So I Married a Sorcerer (The Embraced #2)(75)

Rupert smiled.

Sister Fallyn looked appalled. “Heavenly goddesses, child, did he use his sorcerer powers to seduce you?”

“I…” Brigitta brushed her hair back from her face. “I want to know about you. Did ye accept Stefan’s proposal?”

The nun huffed. “I’m not talking about that man.”

“She’s Gunther’s sister, and she knows everything?” Stefan asked, breaking Rupert’s concentration. “Do you realize how dangerous that is? What are we going to do? Hold her prisoner here until—”

“She wants to come with us,” Rupert said quietly.

Stefan snorted. “How can we possibly trust her?” He lowered his voice. “Is that why you spent the night with her? Are you going with Ansel’s plan to get her pregnant?”

“No.” Rupert glared at him. “I will not use her.” A barking sound drew his attention. A shaggy black-and-white dog was loping down the beach, headed for the women.

Brigitta stiffened, her hand pressed to her chest. “Brody?”

Sister Fallyn turned to look at the dog and stumbled back in shock. “Heavenly goddesses, it can’t be.”

The dog barked as it came to a stop before them. With a grin, it sat down and lifted a foreleg.

“Brody!” Brigitta lunged at the dog, pulling him into her arms. “Oh, Brody, I was so worried about you.”

“What the hell…” Stefan mumbled.

How on Aerthlan did a dog get on this island? Rupert strode toward the animal with Stefan by his side. “You know this dog?” he asked in Tourinian.

“Yes!” Brigitta laughed, rubbing the dog’s ears. “It’s Brody!” She cradled his long face in her hands. “I was afraid we’d lost you.”

“How?” Rupert asked. “Where did you lose him?” The dog glanced at him, and Rupert was momentarily taken aback by the sharp intelligence in the dog’s blue eyes.

“He was on the Eberoni ship with us,” Sister Fallyn explained. “He belongs to King Leofric and Queen Luciana. They sent him on the voyage to guard us.”

“When you kidnapped us, I thought I saw him jump overboard,” Brigitta added. “But when I couldn’t see him in the water, I thought I must have imagined it.” She patted his head. “Poor baby, did you swim all this way?”

Sister Fallyn made the sign of the moons. “It’s a miracle.”

Stefan snorted, and Rupert exchanged a look with him. There was no way the dog could have stayed alive in the ocean for a week or managed to swim a long distance to an island no one else knew about.

Brigitta rose to her feet, still patting the dog. “You must be starving!”

The dog barked in reply, then grinned at her, his tongue lolling out.

“There’s some leftover lamb in Rupert’s cottage,” Stefan suggested. “We could take him there.”

“Brigitta, you should come with us,” Rupert told her. “So we can have our talk.”

She nodded. “I need to fetch something from Stefan’s cottage. Then I’ll come.”

Sister Fallyn huffed. “I can’t allow you to be alone with them.”

“This is important,” Brigitta whispered to her. “It’s about our future.”

“Fallyn, you didn’t sleep at all last night,” Stefan said. “Why don’t you get some rest?”

“Since when am I talking to you?” Sister Fallyn shot him an annoyed look, then grabbed Brigitta’s arm. “Come with me.” She marched off to Stefan’s cottage with Brigitta in tow.

“I’ll be along in a moment,” Brigitta called back.

“Nay, ye will not,” Sister Fallyn hissed back in Eberoni.

“I will, too,” Brigitta argued.

With a groan, Stefan trudged toward Rupert’s cottage. “She’s taken over my house and won’t even speak to me.”

Rupert followed him. “You think that’s bad, Brigitta wants to help me gain the throne.”

Stefan gave him an incredulous look. “How on Aerthlan would she do that?”

“I don’t know, but she thinks she has to atone for her father’s sins.”

“It’s not her fault her father was a murderous bastard.”

“I know.” Rupert opened the door to his cottage, and to his surprise the dog scampered right inside.

Stefan snorted. “Making himself at home, I see.”

Rupert followed Stefan inside. “There’s something really fishy about that dog.” As he closed the door, he noted that the dog had trotted over to the empty hearth.

He was a fairly large dog with long fur in black and white splotches. There was a large black spot over one eye.

“I’ll get him some food.” Stefan wandered over to the table.

The dog barked as if he wanted their attention. Rupert stepped closer, then halted with a jerk as the dog’s form suddenly began to shimmer.

“What the…” Stefan dropped a knife on the table with a clatter.

The dog’s form wavered more violently as it grew taller. The dog’s snout receded, along with his fur, until the shape of a man could be seen. Then, just as suddenly, it was over and a new form had locked into place.