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“Hey, buddy, I am not having it out with Johanna, I am merely arguing with my ass over

here. Dylan can be one big pain in the ass when he wants to be.”

“Stop saying that, Quinn,” Johanna said tiredly. “Much as I want to throttle Dylan right

now, I know where he’s coming from. Dylan is scared for his brother and what his brother might

do without him. Now I know why Dylan monitored him so closely when Samantha and he were

estranged. Devlin,” Johanna continued, “Veronica and Ross will be coming with us. Dylan

won’t want to leave the
Excalibur
as will Charlotte,” she concluded sadly.

“For being Samantha’s twin she doesn’t like to support her much does she?”

“Charlotte has a bee in her bonnet because she’s mad about Tyler,” Johanna sounded

exhausted. “I just don’t want to be in the middle anymore. I am drawing a line and if Dylan

doesn’t like it, maybe I’ll run off with Jordan.”

Devlin laughed, a good strong laugh. “Can you be here in twenty?”

“Yep. I’ll go and get Veronica and Ross now. Does Samantha need anything?"

“Nothing, but I bet she’d be pleased to see you two and Veronica and Ross.”

“Thanks, Devlin, and Devlin, don’t you ever hurt her the way that Tyler has! If you do,

I’ll have to do something to you. I can promise you that!”

“I would never dream of hurting Samantha.”

“Good. In a way you two finding each other is a blessing. I always wondered if Sam

wanted you and that’s why she broke us up.”

“She broke us up because she knew you wouldn’t be happy with me—she knew you were

meant for Dylan.”

“At the expense of her own happiness! If she wanted you, I don’t understand why she

didn’t go after you. That’s just so unlike Samantha. I wouldn’t have been mad at her for long, in

time I would have seen how ill suited you and I were but Samantha, hell, she’s perfect for you

now that I think about it.”

“Tyler was never supposed to be the man she married, but she wanted to fight fate,”

Devlin sighed.

“Trust Samantha to think she could do that emerge the victor. Well, I should go and get

the dynamic duo, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yes,” he murmured as the door to their quarters chimed.

Jewel was here.

* * * *

Samantha sat in a chair by a window looking out into the bleak expanse of space. A

knock sounded at her door. “Come in, Jewel.” The door swooshed open and she heard Jewel

stepping into the room.

“Samantha?” Jewel had articles in her hands for she could hear the garment bags rustling.

“I’ll be right with you.” She sat with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. “Have you

ever noticed how chilly a spaceship can be?”

“I do well in the cold. My father raised me mostly in a cold climate. He said we were

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safer there. He only moved to New Monaco when I reached my teenage years and went away to

the Academy.”

“Will Johanna be coming?” Samantha asked hopefully.

A pause followed her question. “She will be here soon. She’s rounding up Veronica and

Ross.”

“I take it only Quinn will be coming for the ceremony.”

“To be blunt, Samantha, Charlotte refuses to come and witness this. She says my father

is a man below her esteem. I think your twin is a little off if you don’t mind me saying that.”

“Charlotte is used to getting her own way. I suppose she thought I would stay married to

Tyler so she could continue fooling around with him claiming to be me forever. I do not wish to

be mistaken for Charlotte anymore. I love her, God help me, but she has done things I will have

a difficult time forgetting.”

“You will forgive her for her betrayal?”

“There is nothing to forgive. Tyler was hers before he was mine. You see, Jewel, there

are two things you must understand about an Alpha Psychic. She works for people who deny her

happiness. Charlotte is not allowed to marry a lowly human male. S he must only marry a man

with her own abilities. Hence, she would fall from Grace if she carried on with my ex-husband.”

“And yet, you married Tyler and now you wish to marry my father… at his own request

of course,” Jewel rushed out.

Samantha turned slowly to look at Jewel. “I am not a certified Alpha Psychic, Jewel. In

fact, I never graduated from the rigorous training course, and I do not regret that. I had some

special masters who tried to make me into a great Psychic and when those Masters were pushed

from the Institution that they had dutifully served all of their lives, I left. The murder of my

father also contributed to my decision but that’s not what put me onto the path of abandoning

Charlotte.”

“You didn’t abandon Charlotte. You only left the same school that you both attended.”

“She views it as me turning her back on all that we stood for. For our entire lives we

shared in our abilities. We communicated with Ghosts, played games of levitation and even,

dabbled in reading other’s minds so we could get up to all kinds of mischief. I told Charlotte I

was tired of it, and I left. I immersed myself in everything normal and look where it got me!”

She threw her arms up into the air in frustration. “I guess it only goes to show that you can’t run

from what and who you are. I tried to and I failed miserably.”

Jewel came to stand beside her. “I think you are where you were always meant to be.

And I think, you have a stronger spirit than any other person I know. Not many people could go

and turn their back on a life like you had. You were able to do things some of us only dream of,

and yet, you willingly gave it up. I respect that, Samantha.” She placed her hand on her

shoulder.

“Nonetheless, Charlotte will not come to sanction anything she thinks will give me

pleasure. That’s okay though. I have come to terms with how we are. I wished we could go

back to the way it used to be between us, where we thought the same thoughts, and knew each

other like we knew ourselves, but sometimes you can’t go back.”

“This rift between you must distress your mother.”

“It might distress her but she does not show it to me. Charlotte does not interact much

with the family since no one else save me is as gifted as she. My mother has the spark, as does

Jessica and to a lesser extent Johanna but they don’t know how to embrace it. I can embrace it

yet at times I wish I had no part of it. Quinn, on the other hand, uses his limited abilities to be a

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successful smuggler and, of course, to cheat at cards.”

