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He knew he had crossed a line. Knew, also, that it no longer mattered. He could no more stop than he could call down the thunder. There was a limit to his powers. And right now, all his powers were concentrated on the woman in his arms. A flesh-and-blood woman. Warm. Willing. Lovely.
Innocent.
That knowledge, and that alone, stopped him. Calling on all his willpower, he lifted his head and took a step back. At once he felt bereft. His heart ached with need.
What was worse, he felt all his strength draining from him. It was the price he would have to pay for his indulgence. After all, he knew the rules that governed the spirit world. And had just recklessly broken them.
Felicity felt a moment of confusion. How could she have given in so easily to this man’s charms? What had happened to her cool, carefully controlled logic?
“Beware, my little happy face.” He was surprised at how difficult it was to speak. He gave in to the need to touch her one last time, by tracing his index finger across the curve of her brow, along her cheek, to the fullness of her lips. Even that small act further drained him. “I would not like anything to happen to you.”
“I can…take care of myself.” She stepped back, breaking contact.
At once she felt a cooling breath of air. She glanced up to see a falcon lifting into the sky. When she looked around, she found herself alone.
6
Felicity slipped quietlyinto Lord Falcon’s suite and took a seat beside his bed. So many questions danced in her mind. She felt a sense of urgency. She needed to speak with him as soon as he awoke. Before Dr. St. John paid his daily visit.
“Ah. My dear.” The old man’s lids fluttered open, and he greeted her with a smile. “I just had the loveliest dream. Rob and I were off on another adventure. He, of course, was seeking knowledge. And I, as always, sought a different sort of treasure.”
“Did you find it?” she asked gently.
He gave her a sly smile. “I told you it was a lovely dream. That means it had a happy ending. That’s the best kind.” He struggled to sit up, and she helped him, heaping pillows behind him until he settled back comfortably. “Tell me what brings my delightful houseguest to an old man’s room at dawn?”
“I find myself wondering why you are so lucid each morning and so…confused by midafternoon.”
“Am I? Confused?”
She nodded.
He gave a sigh. “It’s as I feared, then.”
“That’s why you sent for my father, isn’t it?”
It was Oliver’s turn to nod. He kept his voice to a whisper. “Whatever I am being given, it could not come from the apothecary in our small village. There would be too many questions.” He caught her hand. “I have placed a terrible burden upon you, my dear. You must realize by now that your life is in grave peril.”
“No more than yours, Lord Falcon. But the question is why? Why would Ian St. John, your own nephew, want to bring you harm?”
“Perhaps he learned of my youthful transgressions and is seeking revenge. I did, after all, nearly come between his father and mother. But I assure you I repented my sins. And it happened so many years ago. Or perhaps it is simply jealousy because I, as the elder brother, inherited Falcon’s Lair and the title, while his father was given a smaller estate nearby.”
Felicity pressed his cold hands between both of hers. “I looked in on William last night.”
“How is my son? I have not seen him in such a long time. Oh, my dear.” He clutched her hands tightly in his, and she could feel his fevered pulse beating through the fragile flesh. “I fear for William more than I fear for myself.”
“I intend to pay him a visit this morning as well,” she whispered, “and if my hunch is correct, I will find him as I found you. Now I must go, before Honora awakens and has me barred from your room.”
“She would do such a thing?”
“She…is very protective of you and William.” Felicity was reluctant to accuse until she had more proof. At the door she turned. “One question, Lord Falcon. Can you refuse your medicine?”
“Dr. St. John remains with me until it is swallowed.”
The jealous nephew was taking no chances, she thought. Her look was grim as she walked away.
The fire in William’s sitting room had long ago burned to embers. In his bedchamber, the candle had sputtered out. The room was cold and damp. But the face of the man asleep in the bed was bathed in perspiration. Even in a drug-induced sleep, it seemed, he waged a fierce battle with his enemies.
Felicity pulled a chair close to the bed and sat down. As she smoothed her skirts she was surprised to find his eyes, wide and unblinking, fixed on her.