Challenges (26 page)

Extreme disgust filled Delin as he realized that that was precisely what it must be. He hadn’t daydreamed the exchange with Lord Ollon, it had really happened. His initial confusion lay in believing he hadn’t yet done the deed, but obviously he had. He was even able to see the ends of the knotted cord now, dangling down the back of the corpse. And corpse it was, something he could tell even from where he stood.

“Which means I won’t go back in and ruin my previous work,” Delin muttered, a decision he would be firm on despite his really wanting to get closer to his handiwork. Better to simply leave now, and practice looking surprised when someone eventually told him about the murder. And about Rigos’s arrest, of course. This time even Rigos’s father would be helpless to do anything to save his son.

But as Delin made his way back to his horse, he became even more determined to do something about his problem. After all, how many people did one have to murder before one was allowed the pleasure of actually experiencing the act…?

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Rion answered the knock at his door to find Jovvi and Vallant standing there. His surprise must have been rather evident, as Jovvi smiled just a bit as she shook her head.

“No, we haven’t moved up the time we’ll be Blending,” she told him softly. “We seem to have a different problem, and although it doesn’t involve you directly, you really should be there while we discuss it. As one of us, you—”

“Why doesn’t the problem involve him directly?” Vallant interrupted to ask, looking at Jovvi with the same puzzlement Rion himself felt. “The same thing would go for him, wouldn’t it?”

“What same thing?” Rion asked, trying to make sense of the scene. “And what problem are we discussing?”

“Please!” Jovvi temporized, holding up both hands. “This isn’t the place to discuss the matter. Let’s just go to Lorand’s bedchamber, and then all your questions can be answered.”

Although Rion’s curiosity was beginning to grow somewhat intense, he agreed that that wasn’t the place to discuss anything at all. One or more of the servants could appear at any moment, which did make it wisest for them to retire to Lorand’s bedchamber. Rion therefore stepped out of his own and closed the door, then followed the others to Lorand’s door.

A single knock brought Lorand, who added his own surprised expression as the three of them entered. Tamrissa was already there, and although she seemed momentarily startled to see them all, another, more difficult to define, expression dominated her visible emotions.

“I think we’ve both run up against the same brick wall,” Jovvi said to Tamrissa, who raised her brows before nodding. “Yes, I can see that Vallant was right, so we all need to talk.”

“May I ask
now
what we’re to talk about?” Rion put in, trying not to allow annoyance to take him over. “I was unaware of any problem involving a brick wall, and would like to know why I, among the rest of you, am uninvolved.”

“You’re uninvolved because you seem to be more reasonable than Lorand and Vallant,” Jovvi said dryly after exchanging a glance with Tamrissa. “Tamma and I have discovered that during Blending, we have a stronger bond with any man we’ve lain with. Because of that we decided we needed to lie with
all
you men, but Lorand and Vallant have been … reluctant to cooperate. It seems there’s some sort of code of honor involved…”

Lorand and Vallant both began to speak at once then, a combination of protest over unfair accusation and a defense of a perfectly reasonable stance. Rion, however, had the sudden impression that he might have made a large social
faux pas
, and not having realized it at the time was possibly not enough of an excuse. For that reason he quietly went to a chair and sat, leaving the others to sort the matter out among themselves.

“But this whole thing is ridiculous,” Tamrissa was in the midst of protesting since the men had run down a bit. “How can anyone feel hurt because of a necessity? Even if you don’t happen to like the need, that doesn’t stop it from
being
necessary.”

“And it really isn’t a personal matter,” Jovvi added, clearly working to sound calm and reasonable. “Being intimate with someone isn’t a betrayal of someone else, not when the someone else is aware of what’s happening and is cooperating with a like necessity. You do see that, don’t you?”

“I’m not seein’ much of anythin’ beyond the picture of another man lyin’ with the woman who means so much to me,” Vallant put in, his expression disturbed. “Not to mention me doin’ the same with a woman who means that much to another man. It just isn’t
right
to do that to a friend, and Lorand is a good deal more than a friend.”

