“You do not trust me enough to gain pleasure from it.”

“I am not afraid.”

He shrugged. “There is a part of you that fears me, and until I understand why, it is too risky. I would not harm you, lady.”

“What are you talking about? I am not like stupid Millicent, frigid and fearful of being with a man.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what is it?” She near shouted the words, her fingers curled into fists, and color rose in her pale cheeks.

Gareth judged her frustrated enough to speak carelessly. “When I offered to feed you, it made you nervous. Why?”

“Because it made me a mindless ninny before.”

“How do you mean?”

“I did not know what happened to me at first. But His Grace deduced it soon enough. Your blood made me fall in love with you. A feeling I have never experienced before, and do not wish to repeat. It has nothing to do with bedding you.”

Gareth started. “How is this possible?”

“I do not know. I’m just glad it wore off. Now, let us try…” She pulled at his waistband.

He grabbed her fingers. “Selena, this troubles me. I have never had anyone… drink my blood before. Is it part of Merlin’s spell? How can it have affected you that way?”

“Oh, for the love of—” She twisted her hands out of his. “His Grace says it has nothing to do with magic. Or rather, it does, but it is natural. A result of the spell put upon you.” She grinned rather maliciously. “He thinks that after all these centuries of seducing women, your blood has actually changed into some sort of love potion. Now, can we get on with it?”

Suddenly the pieces of the puzzle started to make sense. He needed to speak with Millicent. Gareth leaned forward and hugged Selena. “My dear lady, you have no idea—”

The bedroom door flew open and a snarling, spitting bundle of black fur leaped into the room. Selena grimaced and spun around, the shadow of her were-creature outlining her body. “Go away, Millicent.”

The panther growled, soft and menacing.

“What is it? You don’t want him, but no one else can have him either?”

The cat stalked closer.

Selena frowned, her gaze darting from Gareth to the were-panther. “I am not as stupid as you seem to think.”

Millicent shifted to human, hands on hips, black hair tumbling over her shoulders. “I beg to differ.”

Gareth sat back. What had Millicent done? If Selena suspected he had lured her here to find out information about the duke’s plans…

“I do not know how you managed it,” continued the vamp, “but you have bedded her, haven’t you?”

Gareth tried to look innocent.

“The were-cat is too protective of you. Too jealous for me to believe she hasn’t claimed you as mate. What I don’t understand is how you kept the relic on her wrist.”

Millicent stepped forward. “You are wrong.”

“The hell I am. And I cannot wait for His Grace to get back so I can tell him.” She stood, giving Gareth a glare that should have singed his eyebrows. “And you have been playing me for a fool. But do not mistake me, Sir Knight, for I shall have you in the end, only it will be with your hands tied above your head.” She lunged for the bellpull.

Millicent leaped forward, shifting to panther in midair, slamming into Selena’s back, and sending them both tumbling to the floor. She had her teeth around Selena’s throat before the woman could shift to bat.

“Don’t kill her,” commanded Gareth.

The panther’s eyes rolled to acknowledge him, but did not relax their hold around Selena’s throat.

“We can use her,” he continued, pulling his eating dagger from his belt and slicing open his wrist. Red blood dripped down his hand. He strode over to the women and leaned down, holding his wrist over Selena’s mouth. The vamp’s nostrils flared and she swallowed several times, but clamped her lips tight.

“Drink it,” he said. “Or I will let Millicent tear out your throat.”

Whether she took his threat seriously, or the smell of his blood was just too much temptation for her to resist, he did not know. But her red lips opened and she sucked his hand when he placed it against her mouth. Gareth grimaced. He did not have the vamp’s bite to inject him with whatever drug she released to dull the pain and bring euphoria to her victims. He could bear the pain, but the sensation of her lips moving across his skin, the suction of her mouth as his blood drained…

He watched the were-bat’s eyes change as she stared up at him. Within moments they softened and she blinked at him in confusion.

Gareth straightened. “You can let her go now, Millicent.”

She let out a mew of exasperation, stood, and shifted to human. “What is going on?”

“I appreciate your following my lead, my lady. Do you have aught I could use for a bandage?”

Her golden gaze darted from his bloody wrist to Selena’s blood-smeared mouth. Nell chose that moment to peek around the doorway, the sprite perched on her shoulder.

