Chapter 17
Chapter seventeen
“I feel abandoned. Sevrin says I am being ridiculous, but I hate when they all leave me behind, alone. At least I have Aidan.” – from the diary of Oren Byrne, age fourteen.
Isat in Father—no, Aidan’s bookroom. Father had, of course, taken it for his use again since Aidan was gone dealing with the unknown issue, but he wasn’t alone.
Mother, Phineas, Sevrin, Nevan, Neil, and Georgie had joined us, making the room warm and stagnant, with the fire suffusing even more heat into the cramped space.
Frances had been invited to the meeting but had bowed out.
She preferred not to know anything that was going on, as it taxed her emotionally.
Besides, as she’d stated, someone should be with the children during this turbulent time.
I was unsure of where Abnus was, but that was probably for the best, as I was feeling put out with him because he’d abandoned me last night after sucking me off. I still had the bruises from his fingers on my ass, and each twinge made me feel his absence keenly.
At the first opportunity this morning, I’d informed Father about what Miss Quirke had shared with me. He’d gathered the remaining people, though I truly thought he’d only meant to include Mother, but she’d been with Georgie, who’d told everyone else.
As I looked around at everyone’s worried faces, I longed for Aidan.
If he was here, he would sit beside me and talk for me, so I didn’t have to answer question after question.
I shook my head. No. Aidan wouldn’t be next to me anymore; he’d be sitting behind the desk and be the one posing the questions.
Everything had changed.
“Do you believe her?” Father asked.
“Why wouldn’t he?” Mother questioned before I had the chance to speak. “Miss Quirke wouldn’t lie about what she saw.”
“I’m not saying she lied.” Father took Mother’s hand, pulling her closer. “I’m merely questioning if she saw what she thinks she did.”
Mother appeared pacified by his explanation and settled against the side of his chair, almost pressing against him while giving him a warm smile.
“I believe she saw what she said she did,” Phineas said.
All of us shifted to look at my older brother in the corner of the bookroom.
He leaned against one of the shelves, his expression calm.
Out of all of my brothers, Phineas’s aspect set him apart most from the rest, with his golden hair and his pale green eyes, but it was more than that.
He was the calmest and quietest of us all.
A steadfastness cloaked him that made him feel different.
“Why?” Sevrin asked. The two of them were close, much like Aidan and I, Nevan and Neil, and Thomas and Whitaker.
“Aidan himself said something was happening.”
“True,” Nevan commented. “Iris said something is moving among the woods.”
Iris had basically moved into the manor and was causing all sorts of havoc.
Without Aidan there to rein her in, she’d taken over the garden, growing herbs, terrorized the chef into allowing her free use of the kitchen, and was in a constant war with Mrs. Kelly about what was the proper way to run a household.
The only one present who could possibly place some limits on her was Lord Abnus, and he seemed disinclined to act.
“So what do we do?” Georgie asked, and thank God no one turned toward me because I had no idea what we were supposed to do.
Father closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, thinking. None of us rushed him; this was an unprecedented situation. “Does Lord Abnus know much of necromancers?”
This time everyone did look at me, and I flushed, even though I shouldn’t and had no reason to. No one knew about what he and I had done last night. Well… as long as no one had heard me; I hadn’t been exactly quiet.
“He has never said.”
“Hmm,” Father replied, leaning back in his chair, a move that felt so natural that it seemed as if we had stepped back in time to just months ago. “Phineas, ask one of the footmen for Lord Abnus to join us.”
My brother followed the order without a word.
Nevan, though, nudged Neil and Georgie with his elbows, then grinned at me, wiggling his eyebrows.
I frowned, fighting a blush. A peek at Mother and Father assured me of their ignorance, but I couldn’t say the same for Sevrin.
He had a hand over his mouth while his brown eyes were crinkled in obvious amusement.
I crossed my arms and refused to rise to the silent teasing.
Phineas returned, and only a few minutes after him, Abnus strode in. He was dressed to the nines as always, though every piece of his clothing was black. The room thankfully chilled with his entrance and made me sigh in relief. I tugged on my cravat—it had gotten rather warm in here.
When he moved closer to the desk, his hand brushed against my bicep, which sent a shiver down my spine. The urge to twine our fingers together was so strong that I had to fist my hands on my thighs to keep from touching him.
“Dowager Lord Byrne,” Abnus said, bowing slightly. He remained near my chair instead of moving closer to the desk or sitting in the other free chair. “You summoned me.”
“Did Oren tell you of what Miss Quirke and he discussed yesterday when you were all visiting Elmbury?” Father asked.
Abnus fisted his hands, but his expression remained calm. “No.”
“She saw a ghost.”
He turned toward me. “Mr. Byrne?”
