The question took him back. That wasn’t what he’d thought she was going to ask at all. Something about his past with Evangeline, yes, but not this. “I…just can.”
Her mouth bunched up on one side. “That’s not the truth.”
He sighed. He’d thought about telling her if she asked, but meeting with Julian had reminded him that the secret wasn’t his alone. “It’s not something I’m supposed to share with you. Or anyone.”
She nodded slowly. “I see. And that’s fine. You don’t owe me.”
He made a noise deep in his throat. “Except that I do. Can I ask why you’re so curious?”
“Well…” She glanced at the windows. It was one of those bright winter days with not a cloud in the sky. “I realized today how dangerous it can be for your kind. Evangeline accidentally put her hand into the sun today and it was awful. Smoke and blisters on her skin. I swear she would have burst into flames if it had touched her a second longer.”
“She would have.”
Tessa shook her head and grimaced. “She was worried about you being out there, but seeing that made me worry for you. And I’ll probably keep worrying every time you go out during daylight.”
“The only thing Evangeline worries about is me not being around to pay her bills.”
“That’s what I assumed as well. I can tell you she read true during our conversation.”
He studied her. Concern bracketed her eyes. It was very sweet and a little touching. “You don’t need to worry about me. I promise. That’s all I can say.”
She nodded and looked away, her expression less than convinced. “I understand you not telling me. I know I’m not anything to you, except a soon-to-be-employee, but I like to think we’ve at least become friends. I don’t have a lot of those and I can’t help but care about you.”
“I care about you too.” More and more every day. “I’d like to think we’re more than just employee and employer. After this, how can we not be?” Indecision warred within him. He wanted to tell her, to stop her from worrying, but his family’s secret was a secret for a reason. The amulets that protected them could very easily be used against them. Not that Tessa would ever use them against him. She just wasn’t the type. “All I can tell you is that I’m not in any danger.”
Her mouth pulled taut into an unhappy line. “You say that, and you read true, but I hope whatever reassurance you have that you’re safe wasn’t given to you by someone who wasn’t as truthful.”
“It wasn’t.” He hesitated. “I will give you this much. I have the help of some magic. Old and very trustworthy magic. Does that make you feel better?”
She shrugged with no real commitment. “I guess.”
“You don’t put much stock in magic?”
“I’m a valkyrie. I have magic of my own so that’s not the issue. I just know that magic can be counterfeited. It can also seem powerful for a short time then fade away. Have you been using this magic awhile?”
“Yes. We all have.” Well, that was more than he’d meant to say. “Bugger.”
She stared at him, slightly amused. “I wasn’t trying to get your secret out of you, I’m sorry. Just a reassurance that you’re not taking unnecessary risks.”
“Don’t worry about it. I trust you. And you don’t know the half of it, so—”
She squinted at him. “It’s that amulet you wear around your neck, isn’t it?”
“Bloody hell.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “Yes, but you can’t tell a soul.”
She grinned. “Or what?”
He couldn’t imagine her telling anyone, but if she did, it could be ruinous. “You’ll end up on my grandmother’s black list and you do not want that. She’ll force me to fire you. At the very least.”
Tessa’s smile disappeared. “You shouldn’t have told me that was it.”
“If I’d said it wasn’t the amulet, you would have seen I was lying.”
“I won’t tell anyone. I swear on my sword.”
“You have a sword?”
She scrunched up her nose like she’d just revealed something she hadn’t meant to. He knew the feeling. She sighed. “All valkyries do.”
“So you must know how to use it.”
She nodded reluctantly. “I do.”
The thought of her wielding a sword seemed very out of character, even if she was a valkyrie. Sebastian pictured her with a medieval blade, a fierce look on her face and a suit of whatever kind of armor a valkyrie might wear.
It was rather erotic.
He cleared his throat. “Do you still train, then?”
Her gaze took on a distant, haunted look. “No. Typically valkyries do—my sister does all the time—but I’ve sort of put that life behind me.”
This side of her intrigued him. Especially since she seemed to want nothing to do with it. “Why? It’s who you are.”
“Being born valkyrie doesn’t define me. I’ve chosen a different path, that’s all.”
Now it felt like she was the one holding something back, but he let it slide. If she wasn’t ready to tell him the truth, so be it. They didn’t owe each other their deep, dark secrets. Although he had told her about the promise to Evangeline’s father. “Did you bring it with you?”
“My sword?”
“Yes.”
She crossed her arms. “It seems we both have a secret.”
“I’d say fair enough, but you know mine.” And she seemed to be keeping two: one about the sword and one about her past.
“Only because I guessed it.”
He gave her a look. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“A little.”
He sighed. “Fine. Don’t tell me. I’ll figure it out.”
“You won’t. But enjoy trying.”
“I believe I will.” He glanced toward the door. “Where is Evangeline, by the way?”
“In the theater. She said she wanted to catch up on movies and stay out of my way.”
Sebastian frowned. “She really said that?”
Tessa nodded. “And she meant it, too. As far as I know, she’s still in there.”
“Maybe the years have softened her a little.”
