Sound of Madness A Dark Royal Romance - Maria Luis Page 0,97

& Hand, never missing a beat when I make a point to re-shackle the man’s wrists at his spine, so that he has no choice but to sit uncomfortably until I return.

And she watches while I stand on the front drive to see Saxon off, the curtain in her bedroom window casting her in shadow—but I know she’s there, waiting.

Her watchful gaze is a blessing just as much as it’s a curse.

Because now she sees you for who you really are.

The monster.

The villain.

The man with war in his blood and hate in his heart.

I don’t know when Rowena became my judge, jury, and executioner, or when our roles became reversed, but each dried speck of blood on my skin feels like a strike against me. A reason, as if I haven’t already given her plenty, to keep her distance. To keep her warmth.

Discreetly, I scrape my palms over my trousers for the fourth time since feeling her gaze on the back of my head.

It does me no good.

I’m still stained, still tainted.

“You’re a bastard,” Benji throws at me, over his shoulder, as he jerks open the back door of Saxon’s car. Twisting around, he juts his chin forward. “You left me in there with fucking Alfie Barker!”

“Did you get anything useful out of him?”

The dangerous flicker in the man’s gaze dims. “Tell me you’re taking the piss. Tell me, Priest, that you didn’t leave me locked in that room all so I could spend a little one on one time with Barker.”

Two birds, one stone.

In Holyrood, it’s explicitly forbidden to go after another agent. Locking Benji in that room was the only penance I could dole out after what he did to Saxon. But I’ll be lying if I say that his taking advantage of the situation didn’t also cross my mind. If he’s half the spy that he thinks he is, he’ll have jumped on the opportunity.

“Well,” I say, “did you?”

With a heavy sigh, Benji shoves his fingers through his hair. “Just more of the same shite. According to him, it’s a whole network that he was involved with and he was just the grunt taking orders from the top.”

“Except we know it was just one person,” Saxon cuts in. It’s the first time he’s spoken since he saw me in the loft, and I recognize the glimmer in his gaze. My always silent brother has something he wants to say, and I’m not surprised that he’s waited until we’re out of earshot from everyone in Holly Village. “Isla said something to me on the night that Buckingham Palace caught fire,” he goes on stiffly, “said that a man like Barker has something to lose and we should cut a deal with him. Use him instead of punishing him.”

Benji’s mouth drops open. “He wanted to kill the queen! We can’t just . . . do you hear yourself, man? Treason is a crime.”

“He’s just one man.”

Both men turn to look at me, Benji’s expression revolted and my brother’s contemplative. “Right now, he’s nothing but collateral damage,” I add, meeting Saxon’s gaze with a brief nod, “when we could be putting him to work. He does what we want, and we give him back to his daughters. It’s a win-win.”

“It’s illegal.”

I look at Benji. “Illegal according to who? No one oversees us.”

“Your brother, for one.”

“Guy wants answers. I don’t think he cares how he gets them.”

Benji’s gaze shifts from me to Saxon and back again. “I want it known that I think it’s a bad idea.” And with that, he climbs into the backseat, sprawls out on the bench, and throws an arm over his face like he can block out the sight of us. I shove the door closed behind him.

Fucking prick.

Instead of following Benji’s lead, Saxon visibly wavers.

Eyeing the muscle ticking in his jaw, I say, “Get it off your chest.”

Under the moonlight, Saxon’s gaze slips past me, up to the window with its parted curtains, and I know that he’s spotted Rowena when his shoulders stiffen. “You said that you’d be right behind me after you took care of the dead, and then you showed up looking like . . .” Lowering his stare to the pavement, he scrubs a palm over his mouth. “Christ, Damien. I don’t even know who you are right now.”

The blood itches my skin.

“It’s nothing that we haven’t done before.” The words leave me calm, easy. My brother might be a mind reader but even he can’t see that I’m close to