I retold the story for the third time again today, longing for Aidan. I would’ve only had to say it once with him, and he would’ve talked for me the rest of the time. The more I spoke, the closer Abnus drifted to my side, until there wasn’t much space separating us.
“They say when ghosts tarry, necromancers walk,” Abnus commented, looking directly at me.
“What do you know of them?” Father asked, forcing us both to look at him. But he didn’t catch my focus; Mother did. She was staring at Abnus and I with a calculating gaze that made me distinctly uncomfortable.
“Not much. I didn’t interact with Lord Rhett Byrne or his necromancer. I never met either; Cethin did, though.”
“I shall send a letter to Aidan. He might need to return, though he is also needed elsewhere,” Father commented more to himself, I believed, than anyone here.
Phineas remarked, “You could retrieve Cethin faster than a messenger, I assume, Lord Abnus.”
Abnus’s expression cooled, and he shifted until his hand brushed the back of my arm and remained there, sending my pulse into a rapid tattoo. “Cethin is unlikely to leave his husband, and Lord Byrne asked me to stay here and protect his family.”
“And I’m sure that’s the only reason you’re here,” Nevan said, cocking an eyebrow and giving the two of us a knowing smirk, which sent a flush to my cheeks.
Abnus didn’t reply, and I couldn’t have, even if someone actually wanted me to—though no one seemed to require it.
Mother cast the two of us another look before a smile spread across her face. “Perhaps you two should go to Hillridge Farm, with your older brothers, of course, and see if what your friend Miss Quirke says is true?”
Well, she changed focus quite rapidly. I almost rolled my eyes, but I stopped the movement, as Mother would comment on it. It would be unseemly and rude, though she did allow my brothers to do so, occasionally.
“I, for one, would be very happy to join Oren and Lord Abnus,” Nevan said.
Sevrin said, “I’m sure you are. I and Neil can go. Perhaps we should invite Iris? Another fae wouldn’t be a remiss. Do you not think, Lord Abnus?”
“I’m sure Iris will have something to say,” Abnus replied, and I chuckled, grinning at him.
Iris always had something to say. He gave me the slightest quirk of his lips, his purple eyes roving over my face, and everything was right between us again, as simply as that.
Yesterday’s abandonment was washed away.
We were sorting out whatever this was between us, I was sure of it.
“I’m sure she will,” Mother said, smiling at us, which made me frown.
I didn’t want to force Abnus to spend time with me.
I wanted whatever this was to develop naturally.
“Perhaps you two should go look for her together? I believe Mrs. Kelly chased her off early this morning after she tracked copious amounts of mud across the clean floors.”
My frown deepened.
Phineas, God bless him, spoke, "Unnecessary, Hester. Iris informed me she was going to Elmbury. Apparently she and Mrs. Quirke have been verbally sparring over the efficacy of her potions.”
Of course they had.
“Sevrin and I can find her,” he continued.
Mother sighed but gave him a kind smile. “That would be lovely of you, my dear.”
Sevrin cocked his elbow on Phineas’s shoulder and commented, “While we're gone, maybe Lord Abnus and Oren can begin to look in the library for something about necromancy. If Lord Rhett used a necromancer before, there has to be a record of it.”
Father was frowning at all of us, eyes narrowed.
“There is some mention of the necromancer in the first memoir, but not much. I see no harm in you reading it, though it should be Aidan’s decision, but he did leave me in charge while he was gone.
If he would allow anyone to read it, it would be you.
” Father stood and pulled an old book from the shelf behind the desk.
The leather was cracked with age, and tears marred the front as if it had been torn by claws. Or bony fingers.
I took it from Father’s grasp, laying it on my thighs.
I’d never read this volume, not that I’d read all of the memoirs as Aidan had, but this one had been restricted from all of us.
Only the current Lord of Sídhetír was allowed to read it, as it documented the forming of the gate between the realms and the forging of the contract.
Unable to resist, I carefully cracked the book open; the pages were yellowed with age and crinkled beneath my fingers.
Abnus leaned over my shoulder, his hair brushing my cheek.
I took a deep inhale of his crisp, clean scent like fresh snow.
Fuck. I could never get enough of it. It stirred my pulse and made me swallow as need coursed through me.
His fingers traced the words, and I followed the movements, easily recalling when those talented fingers had been on me last night.
I shifted, and my ass protested, reminding me yet again of the marks he’d left on me.
Father dismissed us, and my brothers filed out first with teasing laughter and light shoves. I stood to follow them, and Abnus trailed behind me so closely that I could feel his breath stir my hair.
As I was about to close the door, I heard Father say, “What the devil were you playing at with Oren and Lord Abnus?”
Mother sighed. “Oh, Jonathan, you are truly clueless at times.”
I yanked the door closed so I didn’t have to hear any more.