“You’d know better than I but I’d say she really has been missing you.”
His brows pulled together. “What makes you say that?”
She traced a pattern on the arm of the chair. “Well…” she sighed. “I did something today I’m not super proud of.”
Now that was surprising. “What?”
Her mouth bunched up on one side. “I snooped in Evangeline’s room.”
It was so unexpected, he barked out a laugh. “What? You? Why, Miss Blythe, how positively criminal.” He laughed again when her cheeks went red.
She put her hands on the arms of the chair. “It’s not funny.”
“It’s hilarious. Find anything interesting?”
“Actually, I did. Photocopies of newspaper articles from the Tombstone. Some of them may have been online stories that she printed out.” She waved her hands like that wasn’t important. “Anyway, all of the articles had pictures and every single picture had you in it.” She jabbed a finger at him. “She’s been checking up on you. Seeing what you’re doing. She misses you.”
“Maybe.” He wasn’t convinced. “She might also be trying to estimate how much I’m worth these days.”
“Then why make copies of the pictures?” Tessa shook her head. “She wants to be able to see you.”
“Good point. Doesn’t seem like something she’d do, though.”
“Well, like I said, you know her better than I do.” Tessa looked over at his desk. “I should let you get back to work.”
“I’m done. Finishing that budget and seeing Julian were all I really needed to do today.”
“So what are you going to do until dinner?”
An idea had begun forming when she’d mentioned the sword. “I’m so glad you asked.”
This was a room Tessa remembered from the tour. It was hard
not to remember a space this big. Also, what house had a gym with an area set up especially for fencing?
The door swung open and Sebastian walked in, looking impressive in his fencing whites. They set off his dark eyes and hair and the gleam of the mask tucked beneath his arm gave him an air of debonair danger. He grinned, lighting his face in a way that sucked the air from her lungs. “Ready to duel?”
But his handsomeness did nothing to quell her nerves. “I-I guess. This isn’t the kind of sword fighting I know.”
“That’s all right,” Sebastian said. “I’ll show you the basics. I have a feeling you’ll pick it up quickly.”
Her nerves wound tighter. She squeezed her hands together. “I don’t know. I’m not much for fighting.”
“It’s not really fighting. It’s more of a sport. A game, really.” He narrowed his brows. “Either way, fencing can’t be that unusual a thing for a valkyrie to do.”
“No.” But the last time she’d held a sword, things had gone very badly. Not so much because of the sword, but because of her temper. That was why she did everything possible to live a life where her temper was never riled. A simple, plain, boring life.
That was the price she was willing to pay to never experience another day like the one that had shown her who she really was. And how much damage she was capable of doing.
Greaves pushed through the doors of the gym, arms filled with white clothing. “I brought the jackets that seemed the closest in size, miss. We’ll find one that fits.”
“Oh, good.” She sighed. She couldn’t get out of this without explaining her past to Sebastian. Or making herself look silly for not wanting to try something most people would probably think was fun. Sebastian obviously did. And she liked him too much to want him to see either of those things. Plus, what if she told him the truth and he decided she was unfit to be around the students at the academy?
No. This was something she had to keep to herself. She pasted on a happy expression as Greaves held up one of the fencing jackets. “That looks small.”
“It has to fit snugly. Loose fabric could hinder your movement and get caught on a foil. Give it a try. Step into the croissard, then put it on like a regular jacket.”
“So that strap goes between my legs?”
He nodded and his face went a little red. “It’s so the jacket protects the delicate bits.”
“I see.” She took off her cardigan and stepped one foot through the loop, then put her arm in and shrugged the jacket on. It wasn’t a perfect fit, but it was close. “There’s no way this would fit you, Sebastian. Who did this belong to?”
“One of the Harmswood students. We have a fencing team and I used to tutor some of the students here.”
“Used to?”
He wiped a smudge off the face plate of his helmet. “I stopped a few years ago.”
“Why?” Greaves helped her zip the jacket, which made it fit even closer.
Sebastian shrugged. “There is no real reason. I just…didn’t want to.”
Greaves grunted. “Because you’re a recluse, that’s why.”
She expected Sebastian to refute that, but he just sighed.
“I suppose that’s part of it.” He lifted his brows. “It’s easier not to engage sometimes.”
The truth of the words struck her. “I get that. I really do.”
Greaves handed her one of the masks. “To protect your pretty face and neck.”
“Thank you. You sure I’m going to be all right in my jeans?” Sebastian was fully kitted up, making her wonder why she wasn’t.
Sebastian nodded and answered her. “For one thing, I promise to go easy on you. I certainly don’t want to hurt the new dean of library studies. The only real target area is the torso anyway. For another, if you like it and want to spar again sometime, we’ll make sure you have knickers and everything.”
“All right.” There wasn’t going to be a next time, that much she knew already.
“Greaves, you have gloves for her? We don’t want to add another scar to those knuckles.”
