Page 48 of Heart of Iron
Heat flared in his gaze.He took a step toward her.“That reputation might be all as keeps us safe,” he snarled.“Besides, I’m verwulfen.They ain’t ever gonna see me as anythin’ else.”
“And neither will you!”
The outburst shocked both of them.Lena let out her breath, staring at him defiantly.“You call yourself a beast, Will, because you believe it.A part of you thinks you’re nothing better than what they claim.”Taking a shuddery breath, she continued.“You’re fighting me at every step of these lessons because you hate the Echelon, but I’m not only trying to help you learn to fit in, I’m trying to show you another way to live.”
Silence quivered in the air between them.Will stared at her in shock, instead of anger.Encouraged, Lena took a step toward him.
“Take my lessons,” she whispered.“Use them to be who youwantto be.Force the Echelon to look you in the eye.Dare them to treat you as a man.A dangerous man, if need be, but not…not an animal.”
He looked away, as if the truth of her words had struck him a blow.Then his eyes narrowed.“And what of you?”
“Whatofme?”
“How will you treat me?”
Lena shook her head, her mouth working silently.“I’m not quite sure I—”
His expression hardened.“You know what they’ll say.What they’ll think when they see you with me.Will you play along?Will you laugh behind your hand with ’em, to assure your own place in their world ain’t at risk?Or will you risk their censure?Risk everythin’ to prove the worth of your words?For there’ll be a cost to this, you mark me words.And you’ll be the one as pays it.”
She stared up at him, the nearness of his body unnerving her.Not once had she thought of the cost to herself of squiring him about.To be seen with him, with a verwulfen, was tantamount to social suicide.
“Aye,” he murmured.“Thought so.”Reaching out he cupped her cheek, turning her face up toward his.“You can play games with me, Lena, because here, no one can see.Well, I’m tired of bein’ your little toy.Maybe you’re right.Maybe I am lettin’ others dictate how I see meself.But for all your brave words, so do you.”
The words were a blow.For all her hatred of the Echelon, she’d conformed to their rules as surely as he had.She’d let them define who she was.What she thought.What she dared to do.
Her very own cage.
Will let her face go then stepped back.“You never thought of it, did you?”His lips curled in a bitter smile and he grabbed his coat off the table, slinging it over his shoulder.“Guess I’ll see you at the official presentation.”With a short nod in her direction, he started for the door.“Then we’ll see if your words are worth anythin’.”
***
Two days later, Will leaned against a brick wall, examining the enormous white tower that speared halfway to the heavens.The alabaster marble gleamed even in the dismal afternoon rain, an ever-present reminder of the power of the Echelon.Tomorrow night they’d host the official presentation ball there, once the Scandinavian delegate arrived.He’d be required to put on his best manners and charm, try to entice the Scandinavians into signing the treaty.A Herculean task that made his palms wet.
What if he failed?
He’d never realized how much a part of him longed for the respectability of being a free man.No price on his head, able to come and go as he pleased without watching over his shoulder.Able to do anything he wanted…be anything he wanted…without resigning himself to the fact that he was just hired muscle.
He didn’t bother to think of it much, but Lena’s words the other day were chasing around and around inside his head.He owed Blade the world, but a part of him chafed at the constrictiveness of his life.Something hungry and yearning lurked inside his heart and he didn’t know what it was or how to fix it.
His eyes narrowed as a gilded steam carriage pulled up in front of the tower gates, thick coal smoke shooting from its exhaust.He’d tracked it from Mayfair, where he’d been keeping watch over Barrons’s mansion all morning.The rain helped hide him and the footmen never looked around.Fools all.It just served to prove how easily Colchester could get at her if he wanted.
A footman opened the door and a slender hand appeared, resting on the footman’s.Skirts the color of crushed rose petals swept into view, then Lena alighted, peering up at the tower nervously.
The sight of her never failed to take his breath.Suddenly the unknown need, the hunger within him, had a name and face.
And that troubled him more than the entire Echelon combined.
Youcan’t have her.
She was human and he verwulfen.He could never be in her bed without risking her life, risking infecting her with the loupe.Something he shouldn’t have to remind himself of.
With a scowl Will crossed his arms over his chest and settled in to wait.He couldn’t guard her within the Ivory Tower and that made the skin on the back of his neck rise.He would just have to trust that Lena would be safe.
The alternative was unthinkable.
***
Lena glanced over her shoulder as she stroked the raven’s glossy feather.The rookery at the top of Crowe Tower was full of squawking cages the Echelon had once used to send messages.Now, with the invention of pneumatic tubes and radio frequency, there was no need for them, but the ravens were tradition.To not see them circling the very tip of the tower would seem strange indeed.
