The Fool: New Beginnings (Tales from the Unmasqued World Book 1) by Val Tobin

Author:Val Tobin [Tobin, Val]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Val Tobin
Published: 2021-06-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

Culain crouched beside Dakota and put a hand on her shoulder. “Please, let me help you.”

“Help me?” She twisted to meet his gaze, and rage and despair warred in her eyes, squeezing his heart.

She had no idea how long he’d wanted her, even as he argued with his family that this was wrong on so many levels. Somehow, he’d have to make her understand even though he himself did not.

“You said you’d tell me a story. That was a stupid story.” She sounded like a child, and he reminded himself she hadn’t lived long in this world though she’d aged as if she had.

“It’s the story of my people.”

“They made me send a video to my father. To my boyfriend.”

The way she said “boyfriend” sent a surge of annoyance through him, but he brushed it aside. Because of him, because of his people, she’d been ripped from her life. It hadn’t occurred to him she might love another. None of the intelligence gathering they’d done on her indicated she had a boyfriend.

“They made me tell them I wasn’t coming home and to stop searching for me. They made me say I wanted to be here.”

“Did you mean it?”

“I had to talk as if I did. They told me they’d hurt my father, and they’d hurt Josh and his family, if I didn’t do what they wanted.” Sobs choked her again, and she buried her head in her hands.

Culain sank down next to her. They must look like quite a pair, both in their fancy attire sitting on the floor as if they were children playing with toys. He had a momentary flash of sitting before a fire, pushing a toy carriage with a dashing doll coachman while his brother trotted a toy highwayman on a toy horse toward Culain. Back then, they’d never heard of humans, and their mother still lived.

He sighed and put an arm around Dakota. She tried to shrug it off, but he eased her head onto his shoulder and stroked her cheek, gentling her as he would one of his horses. “Shh. It’ll be all right. I promise.”

“Sir?” A tap on the door followed the query. The lock snicked, the handle jiggled, and the door rattled as the serving man tried to open it.

“Come back later,” Culain hollered, irritation overpowering his voice.

The door settled against their backs, and this time, the lock didn’t turn to trap them in here.

“He’s still outside. The door’s not locked, so he’s still outside,” Culain said.

Dakota lifted her head, a puzzled expression on her tear-stained face. “Don’t you have a key?”

“No.”

“They locked us both in?”

“Afraid so.” He shifted so they could look into one another’s eyes and see the truth or the deception in what each said. “I’m in this the same way you are.”

“You’re forced to marry me?”

He nodded. “It’s easier for me, I admit, because I had a say in who they brought me.” He rose and offered her his hand. She accepted, and he raised her so they stood face-to-face but at arm’s length.

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