Betrayed by Shadows

by Nancy Gideon

  “Sorry,” she whispered. “You’re not rid of me quite yet.”

  He caught her hand as it began to fall. It rested limply in the cradle of his own as her eyes slid shut. He looked to Boyd for answers. “What’s wrong with her?”

  Boyd nudged their prisoner with his foot. “Not in front of company. Let’s get the hell out of here before more of them show up. Take the ladies out to the car. I’ll tidy up.”

  Boyd’s stare was cool and capable, making it easy for Giles to gather Brigit in his arms and leave the rest to his cousin.

  They didn’t have long to wait before Boyd exited the nightspot, their prisoner draped in a fireman’s carry. He popped the trunk and deposited the Terriot thug inside before slipping behind the wheel. They’d just gone around the bend in the drive when a terrific explosion rocked them on their wheels.

  Boyd glanced into the rearview at the smoke and flames billowing from the nearly flattened building. “Looks like someone must have been careless in the kitchen.” He met Giles’s stare, his own unflinching. “Place was attracting the wrong types.”

  A multitude of problems had just gone up in a blaze that would leave questions unanswered for days. Weeks, if they were lucky.

  And left Giles with one foremost in his mind. “She still hasn’t come around. What’s wrong with her?” He held Brigit cradled in his arms in the small backseat. She had yet to stir as much as an eyelid. Scaring him nearly out of his mind.

  “There’s nothing wrong,” Boyd confided. “It’s what she is.”

  “I know she’s one of you.”

  Boyd laughed. “No. Not like me. Not at all like me. What you got there is a whole ’nuther kind of animal.”

  Uneasiness flickered. “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve heard of her kind. Just stories, I thought.”

  “Spell it out, T,” Giles demanded, impatient. Afraid.

  Boyd shrugged in response. “She’s a healer. It’s a gift some of the old race had. They could absorb an injury and supposedly even restore life.”

  Giles took in her wan features and faint breathing with a new apprehension. “At what cost?”

  “I don’t know. Like I said, stories and legends.”

  Not anymore.

  “Keep this to yourselves, both of you,” Giles ordered.

  “Gift like that,” Boyd mused, “would be worth a lot to some.”

  “Not a word, I said. She saved your miserable life.” And probably his, too, he realized at last. She’d kept him from bleeding out, had taken the killing bite from his fever. Absorbed them. What did that mean? What could it mean to her?

  Had this spoiled, selfish, unbelievably heroic female sacrificed herself to save them?

  fifteen

  Brigit opened her eyes to see lace curtains fluttering and, for a moment, thought she was on River Road.

  “Welcome back.”

  She didn’t recognize the crisp female voice at first. Rolling her head to the side, which took a ridiculous amount of effort, she saw Corene St. Clair sitting at her bedside. The welt on her strong jaw had taken on some spectacular color, though the ice in her blue eyes seemed to have thawed.

  “Thank you for helping to bring them back safely.”

  Her quiet words stirred an uncomfortable anxiety in Brigit. Did all of them know about her gift? Giving them that knowledge implied a trust she hadn’t had time to form with Giles’s family.

  “I didn’t do all that much,” she murmured, struggling to lift up onto her elbows. Corene quickly stuffed several pillows behind her back to serve as a bolster before resuming her own seat.

  “Not according to Lou, who has you walking on water.” Corene’s serious mien had returned. “You risked yourself to back my brother. He hasn’t had anyone do that for a long time.” Guilt steeped in her gaze before it dropped awkwardly to the hands knotted together in her lap.

  Seeing an opportunity she might never have again, Brigit overcame her remaining weakness to push, “He’s your brother, your family. Why haven’t you been there for him?”

  Corene’s stare came back up, flinty with the reasons she’d been telling herself for ten years. “You know what he does for a living.”

  Brigit wasn’t letting her hide behind that pat excuse. “And you know why.”

