Free Mad for Love: Even Gods Fall in Love, Book 2 by Lynne Connolly Page A

Marcus said nothing, but Blaize felt a mind pressing at his. “You forget. I’m older than you and more practiced. Don’t try. In fact, guard that ability extremely carefully.”
    “Very well.” Marcus nodded his apology and Blaize accepted with an equally brief nod. “Tell me your quest. If it’s what I think, then we’re agreed in any case.”
    Blaize leaned back and picked up his glass, which d’Argento had thoughtfully refilled for him. He stretched his arm, feeling the muscles flex, unimpeded by any injury. “What were you doing in Scotland? Were you truly courting Lady Aurelia?”
    “Yes. I became aware of them when I went to Edinburgh on business, after I inherited the title. They made no effort to hide their mental abilities. Both controlled Edinburgh society, shamelessly forcing their will. I knew if I took them on without understanding more about their vulnerabilities and attributes they could destroy me, so I decided to court the younger.”
    “You decided?” Blaize raised a brow.
    Marcus glanced down. “Ah, yes, in a way. I fell in love, but I sensed it wasn’t an entirely voluntary act. It was too sudden, too violent. I almost decided to leave, but I’d been hunting for my kind for so long that I took the risk of staying. I recognised enchantment, but I had no idea where it had come from.”
    Blaize allowed d’Argento to continue the questioning, afraid he might reveal too much about the lovely lady. “They both demonstrated abilities?”
    Marcus confirmed it with a brief nod.
    “And their brother?”
    “He’s abroad. But he’s the right age, and they could have been at the house when the explosion took place. I don’t know and my mother doesn’t remember.”
    “My God,” Blaize murmured briefly. “It hardly bears thinking about. How could they do such a thing?”
    “The women who gave birth or showed signs of possession were married off to acolytes of Boscobel. Quite ruthless.” D’Argento’s soft voice hardened. “Only a Titan would use people as if they were worthless objects.”
    Blaize shook his head, memories flooding his brain. “I’ve known mortals who would do such a thing. Mortals were there, ready to participate in Boscobel’s scheme. The hell of it is that we don’t know who they all were.” Weariness infused Blaize when he recalled what he’d sworn to do. Lately his task had seemed less hopeless, with the emergence of a woman he could learn to love. Until his recent suspicion. Time to admit his part in the tale. But not the depth of his feeling, merely its strength. “You are aware of my feelings for Lady Aurelia?”
    “Yes.”
    “Leave her alone. Her mother is the instigator.”
    Marcus threw him a look of utter contempt. “And that is exactly the reason for the duel. I wanted to keep you away. Of course I had no idea you were an immortal.”
    “You want her that much?” d’Argento asked before Blaize could.
    Lyndhurst grunted. “I don’t want her at all. But with me standing between her and the rest of her suitors, she can’t enthral others.”
    Blaize stared at Lyndhurst, a smile curling his lips. “Why?”
    “Because she’s enchanting them. She may not be an Ancient, but she’s a witch just the same.” He utilized the name the gods sometimes used to describe themselves. So he knew that much.
    Blaize’s spluttered laughter shocked the other two occupants of the room. “So you have been wasting your time trying to fight it? Don’t you know anything?”
    He got to his feet, his heart and spirits lighter. “The best way to combat an enchantment is to get into it. Have you ever tried to gain access to a house bolted from the inside? But getting outside the same house is simple. Merely a matter of drawing the bolts.” He spun around and faced Lyndhurst, who was staring at him in wide-eyed astonishment. “Do you see?”
    Lyndhurst blinked and stared at him. Blaize could almost see the cogs in his brain clicking into action. “So you let yourself