Charming the Devil Read Online Free PDF Page A

objections.
    “You struck a perfect stranger for no good reason.”
    “I doubt he’s—”
    “Not a genteel slap, mind. You hit him in the face with a potted plant.”
    “A palm,” Faye whispered, though even in her own mind she wasn’t certain why that made a difference.
    “For no good reason,” Madeline added. “A celebrated soldier who might very well have been trying to save you.”
    Faye scowled, saying nothing, but it would have hardly mattered if she had. She was certain she would not have been heard over the erratic pounding of her heart.
    “Rennet was trying to take liberties, was he not?” Madeline’s voice had softened.
    Faye managed a nod.
    “He’d drawn you out into the darkness of the garden.”
    And the darkness had been lovely. It was the pretty golden baron she’d found frightening. But not as frightening as the towering Highlander. Never that frightening.
    “Were you trying to escape?” Madeline asked. Her voice was little more than a murmur, as if she loathed belaboring the point. And yet she did.
    Faye nodded again, desperately wanting the entire episode behind her.
    “Did you tell him to stop?”
    “Yes.” Her throat felt tight. She couldn’t look up, knowing she was not to blame yet feeling in the very depths of her being that she was.
    “Might the Scotsman have heard you?”
    She thought about that for a moment, tried to swallow her fear. “Perhaps.”
    The room went quiet, then, “Faerie Faye,” Madeline murmured.
    Faye forced her gaze to her mentor…to her hero.
    “Have you forgotten that you made us a vow?”
    Her chest ached.
    “You said you would become a full member of this coven. That you would embrace your powers, work for good, find the man who murdered Lord Brendier.”
    “I know,” she whispered.
    “Brendier was well thought of by the committee,” Madeline said, “and we’ve no way of knowing what might have caused his death.”
    “Perhaps he truly did die of the wounds sustained in the duel.”
    “Perhaps, but we cannot go to the committee until we’ve exhausted every possibility. It is they who fund Lavender House, after all. Indeed, they hold this sisterhood in the palms of their hands.”
    “Perhaps Shaleena could go to his estate,” Faye said, suddenly hopeful. “Touch his belongings and divine—”
    “Brendier has been dead for more than a weeknow. His killer’s imprint, if indeed he left one, has grown cold. Besides, Lady Onyx has been…” She shook her head and scowled. “Unpredictable of late.”
    It was true. During the last few months, she seemed less focused. And even though she was still as sharp-edged as a saber, at times Faye would see her staring into space. Or stranger still, Shaleena would stare at Cur. Not in that way she stared at other men, as if she intended to devour them whole. But as if she was thinking, remembering. True, Cur was young, not yet twenty years of age. Still, that had not curtailed Shaleena’s flirtations in the past. And it had certainly not caused her to remain clothed.
    “What of Ella?” Faye asked.
    “My nephew is not yet walking, and Ella is a mother even before she is a witch.”
    “Rosemond then. Or Heddy or—”
    “The committee is counting on you,” Madeline said, and the room, always so comfortable, always her haven, suddenly felt too small. “ I am counting on you,” she added, and Faye caught her gaze. Her mentor’s eyes were solemn, as green as smooth-cut emeralds and wise beyond Faye’s wildest hopes. “You are stronger than you know,” she said, and, rising smoothly to her feet, left the room.
     
    Not half an hour passed before Jasper turned down the gas on the bedchamber lights and eased onto the mattress behind Madeline.
    She remained as she was, staring dismally at the wall in front of her, worry gnawing her gut like a rabid hound. “Was I too harsh with her?” she asked.
    Jasper sighed. “You are the one who insists she is stronger than we realize. That she has yet to