Whispered Music (London Fairy Tales #2)(37)

Chapter Eighteen


The music was so important; I frequently didn’t see things happening around me. Often times I would forget to eat meals because I was so obsessed. But one cannot be totally blind to everything. I saw the way she looked at him, the way he laughed with her, and it made me sick to think that I could have prevented what happened, had I just confronted her. But in the end, I doubt it would have worked. She was a stubborn woman and she was blinded by love. I refuse to suffer that same fate.

—The Diary of Dominique Maksylov



Dominique awoke to laughter. The room was pitch black except for one tiny candle looming across the room on the table.

What happened? He felt sluggish and drugged. Thank goodness the storm was over. A smile crept across his face. Isabelle was full of surprises. Who knew the girl could play the piano? And so beautifully.

He shook the sleepiness from his head and made his way toward the door. Laughter echoed the halls again. Feminine laughter. Smiling to himself and wondering what was making Isabelle so happy, he followed in the direction of the noise, stopping in front of the dining room.

Sitting at the far end of the table were Hunter and Isabelle leaning toward one another. A single candle lit their end of the table. Blind rage poured through him as he stepped farther into the room and crossed his arms.

“Apologies, am I interrupting something?” he said roughly.

“Oh!” Isabelle rose from her chair. “You’re awake! We were just—”

“Flirting? Yes, I know,” he finished for her. “So my dear, it seems you’ve taken Hunter up on his offer. Tell me, how do his kisses compare?”

Isabelle flinched and stepped away from him, her face a mask of hurt and confusion. “We were just eating dinner. I allowed you to sleep, you were so exhausted and—”

“Do not tell me what I was! You—you tricked me into sleeping so that you could have time with him! Do not lie to me!”

“I tricked you!” Isabelle repeated, marching toward him with her finger pointed at his chest. “How the devil do you imagine I did so? Did I have sleeping oils on my hands when I touched you? Did I put you in some sort of trance and speak incantations over you? No. I merely helped!”

Dominique heard the words she was saying but refused to believe it, the pain he felt in his chest was too real, too raw. His own mother had betrayed his father and he was just like his father. In the end it made perfect sense. “You helped, selfishly, to get close to Hunter, is that it?”

A single tear slid down Isabelle’s cheek. “After all this time? Our conversations? Our lessons? Is that what you think of me? That I would lie to you in order to obtain your best friend? Very well.” Isabelle began to pace in front of him. “I’ll give you the benefit that you do not know me as well as him. But to accuse your own best friend of such betrayal is ridiculous. You need not look any further than the mirror to see who the real liar is in this room.”

“What the devil is that supposed to mean?” he yelled, grabbing her arm and yanking her toward him.

Her eyes narrowed. “You are the liar. You lie to yourself, which is worse than lying to others. The betrayer is you. You’re a walking contradiction, projecting all your insecurities onto others until you push everyone who loves you away! I won’t stand for it.” Isabelle pulled away and walked over to Hunter. “It has been a pleasure knowing you, Hunter. And thank you.”

“You are not leaving!” Dominique bellowed at Isabelle.

Her head turned just slightly, acknowledging him. “I’m quite aware that I’m stuck here, Dominique. Your friend, however, is not. If you would take a moment to think and stop acting like a fool, you’d realize that Hunter is the one leaving, on assignment.”

She stormed out of the room leaving the scent of lavender in her wake.

Hunter groaned into his hands. “I swear to you, it’s like breast feeding a small child. I give you all the nurturing and care you need and you still can’t suck from the tit.”

“What?” Dominique roared. “Did you just compare me to a—”

“Yes, yes I did. Now before you get angry and start throwing things, allow me...” Hunter rose, slowly from his seat and walked calmly toward Dominique.

It was the worst sort of waiting. Hunter was never one to mince words when he was well and truly angry. Dominique hated the silence; he much preferred when his friend acted the fool rather than the predator and killer he truly was.

Hunter lifted golden-flamed eyes toward Dominique and smiled coldly before pulling his hand back and punching him in the face.

Falling to the floor in a thud, Dominique swore up and down as the throbbing intensified on his right eye. “What the—”

“Listen.” Hunter grabbed the lapels of Dominique’s coat and pulled him to his feet with one big swoop. “I swear by all that is holy, if you don’t go fix the damage you just did, I will not only take her away from your bitter presence, I’ll marry her myself. Anything would be better than being constantly vulnerable and then betrayed over and over again. As a gentleman, I refuse to stand by and watch. And as your friend, I cannot allow you to kill the one good thing in your life. Now go before I lose my temper.”

Speechless, Dominique nodded his head and walked out of the room. What was happening to him? One minute he felt a slight moment of happiness and the next was filled with so much fear and anger he thought he might explode. And it all had to do with Isabelle. She made him feel things, she made him...