Page 40 of Tanglewood Legacy (The Three Sisters 3)
“Non, I can’t have you exploding. As I am the architect and engineer of this parish, you’ll make too much work for me.”
He was pleased when they chuckled at his teasing. One by one, they tied on their masks and then rounded the corner to the event. People filed in the front doors of the grand home that was adjacent to Blakemore’s Imports. Pierre offered Isis his arm and led her inside, where a servant presented them with a tray of beautifully crafted glasses.
“Champagne? I haven’t had this since we left France.” Isis sipped the bubbly beverage.
“Blakemore can get anything if you’re willing to pay enough.” Pierre puffed his chest. “But some treasures don’t have as far to travel. You’ll find his bar stocked with rum from my distillery as well.”
They passed through the house and out into a courtyard lined with candles and trimmed in more flowers than Isis had ever seen in one place since the Garden of the Hesperides. Beside her, Circe bounced on her toes excitedly. “It’s lovely.”
“May I have this dance?” Rhys extended a hand to her. Circe set down her drink, and they joined the crowd of whirling dancers, her sister laughing as if she were filled with light.
“Only Circe can carry such joy in her heart. Look, she positively glows,” Isis said through a smile. “No normal being can contain happiness like she can.”
“Would you care to join them?” Pierre asked.
“Not yet. As you well know, unlike my sister, I’m composed of more shadows than sunshine. I’m happy to observe from a dark corner of the room.”
“I’m turning you into a scientist,” Pierre said. “Observation is paramount.”
He scanned the crowd. On the edge of the dance floor, Blakemore was speaking to a young blond woman Pierre didn’t recognize, which was odd because he knew most residents of the parish. Or maybe he did know her and simply couldn’t recognize her behind the red mask she wore. On the contrary, Pierre had no trouble recognizing the look of annoyance on Blakemore’s features, despite his mask. Whoever the woman was, her enthusiasm for their conversation was not returned. Étienne was in attendance, dancing with his wife beside Viel, whose partner seemed bored to tears by his topic of conversation.
A hard nudge to his elbow brought his gaze around to Isis, who pointed with her chin to the left. He followed her line of sight. “Lucienne and Antoinette. They’re here.”
“Antoinette still looks human,” Isis whispered. She turned her back on the two and moved in front of him, leaning forward to whisper in his ear, “But we best assume their hearing is anything but.”
“Antoinette looks positively ill next to Lucienne. Strange, that was how I remember Lucienne looking the morning we found her husband.”
Isis’s large blue eyes widened. “It may be part of the process of transitioning from human to… whatever they are. Is Antoinette’s husband here? The poor man is likely the next victim if history repeats itself.”
He swallowed as Lucienne’s eyes found him across the dance floor and focused on the side of his neck where her teeth had once sunk into his flesh. “Lucienne sees me,” he said.
“Try not to make eye contact.”
“Antoinette hasn’t married,” Pierre said. He’d overheard two of the nuns talking about it. “She’s the youngest of the three, and due to her sisters’ dual tragedies, the nuns haven’t found a match for her. Publicly, they’ve claimed it is to allow her time to grieve, but it’s common knowledge that no man will have her for fear the family is cursed. She still lives with the nuns, although she spends most of her time with her sisters.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Pierre noticed Rhys coming their way. Immediately, his eyes sought out Circe, surprised to find her taking a turn around the floor with Gabriel Blakemore, and in lively conversation, no less. The man was actually smiling.
“Where’s Circe?” Isis asked Rhys when he arrived by their side. Her position meant she hadn’t seen what Pierre had.
“The dragon asked her for a dance. I didn’t think it was a good idea to refuse, and you know Circe.” Rhys cast a jealous stare in Blakemore’s direction.
“Dragon?” Pierre asked incredulously, wondering if it was some new nickname for Blakemore.
Isis and Rhys exchanged looks. What was that about?
“I’ll explain later, Pierre,” Isis said to him, then turned a smile toward Rhys. “Have mercy on the man. She’s coming home with you after all.”
Rhys laughed. “Anyway, it was a good excuse to find and inform you that Lucienne and Antoinette Devereaux have been staring at you all evening.”
“We’re aware,” Pierre chimed in, absently touching the cravat at his neck that covered his fading bite mark, until he realized what he was doing and lowered his hand again.
Rhys rubbed his mouth. “I have a bad feeling about this. Why are the Devereaux sisters here, if not to cause trouble? Delphine is in prison. They’re social pariahs. No one is speaking to them.”
It was a good question. Pierre had considered that they were here to try to repair their reputation following Delphine’s arrest, but they weren’t trying very hard to mingle with the other guests. He looked again in their direction. “They’re gone.”
Isis and Rhys whirled, their eyes roving over the dance floor. “Do you see them?” Isis asked frantically.
“No,” Rhys said.