  “To get rid of one evil man, he threw away everything good and decent and became exactly like him. You don’t slay a monster by becoming one yourself. Where’s the honor in what he did? There is none. My father would have been the first one to tell him that. He would have been so . . . ashamed.”

  “Don’t be naive.” Brigit’s words were sharp but her tone uncommonly gentle. “Sometimes that’s the only way. You can’t let evil go unanswered. What he did was nothing compared to the way you all have been punishing him ever since. Compared to the way he punishes himself.”

  “He works for a gangster, a murderer—”

  “Old news,” Brigit cut in. “Now he works with my brother, who’s a detective with the New Orleans police and the most honorable man on the freaking planet. They’re trying to restore peace, pride, and honest decency where none has existed for a long, long time.” For the first time, she felt the power behind the words Silas had spoken so determinedly. “And chances are, neither of them will survive it.” She took a fierce breath to suppress that fear before continuing. “The difference is, I love my brother, and I support what he’s chosen to do. I’m damned proud of him even when I don’t agree with him. I’m damned proud of your brother, too, and the choices he’s had to live with, even if you can’t find it in yourself to be that compassionate.”

  Corene said nothing to refute Brigit’s statements. Her features were set, her lips pressed tight to contain whatever true feelings stirred in her heart.

  Brigit shook her head, disgusted. “You accept Boyd with all his failings, and yet you can’t see past the sacrifices Giles had to make for all of you.”

  “What sacrifices?”

  “He couldn’t turn his back on his father’s murder, and he couldn’t avenge it without repercussions falling on all of you. He had the courage to make the hard choices. Not all of us do. Not all of us are willing to give up everything for the sake of those we love.” Her voice snagged on that last, forcing her to blink fiercely to clear her eyes. “Giles deserves better than he’s gotten from you. Make amends while you can. You might not have another chance.”

  A brief knock on the door broke the tension between the two women as Louella entered carrying a soup bowl. She smiled brightly, oblivious to the strain in the room. “You’re awake. ’Bout time. Giles has been wearing a trench on the front porch and has done enough smoking to put all our fish and meat up for the winter.”

  He was worried about Brigit, who took her meaning, but that didn’t improve her mood. After all he’d done, he still wasn’t allowed in his own home. She fixed Corene with a flat stare as she replied, “Tell him I’ll be out in a minute so we can be on our way. We don’t want to overstay our welcome.”

  Corene rose up with stiff dignity. “I’ll tell him.”

  Probably through the screen door. Brigit sighed unhappily as the other woman left the room, but with Louella around, the blues weren’t tolerated.

  Lou plopped onto the edge of the bed with an energetic bounce, offering up the bowl that held not some savory stew but thin slices of extremely undercooked beef.

  “Boyd said you was to eat all of it, every bite, so’s you’ll get your strength back.”

  Since when had Boyd St. Clair become her mother?

  She took the bowl and began to fork up the juicy strips of meat. To Boyd’s credit, almost instantly, she felt a rejuvenating power flow through her.

  Louella politely watched her eat, but her patience was good only a few minutes. She leaned elbows on knees, her stare bright and inquisitive. “So, you and Giles.”

  “Me and Giles, what?”

  Lou’s mouth took a naughty turn. “His scent is all over you.”

  Brigit scowled, a
ware that she hadn’t washed since . . . A warm heat flushed her face as she muttered, “Just how old are you?”

  “Old enough.” Louella made an indignant face. “We get cable channels on our dish.”

  Brigit fought down a smile. “Such a knowledgeable window on the world.”

  “Likely the only one I’ll ever have if Mama and Giles have their way.” A dramatic sigh. “He won’t let me come stay with him. I promised I wouldn’t be no trouble.”

  Brigit did smile then. “Your cousin has all the troublesome women underfoot that he can handle for the moment.”

  At the girl’s crestfallen look, Brigit nearly crumbled, remembering how it felt to be cloistered by a strong family, to feel as though all the exciting things life had to offer would be gone by the time she had a chance to experience them. And look where that impatience had led her. Oh, to have those innocent days back.

