Page 23 of Legacy of Roses

“Yes, I am,” he said gently, noting the direction of her gaze.

She flushed and looked forward again. She wanted to spurn his offer, but she was more shaken by her abduction than she cared to admit.

After a moment’s hesitation, she stayed silent, pulling Daphne into motion.

“Thank you!” Daphne called back to Dimitri, apparently having no qualms about accepting his help. Which of course, she didn’t. She was the one who had gone to him for help in the first place.

“What were you thinking running here?” Rosalie whispered, trying to keep her voice low enough that Dimitri wouldn’t overhear. “You should have gone to Thebarton!”

“It was further away,” Daphne said matter-of-factly. “And I had a feeling Dimitri would be able to handle it.”

“Well, he didn’t,” Rosalie snapped, struggling to keep her voice lowered. “He made everything worse.”

“Worse?” Daphne looked pointedly at Rosalie. “You’re here, aren’t you?”

Rosalie groaned. “It was Jace.”

“Jace!?!” Daphne shrieked the name, and Rosalie looked hurriedly over her shoulder.

“Keep your voice down!”

“Jace!?!” Daphne repeated in a shocked whisper.

“Yes.” Rosalie sighed and related the whole situation to Daphne, who was a suitably awe-filled audience.

“He really did that? And said that? Eww?” Daphne scrunched up her nose.

Rosalie nodded her hearty agreement, suddenly realizing they had reached the road without her even noticing. Relating the shocking story to Daphne had worked as an effective barrier to the Legacy’s pull. She hadn’t even noticed the roses.

She just appreciated that her friend wasn’t saying “I told you so” at this fresh revelation of Jace’s true nature. But Daphne had never said that, even though she had been the only one to doubt Jace from the beginning. Before Jace’s betrayal, Rosalie had brushed her friend’s dislike aside. Daphne had never warmed to anyone particularly, other than Rosalie, as if making friends was another thing she didn’t have the energy for.

Daphne made an exception of friendship only for Rosalie which she claimed was because spurning Rosalie would have cost the same unwelcome level of effort as befriending anyone else. But Rosalie should have recognized there was more to Daphne’s dislike of Jace. There was a difference between indifference and mistrust.

She had freely apologized to her friend after Jace’s betrayal, and even then, Daphne had never said anything like “I told you so.” And now she was being just as supportive in the wake of Jace’s new perfidy as she had been after the initial disaster.

Daphne also immediately grasped the implications of Jace letting them go. Her previous approval of Dimitri seemed to dim, and she cast an uncertain look back at him, as if she was no longer sure about him trailing them home.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have run to him,” she murmured. “But I did, and he was genuinely worried for you. He went straight afteryou, and his arrival did lead to Jace letting you go. Maybe we should let him walk with us? I feel bad leaving him back there.”

“Better he feels bad than the Legacy turns him into a Beast,” Rosalie said firmly. She bit her lip. “I would have told him to stay behind but…”

“Yes, I agree.” Daphne shivered, not needing Rosalie to put her reason into words. She peeped back at him again. “Even so…” She hesitated. “Don’t you think you’re being too harsh on him?”

“Don’t you think you’re being too easy on him?” Rosalie asked back. “You’re just assuming he rushed off to help me out of pure motives. But just look at his face. Men who look like Dimitri—especially ones with royal blood and their own castle—love to fill the role of noble hero. He was acting in service of his own ego, not me. Just wait until we find him at the inn regaling everyone with the story of his heroic rescue. Then you’ll see.”

“Maybe.” Daphne drew the word out. “I still think you might be judging him harshly because he looks like Jace.”

“Jace pretended to love me so he could embezzle my father’s money—knowing full well that the Legacy would aid him in the task but that doing so would trigger it to ruin us completely. Even our house burned down!” Rosalie’s voice rose at the end of her declaration, and she forced it back down. “I thought we were rid of him, at least, but here he is, back again and trying to trap me with the Legacy for a second time! I have good reason to be wary of anyone even remotely like him. I’m not saying Dimitri is working with Jace, I’m sure he’s not. I’m not even saying Dimitri is the same as Jace. I’m just saying I have no room in my life for arrogant young men who are too focused on their own lives and apparent suffering to care about how much they’re hurting the people around them.”

Daphne sighed, but she didn’t try to argue further, which was a relief to Rosalie. The afternoon had already dragged on far toolong. She was exhausted, and if she didn’t get home soon, her mother and brothers would have awkward questions.

As it was, it was getting dark by the time they arrived at her family’s cottage, and all three of her brothers were in the small front yard.

“There you are!” Vernon exclaimed. He might be the middle brother, but he was usually the ringleader. “We were about to go looking for you.”

“Here I am.” Rosalie mustered as much cheerfulness as she was able. “And Daphne too. She’s staying the night again.”

All three boys exclaimed in approval, and this time Daphne didn’t protest. Her parents were still out of town, so her other option was to spend the night in an empty house.

---