Bayou Moon (The Edge #2)(109)
Author: Ilona Andrews

"I came to thank you for saving my family. And for helping Genevieve and sparing my daughter that burden. I don’t know what is proper to say, but I want you to know, I’m grateful. If you need me, I’ll be there. All of us will be there."

William nodded, uncomfortable. "Thank you."

They looked at each other. Silence stretched.

"A drink?" William asked.

Gustave exhaled. "Yes."

William went inside and brought out a bottle of wine and two glasses. He filled the glasses. Gustave sampled his. "Good wine."

"Not as strong as the one at your house."

"Ahh, yes. I will miss that. We may have to make excursions into the Mire to gather the berries."

"Better bring a small army," William said.

Gustave grimaced. They drained their glasses and William refilled them.

"How’s the moving going?" William said to say something.

"Good," Gustave said. "A bit slow. There are only fifteen able-bodied adults left, and half of them are injured. Cerise is doing the best she can. We should be about done. The end of this week will be our last dinner at the house. We would be honored if you joined us. We’re easy to find from here – just follow the river. I know it would mean a lot to my daughter."

"She doesn’t want to see me," William said.

Gustave rubbed his face. "You’re right. She doesn’t want to see you. That’s why, ever since I’ve returned, my daughter is snarling at everyone and everything. She’s not sleeping. She is not eating. And let’s not forget the crying. She never was a crier. Even as a child."

"What are you saying?"

Gustave rose. "I’m saying that my daughter thinks you’ve abandoned her. She thinks that you don’t want her anymore, that it’s all over, and it’s breaking her heart. She is too proud to come and beg, and I have gathered that you are too proud to come and get her. The Hand and the feud ripped away my wife, William. She was my life . . . my everything. They almost destroyed my family. I hate to stand by and watch this cursed mess crush my daughter as well. Think on it. Please."

He left.

Ten minutes later William left for the Mire.

THE Rathole was as he remembered, William decided, flicking his furry ears. He lay downwind of the house by the roots of a large pine. He’d gone to ground here for about an hour. The Mirror’s people guarding the house spotted him but let him be.

Cerise was inside.

He kept trying to catch her scent, but it just wasn’t there.

If he went in and she told him to leave . . . He wasn’t sure he would. He didn’t know what the hell he wanted. All his plans ended with "Get to the house." Now he was at the house, and he wasn’t sure what to do about it.

The screen door opened. Lark ran down the steps. She wore jeans. Her shirt was clean and her hair was brushed out. She carried a stack of clothes in her hands.

She turned and headed straight for him.

William sank deep into shadows under the pine trying to look smaller.

She stopped a few feet away. "I can see you, you know. You’re as big as a horse."

William whined at her. Go away, kid.

Lark put the clothes on the ground. "She’s in the inner yard. Dad said you can go around over there through the door in the side, so you don’t have to go through the whole place."

She turned and left. William sighed and pulled the wild deep inside him. Pain racked his bones and then he was human again. He slid his clothes on and went to the side door, through the hallway, and into the inner yard.

The flowers still bloomed in the small garden along the wall. The weapon rack was out, and past it, Cerise practiced just as she had on that morning four weeks ago. All that was missing were Kaldar and Gaston chatting on the sidelines and Grandmother Az perched on the stone bench.

Cerise’s blade sliced through the air with refined grace. So beautiful . . . So, so beautiful. So fast and deadly and . . .

She saw him. Her cuts gained a new vicious edge.

He had to be smart about this, but he didn’t know what to say. He would do anything if she still wanted him.

"Hello, Lord Sandine," she said. "Thank you for saving my father. We owe you a debt."

William strode to the weapon rack and chose a seneschal blade. It was the biggest, longest, heaviest sword on the rack. It would take him ages to swing it.

Cerise battled the air with lithe quickness, still preternaturally fast in her strikes.

William cleared his throat. She turned and looked at him.

"A deal," he said. "We fight. If you win, I’ll walk out of here and never bother you again. If I win, you’ll come away with me. You’ll be my mate and you will live with me always."

He almost cursed. Smooth, right.

Her sword pointed at him. Cerise looked at his weapon. "You’ll lose. I’ll slice you to ribbons."

William swung his bulky sword, warming up his wrist. "That’s fine."

"You are a stupid, stupid wolf."

"Less talk, more fighting."

They clashed in a clang of steel.

Cerise dropped her blade and threw her arms around his neck.

EPILOGUE

CERISE sipped her tea. The morning was gray and a little damp. The night left some dew on the wicker chairs sitting on the balcony and it was making her jeans wet, but she didn’t care. She liked sitting like this, early in the morning.

The woods here came almost right to the house. These were real woods, thick oaks and maples and pines. From her perch she could see clear across the lawn to where the trees started. Somewhere out there William prowled. He liked to take off early in the morning and hunt. The house grated on him a little. He would’ve preferred a much smaller place and so would she, but this was the only house among Casshorn’s holdings that was close enough to Declan’s manor. It would be all right. They would make it into a home eventually. Or just build a smaller place. She did kind of like the huge stone balcony. And the pool was nice. Gaston loved it to pieces. But a smaller place would be better.

Cerise sipped her tea. So nice and quiet. Yesterday the four kids – Lark, Gaston, George, and Jack – had gotten ahold of some Rollerblades, specially made for them by someone in Declan’s family. They had themselves a race down the long marble hallway, and then somehow it turned into a brawl, the way it usually did.

The kids were at Declan and Rose’s today. Cerise first met Declan and Rose about two months ago. Lark and the boys hit it off right away, and Declan and William were friends, but she wasn’t that wild about meeting Rose. For one thing, William had liked her at some point.

He was hers now. Her wolf. Cerise smiled. Still, when she first saw Rose, it didn’t help either. Rose was taller than her by about four inches. Her hair was honey brown and perfectly styled, her gown looked expensive, and she was pretty. Too pretty.