Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle Read Free Book Online Page B

liberty to communicate to
    you is that your unusual talents are required right now for an urgent matter at the highest levels in the
    kingdom,” the man said, seeming to choose his words with care.
    “My talents? I have no idea what you are speaking of,” she prevaricated. A knot began to tie itself
    somewhere in her midsection, and her hands felt icy inside their neat gloves.
    “On the contrary, I think you do. It’s not difficult for one who shares it to see that you possess a
    great deal of talent indeed.” The odd-eyed man waved a hand in the air and murmured a word. A
    fresh sprig of lavender appeared from nowhere in his long fingers. He held it out to her with an
    almost contrite air.
    A whiff of its sharp fresh scent reached her as she stared at it, her mind awhirl. The footman beside
    him eyed it nervously and moved a cautious inch or so away from him on the seat.
    “You see, Miss Allardyce? I am a visitor to London, as you might have guessed. When I have a
    spare moment I enjoy visiting the booksellers’ shops. There was an aura about your family’s that
    drew me immediately—an odor of magic, if you will. I thought perhaps it was from the books until I
    overheard you and your sister. Her trifle of a spell startled me. She has talent, but it does not have the
    discipline or depth of your own. I can tell that just by being near you.” He smiled down at the flower
    in his hand.
    “You still haven’t told me the meaning of this—this—outrage,” she stammered.
    “No, I realize I haven’t. Nor am I permitted to. That is for my master to do.” His lip curled slightly,
    whether in amusement or distaste she could not read. “I don’t approve of his methods, and I hope you
    will forgive me and understand I don’t do this of my own free will. I should much rather have made
    your acquaintance in happier circumstances, for I’ve never encountered such powerful or elegant
    magic in anyone outside of my homeland. But I have my orders, and am constrained to follow them. I
    am as much a captive as you.”
    “I find that hard to believe,” she retorted, looking at the footman with the pistol.
    “Do you? Do I look like a rascal who enjoys snatching innocent women off the street? Given my
    choice, I would be home in Cork tutoring and studying magic myself. But a family debt has forced me
    here to this great dirty city and this equally dirty task.” His wide mouth twisted into a bitter line.
    “Believe me, Miss Allardyce. My dislike of this situation is as great as yours. Greater, in fact. You
    are an innocent victim. I am villain and victim both.”
    “My employer, Lord Atherston, will have something to say about this, I assure you!” she protested.
    To her horror, the tears she had been blinking back began to leak out, one at a time, as she sat stiff and
    upright in her seat. But when she reached for her reticule to extract a handkerchief, the footman raised
    his pistol.
    “Really, Edmund. She’s not about to turn you into a newt, though I wouldn’t blame her if she did.”
    The wizard shook his head in disgust and handed her a square of snow-white linen. Then he produced
    a notebook from his pocket and made a quick notation in it. “Lord Atherston, you said? Hmm.”
    Raising his voice, he called, “Quickly!” and rapped on the wall above his head.
    Miss Allardyce felt the carriage lurch as it plunged into the flow of traffic heading west down the
    busy street.

    Persy awoke, clutching her blankets and breathing hard, and stared from her high bed into the recesses
    of her room. The setting moon cast a dim silver light on the half-filled boxes and trunks that stood
    around, creating weird silhouettes that gave her the shivers despite the fact that she was drenched in
    sweat. That was the third time tonight that she’d had that dreadful dream, and there was no way she’d
    be able to get back to—
    “Persy!” a voice hissed.
    Persy nearly shrieked and dove under her covers. Then she realized who