Give Me (Wyrd and Fae #1)(28)

“Ah. Well, Bausiney is the family name. Sounds Italian, but it’s as old as the iron beneath Dumnos. Long before I was born, the people in the village had begun to call the place Bausiney’s End as a joke. It seemed the earl would never marry and produce an heir, and there aren’t any relatives to pick up the slack.”

“So if you hadn’t come along…”

“The title would have come to its end.”

To go with the filet mignon, the steward opened a Paraduxx red from the cellar, the Reflection Cade had brought back from California two years ago. He’d been that close to Lilith and hadn’t known she existed. She was beautiful in the candlelight, drinking the garnet liquid. If he kissed her now, would she object? Would she taste like wine?

“You did come along,” she said, “but the house has kept the name.”

“Yes. The earl found a willing victim in my mother, but Bausiney’s End has stuck. I must have been a disappointment.”

“Not to anyone I’ve met. Marion sings your praises, and your father obviously adores you.”

“You’re too kind. Moo has to sing my praises. She’s my aunt.”

“And your mother, the earl-ess, or whatever a Mrs. Earl is called? She must love you.”

“Countess.”

“Countess Dumnos, of course.” Lilith blushed.

“She died.”

“I gathered that, though Marion didn’t say.”

“She doesn’t like to talk about it. It was during the last Handover. I think my father relives the loss, now it’s been called again. I was very young.”

Lilith touched his forearm. “I’m so sorry, Cade.”

He loved to hear her say his name. “Apparently, she was wonderful, if a little wild. There’s a picture of her at the Tragic Fall.”

“In the fringe jacket and go-go boots with Cupid on her shoulder.”

“That’s her.” Cade swallowed the rest of his wine and refilled their glasses. “But it isn’t Cupid. It was taken at Piccadilly Circus in London. That’s the statue of Anteros, the god of requited love, mature love. Delight, you might say, as opposed to desire.”

This was lovely. Marion couldn’t bear to talk about his mother, and Dad refused to hear her name. It felt good to speak freely.

“Requited love.” Lilith laughed. “You don’t hear many songs about how I can get some satisfaction.”

“I’m not sure what satisfaction either of my parents found. She was more than twenty years younger than Dad. As I said, they married to have me. Continue the line.”

“You think?”

She didn’t judge or try to make him feel better about it. That was nice too. “I believe his desires lay in another direction, though he never had a special friend that I knew about.”

“I suppose it was hard for his generation to be honest about those feelings.”

“Dad swears he and Mother were great friends, had fun together. And then she was gone. You always think there’s time for everything.”

“Time is the one thing I’ve always felt rich in. No intimations of my mortality. I can’t explain it. My mother also died young, but—quite unreasonably—I feel I could live forever. All her life she struggled to care for me. Not successfully. She was…uncomfortable in the world. And when she was finally free of the burden of parenting, she died. I doubt she experienced one day of true happiness.”

“That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard,” Cade said. “Surely you gave her joy, or your dad did.”

“She loved me. I’m not sure I made her happy. I don’t remember my father. I think he was out of the picture before I was born.”

He couldn’t think what to say. But then he didn’t feel compelled to say anything. Dessert was served, and in companionable silence they ate the perfect chocolate soufflé. When the table was cleared and they were given coffee and cognac, he was glad to see the musicians leave with the catering crew. He hadn’t anticipated just how much he would want to be alone with her.

“What was the other name?” Lilith said. “Of the house. Maybe people just don’t like it as well.”

“Faeview.”

“Oh, but that’s nice.”

“According to legend, when there’s a full moon, from this very roof you can see fairy lights in the woods beyond Glimmer Cottage.”

“Oh, I like that.” Her face lit up. “Let’s blow out the candles and see if they’re out and about tonight.”

“You’re thinking of nice, fairytale fairies. Disney fairies who grant wishes and deliver sugarplums under pillows.”

“And the fairies of Tintagos are not nice?”

“Most assuredly not nice.” It was easier to tell the truth than think of a lie, and she’d believe it was just another story, like the Handover. “The fae are dangerous. They live in a magical world, out of time. It isn’t a good thing to see them in ours. Don’t wish for it.”

“But I do wish for something.” She breathed in the cognac’s aroma but put the snifter down without drinking. “Something different. I think that must be why I came to Tintagos.”

He reached over and brushed her hair out of her eyes.