She froze for a second, then bent her head and put the mask on, covering her face as fast as possible. Why she’d assumed he hadn’t noticed the scar on her hand, she had no idea. It wasn’t like she’d done anything special to conceal it. Maybe it had been wishful thinking that he hadn’t seen it. The stupid thing was enough of a reminder for her. She didn’t want it to become a source of questions, too.
Greaves handed her a pair of gloves and she yanked them on, happy to cover the mark left by another’s blade. The mark that had driven her to nearly kill.
“Ready?” Sebastian asked.
“I guess so.”
Sebastian put his mask on. “Greaves, our foils.”
The rook retrieved them from a case on the wall, returning with two gleaming blades. He handed one to her, then one to Sebastian.
Sebastian slashed the narrow blade through the air a few times as if testing it. The metal sang as it cut the air, a sound she hadn’t heard in person in a very long time. The foil’s song was higher pitched than that of the weapons the valkyrie and berserkers used, but it was familiar all the same.
She shivered and shoved back at the memories threatening to invade. “What first?” She needed to do something besides stand there.
“Watch. I’ll show you the opening moves.” Sebastian went through a series of stances and showed her how to attack and lunge and parry. He demonstrated how to feint and disengage.
Despite her trepidation, she concentrated and did her best to understand and remember. It was only mildly similar to what she’d been taught in battle school. It seemed to her that the best comparison of the two styles of fighting would be a junkyard mutt and a show dog. Her style was designed to get things done brutally and efficiently, while his style was all about sportsmanship and elegant skill. She had been trained to go for the kill, damn the finesse, and she had no idea how to use that training now to engage in friendly swordplay.
It only marked how different—and brutal—her training had been. This was a sport. Her training had been about life and death.
Sebastian pulled upright. “What do you think? Does it make sense or was that too much too fast?”
She shook her head, the confines of the mask impeding her peripheral vision a bit. “No, I think I got the gist of it.”
“All right, then.” He lifted his weapon. “Greaves, you’re refereeing. Make sure she doesn’t demolish me.”
The rook smiled. “Very good, sir.”
They took their opening stances.
“Come at me, Tessa, and I’ll show you how to cease parry and circular parry.”
“Okay.” She tentatively stuck the foil toward him.
“Oh now, you can put more effort into it than that. Come at me. Like you’re angry.”
She hesitated, cocking her head to the side. “But I’m not.” And she didn’t want to be.
“Pretend I’ve changed my mind about giving you the job.”
“I don’t know…”
“And that while you were out, I got fed up with Duncan and took him to the pound.”
“You wouldn’t dare.” A surge of anger filled her and she lunged the way he’d demonstrated, going straight for his chest.
He swept his blade around, spinning hers away. “Very good! That was a circular parry.”
She straightened and let her blade hang at her side as she took a deep, calming breath. “I don’t want to—”
“What’s going on in here?” Evangeline walked in, finally wearing street clothes instead of lingerie. Not that her street clothes were that much more modest. Skintight jeans, a low-cut black lace shirt embellished with small crystals and knee-high black leather boots. She looked like a very modern vampire, sleek and dangerous and, Tessa admitted reluctantly, sexy.
Sebastian pulled his mask off. “Fencing. Did it look like something different?”
Greaves snorted.
Tessa pulled off her mask too. “I thought you were w
atching movies.”
“The last one just ended and I’m tired of sitting. Plus this looks like more fun.” She put her hands on her hips. The burned one was completely healed. “I want to play.”
“We were just finishing.” Tessa shook her hair out. She was happy to be done. She wasn’t keen on the way fencing made her feel. Evangeline’s interruption gave her the perfect excuse to take a breather. She held her foil toward the woman. “Here you go.”
Evangeline didn’t take it, sticking out her lip instead. “And here I thought we’d get a chance to fight for our man.” She looked directly at Tessa, her eyes sparking with challenge. “Unless you don’t think he’s worth defending.”
“Of course he is.” A frisson of valkyrie ire traveled through Tessa with the speed of light, sending a fresh bolt of energy down her spine. The jolt startled her, but the anger wasn’t misplaced. Evangeline was a real pain in the keister whose only real skill seemed to be wearing tight clothes and pushing people’s buttons. As much as Tessa hated to fight, this was the perfect controlled opportunity to put the woman in her place, something that should have already been done.
But Tessa wasn’t going to be the one to do it. Not if her freshly hatched plan went off like she thought it would. She pulled her mask back on. “One fast bout.”
Sebastian’s brows lifted but he nodded at Greaves. “Get Evangeline in a jacket.”
“I don’t know about this.” Sebastian had not expected Tessa to agree to Evangeline’s provocative request, and while he was flattered that she had, he couldn’t help but sense some tension in her. He didn’t want her doing something with which she was uncomfortable.
“Afraid I’m going to hurt your fiancée?” Evangeline cooed.
“Frankly, yes. I don’t trust you.”
She put a hand to her throat. “I’m wounded.”
Tessa snorted. “Not yet you’re not. Let’s do this.”
Sebastian shot Tessa a look. “You’re sure?”
She nodded but with her mask on, it was impossible to read her eyes.
The Vampire's Fake Fiancée (Nocturne Falls Book 5) Page 15