I swallowed, feeling a little ill. Maybe Danne didn't mean it like that. Maybe he just liked me as a friend. "Yeah, of course," I replied, slapping his shoulder in a friendly way, trying to make light of his comment.

Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it—

"I don't know if you understand...I like you."

Oh... Oh no...

Maybe yesterday I'd have welcomed this switch in our relationship, but so many things had changed since then, which mostly comprised of Graysen. The first thing I could think of to scatter his line of thought sprung from my lips unheeded. "Danne, what happened with Ferne?"

He blinked, once, then again, before his gaze hardened along with his jawline and his hands on my back. "He told you?"

Here we go—a lie.

Such a godsdamn liar, Nelle.

I nodded, keeping my gaze level and steady, not giving anything away.

Danne's hold on me tightened and his fingertips dug into my spine. "I'm sure in Crowther's version I'm the villain. The big bad Pelan."

I found myself swallowing back a laugh. Danne looked nothing like a big bad anything.

Remaining silent, I let the quiet smother him to force an answer.

He sighed, his gaze falling to the parquet floor as he shook his head. "It was all a misunderstanding. Ferne... She and I met last year and struck up a friendship." His gaze slowly lifted. He was smiling and his eyes glazed over as he drifted into memory. "She's lovely. Such an interesting creature. It's a shame she's stuck with her family out on their estate..." his tone dropped lower, became snide, "...with brothers like she has." A low rough noise at the back of his throat. "Feral. They need to be put down like rabid dogs."

A chill slid down my spine like icy fingers. I did not appreciate his opinion of the Crowthers. At all.

Movement in the corner of my eye captured my attention. Swiveling my head, I watched the pale-haired man retreat into the room adjacent to this main one, where our servants would cook the elaborate seven-course dinner using mobile kitchens brought in for the event. Now it was just Danne and me, alone.

The slide of Danne's hand along my back to return to my waist brought my attention back to him. The embarrassment and modesty contained within the downward curl of his lips startled me. "I suppose by then she developed a silly little girl's crush on me."

My eyes widened.

A crush?

Ferne had feelings for Danne?

"The next time we met it was at a gathering. A wedding. The eldest Estlore daughter wed one of their family's foot soldiers. A nobody."

Irritation prickled my skin. Why did he have to say that? A nobody.

And I knew of the wedding. I hadn't gone, but Evvie had. She'd come home all starry-eyed, said it was the most romantic wedding she'd ever been to, and gushed about Sia Estlore and her new husband Alesk.

"She kissed me."

My mouth fell open.

Ferne kissed Danne?

She kissed Danne?

But the way Danne had said it, made it seem as if he didn't appreciate her kiss. I'd seen Ferne recently and she was growing into an exquisite young woman, a delicate and fine-boned beauty. But she was young—younger than Danne and myself.

"She's a child." he scoffed. "She must have only been about fifteen. I was trying to explain to her she was too young, I wasn't interested in her that way, and was trying to remove her hands from me. But Graysen saw it differently and Ferne... She didn't correct him either."

Again, that same feeling I had with Master Sirro stirred. Off. It felt off. Just how or why I wasn't sure. Every time I'd had that feeling it had to do with Graysen, and Graysen alone. So that part of the story...what was off about it?

"She didn't?"

He shook his head with a heavy sigh.

Anger flared. My friend had been beaten severely by Ferne's older brother and she could have stopped it before it began. And Graysen should have asked questions first, instead of barreling in with both fists.

Danne guided me forward. The soles of my feet left the square parquet dance area behind to step upon soft lush grass. We weaved through the large banquet tables, and I was distantly aware we were heading toward where the pale-haired man had disappeared into the room beyond, but my mind was too busy churning with what had happened to Danne, and why, to wonder at our direction.

Danne paused at one of the banquet tables and picked up an empty crystal vase. He twirled it around slowly, the light catching its polished surface. Tomorrow it would be filled with calla lilies, and the boxes set up on each table, unpacked, and the fine china and silverware would adorn the crisp white linen.

"Pride, I expect," he murmured. He turned to me with a pained expression, yet a sliver of understanding shone in his eyes. "No one likes to have their feelings unreciprocated."

He placed the vase back down, adjusting it so it sat perfectly in the center of the table. "Graysen lost it completely. Didn't give me time to explain, and just unleashed." He blew out a loud breath, a shudder roiling through him. "I thought I was going to die."

"You didn't," I reminded him, and gently squeezed his arm. Only because Graysen let him live.

His somber gaze came back to mine. "He eventually listened to Ferne. She begged him to stop."

"And you didn't do anything about it? Retaliate? Demand justice from the Houses?" He could easily have pressed my father to make an example out of Graysen. He should have done it.

Danne's gaze darkened. "I thought about it. Was going to. But Ferne visited me a few days later while I was recovering at home, apologizing profusely."

Pushing into motion, he strode forward, stuffing a hand into the pocket of his pants. Hurrying to catch up, I noted in a distant sort of way, that his hand was fisted as if his fingers were wrapped around something...or more likely he was angry. Picking up his pace, he tossed over his shoulder, "I reminded myself how protective I can be of my own sisters."

