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He wore the expression of a man who had placed the weight of the world on his shoulders, and who couldn’t conceive of anyone outside his family being willing to carry the smallest pebble. She knew that feeling, for she’d lived with it herself since her parents died.
“Of course,” she said simply, and patted his hand. “Come now.”
“Lead on,” he murmured.
Her unlikely companion might be delightful, but he was far too tightly laced. He walked as if life had strapped him into a steel corset, and the slightest transgression would doom him forever. Not that she knew what doom meant to him—though she imagined it circled around funds and supporting his sister. No doubt a reasonable concern, given how he’d described his financial situation.
It was probably quite poor of her to judge, given her inheritance meant she’d never worry about money.
Yet she couldn’t help but wonder what he’d be like if he let himself unravel?
Slipping her arm from his, she leaped onto a rock and flew a short distance to a low branch hanging across their path. There was little room for flight among the trees, but she was small enough—and determined enough—to make it happen. Landing on the branch, she gripped the beam with her claws, swung herself around, and met his gaze from upside down.
Her skirts slid toward her waist.
“Will you catch me?” She batted her eyelashes at him.
“Madam!” He quickly averted his gaze. His cheeks flushed red, and she caught a glimpse of heat in his gaze before his spectacles once again obscured his eyes. “Your skirts are…ah…”
She laughed. “Fortify yourself, sir.”
Staring determinedly at a neighboring tree, he held out his arm to her. “Can I do that while we continue walking?”
“What a gentleman.” She uncoiled from the tree and reclaimed his arm. Then she leaned into him, close enough to feel the heat of him, and she spoke quietly into his ear. “You do know that you’re planning to spy on The Monsters Ball. You truly are going to have to fortify yourself against some ankle and a little leg.”
High color stained his cheeks. “I am not spying.”
Goodness, she’d never much cared for gingers before this moment. But his skin revealed truths that his expression hid, and she found the contradiction fascinating. “You scaled a wall and have convinced an attendee to lead you through the forest—I am afraid this is quite clearly spying. Indeed, the Queen’s own covert officers would commend—”
“I am going to confirm Penny is well,” he said. “Then leave.”
“Just so,” she said, biting her lip in an effort to contain her amusement. “You appear to have it all in hand.”
“I try, lady,” he said dryly.
“I can see that,” she replied in mock seriousness.
Despite her teasing, she wondered what he would do if his sister wasn’t well. Most men enjoyed claiming grand acts of heroism when the exercise was purely rhetorical, and when faced with reality they up and ran. She rather thought Theo Essex would prove the opposite: that this slender human wouldn’t hesitate to challenge the most fearsome creature in the room if his sister was in peril.
It warmed her blood—along with other parts.
The temptation to tarry was almost impossible to resist, but she could feel Theo growing tenser with each step. He was truly worried, and she wasn’t cruel. She knew what it was like to feel responsible for a younger sister. They emerged from the trees and skirted the grounds to the edge of the gardens, until they had a view of the manor’s wide veranda and wall of glazed windows, through which spilled the warm light of the ballroom.
He started forward.
She caught his arm and stopped him.
“What.” He spun around and glared at her.
Unphased, she pointed to the distant figures of orc footmen framing the veranda. “There appears to be a small hitch—and by slight, I mean enormous and green-skinned—to your otherwise masterful plan.”
Theo
“Fuck,”Theo cursed, glaring at the pair of orcs. Then he winced and glanced at Enid. “My apologies, madam. I—”
“Please.” She waved off his apology. “I think we’ve established I’m not some wilting miss who will collapse at salty language. Unless you’re worried you’ll woo me with your dangerous words?” She flashed those ever-so-slightly sharp teeth at him. “In which case you’d best beware.”
In that case I should show off my London Hells vocabulary—