  Sensing a sympathetic audience, Lou adopted big eyes. “Maybe you could talk to him.”

  Brigit laughed at that. “Giles isn’t moved by my opinions. He’s a rock wall.”

  “Who’s absolutely crazy about you.”

  Brigit went still. “I think you’re confusing me with the lost love of his life.”

  Lou snorted. “Maggie? Oh, she was pretty and smart and polite, but she didn’t have spunk. That’s what Boyd called it. There was no grit in that girl. Look how fast she lit out when things got tough. She didn’t love him enough to give up the idea of a fancy Harvard lawyer husband. He might tell you he chased her off for her own good, but the door wasn’t gonna hit that one on her flat ass.”

  How inappropriately good that made Brigit feel inside.

  “Now, you,” the girl confided, “he’s not about to let run off.”

  Reality washed the momentary warmth out of Brigit like that cold backyard shower. Because Giles was counting down the days.

  Louella went on, lost in the idea of romance. “You come wading into the middle of things, not backing down to Mama, not giving an inch to those bastards what took me. Sticking by him like epoxy after a squirt of fixer.”

  Was that how it looked? How incredibly embarrassing. Clinging to the one man who had no use for her.

  “Lou, there’s nothing between me and Giles. He was babysitting me for my brother to keep me safe from the Terriots. Now that the threat’s gone, I’ll be on my way.”

  The youthful face fell. “You’re not staying with him?”

  “I can’t.”

  Can’t? Why hadn’t she said she didn’t want to?

  Brigit put a hand on the girl’s arm and squeezed. “Go spend some time with him. That’s what he wants. He could really use his family.”

  Louella rose to announce solemnly, “What he could use is someone like you, and I’m just sorry it won’t be you.”

  Brigit set the bowl aside, irrationally sorry, too. Because she could use a man like Giles St. Clair: someone strong and noble, someone she couldn’t intimidate or bend around her finger. Someone who could get behind the wheel to take her on a zero-to-sixty-in-three-seconds ride or a cross-country exploration that was equally satisfying. Someone she could depend upon to be there for her.

  Someone like Giles, because it could never be Giles. There was that different-species thing, not to mention the fact that she’d put his friends and family in terrible jeopardy. The fact that she was headstrong and heart-stubborn, impulsive and independent. A self-avowed capital-B Bitch on wheels. She’d lied to him again and again. And still was trying to conceal a romance-nullifying truth from the both of them.

  Because it couldn’t be Giles, she pretended that it didn’t matter.

  “Is there a shower I can use?”

  Time to wash that scent and those ideas down the drain.

  Giles flicked his cigarette butt into the yard, his throat as raw as his mood.

  Just how the hell was he going to keep his family safe now that a half dozen of the Terriot clan were dead by their hands?

  He’d had such grand ideas when he’d stepped off these porch boards almost fifteen years ago with his scholarship and his big dreams. Not to escape the deep grassroots where he’d come from, but to return so he could help them grow. He’d wanted to balance Emmett’s bold notions with solid business sense and legal protection. He’d wanted to expand the family tour operations and launch a specialized shop for engine rebuilds and modifications. He’d envisioned him and Boyd getting greasy the way they had as boys under his father’s tutelage. Emmett smooth-talking investors into franchise options. Cori running a professional office and Lou charming tourists. And his mama able to relax without worries. Making them all proud of what he’d become.

  That had gotten lost when he’d fallen into the dreams Maggie had for the two of them. He’d let her consume all his other obligations, let her continually postpone his plans to introduce her to his family while filling his head and heart with ideas that were important to her. But not to him, he realized belatedly. Big house, big car, big bank account to make an impression on a law firm in an even bigger city.

  Why had he never caught on that she was as humiliated by where he’d come from as his family was by what he’d become?

  And look what he’d done with all those dreams. Brought disgrace and hard times to his family. Invited murderers and threats of pending violence to their door.

  They were right to want to be rid of him.

