Chapter 88

Ellery

"Milord,"I greeted dryly.

"Ellery Marian," he murmured. "I remember you from when we were forced to stay in this hovel years ago."

My jaw clenched. While my home was nowhere near as big or elaborate as his castle, it was far from a hovel. "I remember you too, milord."

"It seems you especially remembered my son."

I didn't respond as I restrained my hands from fidgeting in my lap. I didn't want to fear this man, but I couldn't deny he terrified me.

The duke wielded so much power in this realm, and he clearly hated me. He could do anything to me, and no one could stop him. Ryker would try, but he wasn't here, and by the time he returned, it would be too late.

"It took me a few days to place who you were after seeing you in my son's bed," the duke continued.

I inwardly winced at the reminder of the mortifying situation that had brought him here. And I was sure it wasn't to congratulate me and Ryker on finding happiness with each other.

"I knew you looked familiar, but I couldn't quite remember how," the duke continued. "Did you enjoy fucking my son in my home?"

His blunt, vulgar language shocked me so much that it knocked the breath from me as surely as his fist would have. I'd never expected to hear this refined, dignified man talk in such a way.

At first, I didn't know how to respond, but then anger surged up my chest and burned into my throat. I stopped myself from telling him, yes, I'd enjoyed it… a lot.

Instead, I recalled my mother and Scarlet standing outside. It wasn't only me this man could destroy.

"It was inappropriate of me, milord," I murmured. "I shouldn't have been there."

"At least you have the decency not to deny it."

I didn't say anything.

"What are you doing with my son? Why are the two of you involved with each other at all?"

I debated how to answer this but decided on the truth: we weren't doing anything wrong. "I've been helping him search for the Hooded Robber. Having grown up on the edge of the Revenant Woods, I know them well."

"I see." His gaze went to the wall behind me as he pondered this revelation. "So, he hasn't let that robbery go yet, but of course, he wouldn't. He's always been stubborn."

He glanced toward the curtained window and pulled it back a little. I couldn't see what he did, but I knew he had a view of Scarlet and my mother.

"How is your mother?" he inquired.

A shiver ran through me, and I almost yanked the curtain over the window again. It would be the completely wrong move to make. "She doesn't know about me and Ryker."

When he released the curtain, it swayed as it settled into place. "Really? I assumed she was angling to find a very successful match for her daughter."

I couldn't stop myself from gulping. Maybe she'd arranged for me to help Ryker, but she didn't do it to play matchmaker. Some mothers would do that, but not mine.

She wasn't looking to get ahead in this realm, and she'd know how much the duke would stand against such a relationship. Yes, she was hoping for the reward money, but she wasn't angling for a son-in-law.

"She's not trying to marry me off," I told him.

"Then she'd probably be disappointed to learn what a whore she has for a daughter."

My fingers twitched in my lap, but I didn't respond to his baiting. He was looking to goad me into doing something foolish, and I refused to give him that. Besides, I did get caught in his son's bed, in his home, and I was wrong for that.

"You care for your mother," he stated.

I gulped as I glanced at the door. I almost told him that, of course, I cared for her, but I knew this man's relationship with his son, and love wasn't always so obvious between a parent and a child. He couldn't understand my love for my mother and hers for me.

He'd torn his child away from his mother. This man would have no qualms about doing the same or worse to me.

"You're to stay away from my son," he stated. "And since he's a stubborn fool who doesn't like to hear the word no, you're going to make it clear you don't want him."

My shoulders hunched forward a little as a knife plunged into my heart. I couldn't hurt Ryker in that way, but who was I kidding? This is exactly where our relationship had been heading the whole time; if the duke didn't tear us apart, then the Hooded Robber would.

"I'm going to make this very clear," the duke continued. "If you tell him I was here or that I spoke to you at all, I'll have your mother pulled out of here, wrapped in chains, and thrown into a dungeon where she'll rot for an eternity; do you understand me?"

My head spun as he leaned close to me. His overwhelming, musky scent assailed me as the warmth of the carriage became cloying in its intensity. I resisted tugging at the collar of my dress as his hate-filled eyes narrowed on me.

But I realized that while he found me repulsive, his hatred wasn't for me… it was for his son. He wanted me to hurt Ryker because he couldn't anymore, and he loathed having no control over a son who was more powerful than him.

"And if you think about telling my son, just know there's nothing he can do to stop me. He may be a lightning bearer, but what good will that power do him if he's locked in my dungeon… or dead?"