I wasn't sure about Carola. Maybe men might need protection from her. But his younger sisters, certainly.

Danne suddenly spun around, his mouth parting to say something, then froze.

A startled cry slipped from my mouth as I bumped into him, stumbling, my hands whipping out to land on his upper arms to steady myself. I watched his wide-eyed gaze shoot over my shoulder just before he swallowed thickly. "Oh, shit..."

"Huh?" I frowned, wondering what he was looking at.

Suddenly large hands grasped my forearms. I was hauled back, swung upside down, my stomach curving around a shoulder—

Graysen fucking Crowther!

Graysen strode away with me.

"I'm sorry, Danne!" I called out as we disappeared through the entrance of the marquee. "I'll talk to you tomorrow!"

I was more than pissed off to be manhandled like this, though it soothed my irritation to have a great view of Graysen's ass. I slapped it.

"The fuck," he snarled, jolting.

Then he smacked my ass.

Pain ricocheted across my ass cheek. I howled. "That hurt!"

"I hope it hurts like fuck—thorn in my ass!" he roared.

My hair swayed with his furious stride, slapping against the back of his thighs, and the blood ran to my head, making my brain feel hot and stuffy. Just as hot and stuffy as I was feeling toward Graysen, and not in a good way. What an asshole! Treating my friend like that, beating him so badly that he almost broke his jaw.

I hit his ass again and again and again, shrieking, "Put me down!"

Swiftly crossing the lawn to the mansion, he shoved the outside door to his room open, strode through, and kicked the door shut behind him with a foot. All of a sudden I was dumped upon his bed, bouncing up and down, before I finally settled. Infuriated, I shot to my feet, wobbling a little with the soft mattress. "Gods, Crowther, why don't you just piss all around me—stake your claim!"

Eyes twinkling dangerously, he gave me a sly smile. "You know...that thought has crossed my mind." Raking his hands roughly through his hair, his gaze darkened into a glare. "I can't leave you alone for a second, and that fucker is sniffing around. And you..." His jaw sawed as he stabbed a frustrated finger at me. "You don't listen. I told you to keep away!"

I huffed and crossed my arms, spreading my legs apart for a sturdier hold on the bed. "He told me about Ferne—you got it wrong."

Every single inch of Graysen vibrated with building fury. It crackled off him in hot, blistering crests. But his words were cold, gritted out between clenched teeth. "I'm sure the eloquent Danne Pelan painted quite the picture. Crowther beating him into a bloody pulp. Let me guess. He was just being friendly with my sister. She was the one who wanted it. Wanted him. Encouraged him—"

"Ferne had a crush on Danne."

"Like fuck she did. A friend. The cunning little fucker likes to sidle in with his breezy unassuming friendship. Right up until the moment he..."

Graysen faltered, before clamping his mouth shut.

Once again, he wasn't going to say anything.

"He did what?" I barked, pushing him to say it. I already heard the truth from Danne and now I needed him to hear how terribly he'd misjudged my friend. Barging in and misreading the situation. Using his fists instead of his godsdamn head!

Graysen stared at his hands, his fingers furled and unfurled, back and forth.

"Tell me," I demanded. "Tell me what happened. Why you'd do that to him without giving him a chance to explain?" Deep down I felt the twang of unease in regard to Danne, but I ignored it. Perhaps, simply because I had become so lonely, I desperately wanted to keep hold of a friend.

Graysen's eyes snapped up to meet mine, burning with fire. "It doesn't matter what I say. You'll never believe me—you're already taken in by that cocksucker."

I tipped up my chin. "Try me."

He stalked up to the end of the bed and I met him at the edge of the mattress with my hands braced on my hips. Standing there, for the first time I was just a little bit taller. I glared at him, daring him to continue.

"I did. I fucked him up badly. I wish I could have fucking ended him. But I didn't. Ferne stopped me. She did it for me, not him."

"What did Danne do?"

"He kissed her—"

"She kissed him," I snapped angrily, defending my friend.

"No. She. Didn't."

I stilled, not even blinking. My mind replayed his words...then went over what Danne had revealed in the marquee. "Whaaat?" I dragged the word out quietly, feeling that persistent unease expanding once again but with more force; reminding me of the same unsettled feeling I'd earlier experienced in the marquee when Danne had spoken of the same encounter with Ferne and Graysen. "He said she kissed him."

"Of course, that fucker would say that. She liked him. Not that way, though." He took a couple of steps back. "He'd had his hands all over her. He had her pinned beneath him."

The blood drained from my face. That...Danne hadn't said that...he'd almost made it sound like they'd been sitting together sweetly when Ferne kissed him. How could she be beneath him?

"He said it was a misunderstanding," I said it more to myself than him. But he answered anyway.

"I could taste his intentions, Wychthorn." His features twisted, growing dark with memory. He glanced away, and when he brought his gaze back to mine, his eyes were torn between agony and rage. "I wanted to tear my fucking tongue out."

I blinked. My mind jolted awkwardly from Ferne to that comment. "Taste? You've said that before."

