Secrets of the Deep (47 page)

Somewhere up there were Archie and Nixie, as well; they were up to something, but Isabelle could feel their pleasure in their intellectual pursuits and their perfect contentment in each other’s company.

It was rather beautiful, that, she thought wistfully, and she wondered if she’d ever find someone who enjoyed
her
presence that much.

It clearly wasn’t Maddox, she thought with a rueful tilt of her lips. But she gripped her parasol and marched the rest of the way across the deep sand, bracing herself to make her apology.

Nobody liked groveling.

Isabelle’s awareness of the others’ emotions faded behind her, yet there was nothing ahead as she approached Maddox.

Just a blank.

She checked her frustration and reminded herself that her parents would not have approved of the match, anyway.

For one thing, she wasn’t even
allowed
to be courted by boys until she made her debut in Society. And even then, as the daughter of a viscount, she would not have been permitted so much as to dance with the adopted son of a blacksmith.

Poor Maddox
, she thought, shaking her head sadly. He already had enough to worry about without her giving him added trouble. His beloved mentor captured, his own birth mother going into battle.

He hadn’t said a word, but she had seen the look in his dark eyes after Janos had told them about Derek. His handsome, suntanned face had turned white, and he’d exhaled like he had just been punched very hard in the stomach.

It took no empathic powers whatsoever to see that he had taken the news very, very hard. Stoic as he seemed outwardly, his loyalties ran deep. She suspected his emotions did, too—like an underground river, stronger and more turbulent than he cared to let on.

Frankly, she was worried about him, especially after Archie had shamed him with his superior intellect in front of everyone. She had never, for that matter, seen her easygoing brother act that way before.

The tension of their situation was clearly beginning to get to everyone, fraying their nerves and tempers to the breaking point.

Shoring up her courage—and shielding her complexion from the sun, of course—Isabelle nervously approached the beached sailboat, determined to call a truce.

Maddox glanced over his shoulder and noticed her coming.

Perhaps he’d heard her with his acute Guardian senses. He paused in his labors, quickly pulling his shirt back on over his head.

He’d been working on the boat without it, and Isabelle tried very hard not to look at his bronzed, muscular back and shoulders too much.

“Ahem, Mr. St. Trinian? Could I speak with you for a moment, please?” she asked primly, squinting at the waves as they glittered in the sunlight.

He glanced warily at her and went back to work, scraping a barnacle off the hull. “What can I do for you, Miss Bradford?”

“Well, I…actually I just…wanted to see if you’re all right.” It was too embarrassing to begin with the apology. She’d get to that, she promised herself. Soon.

Maddox shrugged, avoiding her gaze. “Just trying to pass the time until we have some news,” he said.

She took a step closer, encouraged. “You must be worried about your mother.”

“Birth mother,” he said in a terse voice. “Ida St. Trinian is my mum. The other I just call Ravyn.”

Isabelle lowered her gaze, not entirely sure how to take that. She’d heard he was adopted, and she supposed that must be hard sometimes. She was careful to keep her tone kind and conciliatory. “Whatever you call Guardian Vambrace, still, you must be worried.”

“
You
must be worried.” He sent her a brief, mocking glance over his shoulder. “About Janos.”

She scrunched up her nose and tilted her head. “
What?
”

Maddox seemed to
try
to keep his mouth shut, but failed. “You really shouldn’t let him flirt with you like that. It’s not right.”

She was startled and could feel her cheeks reddening. “
Let
him? You think I have a choice? He just
does
. Not that he even means it.”

“You’re naïve if you believe that.” Maddox scrubbed the boat harder. “You ask me, I think he’s a little in love with you.”

Shocked speechless for a second, Isabelle knew she was now as red as the sunset. “Don’t be absurd!” she sputtered.

“Oh, come. You’re well aware of it, I’m sure. You eat it up.”

Isabelle stared, half tempted to brain him with her parasol. “You think I enjoy his ridiculous attentions?”

