Page 54 of Ashen Torment
“Where are you going?” he asks behind me.
“Did you not hear? To Mr. Vane.”
“And why on earth should you?”
“Ask for more pearls.”
“You—”
He doesn’t deserve an answer.
I cross the room, feeling his stubborn presence at my back. Finally, I reach Edmund Vane’s table, he lifts his face the moment I enter his orbit.
“Viscount Rochefort.”
His gaze slides past my shoulder. I already know who he finds there.
“Lord Vasiliev Ashford.”
Julian is seated beside Vane, hands interlaced before him.
“Were you looking for me, Mr. Vane?”
“Yes.” He gestures toward the two chairs in front of them. “I invite you to join us.”
I sit, and Lord Dorian sits beside me. Julian continues to watch me; Mr. Vane, however, focuses on the deck.
His fingers slide along the cards with confidence, but there is a barely perceptible tremor in his right hand.
“Whist, gentlemen.”
His voice cuts through the silence.
“Two pairs. We aim for tricks, one card each per turn. The first suit led dictates the rest. The highest card of that suit wins.”
Lord Dorian rests his hands on the edge of the table, his index finger touches the surface right next to my space.
I feel touched without his touch even grazing me.
It is absurd.
Julian turns toward him, murmuring with amusement.
“Tell me, Lord Dorian, do your affairs always proceed with their customary perfection? Or as sometimes happens... has some inclination of yours encountered obstacles?”
He lifts his gaze slowly. “My affairs prosper, Fairfax,” he says in a level voice, though the fist on the table betrays the tension pulsing beneath his skin.
“And when they do not, I always know how to put them back in their place.”
He taps a finger on the wood. “Do you still rely on chance, or have you learned, at least in part, to play with method? Or perhaps you prefer your family to mend the cracks?”
“Curious that you speak of family, there are houses that patch things up and houses that bury them. Each finds a remedy as best they can.”
“I heard there have been issues with your properties recently, is that not so?”
Julian’s expression hardens. “You speak as if you don’t know exactly what caused them.”
An icy current slides between the two, I have no intention of getting caught in their skirmishes.
