared.
He snorted. “Hardly.”
Still unable to fathom the arrangement, she said, “But your cousin owes the debt to you.”
“And I would gift him the lady.”
Her lips parted. She was usually very good at keeping her expression neutral, part of an assassin"s creed. So what was wrong with her that she couldn"t keep her cool around this guy?
“Barbaric,” she said. “Men!”
Done with him, she whipped away from him. He grabbed for her, and she saw the expression of fury on his face, knowing he was too late to stop her. She gave a small smile, waved her hand to fae travel, and vanished. For the second time in his presence.
Chapter 3
Despite having made the decision to end Lord Fairhaven"s interrogation of her, Sessily had been so rattled when she left Davenport"s estate before Fairhaven could stop her, she hadn"t shielded her departure, which meant she"d left fairy dust easy enough for a tracker to follow. Not that it meant Fairhaven had the ability, but if he did…
Not only that but she"d been in such a rush, she"d thought of the Crystal Falls near her own castle when she targeted a new location. She had planned to appear somewhere far from home, in case the man could track her.
Not about to be thwarted in accomplishing her mission again, she waved her hand to fae travel. This time she ensured she was shielded and no fae dust was left behind, and returned to Davenport"s estate. She appeared in his yew gardens this time, where the night hid her sufficiently. She wished she"d changed clothes, but if anyone found her in the manor house wearing male fae clothes, they truly would think her a thief.
If anyone discovered her, she"d say she was trying to elude the obnoxious Lord Fairhaven and had wished to stay with the Davenports that night as she had said previously and hoped they would believe her. If Lord Davenport was interested in courting her next, she thought he would believe anything she told him. After all, she could mean money to him once his sweet Marguerite was no longer of the living.
Because Sessily had been in his library, she could return there when everyone went to bed. But was Fairhaven still at the manor, or was he off on a wild fae chase, trying to locate her again?