Shadows and Light Read Online Free PDF Page B

frightened and hurt too much to do anything but obey?”
    Liam swallowed hard to keep down the whiskey that threatened to rise up in his throat. “He did that to you? He did that?” He suddenly understood the days, a few months ago, when his mother had barely spoken, had moved so carefully, had denied there was anything wrong. The whiskey glass slipped from his fingers, hit the carpet, but didn’t break. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
    “If I’d said anything, he would have hurt Brooke.”
    Liam looked at the second, smaller bridle. “Did he —? Did he ever —?”
    “No,” Elinore said. “If he had, he wouldn’t have lived long enough to choke at his mistress’s table. I would have cut the bastard’s heart out before then.”
    A long, uneasy silence hung between them.
    “You have a choice to make, Liam. You can give me your word that you’ll do whatever you can to protect the witches in the Old Place.”
    “And if I don’t give you my word?” he asked hoarsely.
    “Then I will pack my things, take my daughter, and go live with my kinswomen.”
    If she’d pulled a bow and arrow from beneath the sofa and aimed it at his heart, she couldn’t have shocked — or hurt — him more.
    “You’d leave me? You’d walk away from your son to live with them?”
    “I wouldn’t be walking away from my son since I would already have lost him. I’d be walking away from the Baron of Willowsbrook and any control he might have over my life.”
    “Mother…” Liam rubbed his hands over his face. “If you left like that, everyone in the village would know inside of a week. We’d be laughingstocks.”
    “I don’t have the luxury of considering hurt feelings,” Elinore replied quietly. “Not when my daughter’s life is at stake.”
    Anger burned through him. “Do you truly think I’m capable of hurting Brooke? She’s my little sister.”
    “I know what my son would, and wouldn’t, do. I don’t know what the new baron is capable of when he doesn’t get his own way.”
    He looked at her pale face and clenched hands. Pain lanced through him when he admitted to himself that she meant every word.
    “You make your choice, Liam. Then I’ll make mine,” Elinore said.
    “I can’t give you an answer. I — I can’t think. I need to think.”
    He strode out of the room, slamming the door behind him. He left the house and headed for the stables. A hard ride. That’s what he needed. A horse that required his attention and energy as a rider. Maybe fresh air and speed would help clear his head so that he could think again. But, right now, he needed a little time not to think at all.
    When Liam reached the stables, Flint, the stable master, gave him a sour look. Nothing new about that. Flint had been the old baron’s man and had always resented taking orders from anyone else — including the baron’s heir.
    “You’ll be wanting the gelding again?” Flint asked, his tone implying that unsaddling the gelding had wasted the time of one of his men.
    “Yes,” Liam said curtly. He turned away to wait for the horse, then turned back. “No. Have Arthur saddle Oakdancer.”
    Flint’s expression soured even more, but he turned his head to call out, “Boy! Saddle the stallion for Baron Liam.”
    One of these days, he’s going to use that tone with me and find himself looking for a new position , Liam thought as he took a few steps away from the stable. His feelings were too raw, and butting heads with Flint now would only add to the resentment most of the men felt toward the boy for being the only person besides Liam who could handle the big bay stallion.
    “So you want to buy a stallion from me?” Ahern said, scowling at his guest .
    Wondering if his father had been right about this being a fool’s errand, Liam set the small glass of ale on the scrubbed kitchen table without tasting it. “Yes, sir.”
    Ahern was silent for a long moment. Then, looking at the woman who kept house for him, he said, “The lad