“Are you ready to get dressed? I don’t want to cut you off or anything.”

“No. Don’t worry about it,” Samantha sighed, standing up, she stretched. “I should

actually get dressed. I am inclined to climb into that bed and never get up. Sadly, the real world

waits for no man or woman.”

She looked toward the bed. The garment bags were open and out spilled a royal purple

dress that made a smile crease her lips.

The bodice was close fitting and low cut. At the hips it flared out at the waist and went

into a flowing full gown.

“It’s beautiful,” she breathed.

“I bought it for the New Mayfair Ball. The skirt is made of the finest taffeta. Of course, I

have three other gowns that will also be suitable. This one was my favorite though and I knew it

would compliment your eyes.” Jewel reached for a large jewel case. She cracked it open.

Samantha sat down on the edge of the bed. She shook her head in disbelief.

“What are you doing?”

Jewel smiled glancing quickly at her. “Your eyes are like gemstones. This diamond and

amethyst necklace will compliment you nicely. The amethysts were mined on New India, as

were the diamonds. They are the finest cut. They belonged to the last Duchess of Winterbourne,

and they now rightly belong to you.”

“I don’t want them, and I can’t take them. You are your mother’s daughter. You are the

rightful heir to these jewels.”

Jewel gave her a glance of sympathy. “You should already know this—I thought Devlin

had told you. My mother was not the last Duchess of Winterbourne. My mother was the

Countess of Raleigh. When my mother was alive though, her husband and my father was the

Earl of Raleigh. Jordan is now the Earl of Raleigh but the way he acts, you’d never know it. It

distresses Devlin to no end!”

“Wait a second. Your father is Devlin. I thought only Jordan belonged to Jane’s first

husband.”

“Indeed. Though Devlin and I share a blood connection I did not spring from the fruit of

his loins. I am his cousin’s child as
is
Jordan. Devlin claims us both as his own to shield us

from our father’s sin.”

Samantha fingered the fine fabric of the gown. “I don’t know if I want to wear those

jewels, they should still be yours. You are a Devlin no matter who your blood father might be.”

“My blood father was a bastard of the foulest sort. He had my mother killed on his

orders, and tried to kill Jordan. He would have taken me and raised me in an abhorrent manner

had Devlin not saved me from all of that. I might have the name of Devlin now but I was not

born one. My father was Devlin’s father’s nephew through his mother. His last name was

Baden-Smith. He was truly the bad seed on the Baden-Smith side and on the Devlin side.”

“Devlin is a saint and for all of those years I tried to believe he was a sinner. How

ironic,” Samantha sighed heavily. “I have been wrong about so many things concerning Devlin.”

Jewel looked at her. “If you have your underclothes on already we can start getting you

dressed. I’ll have to figure out something to do with that hair, though I think this should look

quite nicely on the top of your head.” She reached for another jewel box and opened it to reveal a

glittering tiara.

“Let me guess that also belonged to Devlin’s mother.”

“Yes, it did. She told me on her deathbed to take it and keep it and only to give it to a

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worthy woman if her son ever found one again. She knew my mother was worthy but she

outlived my mother.”

“What did Devlin’s mother pass from?”

“She was killed by an assassin’s blade. The blade was poisoned and after three days of

searching Devlin was not able to find the antidote. She died, to his great distress.”

“And you kept vigil with her.”

“Of course. She was my family.” Jewel reached for the blanket that Samantha held out to

her.

“I never thought to ask but I hope you wear a shoe size close to mine,” Jewel muttered,

her face flushing with emotion. “I should not have laid this all on you, you already have so much

to deal with.”

“Jewel,” Samantha reached for her hand. “For the last few years I have done everything

for my family and I will never give up on them, now that I am a part of Devlin’s family I will

continue to uphold the same family values my mother instilled with me with Devlin’s family.”

“You will be the head of that family…the female head anyway.” Jewel smiled. “You’ll

shake up the Noble House of Devlin.” She laughed. “Ah, before you put on the dress, let’s get

this perfume scent on you.”

“Don’t tell me it’s a scent worn by all of the Duchesses.”

“How did you guess?” Jewel asked, splitting into peals of laughter. “I thought we’d go

full for broke.”

“I feel like a pretender.”

“Why?” Jewel asked giving her the crystal atomizer that held the perfume.

“Because Tyler will tell me I can’t play musical chairs with my spouses.”

“Devil take Tyler,” Jewel snorted. “I don’t care what he says. You are the first true bride

of my father’s. My mother never married him because her own husband was still alive and she

could not be granted a divorce.”

“Still...,” Samantha thought of her marriage to Tyler. “I wore leather pants and a plain

blouse.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Never mind, Jewel. The clock is ticking and Devlin must be getting restless out there.”

“I don’t doubt it…though my father is a patient man when it comes to getting what he

wants.”

“I should be racing to my niece’s rescue.”

“She will be rescued when my father consolidates his power and gets the fleets into

position. We will be going into Triad Space. The natives on those planets are ruthless, violent

and their spaceships will be a challenge to us, though I have no fear that we will prevail to a

victory.”

Jewel helped her to step into the dress. She sucked in her breath when the bodice formed

to her middle.

“Little snug?”

“No, I am just not used to being uncomfortable.”

“Beauty sometimes comes at a price, Samantha.”

“I am not sure I like the cost of it.” She groaned, rubbing her sides. “Good lord my boobs

are so pushed up I don’t think I should bend over.”

They arranged her hair and applied her makeup and jewels. When Jewel was done,

Samantha glanced quickly into the mirror.

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“Is that really me? I don’t look much like Charlotte now.”

“That’s because you’re glowing all over and from what I’ve seen of Charlotte she doesn’t