“It is safe to come in, ladybird,” said Gareth.

The old woman hobbled into the room, strips of fabric within her gnarled hands, and began to wrap his wrist. Gareth pointed at the little man. “You. Ambrose. Return to Bran to summon his warriors.”

He twisted his pointed face. “I would not call them warriors, Sir Knight. A motley horde perhaps, but not warriors.”

Gareth picked up his tunic and pulled it on. “How long will it take them to assemble and get here?”

The sprite furrowed his brow. “Lord Bran said he stands at the ready… perhaps an hour or two.”

“Make it one hour. Tell Bran it is now or never.”

Twelve

Ambrose bowed and launched into the air, his flight just slightly wobbly. “I shall return to save you, Lady Millicent. Have no fear!” He zipped out the window.

“Why does everyone think I need to be rescued?” muttered Millicent. “I have managed to take care of myself all of my life—” She spun on Gareth. “And you—you were supposed to just charm the vamp into talking. Not seduce her.”

He shrugged. “Old habits are hard to break, my lady.”

She snarled.

“But I promise you it shall not happen again.”

Millicent nodded, then flicked a gaze at Selena, who rose to her feet and wiped the blood from her chin with the edge of her sleeve. The foolish chit gazed lovingly at Gareth… again. She could not be that fickle. “You made her drink your blood.”

He winced. “We need her help.”

“And you must have deduced the duke’s schemes or you would not have sent for Bran. There is magic in your blood, then? This is why Ghoulston wanted it…”

Selena snickered. Gareth threw her a look and she hushed, clasped her hands to her bosom, and batted her eyes dolefully at him.

Millicent made a face. “How long do the effects last?”

Gareth shrugged. “I am not sure. And Selena says there is no magic in my blood. That over the centuries the magic has altered my blood into a natural sort of love potion.”

“Ghoulston’s gift for the queen! So that is what’s in the tea leaves… a concoction of your blood. But what would the duke gain by making the queen fall in love with you?”

“If he controls the relic, he can control me. To an extent.”

“You both have it wrong,” interrupted Selena. “Shall I enlighten you, my love?”

Gareth started. “Aye, lady.”

Selena threw Millicent a triumphant look as Gareth’s attention settled solely on her. She patted her disheveled hair and adjusted the black lace pelerine at her shoulders. “The duke experimented with my knight’s blood, and managed to find a way to add his own to it. The queen shall fall in love with His Grace, not Sir Gareth. But my master could not find a way to prolong the effects, so he added a bit of cocasha to it.”

“Cocasha?” asked Millicent.

“An addictive narcotic created by a Viscount Casha over two centuries ago,” replied Gareth. “Rumored to be made from the daydreams of pixies and the seeds of a bush germinated with the viscount’s magic, it is mild and relatively harmless in small quantities.”

“It tastes like chocolate,” added Selena.

“Then even if it is detected in the tea, no one will think anything about it.” Millicent began to pace the room, weaving between pillows and couches. “The queen will continue to drink the potion. My instincts were right. They gossiped about the arrival of Prince Albert at Lady Yardley’s tea party, and Ghoulston reacted strangely. He must have been anxious for me to get the tea to the queen before she met with the prince again, for rumors had it that she might fall in love with her cousin. Ghoulston said the queen should marry a loyal subject… and spoke of the vagaries of love.”

“Do you think your friend has already given the box to the queen?”

Millicent shook her head. “I have no idea. If she waited on the lady last night, it’s possible.”

“We must find a way to warn the queen.”

Millicent came to an abrupt halt. “Who would believe such a story? Even now it is difficult to imagine the lovely young queen in love with that overbearing, evil… frog. Perhaps it won’t work.”

“Perhaps. But we must do something.”

“We shall,” answered Millicent. “We shall get Nell out of this place to somewhere safe, so the duke cannot use her against me anymore. You both agreed to that, remember?” And she glanced between Gareth and Nell. “I agreed to stay until we discovered the duke’s plans. We can pass on this information to whoever might listen, but I will not get tangled up in affairs of the abovegrounders.”

Gareth’s blue eyes glittered, but he nodded his head. “As you wish, my lady.”