Free Broken Heart 07 Cross Your Heart by Michele Bardsley Page A

grabbed his hand. Lorcan’s silver eyes held trepidation.
    Patsy rounded the grave and stood next to me. “It’s what I wanted to show you,” she said. “You know we finished up all the renovations last year. We didn’t mess around much with the attic.”
    “I suggested we create a playroom for the kids,” said Gabriel. He’d joined us, careful to stay away from Patsy, as if he were used to her being prickly. “I wish I hadn’t.”
    “Well, if wishes were horses, then beggars would ride for free,” said Patsy. She tossed a look of hurt in Gabriel’s direction and then spun around and marched toward the path.
    “What happened, Gabriel?” I asked.
    He shook his head and then turned to follow his wife. A few seconds later, we heard their raised voices.
    “Do you feel up to visiting the mansion?” asked Eva. She looked uncomfortable. “You really should see what they found. Patsy and Gabriel have spent the last four days in that awful place. Yesterday, she asked Lorcan and me to come by and catalog the items.”
    I was curious about this room and its obviously disturbing contents.
    “I’ll stay,” said Damian, “and get a crew out here to remove the rest of our mystery woman. We’ll take her to Dr. Michaels. Maybe he can tell us a few things.”
    “Thank you, Damian,” I said, smiling. “We’ll head over to the mansion.”
    Patsy and Gabriel’s bickering continued, fading as they followed the path out of the forest. What had broken their once-solid faith in each other’s love?
    I looked at Tez, my self-appointed bodyguard, and he nodded. “Let’s go check out the secrets in the attic, Ellie.”

Broken Heart 7 - Cross Your Heart

Chapter 6
    I invited Eva and Lorcan to ride with us to the mansion. Tez didn’t offer to drive, so much as assume that he would. I let him take the lead because I understood he felt the need to control something about the situation. I think it had occurred to him that he couldn’t truly protect me, not from an unseen entity. I couldn’t protect myself. I couldn’t run away, couldn’t fight this thing off. I was scared, but determined to figure out a way to save myself.
    As for what Tez planned to do, or what he might think about what was happening… oh, I just didn’t know. I certainly didn’t understand his somewhat possessive behavior. It wasn’t his responsibility to take care of me. And if a very, very small part of myself reveled in someone wanting to take care of me… well, I would simply have to remember that I could take care of myself.
    Lorcan had the ability to magically transport himself and his wife. By “transport,” I mean he could dissemble their atoms, and reassemble wherever he liked. Most ancient vampires had this power. However, neither he nor Eva protested the less convenient method of travel. It was a good thing, too, since they’d driven in with Gabriel and Patsy. The Mercedes, as well as its two arguing occupants, was gone when we came up the path.
    I was grateful when Tez offered to procure the skull and the jewelry box. I hated not being comfortable in my own home, and I certainly didn’t appreciate the grime of fear clinging to me.
    We piled into Tez’s Honda. He followed my directions to the main road. It wasn’t as though it was particularly complicated to get to the Silverstone mansion, but I plugged Patsy’s address into his GPS anyway. I wanted to talk to my friends and not worry about giving directions to Tez. After we were on our way, I turned in my seat and looked at Eva.
    “What on earth is going on with Gabriel and Patsy?”
    Eva slanted a look at Lorcan, who held his wife’s hand tightly.
    “I don’t know,” she said. “They’ve been fighting nonstop.”
    “About what? I’ve never seen Patsy so… vitriolic. Especially not toward her husband.”
    Eva bit her lower lip and shook her head. “It’s strange. Lorcan and I had a fight on the way over here. I felt so angry. And now, I can’t remember why.”
    “I