Page 18 of Reluctant Rogue

The road took a curve, and the houses disappeared behind them as they went through a heavily wooded section. Naomi gasped as the trees suddenly came to an end, and a broad, smooth lawn appeared, the Victorian mansion perched on a slight rise like some kind of fantasy castle. The pale mint green with shining white gingerbread trim struck her with stunning effect, as did the turrets outlined against the clear blue sky.

“Oh! It’s lovely!”

Troy looked pleased as he slowed the van, making the turn into the driveway. “Katerina loved it. She was holed up here for a few weeks, while Beatrice was stalking her.” He shook his head. “I still have a hard time believing that shit was real, and I was there!”

Naomi, however, paled, and physically recoiled. “B-Beatrice? My Aunt Beatrice? Was stalking your fiancee? Katerina?”

Ah, hell, Liam thought. He’d carefully made a point to not let Naomi know of their history with Beatrice, guessing, rightly, that it would shake her.

“I can’t face her… any of them! You can’t take me there.” Naomi sounded desperate, her voice despairing. “Everyone will hate me and they will be right!”

Liam turned all the way around in his seat as Troy parked the van before the front walk.

“Naomi,” he said, keeping his voice soft. “No one hates you. We all understand, but you are not to blame for what Beatrice did… for what any of them did. Yes, Beatrice is your aunt, but you were as much a victim as those she made her targets. We get that, okay? I promise.”

“Hey,” Troy added. “She tore my front door down and made a shambles of my bedroom door, too, trying to get at me and Katerina. But here I am, helping to spring you from the zoo. We don’t blame you for what someone else did, Naomi, no matter how closely related you are.”

Liam nodded his agreement, and held his hand out. She stared at it, as one would a cobra.

“Come on,” he urged. “Theywantto meet you, Naomi.”

Naomi swallowed hard, and finally placed her fingers in his hand. He drew her up over the center console, then lifted her down from the van. She was trembling so hard he wasn’t sure her legs would hold her, and he kept a steadying arm about her waist.

“You okay?”

“No,” she whispered. “I don’t understand why they don’t hate me.Iwould hate me, if I was them.”

”No, you wouldn’t.” He was sure about that, and infused his voice with all his confidence. “You’re far too compassionate to blame anyone for something that wasn’t their fault.”

Well, when he put it like that. Still, Naomi watched with growing trepidation as the front door of the inn was flung open and a young woman with short, wildly ruffled black hair raced down the walk, all but leaping into Troy’s arms. The big vet caught her, laughing.

“Hey there, pretty kitty. Miss me?”

“Maybe,” she teased, giving him a peck on the cheek. Before he could react, she slid from his arms and turned to face Naomi.

Naomi braced herself, but was totally unprepared for the brilliant smile turned on her as Katerina came forward, a hand outstretched.

“And you must be Naomi. Welcome to the madness.”

A bit blindly, Naomi put her hand out, to have it taken in a warm clasp.

“She’s not this friendly when she’s a cat,” a pretty, petite, ebony-haired woman who had exited the inn in Katerina’s wake, told her. Her large, chocolate brown eyes sparkled with amusement, and she held out her hand in turn. “I’m Jacinth,” she said.

“She’s a Djinn,” Katerina’s eyes gleamed mischievously. “But her Chosen is human.”

“So is yours,” retorted Jacinth, sticking her tongue out at Katerina. It was clear the two women were close friends, and neither seemed reluctant or unfriendly. Naomi felt her taut muscles begin to relax a little.

“Come on inside,” Katerina urged, shivering a little in the chill air. “There’s a fire in the lounge, and Renee, one of the owners, has made some of her marvelous hot cocoa for us.”

“Plus hot apple cider with mulling spices,” Jacinth added, nodding in approval.

“First she needs to get checked in,” Liam broke into the conversation, rolling his eyes.

Beside him, Troy laughed. “And so it begins.”

“Ohmygod, I loved that scene in The Two Towers,” Jacinth all but danced in delight, hugging herself. “I cried when that one elf got killed.”

“Haldir,” Katerina identified unerringly. “And you totally wept all over the place all three times we’ve watched it.”