WolfeBlade: de Wolfe Pack Generations Kathryn Veque (interesting books to read .TXT) 📖

who took us there!” she wept. “I did not want to go, Mama, I swear it, but Gavriella forced us to go. She threatened us if we did not!”

Gavriella was still in the grip of the guard. “I took you there?” she cried in outrage. “How could I take you to a place I did not know about until last night when you took me there?”

“Enough!” Drucilla shouted. The woman was shaken as she looked at her niece. “Gavriella, I have no choice but to send you back to your father. You are a disruptive influence to this house and you must leave immediately. Barnes, take her back to her chamber and lock her in. Then you will summon the men who brought her here. They are to remove her immediately. I am sending her home this very night.”

The guard nodded and began dragging Gavriella away, who realized she was not to be believed at all. The countess was taking her daughters’ side even though it was clear that what Gavriella had said was true.

But that didn’t matter.

Drucilla didn’t want the aggravation or the burden of her niece from the north.

Gavriella de Leia was going home.

When the guard locked Gavriella in the chamber she shared with Camilla, the impact of her aunt’s decision began to weigh heavily on her. It was not the fact that the woman didn’t believe her; nay, that wasn’t the issue. It wasn’t even the fact that Aurelia had it out for her and probably had since the day she had arrived. Clearly, remaining at The Asher would be a battle, every single day, with no peace from Aurelia. Gavriella didn’t even really care about that.

What she did care about was Andreas.

She was supposed to meet him on the morrow, but she wouldn’t be there. Her aunt wanted her removed that very night from The Asher and Gavriella didn’t even know where the man was staying. He’d said it once, but she couldn’t remember. The more she thought about not showing up to The Fox and The Wolf the next morning, the more distraught she became.

It was all her fault that she didn’t even know Andreas’ last name. She’d kept up that guessing game even though he’d asked, more than once, to end it. But she wouldn’t do it. She’d kept up the façade. Perhaps this sudden change in plans was a sign from God, cleaving her relationship with Andreas before it could go any further.

Perhaps this was the end, as it should have been all along.

There would be no more meeting the man in taverns or on the street because she knew, if things had continued between them, she would have eventually told him who she was and where she was from. Perhaps he would have continued to ask to speak to her father and, knowing that she turned to melted butter in the man’s hands, she would have given him permission.

And Andreas would have found out her deepest, darkest secret.

Damaged goods.

The tears began to come.

Perhaps this was for the best, then. Not showing up to the tavern tomorrow morning was the best thing for both of them. As much as it broke her heart, she had to believe that this was, indeed, for the best.

When her guard came to collect her an hour later, she was packed and ready.

The door closed firmly on the best day she’d ever had in her life.

Or ever would have.

Farewell, my sweet Andreas.

CHAPTER TWELVE

“…and then she came flying through the doorway with an iron rod in her hand,” Andreas was saying. “The next thing I realized, she had smacked de Alisal on the head with it. Even after I told her to stop, she hit him twice more before I was able to disarm her. The woman is a savage and I adore everything about that particular trait.”

Will, Tor, and Theodis were greatly entertained by the tale of Andreas’ visit across the London Bridge. They started laughing at Andreas as he spoke of the “savage” woman he took to see the entertainment across the river, but they’d been laughing steadily since the man returned to Lothbury and tales of his afternoon unfolded.

“And this is the same woman who ran screaming into that alcove at Gomorrah?” Tor asked. “God’s Bones, Dray. How she has changed.”

Andreas was into his third cup of wine since returning home. The sun had set, food was being set out for Edward and his family and their visitors, but all Andreas wanted to do was drink and speak of the woman he’d spent the afternoon with.

It was clear to all that he was quite smitten.

“Changed, indeed,” he said. “She is not the same woman you saw. She’s smart, lively, humorous… a genuine delight. Even so, there’s something about her that is quite mysterious.”

“Like the fact that she will not tell you her name or where she lives?” Will asked, cocking an eyebrow that suggested the woman must have a great deal to hide. “That is not normal, Dray. If you like her and she likes you, then why won’t she tell you where she is from?”

Andreas lifted his shoulders. “It was curious the way she phrased it,” he said. “She said that, much like the rules of Gomorrah, there is an air of mystery about someone when you only know their first name. They could be a prince of Persia or the lowliest peasant, in truth, but as long as you do not know their background, you can imagine they are anyone to suit your particular fantasy.”

As Will shrugged, Tor nodded in agreement. “That makes some sense,” he said. “It does make it a little more exciting, I suppose.”

Andreas took another drink of wine. “That is true,” he said. “But tomorrow she promised to tell me everything I want to know. She has told me that she is meant for the veil, but I am going to speak to her father and ask the man if I can court her.