Free Marissa Day by The Seduction of Miranda Prosper Page B

Darius’s long stride. Darius had not once looked at him, let alone spoken to him, since they had snuck out of Miranda’s house, and Corwin could feel his comrade’s anger in every pore.
    Corwin sighed and glanced around the empty street. “So,” he said, pitching his voice low, just in case. “Are you going to tell me what the problem is?”
    This actually caused Darius to break stride and swing around to stare at him. “You cannot be serious.”
    Corwin shrugged. “Let’s say that I am.”
    “You lied to her, Corwin.”
    “You would prefer I had told her that she was endangered because we failed to keep a decent watch.”
    Darius waved his words away impatiently. “I’m not talking about that. You used her. You let her believe you took her for love and need, and didn’t bother to tell her we’d come to this place to find her, and bind her if we could.” His fists clenched. “Neither did you see fit to tell her that the reason we were sent to find her was that Catalysts in London have begun to vanish.”
    Corwin found himself uncomfortably taken aback. “Oh, yes, and if I’d phrased it so tactfully, she would have fled.”
    “That is not the point,” snapped Darius.
    “It is the point. Stop and think, Darius. She was already terrified, and halfway to believing that she is something inhuman as it was ...”
    “She is. We are.”
    Oh, not again. “Stop it, Darius.”
    But Darius had already turned away. “What human being does as we do?”
    “Do you mean the magic, or something else, Darius?” Corwin asked impatiently, and instantly regretted it. “Darius?”
    Darius shook his head. “That does not change the fact that you lied to her. She now believes that we, that you, care for her.”
    “What makes you believe that I don’t?” Corwin sighed. We really are going to hash it out all over again.
    “Corwin, you were only at that ridiculous ball because we are under orders to protect the Catalysts we find and discover why they are vanishing.”
    Corwin shrugged. “These are not mutually exclusive things. We have found her. We will protect her. It so happens this woman we are bound to protect is lovely, brave and passionate. How could I see her and not care for her? How could you?”
    Darius made no answer and Corwin knew his words had struck home.
    “Admit it, Darius. She roused you just as thoroughly as she did me.”
    “It was the Catalyst I responded to,” he muttered. “Nothing more.”
    Corwin sighed. Darius had never come to terms with the ... breadth of his own affections, and Corwin did not have the energy to revisit that old argument now. He was tired. It had been a long night and there was absolutely no prospect of bed until they reported to their captain.
    If Darius wants to deny his own feelings for another day, fine. Let him.
    “There’s a carriage house in the King’s Road,” Corwin said, looking up and down the street to get his bearings. “We can get a bite and hire a hack to take us to the captain.”
    Darius drew in a deep breath. “Very well,” he said and they walked on in strained silence.
    The carriage house was a clean, well-run affair. The man and wife who kept it were already up and bustling about when Corwin and Darius arrived. While the hack was readied, they were able to dine on bread fresh from the oven spread thickly with butter and marmalade, as well as cold ham and boiled eggs washed down with pots of good beer. The driver was pleased to see their ready money and took them into the city without complaint, weaving the carriage expertly through the morning traffic of rattling carts, vans and wagons. They got out at the mouth of a nameless, narrow street overshadowed by the gleaming dome of St. Paul’s.
    Corwin paid the man off, and he and Darius entered an unmarked door halfway down the dim street. It might have been anything from a counting house to a solicitor’s to a tailor. They removed their hats and walked into the neatly appointed sitting room. A