The Steele Wolf (Iron Butterfly #2)(57)

“NO!” I stood firm feet planted.

“What do you mean, ‘no’?” Kael turned and looked at me in confusion. “This could be the answer we were looking for in finding Tenya!”

“No, not like this.” Deep down I trusted Fanny, she spoke truth. I could tell that when she found out the man had twisted and misused her plans for the invention it hurt her deeply. I wasn’t about to punish her more by having Kael torture her into telling us information she doesn’t know. “I believe her, Kael. I trust that she will find out everything she can and help us if she is truly able.”

“You are crazy if you think she is going to help you. You can’t trust strangers.” Kael was angry and truthfully I couldn’t blame him.

“I trusted you, Kael! You were a stranger and you helped me escape the Raven’s prison. So does that mean I shouldn’t have trusted you either?”

Kael froze and he looked down at the ground. The wind from the various windmills in Skyfell blew his hair wildly in all directions and also blew away his whispered words so that they were barely audible. “No, you shouldn’t have.”

I turned my back on Kael and started to walk up the stairway that led to the Jesai’s home. Spinning once more on Kael I shot out, “She saved me. She could have let me die or kept me prisoner deep underground but she didn’t. She saved my life. I will give her the benefit of the doubt.”

Kael looked up from the bottom of the stairway to stare into my green eyes. “I hope you’re right, Thalia. Joss’ sister’s life depends on it.”

A cold chill spread through my bones and a flicker of doubt flooded my body. Shaking my head, I pushed all negative emotions and feelings away and found my inner strength. “I know I’m right. Fanny will come through.”

Just then a flurry of activity came from the streets as Joss, Mona, Nero and a large amount of servants came carrying crates of bread, fruits and other odds and ends. We had to move out of the way quickly or be trampled by the caravan of goods.

“Joss!” I called out and he turned to me. “What’s going on?”

Joss grinned his dazzling boyish smile at me. “Don’t tell me that you’ve forgotten already?” His carefree manner and the fact that there was a huge bustle of activity told me that he hadn’t been home all morning and more than likely didn’t know about the fight between me and Xiven, or his disappearance.

I opened my mouth to explain what had occurred but Joss interrupted me.

“Tonight’s our engagement celebration!”





Chapter 24



I felt as if I had been punched in the stomach. Where had the time gone? Somewhere deep inside I had secretly hoped to be farther along in our search and possibly had even found his sister by now so that we could drop the whole charade of being engaged and go back to the way things were. But a week had passed and here we were on the day that I had been dreading.

Grabbing Joss’ sleeve I pulled him aside. “Joss, are you seriously still thinking of going through with this? We are supposed to be faking so we can find your sister.”

The mask of joy fell from Joss’ face and a sterner, more serious one replaced it. “Thalia, we are, don’t doubt that. But if you could see what this is doing to my parents you would understand. They need this. They need a moment, no matter how brief, to forget their grief and find happiness. Even if it is a lie.”

Joss’ face looked pained and that’s when I realized how much of his hurt he was hiding from me, his family, everyone. He was doing it to spare his family pain, by pretending to be the same old carefree Joss that they knew and loved.

“Joss, I don’t th—”

“Can you do this for my parents, for me?” The silent ache that I saw deep inside him silenced any forthcoming arguments and all I could do was nod my head in agreement. He reached out and cupped my cheek, placing a quick kiss on my forehead. “That’s my girl.”

What was wrong with me? I must be the only girl my age not dreaming about finding a lifemate and starting a family. Maybe everything that had happened to me in the last year has made me more wary of happy endings and true love. Learning my mother was murdered when I was a child, being kidnapped the same day that Fenri asked to be my lifemate, and being tortured and almost killed on numerous occasions could definitely skew a young girl’s heart and mind.

Sighing in defeat, I grabbed a crate of fruit and followed Joss up the stairs. It was only when I saw that I was carrying passion fruit that I felt a pang of remorse that I never got to say goodbye to Avina and Berry or tell them why I had left to follow my father. Concentrating on them must have somehow conjured them because when I entered the Jesai family’s main hall I heard two screams fill the air. Shocked, I dropped the crate and watched as the passion fruit rolled across the floor to stop right in front of Avina’s boot.

“Thalia!” she screamed and ran to hug me.

“What? How?”

“Joss sent a messenger to the castle to get us,” Berry spoke up, coming to give me a hug as well once Avina had disentangled herself from me. “Although he never told us why.”

“Yes, Thalia, is everything all right?” Avina stopped flittering about the room and paused.

“Why, umm yes, I mean no.” I stumbled over the right words to say. But Joss came to my rescue and wrapped his arms around me, placing his chin on my head.