“As is Vallant to me,” Lorand agreed with a nod while the ladies seemed to be fighting expressions of exasperation. “I can’t imagine ever betraying him like that, even if betrayal isn’t the proper word under the circumstances. I—wait a minute. Why are we just talking about Vallant and me? Shouldn’t we be including Rion?”

“That’s a good question,” Vallant agreed with brows high. “As soon as Lorand said it, I wondered again why Rion was told that this doesn’t concern him. I can’t see how it
doesn’t
concern him.”

The questions were mostly being put to Jovvi, who had exchanged another glance with Tamrissa before beginning to show an extremely neutral expression. Tamrissa immediately adopted the same expression, which left Rion as the last to decide on his appearance. This turned out to be rather difficult for Rion, as he had no true idea about how he
should
feel. Had he betrayed Lorand and Vallant? If so, he would not be terribly pleased with himself. Jovvi began to speak, but Lorand interrupted before she produced the first word.

“And now that
I
think about it, there’s another question that hasn’t been asked,” Lorand said, dividing his stare between Jovvi and Tamrissa. “How did you two discover this … closer bond between you and men you had lain with? As far as I know, the only ones in this group who have lain together are Jovvi and myself.”

By then Vallant had added his own divided stare, which was also directed at the women. Tamrissa now looked more uncomfortable and faintly distressed than expressionless, and she studied her hands where they twisted together a bit at her waist. Jovvi’s calm seemed to have thinned somewhat, and for the most part her gaze avoided Lorand’s. Rion would have enjoyed staying out of the situation, but doing that at Tamrissa and Jovvi’s expense was simply beyond him.

“I’m … afraid I’m to blame,” Rion said, breaking that very awkward silence. “I really had no idea that anyone would object, so I—”

“No, it wasn’t your fault,” Jovvi interrupted at once, speaking to Rion first and then giving Lorand a defiant look. “The whole thing was
my
idea, which was completely within my rights. No one else had any interest in me, so—”

“And it was also
my
idea,” Tamrissa rushed to add, the blush on her cheeks weakening the firmness of her tone. “I asked Rion a favor, and he was good enough to—”

“You actually went so far as to take advantage of Rion?” Lorand demanded of Jovvi in apparent outrage. “A man with such a small amount of life experience is worse than a fish in a barrel, but you speared him anyway. I never thought I’d say this, Jovvi, but I’m really disappointed in you.”

“You leave her alone!” Tamrissa said, clearly trying for a snap in her voice but achieving a trembling instead as she put an arm about Jovvi’s shoulders. “She isn’t the only one who did it, and she wasn’t even first. And not only isn’t Rion as innocent as you seem to think, he also doesn’t have all these … ridiculous objections that you two do. He makes a woman feel
appreciated
, not unreasonably intrusive.”

Jovvi hadn’t seemed prepared to defend herself, and Tamrissa’s defense came as something of a surprise. Lorand and Vallant exchanged a glance before each of them looked briefly toward Rion, and once again Rion had no idea how to respond. It had been shocking enough that the ladies had been blamed for the incidents rather than himself; now, with comparisons being made…

“Are you sayin’ you’d … rather lie with Rion than with me?” Vallant asked Tamrissa, sounding more vulnerable and hurt than he had the other night in the coach. “If that’s what your choice is then I can’t argue it, but—”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake!” Tamrissa interrupted, actually sounding annoyed as she looked at Vallant.

“Don’t you understand that I was saving you for last because—”

Her words ended abruptly as color flooded her cheeks, but Vallant began to glow as if strong sunlight shone on him.

“Because after lyin’ with me you don’t expect to want any other man?” he suggested, moving closer to her. “That’s just what
I
had in mind, and I mean to work real hard gettin’ it done. I don’t want to own you, Tammakins. I mean to make you want to own
me
.”

Tamrissa blushed again as she looked up at Vallant, his grin obviously adding to her discomfort. But Rion noticed that she didn’t look away again, nor did she even seem to want to.

