The Apothecary's Poison (Glass and Steele #3)(80)

"It's a miracle," Willie murmured.

"It's magic," Cyclops said. "Rare magic."

"What do you think startled the horses?" Duke asked. "A gunshot, like Miss Glass reckoned?"

Matt nodded. "There'll be a bullet lodged in the coach. I didn't see the shooter. India?"

I shook my head. "Coyle, again, I suppose."

"Most likely, considering our previous experience with his man."

"He's gone too far." Willie shot to her feet and pulled a small pistol from her waistband, much smaller than her usual Colt. Better to hide, I suspected. "Who's coming with me to pay him a visit?"

"Sit down," Matt ordered. "No one will confront Coyle. There's no point. He'll deny it, and without solid evidence, the police will do nothing. Besides, there's always the chance that it wasn't him."

"Who else could it be?" she asked, tucking the pistol away.

"Any of our suspects who turns out to be Hale's murderer. We've questioned them all again lately. This attack was a little different to the first one," he went on. "It's more cowardly, carried out from a distance. Perhaps that's Coyle's new man's style, or perhaps it's what a poisoner would do."

"So the net widens," Duke said with disgust. "We ain't getting closer."

"Nor are we going to get any closer," Matt said. "Our involvement in the investigation ends. Coyle, or whoever shot at us, has won. It's up to the police to catch the murderer now." He looked up at me and drew in a deep breath. "The risks are too great."

Nobody disagreed with him.

I set aside my teacup. "I need something stronger."

"Brandy," Duke said. "For all of us."



We ate an informal dinner in the dining room, a somber air pressing down on everyone. Matt spoke quietly of his intention to set up an annuity for Bryce's family and, we arranged to visit his lawyer in two days’ time, when I was hopefully moving more freely, so that the lawyer could arrange the annuity and the purchase of the Willesden cottage on my behalf too.

Cyclops, Duke and Willie played cards in the drawing room after dinner, while I sat and read, Matt beside me. At least, I intended to read. I couldn't concentrate, and then Matt spoke.

"I haven't had a chance to thank you," he said. "You saved my life, India, and I don't know how to repay you."

"You saved mine by taking the brunt of the impact. And besides, your watch saved your life, not me."

"I didn't get it out of my pocket. You did. Did you guess it might work?"

"My watch told me, in a way. In fact, I think it communicated with yours." I shrugged. "I don't know. It's all rather a blur now."

He lowered his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I should have stopped after the first threat. This is my fault."

"No, it's not. I wanted to continue, too. Indeed, I wanted to continue more than you."

He rubbed his forehead as if a headache hammered away at it. "I'll report this incident to Brockwell tomorrow. He probably can't do anything about it, but he needs to know."

"Your head aches, doesn't it?"

He lowered his hand. "A little."

"I'd say it's more than a little. You ought to go to bed."

"I will if you will."

"This is hardly the time for a childish game of one-upmanship, Matt. But since I think I'm ready to rest, then I'll retire too. It's been a long day."

He escorted me up the stairs, despite my insistence that I was quite capable. My hip troubled me, but it was nothing compared to the trouble my heart caused. It flipped wildly in my chest when we stopped at my door. There was something about Matt tonight, something in his quiet manner, his intense gaze. I didn't know quite what to make of it.

"Goodnight," I said without turning to look at him.

He reached past me and took hold of the doorknob. "India." The whisper fanned my cheek and my heart stuttered again. He swept my hair back, brushing it over my shoulder.

I held my breath and waited for his kiss on my neck. It did not come.

I half turned, only to wish I hadn't. His smoky eyes fixed intently on me, and I felt as if he could see into my heart, mind and soul, and he knew what I felt for him. And yet he did not kiss me.

"Today was…an ordeal," he said. "When you were in here and I waited downstairs for the doctor's report…it's not a feeling I wish to experience again."

"It wasn't exactly a joy watching you die in the carriage either," I choked out.

He cupped my jaw and stroked his thumb along my cheek. My heart stopped its rapid rhythm only to swell to ten times its size. I tried hard to think of all the reasons I should push him away, but I could think of none. My mind blanked.

And then it was too late. He kissed me.

It was gentle and kind, and a little tentative. Not quite a lover's kiss, but then, how should a lover's kiss feel? I was no expert. This was my first real kiss and it was with someone very special to me. Someone I admired and liked, perhaps even loved. Someone forbidden and so far above me that he should not be kissing me like this.

And yet I did not pull away. Propriety and principles be damned. I wanted this kiss, this man, and I wanted to know how it felt to be desired. It was almost impossible to consider that Matt desired me, and yet here he was kissing me as thoroughly as I kissed him.