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A Certain Wolfish Charm(32)

By:Lydia Dare




He was impatient to tell her of the plan he'd concocted, because he knew how pleased she would be that he'd come up with a solution that solved all their problems. She would be nearby. She could see young Maberley as often as she liked. And they could be together, as often as the moon allowed.



Billings appeared as if from nowhere, answering Simon's bellow. "Yes, Your Grace?" he asked.



"Have you seen Miss Rutledge?" Simon asked as he sat down at his desk and began to open his correspondence, all of it well over a week old.



"She is still at the Hawthornes'. She sent a note, Your Grace," the butler informed him.



Simon shuffled restlessly through his mail. "Then where is it, Billings?" He raised one sarcastic eyebrow.



The butler coughed delicately. "It wasn't for you, Your Grace. It was for the young earl."



"And what did it say?" Simon snapped. Why hadn't she sent word to him? Had he well and thoroughly terrified her last night?



"I'm not sure. I didn't open it." Billings grew fidgety. Obviously he knew more than he let on, which only made Simon more anxious.



"I expect better from you, Billings," Simon growled as he walked by the butler on his way out of the study. He would find out what was in that note if it was the last thing he did.



He found Oliver in the library with William, where the two were discussing the earl's dislike of Latin. He watched them as they leaned over the boy's Latin text. Despite Will's lack of decorum and teasing nature, he was quite a scholar in his own right.



"Have your studies included any text on Lycanthropic lore?" William asked as he held up one finger, silently urging Simon to be quiet. Didn't his brother know how important it was that he find out what was in that note from Lily? Why wasn't she home?



He interrupted anyway. "Oliver, did your Aunt Lily send a note to you today?"



"Yes, Your Grace," Oliver replied, narrowing his eyes at Simon.



"And what did it say?" He tried to force the impatience from his voice. Belatedly, he remembered that the boy had senses similar to his own and could probably smell his agitation.#p#分页标题#e#



"It said that Sir Herbert Hawthorne had invited her to stay for dinner and she'll be staying the night."



"She said what? Let me see the letter." He held out his hand, waiting for Maberley to show him exactly what she'd sent.



The boy shrugged. "I don't know where I left it."



"Your aunt should be here," Simon said under his breath, but they all heard him. Damn those overly sensitive ears.



Simon wondered which of the Hawthorne brothers had taken a liking to Lily. Probably Emory, if the besotted look on his face when he was with her was any indication.



"Billings," he bellowed. The man appeared. "Get my horse."



"Stop, Billings," William said to the butler. The man waited patiently in the doorway. "Where are you going, Simon?"



"To retrieve Lily," Simon said matter-of-factly. As though he needed to explain? Wasn't it obvious that she should be at home? His home. With him. Under him.



"Tonight is the full moon, Simon," Will reminded him, nodding imperceptibly at the boy.



"And?" Simon asked, still completely focused on retrieving Lily, on seeing her again, smelling her again, holding her again.



"And she's safer where she is."



"Why isn't Aunt Lily safe here?" Oliver asked, his eyes darting from brother to brother.



Simon scratched his chin and gave it some thought. She probably was safer at the neighbors'. He tried to calm his beating heart.



Then he motioned to Oliver and said, "Have a seat. We need to have a talk."



The young man asked rather intelligent questions, Simon was surprised to hear. The most poignant question of the bunch being, "Was my father really one, too?"



Just before the moon reached its highest peak, the point where it would beckon uncontrollably to those of his kind, Simon clapped Oliver on the back and asked, "Ready?"



The boy simply nodded, worry knitting his brow. As they stepped into the garden, Simon already felt the pull of the moon, the rush of power that surged through him. He looked at Oliver and knew that he felt it, too, even though the boy probably was unable to distinguish between the wildness of the event and the act of moving from humanity to… not.



Simon wound through the woods on a trail noticeable only to those of his kind. He followed his nose, noting that an elk had recently followed a similar path. Will sniffed the air and said, "No humans."



Simon nodded. For this one event, they would all stay together. Changing was usually a solitary moment, but they feared Oliver would need guidance and the attendance of at least one of them.