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Well, not yet, obviously. But I wasn’t done with my attempts. For now, why not shift my target to an equally important topic? Information. “Will you give me five minutes to ask you anything?”
Another brow arched. “I should do this, why?”
“Because we’re on our honeymoon, and even unwanted husbands and brides can enjoy a game now and then. But you have to answer honestly. And you can’t pass.” Best to be clear.
He tilted his head to the side, deepening his study of me to an uncomfortable degree. “Ask.”
My jaw slackened, the fork stopping halfway to my mouth. Seriously? A thousand questions raced through my mind at once. Some revolved around being a berserker. Others involved his daughter. The bulk grew from curiosity about becoming an immortal. Not something I wanted to do. Live forever? No thank you. In fact, the more I knew of the ritual, the better I could avoid it, but this might not be the time to inquire. The real Isobel should already know.
Finally I settled on, “Why isn’t your daughter here with you?”
He wasted no time considering his response. “I don’t want her around you.”
Ouch. I wasn’t Isobel, but the insult seared straight to bone. Especially since helping children was my life’s mission.
Better go a different route with my next question. “Why is the signet ring so special to you?”
In a blink, he ceased twisting the ring, as if I’d caught him doing something he shouldn’t. His expression grew blanker, a feat I hadn’t known was possible. “It belonged to my mother. The only thing of hers I own.”
Belonged. Past tense. She’d died? How special the ring must be to him. He probably thought of his mother every time he handled it, the way I so often remembered my father.
Chest aching, I reached for my necklace. My fingers closed around air, and I swallowed a mewl. What I wouldn’t give for the coin’s return.
Mr. Callen Bruce and I had more in common than we’d realized.
New topic. “The day after our wedding, I almost voicedthat which should not be mentioned.” Soul switching. I bit my bottom lip.What are you doing? Stop!But I didn’t stop. Great risk, great reward. I sought information, and this was my chance to get it. “You inferred I would be executed if I wasn’t really Isobel Campbell.”
“Bruce,” he grated.
“Right. Isobel Bruce.”
“I didn’t hear a question.”
“Speaking hypothetically, why execute me, but not the real Isobel Campbell-Bruce?”
“Who says I wouldn’t execute you both?”
I double blinked. “Would you? For all you know, I’m an innocent woman trapped in the body of a vicious redhead with admittedly brilliant taste in dogs.”
He traced a fingertip along the edge of a coffee mug, his attention glued to me. “Soul switching is a dark art long abandoned, forever forbidden, and best forgotten. Those who participated, whether by will or force, became tainted and had to be eliminated.”
Finally! Facts! But… “You’d really kill an innocent as well as your long-awaited mate?”
He smiled at me for the first time, stealing my breath. Never had I beheld such a cold display of anticipation. “Yes, but you’d die, regardless. The first occasion I lost control of my temper, you would fail to calm me, and I’d strike, unaware of my actions.”
Yikes! He was so sexy right now. Er, scary. Very, very scary. No wonder Isobel had traded lives with an American and not a fellow Scot. The farther away, the better.
“Well,” I muttered and gulped. “Thank goodness I’m Isobel, able to soothe your inner beastie.” If I were home, and me, this was the point I would run for the hills and never look back.
“Yes. Thank goodness. From the beginning, I made it clear. To enjoy the perks of being wed to me, you must deal with the hassle. That hasn’t changed.”
“Aha! So you admit being with you is a hassle.” I focused on teasing him rather than the terror he’d attempted to plant in my heart with his words.
His nostrils flared.
Whatever happened, I must keep him calm. “What is ityouwant?” I asked.
“To have never met you,” he offered easily.