"I can taste emotions if they scream loudly enough."

My lips parted in surprise. His senses and speed and strength were enhanced...and now he was saying he could taste emotions.

"And Danne. That motherfucker..." His mouth compressed to a tight line. "He'd cornered her away from the rest of us, where no one would hear her screams. Vile things. Such sick vile things he wanted to do to my sister. Would have done if I hadn't stumbled across them."

I let his words seep in. Absorbed them with horror. My mind reeled.

The blood chilled in my veins and my world tilted.

It was hard to hear, to see Danne in that way, to adjust my thoughts and feelings for him. To see him in this dark light.

He was going to...

Gods, he was going to do that to Ferne?

Fresh nausea roiled in my empty stomach. I pressed the flat of my hand right where it hurt—at my heart.

The creature inside me writhed and snarled.

Danne Pelan suddenly seemed abhorrent. I couldn't believe I'd been taken in by him and his sunny boyish charm. I suppose I wasn't the only fool. Ferne had, too. Maybe...and a sickening feeling twisted inside...other unlucky girls, too.

I cursed myself for not listening to that instinctive gut feeling, that uneasy warning I'd experienced earlier, instead, I'd blindly held onto defending him because all I'd wanted was a friend.

Graysen spun away. He tugged his hair hard, then tossed his hand wide. "Fuck, Wychthorn, you and your sheltered little life—"

"I believe you."

He carried on talking as if he hadn't heard me, angrily pacing back and forth in front of the bed. "You need to keep your distance from him. What's to stop him from trying something like...that...again..." His words drifted apart as what I'd said finally caught up with him. He paused, surprised. "You do?"

"Of course." I did. I had implicit trust in him. Stupid, I know. He was an asshole, a jerk, and often a prick, but what he wasn't was a liar. Not about something like this.

He stared at me, blinking rapidly as if trying to reassess me, shift the puzzle pieces around, and let them settle into a new picture. "Huh?"

"And have you been able to sense or taste his intentions with me?"

"Scent him? Taste his hunger for you?" He shook his head, his brows slashed across wrathful eyes. "Not the same way he hungered after my sister. But he wants something from you, Wychthorn. Guys like him, always have some ulterior motive. I just haven't figured out his angle yet."

"Fuck," I grimaced. Could today get any fucking worse?

I flopped back onto the bed, straight-backed. I bounced twice, before settling on the soft mattress. I stared up at the ceiling, not really seeing it. I made a gesture with my fingers popping wide away from my head and made a sound like an explosion as if my brain had exploded. "Mind. Completely. Fritzed."

I turned my head sideways. Graysen had shifted to the table by the window, refilling his tumbler with whiskey. "Was she...is she all right?"

He swallowed a mouthful of liquor, swiping his thumb over his glistening lips. "Ferne? Yeah. He scared the fuck out of her, but she's a Crowther and she didn't actually need me stepping in. She was five seconds away from smashing his jaw herself."

I levered myself up by my elbows, as a new image of his delicate sister as a badass ballbuster burst into my mind. "Seriously?"

His mouth kicked up on one side, and he leaned his hip on the side of the wooden table, bracing himself with a flattened hand on the top. "Yeah, don't let her poor little blind girl act fool you. She's like you."

An other? I was about to ask, but he'd read my question on my face before I could voice it. "No, not that way. Just feisty as fuck, and has the skills to back it up." He took another mouthful of alcohol, and I watched the bob in his throat as he swallowed.

Flopping back down again, I threaded my hands through my hair, kneading my skull. This was all too much for my brain to process. I needed to switch everything off. If I could have gone to sleep, I'd have willingly crawled into bed. But I was still wired from the craziness of the day...and now Danne...

I wanted him out of my head. I wanted him off my property. Gods, the Pelans...sick, sick, sick...I had to end Evvie's engagement to Corné.

I rolled over to my side. Graysen was rubbing his ass and hissed through his teeth. "Fuuuck..." Glowering at me, he said, "You didn't exactly hold back."

No, I'd let his ass have it.

I jackknifed up, staring at him. I could... Surely he had one on him...

He stared back, warily. Beginning to become uncomfortable under my gaze, he shifted a foot back as I scooted to my knees. Shuffling off the bed, I strode right up to him and shoved a hand down the back pocket of his sweatpants.

There was nothing in either back pocket, apart from the most perfect ass I'd ever had the pleasure of trying not to grope. Not that I'd ever touched someone else's ass, but I was pretty sure Graysen's scored a twelve out of ten even without having ass experience.

Gods it was so hard...glorious hard ass...so good...

"What the hells are you doing?" He growled, squirming a little. "No wait...carry on...maybe check my front pocket..."

I delved into his left front pocket.

"Deeper..." he urged, "more to the right...further..."

I hissed, exasperated, catching on to him. "I am not touching your cock!"

"Ah, you said cock," he said with a smarmy grin. "Pretty little bird, you can be tamed and taught new tricks after all."

My fingers latched around what I was looking for and I dragged them both out. A cylinder of rancid sweetness. A zippo.

Ah-hah, a blunt! I knew he'd have one on him!