“This meeting has turned out to be more involved than when we Blended,” Lorand said with a sigh, his gaze on Jovvi. “I didn’t really mean it when I said I was disappointed, love. Or maybe I meant I was disappointed in myself. I shouldn’t have made you feel that no one wanted you, because the truth is that I want you more than anything in the world. If only I were good enough for you…”

“Don’t say that!” Jovvi interrupted sharply, a plea rather than a command. She had left Tamrissa’s side, and now stood in front of Lorand. “Your thinking that is
my
fault, and I simply can’t bear it. I never dreamed that a man could be as wonderful as you, and if you speak about yourself that way again, I’ll … I’ll…”

The threat trailed off unspoken, and they simply stood there gazing at one another. Just as Tamrissa and Vallant stood doing the same. Rion sighed very softly, then rose and silently left the room. He was truly delighted that his groupmates seemed to have worked out their difficulties, but being among them was a bit on the painful side. If only Naran were there…

Rion headed downstairs rather than return to his empty bedchamber, in no mood for being alone but somehow also in no mood for company. But he made sure to move slowly and idly, as he knew that a servant now seemed to be on the way to the stairs. The human body displaced a certain amount of air, and he’d discovered that he could use his awareness of that to judge if anyone was near or approaching. The four people upstairs needed no distractions, but he could certainly use one.

And sure enough, the servant had crossed half the hall by the time he reached the bottom of the stairs. It happened to be the servant who had sought him out the night Naran had come by to tell him where she would be, and when the man saw him he changed his direction from the stairs to Rion himself.

“Ah, Lord Rion, how fortunate,” the man said with a smile. “I was just coming to look for you. That young lady from the other night is at the door again.”

Rion could barely believe his ears, but lost no time in doubting the marvelous coincidence. He immediately followed the servant to the side door used primarily by servants and tradespeople, tipped the man, then opened the door to see the most beautiful face in the universe.

“Oh, my lord, how quickly you came,” Naran said breathlessly, seeming a bit startled at his sudden appearance. “I would not have disturbed you here again, but I feared that you would search for me at the same house and I’m no longer there. I haven’t as yet found anything permanent, but as soon as I do I’ll be certain to let you know where I am.”

“I live for the moment,” Rion said as he reached out and drew her into his arms. “I worried so about you since the other night—I returned to the house shortly after I left it, and found you gone.”

“Oh, if I’d known you would return, I would have stayed despite the warning,” she said, looking up at him in just the way that Tamrissa and Jovvi had looked up at Vallant and Lorand. “As soon as you were gone, a friend came to say that I might have been found. Men searched the neighborhood, and they could well have been
his
men.”

“They were in the pay of my mother’s agent,” Rion said, feeling the frown he now wore. “I’d believed I’d avoided them, but it turned out I hadn’t. But who is this person who might be searching for you? You’ve said nothing about another man.”

“He isn’t a man, he’s a beast,” Naran replied with a small shudder, fear showing briefly in her gaze. “I … had business with him some time ago, and he was very abusive. After that I refused to see him again, a decision he, in turn, refused to accept. He’s a very powerful man, but fortunately for me he can’t come after me openly. He’s forced to have his agents skulk about, which has allowed me to stay one or two steps ahead of him.”

“Running like a common criminal,” Rion said, fighting to keep the fury suddenly filling him from exploding in all directions. “Well, that’s all over with now. You’re to gather your things together, and return here during the small hours of the morning. There’s certainly enough room in this house for you, and my friends will help to hide your presence. And if that … beast discovers where you are, he’ll have me to deal with.”

“But, my lord, how can I impose that way?” she objected, disturbance clear in her lovely eyes. “Your friends might not be willing to shelter a stranger, and that man is really very rich and powerful. To put you in his path would be to put you in terrible danger.”

“The danger will be his to fear, not mine,” Rion said so flatly that she gave another delicate shudder. “Perhaps the matter has failed to take your attention, dear lady, but you are no longer alone in the world. Will you return here tonight?”

She struggled for a moment with indecision, her hands flat to his chest while he held her close, and then, reluctantly, she nodded.

“I loathe the idea of putting my troubles on your shoulders, but I truly have no other choice,” she admitted. “He’s managed to find me everywhere else I went, and I’ve now run out of refuges. But when I return, I shan’t come to the door. If your friends dislike the idea of my being here, you need only fail to come out and find my carriage. I swear I’ll understand, and will let you know where I’ve gone once I find another place.”