Page 93 of Legacy of Roses

Rosalie gasped and pulled away, but Dimitri’s lips followed hers, a growling, wordless protest in his throat.

Daphne laughed, and Dimitri straightened with a resigned sigh. He kept his arms around Rosalie, though.

“Would all invisible people please take themselves off,” he said, his eyes still on Rosalie. “Preferably somewhere very far away.”

She blushed, her eyes dropping while her lips curled into a smile.

“Actually, we’re not invisible anymore,” Daphne said, making both of them finally look up.

Rosalie blushed further and scrambled up from Dimitri’s lap, although she didn’t know why it made a difference. It wasn’t as if she and Dimitri were the ones who’d been invisible.

Standing, she gazed around the garden, looking for any other obvious differences. It looked the same as far as she could tell, with plants growing in profusion everywhere.

She felt the difference inside her, though. They had done it. They had managed to beat the Legacy.

Chapter 27

Dimitri

“So we really did succeed,” Rosalie murmured, sounding like the events of the last few hours still hadn’t sunk in.

She looked back at him, and he could barely restrain himself from taking her in his arms again. If only their blasted audience would truly disappear.

“I’m sorry I was late,” Rosalie said softly. “Jace tried to stop me coming. He wanted to get rid of you so he could take the manor.”

Dimitri shuddered. Despite his previous intention, he pulled her close, leaving one hand at her waist. He couldn’t hold her properly, but he needed to feel the living, breathing warmth of her beside him.

“If he touched you…” he breathed darkly.

Jace had wanted to take his home and his new wealth, but he guessed the weasel had wanted to take Rosalie as well. He probably saw her as another prize to be claimed. But Rosalie had chosen Dimitri.

His breath caught as he relived her declaration. He had been lost in a dark haze, but her words had reached him, along with the feel of her tears on his face. He had wanted to tell her notto cry, but he hadn’t been able to form the words until her confession suddenly revived him to full strength.

More than full strength. He could probably uproot mountains single-handedly from the force of her love and her safe return.

“I’m fine,” she said quickly. “I really am. Avery helped me escape not too long after dawn. I’ve mentioned her before, do you remember? The peddler girl. And then the triplets showed up to help as well. So I had plenty of assistance.”

“The triplets?” Dimitri’s brow creased. “They weren’t there when Jace came for you?”

“What matters,” Oscar said quickly, “is that the two of you succeeded—with our help. And now we can all be free of the Legacy.”

“Not completely free,” Daphne said cheerfully. “There’s still nothing but roses and hedges in this garden.”

“Personally, I just want the kissing to stop.” Vernon eyed Dimitri darkly. “No brother should have to watch an exhibition like that. I think my eyes were about to jump out of their sockets and run for the hills.”

“Ithink you have some explaining to do,” Dimitri said in a voice that made all three boys take a step backward. “And it sounds like you each have a pouch of gold to return to me as well.”

Rosalie looked as if she expected them to protest, but Dimitri knew better. He didn’t know the details, but they had clearly behaved irresponsibly and allowed Rosalie to fall into danger. From their demeanor, they knew it too.

They all lowered their eyes, scuffing their feet and remaining silent. He was tempted to give them a few more pithy truths, but he stayed his tongue. They clearly knew their error and were feeling bad enough already.

Rosalie put her hand on his arm. “They’ve already apologized,” she said quietly before turning a stern look of her own on them. “But they havetwopouches of coins to return.”

Dimitri raised an eyebrow, a general idea of what had happened starting to take shape. Maybe he would need a few follow up words with the triplets—later, at a more private moment. They weren’t likely to be receptive while Daphne was present and listening.

“The details can wait for later,” he said. “But what about Jace? Where is he now?”

Rosalie grimaced. “I have no idea. All I cared about was getting back to you as quickly as possible. We couldn’t stay to deal with Jace because I was worried…”

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