To Kiss in the Shadows Read Online Free PDF

would instantly be known by her clothing and bearing alone.
    He shrugged aside his questions, for they weren’t vital ones. If she wanted to hide herself, ’twas her affair and not his. What he needed to do was discharge his obligation to her so he could be about his business.
    Which was, he thought with a scowl, much like what he was doing with his damned brother he couldn’t seem to find.
    They walked through the barbican gate. The woman stopped and looked about her. Jason saw her shoulders sag, and immediately sympathy surged through him. Obviously, the invitation hadn’t been a trustworthy one. And then he caught sight of a tall figure loitering under a tree some distance down the road.
    There was something unsettlingly familiar about that shape, dressed as it was in nun’s gear.
    â€œPerhaps there?” Jason said, pointing toward the beginning of an orchard.
    The woman paused, then made a sound that Jason could have almost mistaken for a laugh.
    â€œPerhaps,” she agreed, and started down the path.
    Jason followed, scowling fiercely and cursing under his breath.
    The nun straightened as they approached, then walked toward them with a slow and solemn gait.
    â€œMy lady,” the nun said in a high, hoarse voice. “You came as you said you would.”
    â€œAye,” the woman said, sounding amused.
    â€œAnd I see you’ve brought your fool with you,” the nun said, hiding hairy arms by tucking them into opposite sleeves. “Off with you, dolt. We’ve a walk to accomplish today.”
    The woman next to Jason stiffened. Perhaps she thought him offended by the other’s words. He wasn’t. It wasn’t the first time he’d been insulted by the soul before him.
    Nor was he surprised to find a nun with a voice that was better suited to bellowing battle cries than chanting prayers. He folded his arms over his chest and glared at the object of his search.
    Which was, of course, his brother.
    In skirts.
    Not that such was all that unusual. Kendrick wasn’t the first man in their long and illustrious line to disguise himself as a sister of the cloth. Jason had never in the past—and he prayed fervently that he would never be compelled to in the future—lowered himself to dress as a woman.
    Dire circumstances called for momentous actions, he supposed. He wondered what sorts of straits Kendrick found himself in at present to necessitate such a disguise.
    Then he found himself distracted by a movement at his side. The woman turned to look at him, and her hood caught on a low branch. It was pulled away to reveal dark hair coiled around her head and a visage that Jason could not look away from.
    She was beautiful.
    Or at least she had been before the pox.
    He smothered his surprise, then gave her his most gentle smile.
    â€œMy lady,” he said, making her a little bow, “surely you don’t intend to pass your afternoon with this oaf here. His mere presence will put you off your food, cause you great pains in the head, and give you horrible dreams. Better that you allow me to save you from this unsavory invitation.”
    He found himself quite suddenly sprawled on his backside and ’twas a certainty only Kendrick could have put him there.
    â€œCome, Lianna,” Kendrick said, offering her his arm. “Let us leave the refuse along the side of the road and be on our way.”
    â€œBut, my lord—”
    â€œIt isn’t ‘my lord.’ It’s simply Kendrick. And that unwholesome bit of offal is my younger brother, Jason. He’s likely come to torment me with some business I’ve no stomach for hearing today. See you how the sun shines and the birds sing. We should enjoy it, don’t you think?”
    Jason thought many things, first and foremost of which was that he really should kill his brother at his earliest opportunity. Perhaps he would invite Kendrick to a war where he could commit fratricide with more