Page 68 of Legacy of Roses

“I’m not receiving visitors currently,” Dimitri said steadily. “I repeat: leave my property immediately. You are not welcome here.”

Jace sighed dramatically, pressing his lips together in an expression of feigned disappointment. “If that’s the way you insist it has to be.”

He shook his head before looking up at them both with a cold gleam in his eyes. “I’m afraid I can’t leave until you tell me where it is.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rosalie said, but Dimitri could hear the tremor in her voice.

“Oh, I think you do,” Jace murmured with a predatory smile. “The Legacy has clearly showered you with favor. Is it so terrible to ask that you share that largesse with your friends?”

Dimitri briefly considered giving him the chest of coins just to get rid of him. But it wasn’t his to give. He had promised it to Rosalie to restore her family’s fortune, and she showed no inclination to make the offer.

If he could have guaranteed Rosalie’s safety by handing it over, he might have done it despite her disapproval. But he had a strong instinct that it would do quite the opposite. If Jace discovered how much wealth the Legacy was pouring on the manor, he would never be satisfied, and they’d never escape his attention.

Giving in to Jace’s demands wasn’t the answer. They had to take a stand and show him they weren’t victims to be exploited.

He lunged forward, his movement abrupt enough to take both Rosalie and Jace by surprise. Rosalie screamed, mufflingthe sound with her hand, and Jace froze, a sword tip pressed against his neck.

He remained still as his eyes found Dimitri’s, but he didn’t look alarmed. Quite the opposite.

“You don’t want to go doing that,” he said softly. “You didn’t think I came alone, did you?”

Dimitri hadn’t thought that at first, but seeing Jace alone at the table had given him hope. His men must be off searching the manor, though.

Dimitri gritted his teeth. He had explored the new marvels of the manor with Rosalie, and in his mind those spaces belonged to the two of them. The thought of Jace’s men rifling through those rooms made him surge forward slightly, his sword pressing tighter against Jace’s throat until a single drop of blood ran down his neck.

Jace clicked his fingers in response, and a stream of men poured through the door of the dining room. They arrayed themselves in a wall of muscle behind Jace, several growling as they took in the scene.

“If he kills me,” Jace said tightly, “kill them both.”

Dimitri’s sword tip wavered. He could disable Jace easily enough, but he couldn’t handle the eight men he had with him. Not alone.

A hand tugged at the back of his vest. Rosalie was trying to draw him backward. He let her, and as soon as he had stepped away from Jace, she grabbed his free arm and ran.

He knew instantly where she was heading. Unlike Jace and his men, Rosalie knew the manor. Jace might think he had them trapped inside the dining room, but he didn’t know about the second concealed door that led directly into the kitchen.

The two of them burst through into the cavernous kitchen, angry yells chasing behind them. They separated, Rosalie running down one side of the long island bench while he randown the other. His eyes scanned the benches as he tried to find something to use against their pursuers.

A collection of knives might be of use to Rosalie, but he was better served by the longer reach of his sword. It wasn’t a weapon he needed but something to block or confuse their pursuers long enough for them to escape.

Men began to fill the room, and Dimitri’s eyes jumped to Rosalie. She was backed into the corner by the pantry—a dead end—and two of the men were bearing down on her. They had slowed their headlong approach, stalking their trapped prey at a more leisurely pace. And she was completely weaponless since the knives were all on his side.

Dimitri leaped forward, slamming his free hand onto the bench and vaulting over it. He slid along its length in a desperate bid to reach her before they did. But he wasn’t going to make it.

A poker on the far side of the substantial fireplace speared into the midst of the banked fire. Red hot coals flicked upward, perfectly aimed at the first of the men approaching Rosalie.

Several of the coals made contact, and the whole kitchen froze. The shocked silence was broken by the man’s outraged bellow, his fury quickly changing to cries of pain as the coals burned through to his skin.

Turning blindly, he ran straight into the brick corner of the fireplace. He collapsed to the ground, too dazed to keep screaming.

His companion, having barely escaped the coals himself, picked up a pitcher of water and dumped the entire contents over the injured man. His clothes sizzled, the beginning of smoldering flames extinguished, but the man gave no response. He was already unconscious.

Dimitri finally landed in front of Rosalie and dropped into a crouch, his sword raised defensively. The man with the pitchertook one look at the ugly expression on his unnatural face and backed away.

A shout from one of the other men drew his attention to the other side of the kitchen. Three of the men had been hurrying toward Dimitri’s old position, but they were all now frozen. In front of them, the air was full of floating knives. One of the men stepped forward cautiously, and a knife responded. Drawing briefly back, it flew forward, aiming for his head. The man ducked, and the blade lodged in a breadbasket behind him.

The man gulped and stepped behind one of his comrades. Another knife drew back, and all three of them turned and fled. The remaining men followed their lead, all of them streaming from the room.

Jace watched his men flee from the doorway, but he made no attempt to stop them. Instead, he stepped back, allowing them to pass.

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