Ascension. A.S. Fenichel

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СКАЧАТЬ stayed, hoping for some answer to Reece’s question.

      The demon raised his hands up, wrapped them around Reece’s and squeezed. Belinda saw the shock on her friends face.

      “Don’t,” Reece yelled.

      Belinda rushed forward with her sword raised. The room echoed with the sound of Lillian running back down the stairs. Belinda’s heart pushed into her throat. What was this demon doing to Reece?

      The thundering sound of the pistol firing answered her question. The top of the demon’s head blew off, ending the interrogation.

      “Reece?” Lillian said.

      Reece’s handsome face paled and his eyes were wide. “Killed himself. That thing pressed my hands so hard the gun fired, so that he would not have to reveal anything about his master. How in hell are we going to fight that?”

      Belinda had never seen her friend look so grim.

      They climbed up the stairs in silence. Belinda retrieved her skirt near the entrance and dressed herself as a proper debutante, before they made their way back to a more respectable part of London.

      In the carriage, Lillian remarked, “That was exciting, but rather a waste of time.”

      “Not entirely. We know they gather and we know they are using abandoned warehouses. We also know that our sources are giving us good information.”

      “I suppose.”

      Belinda liked to watch the dynamic between Lillian and Reece. She had once asked Lillian if they were lovers, but her friend only laughed.

      Still, they bickered often and Reece remained very protective of Lillian. They disagreed more often than they agreed. Sometimes Belinda was sure that Lillian argued with Reece just out of habit.

      “You did not think we were going to end this war tonight, did you, my dear?” Reece asked.

      Lillian sighed and leaned back against the soft cushion of the carriage bench. “No. I just hoped to make a bit of headway.”

      He took her hand, kissed her fingertips and placed it back in her lap. “I know.”

      Why these two were not lovers would remain a mystery to Belinda. If she adored someone the way they obviously adored each other and that person fought the same war as she did, allowed her to do what she needed to and supported her wishes, she’d never let that person go.

      Thoughts of Gabriel made her heart ache. He came from a world where fighting demons was fantasy. How could he ever understand her life or her passion for the cause?

      * * * *

      Considering the events of the night, Belinda looked presentable when she made her way in through the garden gate. She had stopped into the office and washed her face and hands before heading home.

      Gabriel lounged on a bench at the end of the terrace. His legs stretched out in front of him as if he was a man at perfect leisure. If it had not been four o’clock in the morning, the sight might have been quite normal. He was still in his evening clothes, though his cravat lay loose around his neck and his trousers had wrinkled.

      “I thought we had agreed you would call tomorrow, my lord.” She kept her voice even in spite of her racing heart and tight throat.

      “I could not wait so long to see my beloved.” It might have been the first time he did not stand in her presence.

      Belinda trudged up the terrace steps and sat next to him.

      “Gabriel, I’m too tired to fight with you tonight. Can you just call tomorrow and we will talk?” The entire evening weighed her down. The ball seemed a lifetime ago. And now, here he was again, in her garden and he would demand explanations.

      His tone lightened. “I really just wished to see that you arrived home safely.”

      “Of course, I’m safe.”

      “You say that as if it is a given.”

      “It is.”

      He sat up straight, his stare intensified, and he took her face in his calloused fingers. “I wish that were true. I wish you were honest with me. You leave your close friend’s ball early and disappear, not returning home for hours and then you tell me you were never in any danger.”

      “I am fine, Gabriel. You need not worry over me. I’m quite capable of taking care of myself.” She hated that she caused him pain. Hadn’t she released him from his responsibilities earlier at the ball?

      He dropped his hands and spoke as if he’d read her thoughts. “I suppose that I should not care, Bella, but I do. I suppose that after what you said this evening, I should walk away from you and find another woman to spend my life with.”

      Her heart traveled up and lodged firmly in her throat. “You should.”

      He examined her from her head to her muddy boots. “If only it were as simple for me to forget about you as it seems to be for you to have abandoned your feelings for me. Perhaps you never had the same depth of feeling for me.”

      She saw her way out. All she had to do was tell him she’d never loved him, and she would be rid of Lord Gabriel forever. She should do it. It would save them both a great deal of trouble and pain. It was one thing to lie about what she did and where she’d gone. But this? “That is not true. My feelings run just as deep.”

      His eyes widened. “Then why would you wish to end our engagement?”

      Her limbs had become heavy sacks of sand, which she could no longer carry anymore. Even sitting up straight stretched her resources. “I thought we could talk about this in the light of day, after a good night’s sleep.”

      He shrugged. “I thought you would go straight home after the ball. Yet I find you in the garden, your boots covered in mud and your hair felled from its earlier state of grace. I cannot stop myself from wanting answers again. Since I know full well that you are not going to tell me what you did tonight or whom you were with, I think you should at least tell me why you have decided to toss me over.”

      He spoke softly and his expression remained calm, but the anger in his voice lay just under the surface. She’d known him long enough to hear it simmering there.

      “I’m tired Gabriel. I do not know what you want me to say.”

      His eyes softened when he looked at her. He was a magician who had her under his spell and she couldn’t look away. “I want to know why, with so little remorse, you are ending an arrangement that when made was the greatest joy in my life? I seem to recall, you were quite happy too the day we signed the contract.”

      “I have changed.” Belinda’s heart clenched painfully. Perhaps this is what people meant by a broken heart. She wanted to run into the house and put off this conversation for as long as possible. She wanted to, but she couldn’t.

      “I can see that, but it is not an answer. You have said that you still harbor feelings for me, yet you wish to be released from our contract.” He’d omitted any emotion from his statement.

      “That СКАЧАТЬ