scars, no deformities to cringe from. Only a single, partly scabbed slash across one cheek that seemed to add, not detract, from the wild, wolfish beauty of him.
“You!” she gasped, her icy fingers slipping from her mouth to cover the loudly drumming beat of her heart. She could scarcely breathe for the impact he had upon her senses. It struck her like a fist—the realization he was here, standing in front of her, pretending to be someone he was not, listening to her concerns and confessions, mocking the very emotions which had become her only thread to sanity.
“You!” she cried. “How dare you not reveal yourself! How dare you lead me on and goad me into saying things … things that were not meant for you to hear!”
The Wolf glanced past her shoulder to the open door. “The rest of the castle is not meant to hear them either,” he murmured wryly and moved around behind her to close the creaking wood panel.
She whirled to confront him. “How dare you trick me! Where is La Seyne?”
“He is here.”
“Where? Listening somewhere in the shadows so that you might both share a hearty laugh at my expense?”
“It was not my intention to trick you, nor am I laughing at anything you have said.”
“Where is La Seyne Sur Mer?” she demanded, stamping her foot to ward off the threat of tears.
The Wolf saw them shining behind her eyes, and, after waging a minor war with what was left of his common sense, he took up her hand in his and laid the black silk hood across her palm.
“You once asked how I could move from place to place without fear of someone recognizing me.” He glanced down and enclosed her hand, hood and all, in his. “The mask was an affectation at first. It was necessary for me to earn enough wealth and respect to win back my independence—a disguise seemed the most obvious solution to my problems, since there was still a charge of murder and treason standing against the Wardieu name.”
“You … are La Seyne Sur Mer?” Servanne gasped in astonishment.
“I took the surname from the small village in France where I landed amongst the living again. The Christian name was given me by the physician who swore I should have died a dozen times in the months I spent recovering from my wounds. It all seemed fitting … the name, the hood.”
“The queen? She accepted you without question?”
The Wolf tilted his head slightly, revealing a faint grin to the light. “The queen thought it a delicious ruse—her very words—for a hooded knight to hold her court, and her enemies, in terror.”
“And the Black Wolf?”
“Her pet name for me, I’m afraid.”
“But what of this … this madness? Surely she could not have sanctioned it?”
“The dowager knows nothing of my connection to Blood-moor Keep, or that I have a personal score to settle with its master. To her, Randwulf de la Seyne Sur Mer is her trusted champion, the man she sent to regain her beloved princess’s freedom regardless of the cost.”
“La Seyne Sur Mer … the Black Wolf of Lincoln … Lucien Wardieu …” Servanne shook her head in bewilderment. “Which one of those men is really you?”
“All of them. None of them.” He turned fully into the light and she saw the smudges of weariness under his eyes. “You should not have come here tonight; it was a foolish risk.”
“Why did you agree to see me? You could have refused.”
His gaze was steady, his expression grim. “You are absolutely right. It was stupid of me to worry what kind of trouble you might be in, or that I had promised you help if it was needed. But no matter, if you are discovered here, the blame will fall on equal parts on both our heads.”
“Alaric and the others are outside. They will give ample warning of any threat.”
The threat is here, the Wolf wanted to shout. It was in her eyes and on her lips. It was steeped in her fragrance and woven into every glimmering strand of her hair. Worse, it was raging white-hot throughout his body, and had been since she had walked through the door. It was all he could do now to force his hands to remain down by his sides and to try to turn his thoughts away from the scent of her skin.
“You … have been treated well since your arrival?”
“De Gournay has been very civil, very polite under the circumstances. He asked few