  Boyd came up beside him, pressing a hot cup of coffee into his hand. The heat from the ceramic mug in the damp chill of afternoon was as welcome as the liberal lacing of bourbon. Washed up and wearing fresh clothing, his cousin looked no worse for his adventure. Who would have guessed, if Boyd’s own accounting were to be believed, that he’d been trying to bribe his way through the pearly gates only hours earlier?

  “You don’t have to stand out here. What’s she gonna do? Chase you out with the broom?”

  Giles tightened his jaw, saying nothing.

  “So, what’s the plan?” Boyd gestured toward his car, where the unlucky Terriot Shifter was imprisoned in the trunk. “Whatchu meaning to do with him?”

  “Take him back and turn him over to MacCreedy. He runs the clan business for Max. Silas is a smart one. If anyone can parlay some sort of truce, he can. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep our troubles away from here, T.” Even as he said that, Giles knew it was probably too late.

  “What say I drive our friend up to New Orleans for you? You’ve got enough on your hands with your little gal. Be happy to do it for you.”

  Giles knew what the offer meant. Boyd was looking for an introduction, a way inside Max’s organization, and maybe that was the best way to go. Giles had wanted to keep his ambitious cousin away from the darker side of what he was involved in, but perhaps it was too late for that as well. None of them was innocent anymore.

  Giles gave him the address of the River Road estate, his tone flat and weary.

  “Mind telling me what this was all about, my neck being on the line and all? Why was they so eager to get to your lady?”

  “She’s not—” Giles broke off the curt reply and sighed heavily. “She pissed off one of the Terriots enough for them to want her dead.”

  T-Boy raised an impressed brow. “I like her more every minute. What’d she do?”

  “Something about her family. An old feud. I don’t know. It’s none of my business.”

  Boyd stared at him for a long moment, then laughed. “Yeah, right. Stop shoveling what you can’t sell, Rob-E.”

  So Giles stopped, but he had no more to say on the subject as he finished his coffee.

  “She’s awake and eating,” Corene announced as she came up behind him.

  Giles went completely still as gentle arms slipped about his middle and his sister rested her head against his back. Too choked by emotion to speak, he carried one of her delicate hands to his lips for a kiss before holding it to his cheek. Fierce eddies of love and sorrow shuddered through him at this first overture since he’d come home from school. Though
Cori had never been generous with expressions of affection—not like Lou and Boyd, who’d always let their feelings run wild—there had always been a strong bond between them. Missing it and missing her had left an unhealed hole in his heart. He didn’t dare hope this single gesture represented its mending.

  Until she whispered, “Don’t stay away so long.”

  “You could come to the city to see me anytime.” He made the offer even though he knew she wouldn’t. Corene had no love for the crowded frivolity of New Orleans. But that gave him an idea. Keeping her hand in his, he turned toward her and Boyd.“You should all come. It’s not safe for you here until this thing with the Terriots gets resolved. I could put you up in a hotel or in a condo on the Square. Or you could stay at the house. All of you.” He emphasized that.

  Corene didn’t respond with the immediate objection he’d expected. She considered it carefully, her serious features contemplative, before telling him gently, “Mama would never go, and Emmett would never leave without her. I have to stay to take care of the business. We have little enough as it is. We can’t afford to lose what we do have. But you should take Lou.”

  “What about me?” Boyd challenged, drawing her attention. “Don’t I have a place in your grand scheme?”

  Corene gave him an impatient look. “You’ll do what suits you. Like always.”

  Louella came out to join them, and every other thought dropped from Giles’s mind as Brigit followed. She’d showered. Her glorious hair was loose, flowing past her shoulders in riotous bright auburn curls. He wanted to bury his face in them. She never glanced at him, her mood reserved and distant as she said, “We should go. We’ve caused enough trouble here for one day. I need to get back to New Orleans and put things right.”

  Unable to read anything from her expression, Giles called softly, “Lou, pack some things. You’re going with us.”

  The girl’s eyes grew huge, then wordlessly, she bolted for the door.