Maddox shrugged. “Most girls would. He’s a prince, after all,” he fairly spat.

“He’s a
vampire
!” she exclaimed, baffled. Oh, this was not going to plan at all. Yet she could not hold her tongue. “Even if he
did
like me, what is it to you? You’ve made it very clear that
you
want nothing to do with me, for your part.”

“I’m here to help guard your family—that is all. That scoundrel knows full well he should not be flirting with a girl your age. If you were wise,” he said like some stern elder brother, “you’d walk the other way when you see him coming. Instead, you just stand there—fluttering your lashes,” he mumbled.

“How dare you!” she spluttered, so mortified by the accusation that she grew tongue-tied. Not in all her days had anyone—not her governess, not Aunt Ramona, not even her strict mama—ever had cause to accuse her of such cake-headed impropriety. “I-I do nothing of the kind!”

Maddox arched an eyebrow at her in the most provoking way.

“Argh! Forget it!” She pivoted in the sand and started to march away in high dudgeon with what was left of her dignity, but he called after her, sounding amused.

“Was there something you wanted, Miss Bradford?”

“Never mind!” she barked.

“Oh, did I touch a nerve?” he taunted.

She could not hold back, but stopped, flicked her parasol shut, and then pivoted. The next thing she knew, she was bellowing at him in the most unladylike fashion. “For your information, the only person I have
ever
fluttered my lashes at is you, y-you stupid dolt-head of a Guardian! But no more!”

“Thank God,” he replied.

“You hear me? You win! Better I should let Janos bite me on the neck than ever try to talk to
you
again!” she said, stabbing at the air with her parasol.

Maddox threw down the scraper and stared angrily at her. “You really can’t read my feelings at all, can you?”

“Frankly, I’m beginning to think you don’t even
have
any!” she shouted, no longer caring who heard.

“Then you’re blind,” he said quietly, and turned away.

“And you’re just—boring! At least Janos is cheerful sometimes!”

“I’d be merry, too, if I had no honor and did whatever I liked all the time, picked fights and couldn’t die. Tell me, Miss Bradford, are you able to read His Highness?” he asked in disdain, no longer trying to hide his jealousy.

“Actually, yes,” she blurted out, taken aback by the question. “Quite clearly.”

Maddox huffed. “Figures.”

Isabelle gritted her teeth. “Everybody’s wrong about him, you know. Janos
has
honor.”

“Right,” Maddox said in disgust.

“Trust me, he does.” She paused. “I’ve looked into his soul.”

“Oh, really?” Maddox leaned against the boat and glared at her in even stronger disapproval. “And what, pray tell, did you see?”

“That would be none of your business. Besides, it was only once.” She could feel her cheeks turning even redder at this topic.

Back at Merlin Hall, she had made a daring effort to read the vampire with her gift, but only because they all had initially thought Janos might be a threat.

What she had not anticipated was that her attempt to peer into his psyche would open up her own to Janos, in return. He had proved to be much more expert at true telepathic communication than she, and had quickly overwhelmed her. He had sensed her incursion immediately and hadn’t liked her prying one bit.

Isabelle had been paralyzed with fear when the vampire caught her snooping around in his mind. What he had read inside her poor brain, she still did not know, but it seemed to have attracted his amused attention.

In any case, her experiment had left her satisfied that Janos probably wasn’t as dangerous as everybody feared.

Indeed, she vividly remembered what she had sensed inside of him. Sometimes it still haunted her at night. Wicked he might be; arrogant, as well. But for all his bravado, the ex-Guardian was deeply, deeply sad at the decision he had made, and nobody knew it except her.

He hated her knowing, and he needed someone to know at the same time, but was too proud to say it.

Isabelle knew the truth, though she had only learned it by accident. In his own view, Janos had willingly become a monster, and that choice could never be undone.

Sometimes, she had seen, he even wished for death, but it would not come. Not to him.

Not anymore.

She’d felt sad for him, and that, perhaps, was why he had homed in on her with his melancholic, meaningless flirtation. Nobody ever felt sad for a monster.

