Page 143 of In the Shadow of a Hoax

Mallor squeezed him, then drew away, tears shining in his eyes. “Go.”

Lachlan nodded, turned, and followed Tarley. By the time he walked into the kitchen of The Copper Pot, Scarlett looked as if she’d been cornered in the kitchen by a pack of wild dogs, Tarley among them. Though Tomas stood at her back, his large hands on her slim shoulders, the Fareview siblings squared off with their mother. Mr. Uraiahs stood near Auri. When Tarley saw Lachlan, she held out her hand for him to join her.

“No more se—” Auri’s voice got caught on the word, and though Lachlan was sure he knew the word Auri had been about to say, it slipped away from his mind. “Lies. No more lies,” Auri finished.

“You might have been trying to protect us, Mother,” Jessamine stated, “but full knowledge might be what keeps us safe from here on out.”

Scarlett nodded, her gaze jumping to Tomas. “I was only trying to protect you.” She turned and looked at Tarley.

“Then tell us the truth,” Tarley said. “Who’s Azleah?”

“Tell us whohimis,” Mattias insisted.

The siblings erupted, all speaking at once. Lachlan noticed the room was warm. Too warm. And it was too small with all the bodies inside the kitchen. With all that had happened, this wasn’t the time or place for this conversation that needed to be had.

“Stop,” Tomas said. “Enough.”

The room went silent.

“There is much to be said,” he said, his hands tightening on Scarlett’s shoulders. “Though both of us can understandyour anger”—he tilted his head to glance at Scarlett—“it won’t serve the greater need, which is to learn the truth.” He took a deep breath. “Yes, your mother and I have kept information from you.”

“Why?” Brinna asked.

“It didn’t seem right to tell you as children,” Scarlett admitted.

“And when we were older?” Jessamine asked.

Scarlett searched her oldest daughter’s face. “Later, it just never seemed like the right time.”

“But Jessamine is right,” Tomas said. “Knowledge is what will keep you safe now.”

Scarlett opened her mouth as if to argue, but Tomas leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“It’s time,” he said quietly.

She closed her mouth and nodded. “Not here. Not now,” she said, echoing Lachlan’s thoughts. “There are things to be done.”

Auri stood. “I refuse to be a prisoner behind the hedge.”

Mr. Uraiahs slid a hand from her shoulder down to thread their fingers. “I would like her to come home with me,” he said. “As my wife.”

Auri leaned back against him.

“She would be safe there–”

Lachlan blinked, sure Auri and her suitor were outlined in a golden aura, together, though that seemed incomprehensible. Though after all he’d witness this day—he blinked again, and the golden outline was gone. He was imaging things, now.

“No,” Scarlett said, shaking her head. “She won’t be!”

Surprise slipped through Lachlan’s chest like a breath held too long at Scarlett’s refusal, considering she was talking to a man who could materialize from nothing and move groups of people from one place to another by thinking it. He’d seen Mr. Uraiahs cut down a man with nothing more than a touch. There was also the dragon. But there wasn’t an ounce of fear on the woman’s face, and Lachlan recognized that determined bravery so often exhibited in Tarley.

“Mother,” Auri warned. “This isn’t your choice. It’s mine. And I will go with or without your blessing–”

The Fareviews burst out in loud chaos once more.

“After Tarley’s wedding!” Scarlett yelled, her hands up in acquiescence. “I’ll tell you everything after the wedding!”

Everyone’s eyes jumped to Tarley and Lachlan. He leaned forward and whispered in Tarley’s ear, “We’re still getting married, right?”

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