Free Claiming the Forbidden Bride by Gayle Wilson Page B

despair?
    â€˜What you’re doing is dangerous,’ she warned.
    The line of his lips, once so mobile and quick to smile, ticked upward slightly at the corners. ‘Not to me. Or rather,’ he conceded, ‘not only to me.’
    â€˜But since you are the only brother I have, lost to me once and then returned, I don’t want to have you lost again.’
    â€˜Then be at peace, little one. Magda assures me this is the only way I shall ever resolve the things that trouble me.’
    â€˜And you believe her?’ Nadya mocked.
    â€˜You doubt her gifts because your father’s family devalued them.’
    â€˜I doubt her “gifts,” as you call them, because I’ve seen too many fortune-tellers through the years. I’m not a woman of the gadje , willing to be taken in by promises of a meeting with a handsome stranger or of finding untold wealth waiting around the next bend.’
    â€˜Nor am I. Have a little faith, I beg of you.’
    â€˜In you? All you wish. In Magda’s fortunes? I’m not that gullible.’
    â€˜And in Jaelle’s curse against those who brought about my father’s death?’ Stephano asked quietly.
    â€˜Our mother gave you to another woman to rear as her son. And when she couldn’t cope with her grief over your father’s death, she killed herself rather than making a life with me and my father. Do I believe in her curses? I believe that with her death she cursed us both, Stephano. She cursed us not to think love can be true or faithful. She cursed us to value death over life. Jaelle’s legacy isn’t one I would be proud to claim. Nor should you.’
    â€˜You blame her for making the choice she did. I blame those who drove her to that choice.’
    â€˜But it was a choice. My father was a good man. One who loved her. He would have done anything in his power to make her happy.’
    â€˜The only person who could have done that had already been murdered. Those responsible for his death have much to answer for.’
    â€˜And you’re going to see to it that they do.’ Nadya’s voice was flat, past anger and argument.
    â€˜If I can.’
    â€˜No matter what it costs you.’
    â€˜They have already cost me everything I ever valued.’
    Despite her determination not to let him see how much those words hurt, Nadya’s eyes stung with tears. ‘So revenge is all you have left.’
    â€˜It’s enough.’
    â€˜It’s never enough. Even our mother knew that, at least at the last.’
    Stephano’s face tightened. ‘It has to be enough, jel’enedra . It’s all I have.’
    He put his foot into the stirrup and vaulted into the saddle. Then he dug his heels into the eager stallion’s side, urging him through the woods toward the road that would lead him to London and back to that other world he inhabited.
    Â 
    The child whose rescue Rhys had no memory of came to visit him every day. At first he’d been uncertain about trying to communicate with her, but he’d soon discovered that, in spite of her disability, she was as bright and as eager to learn as his brother’s children had been at her age.
    More importantly, from his standpoint at least, she seemed to accept his presence in the Romany encampmentwithout any trace of reservation. Although Nadya’s visits had become less frequent since he’d begun to regain his strength, Angel’s had increased. Hugging her rag doll tightly, with fascinated eyes she had followed his careful progress up and down the narrow central aisle of the caravan. On the afternoons when the weather allowed it, she joined him on the high seat of her mother’s vardo , content to play with her baby while he watched the busy camp.
    He had even learned some of the finger signs the little girl used in place of words. Those had served as an introduction to other members of the tribe, each of whom took time to greet