Nobody ever cared what was in his heart.

But perhaps what had scared her was the thought that Janos might’ve seen just a little darkness in her, as she had seen a small light in him.

Maddox had been watching her the whole time, and snorted at whatever it was he thought he saw in the expression on her face. “If you’ll excuse me, my lady, this boat isn’t going to wax itself.”

And just like that, he shut her out again—a brick wall in the form of a boy.

She dropped her head in complete exasperation. “Why do I even try?” she muttered, turning to go.

“Beats me,” Maddox answered, with his sharp Guardian hearing.

“I was talking to myself! But if you’re going to eavesdrop, the whole reason I came over here was to remind you that Miss Helena put you and me in charge of the others while she’s gone. Well, right now, they’re all quite upset, frightened, and worried about tonight. It’s the full moon, you know. So, if it’s not too much trouble, Mr. Great Guardian Protector, maybe you could stop withdrawing like this, off sulking by yourself, and try to be part of the group. We’re the oldest, remember? We’re supposed to be setting the example!”

His dark eyes flickered and he clenched his jaw. The reminder of his duty finally seemed to get through to him. “Very well. I’ll finish up here and come join in. One big, happy family.”

His sarcastic comment was the last straw. “Is it so unpleasant for you to be around everybody?”

“No,” he said coolly, “just you.”

Isabelle stiffened with hurt. She blinked the threat of tears and steadied herself, clenching her fists by her sides.

“That…came out wrong,” Maddox started. “I didn’t—”

“You know what?” she interrupted calmly. “Never mind my request. Do as you please. I can look after the younger ones myself.”

She walked away then, fuming.

She had gone over to him with such good intentions, even willing to swallow her pride so they could reach a truce. But instead, he had attacked her.
Well, enough is enough.
Friendship was a two-way street, and she would not be treated this way.
I’m done with this nonsense.

Maybe it was the reminder of how gallant Janos was to her by comparison that made her wash her hands of Maddox St. Trinian and all his tedious dismissals.

Why on earth was she so concerned about trying to figure out what this sullen lad was thinking all the time, when he clearly didn’t give one fig what
she
thought or felt about anything?

He never even asked.

All he really cared about was his future as a Guardian. So let him have it. Even if she won his affections, she saw now she’d never be the most important thing in his life. That was how she wanted to love the person she married someday, and how she wished to be loved in return. Completely.

“Isabelle?” he called, an uncertain note in his voice, as though he had just realized he had pushed her too far.

And he had.

The girl who had helped Jake defeat Garnock the Sorcerer deserved to be treated with a little more respect. Why, that twisted wraith had also underestimated her, thinking he could use her for some weak, helpless sacrifice. Instead, she had helped her cousin blow the brute to smithereens.

Frankly, she’d enjoyed it.

By heaven, she was the Keeper of the Unicorns, and she did not need Maddox St. Trinian or anybody else to give her their approval.

As she strode away, somewhere deep in the back of her mind, she swore she could hear the vampire prince applauding.
Finally!
the rebel Janos seemed to say.
The little lamb stands up for herself.

And despite her hurt, a fierce smile curved Isabelle’s lips.

CHAPTER 24

Moonrise

D
ani kept watching the color of the sky as the afternoon passed, dreading any signs of twilight.

Already the peaceful azure blue was showing a hint of pink sunset in the west. The thought of the coming night gnawed at her mind. But for now, there was nothing to be done but to try and stay brave.

Once again, she picked up the stick Teddy had found in the garden and threw it down the beach. Her dog chased after it merrily through the sand, while Liliana laughed, finding their whole game of fetch endlessly entertaining. Her seahorse, Wallace, looked on enviously from the waves.

The surf was high, the ocean as restless as they all were. Liliana had said that was because of the full moon.

The mermaid princess turned to her, looking like any ordinary, little, land-dwelling blond girl. “Do you think I’m ever going to be able to go home?” she asked wistfully.