A Thief of Nightshade(26)

“I haven’t had much human contact in a while. Sorry if my manners leave a little to be desired,” he said sorely.

“He had friends but they were few,”

Aubrey said. “He rarely let anyone in, even me. After all, if he really had opened up to me I would have known about his past, his real past.” Aubrey stepped where she thought a root would provide a solid step but suddenly submerged to her waist.

“Ugh.” Lipsey jumped from Aubrey to Aislinn.

“Fair-weather

friend,”

she

grumbled.

Aislinn laughed at her, but stopped when she doubled over. Her heart was racing and her throat felt strange.

“Something’s wrong,” she choked.

“It’s not the Wraith wound. I can’t breathe.”





Chapter Ten


Once ...

“ALICE CAN’T BE THAT BAD,” JULLIAN

SAID casually as he drove them to her house for an engagement party.

“She’s a portrait of loveliness,”

Aubrey quipped.

He laughed, his deep voice forcing her to smile despite her best efforts at keeping a scowl on her face. He reached over with his right hand, keeping his eyes on the road, and barely touched her chin with his fingertips. “You’ve far too sweet a face to ruin it with such a sour pout.”

“You might not think that once you meet her. It’s hard to believe she mothered such a gorgeous lot of children. You’d never know they’re spoiled rotten. And don’t call her Alice, she goes by her middle name—Brooke. Too many ‘A’

names in the family.” Her stomach dropped as they pulled into the driveway.

“Can’t we just elope? This house is full of people I can’t stand.”

“Is Grant a middle name?”

“Harrington, too. It’s a societal thing —name your children with no intention whatsoever to address them by their first names. Grant’s name is Alexander, Harrington is Aaron, and then, of course, there’s Alice.”

“Did you always go by Aubrielle?”

Her stomach lurched again; she could still hear her middle name, whispered, in a context that would come to haunt her for years. “No. I changed things up at boarding school. My middle name is Elana.”

He parked Aubrey’s Land Cruiser.

“You have a family, sweetheart, for better or worse. I know it feels like you would rather be without them but I promise you if they weren’t here you would miss them.

Besides, Harry is here.”

She stayed put while he went around to open her door for her. She’d initially taken offense to his chivalry, insisting that it was archaic and meant he thought her the weaker sex. When she finally gathered the guts to confront him about it, he corrected her and stated sincerely that his actions were based solely out of respect for her and his want to show her in everything he did that she was his first priority. Had it come from anyone else, she would have said he were full of it.

Jullian, however, did things in private and public that others only did for show and it was this quality, perhaps more than anything else about him, that took the edge off her bitterness.

He took her hand to help her out.

Brooke’s singsong voice greeted them before her feet touched the custom-stamped pavement. “My, you really are Prince Charming. Honestly, I’m shocked she’s letting you open her door.”

Jullian extended a hand to Brooke, giving her a short nod of his head. “Oh, it took some convincing. Mrs. Fuller, it’s a pleasure to meet you as well. Aubrielle has given me quite an earful concerning your musical gifts. May I assume you’ll be entertaining us this evening?”

Aubrey wanted to sock him in the ribs. She’d given him an earful all right— her sister’s giftedness was up to interpretation. When she and her sister were younger, Brooke had always been the one in the school choir who was chosen as the soloist only because of how much their father had donated. She should have been told years ago that she couldn’t carry a tune.

Brooke lit up.

“Well, if you insist,” she said coyly.

Harry was going to kill Jullian for this. He swore Brooke’s singing was the sole cause of his migraines.

Jullian whispered in Aubrey’s ear, “I would rather hear you, of course.”

Aubrey rolled her eyes.

As if her thoughts had summoned him, Harry rounded the corner and clobbered Aubrey with a bear hug. He was her little brother but he was a force to be reckoned with. At 6’3” and a tad on the heavy side, he was a taller, mellower version of Jim Belushi. “Insist on what?”

he asked.

“Harrington, you’re going to ruin Aubrielle’s dress. Jullian has asked that I sing for us this evening.” Brooke beamed, even as she absently brushed Aubrey’s dress free of dirt that apparently only she could see.

“Jullian,” Harry laughed, just faintly enough for Brooke to miss it from where she stood. “I wasn’t aware you were a connoisseur of the arts. Remind me to discuss it with you later.”

The evening went by mostly as Aubrey had imagined it. Brooke displayed her usual knack for choosing just the right caterers, the perfect decor and impeccable gifts for the guests. Most of Aubrey’s immediate friends already knew Jullian, but her family’s idea of acceptable acquaintances