Page 21 of Within the Hollow Heart

“What?” Etta parroted back.

“You tell me what.” He pointed at her. “You’ve got that look. The one you get when you know something you don’t plan to tell me. There! That one. Give it up, Antonetta. This isn’t a game.”

“I know it’s not, you dolt. It’s precisely the sort of foolery you should not be messing about with. This is serious kingdom business.”

Nickolas leaned forward. “Oh no you don’t. I’m in this, just like last time, and you’re not going to keep me in the dark until I end up—”

“It wasonetime,” Etta snapped. “I got you into troubleonetime.”

“Jail, Antonetta. You got me intojail.”

Her lips pressed down. “I may know the book. There was a certain collection of fae laws my father had.” At his attempt at rising, she held up a hand as if to stall him. “It’s no longer in our possession. Gideon has moved it somewhere safe.”

“Can it help her? Does it hold whatever clues she needs to break a curse?”

Etta looked doubtful. “Not without knowing the terms she’s bound by. What about the other favor, the introduction?”

“She’s asked to meet with Lord Beckett.”

Etta hummed. “Beckett specializes in interkingdom law. Perhaps the threat of a betrothal at home is why she’s hiding in Westrende, looking for asylum. But it’s no wonder she could not ask Gideon to assist her in an introduction to Beckett. The man has ties to his uncle.”

“The steward?”

She nodded. “The very one.”

Nickolas leaned back in his chair. Jules had said she did not want to put Gideon and Etta at risk. He’d not understood precisely how real that danger was. Fae curses and kingdom officials could not mix. He shook his head. “Well, at least that part, I have covered. I plan to introduce her to Beckett at the midsummer ball.”

Etta stared at him. After a moment, she asked, “You’re taking her to a ball?”

Nickolas stood abruptly. “I’m helping her. That’s all.” It was all, truly. She was just a lady who was cursed, and he was taking her to a ball. Etta’s eyes still on him, he said defensively, “Find the book. I’ll do the rest.” Then he turned and walked out the door.

CHAPTER11

Nickolas strode into the wide corridor outside Etta’s office just as kingdom business came into full swing. Lords and ladies, kingsmen, officials, and sundry messengers, staff, and scribes filled the imposing space. Nickolas had a list of those lords he was meant to meet with. He needed to review his proposal for the next assembly and, most unfortunately, had run out of excuses not to stop at the exchequer’s office to handle some delicate Brigham family business. He would do so today.

“Nicky.”

A hand smacked overhard onto Nickolas’s shoulder along with the overloud voice. He held back the expression that wanted to claw its way across his face. Lords did not reveal unpleasant tempers in the council’s wing of the castle. “William,” he said without breaking his stride.

The other man rushed to keep up, not letting go his grip. “Still churlish, I see. Word about Westrende is that you have a new lady on your arm. Giving you trouble, is she?”

Nickolas stopped and turned so abruptly that a scribe knocked into William from behind when he stopped too. “Remove your hand from my person, Lord Adair.”

William stepped back. “I see how it is, then.”

Something heavy settled in Nickolas’s gut. Would that it was only guilt.

William’s head tipped closer at his reaction. “Remembering my connections, I see, that a word from me could do more damage than even a Brigham’s reputation might bear.” His voice had gone smooth, no longer the brash boy he so often pretended to be.

Nickolas said nothing and merely let the cold steadiness of his expression do its work.

The other man’s tone dipped in its cajoling. “Come, Nickolas. Our families have been friends for years. I just need a moment of your time. That’s all.”

Nickolas asked, “What is it that you want, Will?”

His sharp green eyes darted from one direction of the corridor to another. He wore a superfine coat of a shade darker than his eyes, his muddy-hued side-whiskers dipping beneath his shirt points in a pale imitation of his father’s. He truly was a menace. “Just a moment of privacy.”

Nickolas gave a nod of acquiescence and followed the man to a private meeting room farther down the corridor. Once inside, Nickolas moved away from the darkened alcove, where William latched the door.

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