Page 16 of Dishonor Among Thieves
“Rainieri? Rain? How is Sara this morning? Did you give her a bit of that venom of yours?” Dale wandered into the stable, looking from Rain to me to Sara and then back again before his mouth fell open. “Oh, by the gods. Oh no. No, no, my dear, I… I thought you’d sleep well into the morning. Oh, by the gods.” Dale dropped his face into his hands and staggered against the wall for support. “Oh no. No, no, no. My lord, I’m…”
I held up a hand and shook my head. “It’s all right,” I assured him. So much made sense now. So much about Neo, his job, his attitude. Everything. “You’ve helped her,” I said, nodding at Rainieri. “I can see the wounds on her muzzle have already begun healing. Even the older scars look less prominent. Thank you.”
Rain wiped his mouth with the back of a hand, his eyes fully returned to their stormy gray color and his fangs retracting back into the perfect but otherwise very average-looking teeth I’d seen when I met him yesterday. “How?” he sputtered. “How do you not react with fear? With horror? How do you know about the healing effects of the venom?”
I truly wished in that moment that I hadn’t stolen the pillow. That I had nothing to hide. Because my time at the Oderisi manor was far from over.
“Let’s go back inside,” I suggested, sighing deeply. “I’d like to talk to your brother again. I suppose we all have some explaining to do.”
* * *
“By the gods,brother! How could you be so careless!” Neo picked up a roughly split log from beside the hearth and hurled it furiously against the wall. It struck the stone, leaving little more than a faint mark and a tiny, pathetic bang as it clattered to the floor.
I was seated back on the settee where I’d slept, my cloak tight around me to hide the food and the pillow I’d stashed away. Rain was sitting on the armchair near me, his head in his hands, his elbows propped on his knees. He was the picture of guilt-laden misery.
“It’s all my fault, sir,” Dale said, his voice sincerely apologetic. “I thought the lady was sound asleep. I’m the one who suggested the mare might benefit from a bit of venom. She’s been through so much but seemed so very trusting. The injuries on her face, the old scars. I… I never thought, never dreamed…”
“This has nothing to do with you, Dale. Don’t trouble yourself.” Neo stormed through the sitting room, the hard heels of his fancy shoes echoing against the floor tile. He seemed to intentionally avoid the woolen rugs so he could noisily work out his rage through his feet.
Antonia wheeled in the butler’s cart, her face flushed and pinched. “Now before you get yourself all worked up, Neo, the girl’s got to eat.” She stooped beside me where I sat on the settee and put a hand on my shoulder. “Have any of you brutes bothered to ask the girl if she’s all right? She just walked in on the lord of the manor drinking the blood of her pretty mare. Is she in shock?” She rested the back of her hand gently against my cheek. “Lovely, can you say something? Are you all right?”
Since I walked in on Rain feeding from my horse in the barn, I’d been contemplating how to play out my reaction with the family. If I overacted, played the terrified girl—no. That would never work. It wasn’t me. Even if I didn’t have the history with vampires that I did have, I was no performer. I couldn’t pretend to feel anything other than what I was. But this did provide a delicious amount of leverage. I only needed to understand how to use it.
I reached for Antonia’s hand and squeezed it. “I’m fine,” I said, sincerely. “Truly. Thank you for your kindness. You’re the only one who seems not to blame me for this.”
“I do not blame you,” Rain said immediately. “I’m the one who should have been more careful. Asked for your approval to treat the horse and then sent you away where you wouldn’t see exactly how I planned to help.”
Neo alone looked at me with fury and distrust in his eyes. “Speaking of that… Tell us, Brexia. Why do you show no fear?” he asked. “No surprise? Why do you look as though you’ve bested us all in a game of cards?”
“Really?” I spat, but I refused to stand from the settee lest I accidentally drop the pillow and food supply. I stomped my foot, but my soft leather shoe provided little more than a disappointing slap beside Neo’s angry footfalls. “You think not to ask if I’m scared witless? You suspect me even now of some nefarious doing because I’mnota blubbering mess?”
“Rain?” A stunningly pretty girl with long brown hair and thoughtful eyes appeared in the doorway of the sitting room. She wore a linen shirt tucked into a pair of loose-fitting breeches. Her clothing struck me as unusual but wonderful. I immediately appreciated her willingness to dress for ease and functionality and wondered if someday I might be able to do the same. To be so confident, so safe in my home that I could make choices based on my own free will and desire, not the demands or conventions of those around me.
“My love,” the woman asked, “what happened?”
Rain strode to the door and clasped the woman in an embrace, resting his forehead against hers before kissing her lips. “Oh, Gia, I’ve made a terrible mess, I’m afraid. One that cannot easily be tidied.”
The blonde woman I’d seen in the cart last night—Odile the healer—pushed her way past Rain and came to me. “What happened?” She scowled at Neo. “This is the girl who came looking for you. I thought you’d given her shelter for the night. What happened?”
Odile immediately began touching my face, checking the flush of my cheeks, and asked me to open my mouth and show her my tongue.
“Have you taken ill?”
I grabbed her hands and kindly squeezed, turning my face away from her nervous examinations.
“I’m fine!” I said loudly, trying to quiet the chatter in the room. “I’m well, please. Well enough, that is.”
Neo crossed his arms over his chest, the fine burgundy doublet he wore today embroidered with gold-colored thread making his eyes seem more yellow than brown and his black hair even more glossy and beautiful. He truly was a sight to behold, his chest broad and his legs thick and tall even as he stormed about the room. Like a raging, angry prince. Too bad his heart was filled with bile, and his face, as handsome as it was, bore a scowl sour enough to curdle milk.
“Can someone please explain what happened?” Odile sat beside me, placing a protective arm over my shoulder.
Neo rolled his eyes at her gesture of concern, and I shook my head.
“How do you stand him?” I asked her, curious if Odile and Neo were somehow connected. A couple, perhaps?
“He is my sister’s brother-in-law, and that makes him family,” she said, her tone making it clear that she was not in any way entangled with Neo romantically. I flushed at the fact that I was even momentarily curious about that. “He’s a good man once you know him,” she continued, her voice softer. “He’s been through a lot. More than any man should. But there are times when he lets the darker aspects of his vitality get the better of him.”
I couldn’t help making a face at that, twisting my lips to one side in disapproval. I was hardly moved to compassion for a man who’d heard about my own painful circumstances and had nonetheless tossed me into the street. Turned me out. Yes, with my pockets full of food and a pillow he’d not yet discovered I’d taken, but still. It was difficult to feel compassion for him when he’d shown me nothing but contempt since I’d arrived.
