Chapter 21

Ashley watched Jack shovel down a stack of pancakes slathered in maple syrup. “For someone who was nearly at death’s door twelve hours ago you’re looking pretty good. Shame it didn’t improve your eating habits.”

“Fuck off, I’m starving. My scales affect my appetite and now they’ve gone I’m ravenous. And Mrs Weather’s cooking is amazing.”

Once Mrs Weather had got word Jack was on the mend she’d been supplying food on demand and Ashley had to admit he had been a bit jealous about the steak sandwich Jack had inhaled. “You’re getting spoilt.”

“Doesn’t happen very often, so I’m going to enjoy it.” He stuck out his tongue. “It’s nice not having to hide I’m a paragon for all that’s wrong with society.”

“If you wanted to be liked you shouldn’t have gone into law.”

Before Jack could come back with what he no doubt thought was a pithy response there was a soft knock and the door opened without waiting for a reply. Catlin let herself in. “I heard you’d been taken ill.”

“I’m on the mend now,” Jack said, wiping his mouth as if remembering his manners.

Ashley hadn’t given much thought to Catlin, he’d been too busy worrying about Jack but now she was here it made him think that she could have been behind the lingering dark as anyone else in the house. “How can we help you?”

“It’s more that I wanted to see if you knew what happened. I’ve been a bit concerned for Ben of late, and hoped whatever struck you down wasn’t related.”

A few days ago she’d been pointing fingers at Harry, now she seemed to be alluding to Ben being up to no good. “Were you worried he might be infected too?”

“Not necessarily, more he might be trying to find a way to speed up the investigation and he may have inadvertently caused more damage than he meant.”

He’d been able to bring Jack up to speed with Ben’s admission of both being Evelyn Howes and setting the Invigilators on himself, add in the hours he’d put to brew the potion to save Jack, there was no way he was behind the infection. He saw Jack’s posture change, nothing too overt and if he didn’t know him so well he might not have noticed him slip into lawyer mode.

“What do you mean by that?” Jack asked.

“He’s been known to tinker with all sorts. I imagine he was probably playing with one of his improvement projects for the hall and realised he could kill two birds with one stone.”

“That’s a serious accusation. Are you saying you think Lord Crofton tried to kill me?”

“It was merely a figure of speech. I’m sure it was a miscalculation. Who’d have thought you’d have been so badly impacted.”

“Really? That is interesting, because whoever was behind this must have deliberately targeted me because of the hex bag, so it wouldn’t have been accidental.”

“I guess not.” She bit her lip. “Then it must have deliberate. I don’t know how I feel about that, I know Ben is capable of many things so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

Jack smiled, it was the cold smile Ashley had seen countless times when he’d figured something out and he couldn’t say anything for the time being. “I want to thank you for trusting us with this information. It must be conflicting for you given how close you are to Lord Crofton.”

“Justice is important, in your profession you must appreciate that.”

“Indeed I do.” Jack turned to Ashley. “I think we need to speak to Lord Crofton. But we need to be subtle, this will need careful handling. Perhaps, Ashley, I will have to leave that aspect to you since I’m still incapacitated?”

Ashley took that as his cue to speak to Ben as soon as possible.

Catlin nodded. “Probably wise. I’ll pop in again tomorrow if you’re still in bed.”

As the door closed behind her, Jack put his finger to his lips and muttered something. Ashley felt the wash of Jack’s magic sweep across him and a yelp from the other side of the door. “That should get rid of her, tinge of garlic. She’ll be all right after a quick shower.”

“What did you make of that?”

“Oh, Catlin’s behind the lingering dark, that I’m sure of. First she tried to set up Harry as a fall guy for the protocol and now Ben as well. Ashley, if they both were removed from the succession, she’s the one who’s left.”

Ashley puffed out his cheeks, Jack had voiced his own thoughts and they would need to sort this out pronto. “I’ll go talk to Ben.”

“Make sure you do the talking first, then the fucking!”

“Give me some credit.”

Jack snorted. Ashley didn’t grace him with a reply but instead made his way to Ben’s rooms. Having crept out of them several times he knew one of the entrances to the passageway to Ben’s bedroom was in the family room, but he’d never entered from that side so he found himself staring at the bookcase trying to guess how he would open the door.

His gaze fell onto The Famous Apples of an English Garden and he laughed, Ben had said he was fond of apples. He pulled the book towards him by its spine and a satisfying click accompanied the release mechanism. It was only when he was halfway down the passage did he stop to think that it was still daytime and Ben was likely to be sleeping, so he was surprised to see Ben working on his manuscript.

“Couldn’t sleep?”

Ben looked up and smiled at him. “No, my brain is too wired to rest. I thought I’d get on with some work and include the adapted base potion as the missing recipe… I’ve suggested numerous tweaks for various ailments, I think it’ll be the perfect addition.”

Ashley agreed. “Good call.”

Ben pushed away from his desk. “As happy as I am to see you, I sense you’re not here for pleasure.”

“Maybe later.” He smirked because Ben really was a sexy bastard, and then remembered himself. “We need to talk about Catlin.”

“Sounds like you’ve come to a similar conclusion as Karl. Let’s hear your version.”

Ashley shouldn’t have been surprised because if he and Jack had spotted something, then the regulars in the household would have too. “Two things. First she’s as good as said she thinks Harry was responsible for setting the Invigilators on you because he’s a blood descendant of Charles and so thinks that would give him extra credence and therefore reason to remove you from the succession. The investigation would buy him time to find evidence to support the claim you weren’t suitable or ready. However, Jack found in a buried bylaw for the House of Hewel that being related by blood disqualifies him—but it is possible Catlin knows that and therefore sets up removing you and Harry.”

“Karl thinks Harry knows that’s why he can never be earl as well, and he’s probably right—when I next see Charles I’ll confirm but I think once Harry found out he was a descendant he confronted Charles, who would have disavowed him of any notion it would help him become earl—Charles has discounted Harry in the past, and while I thought he could change his mind, now I know he wouldn’t have been able to.”

Once Catlin had said Harry had confirmed his lineage, Ashley had thought he’d have gone to Charles. “I suspect that was what happened. And the other thing, is we believe she’s behind the lingering dark. I had thought it could have been to speed up the investigation and get us to leave, but now I think it was to throw suspicion on you for the attempted murder of Jack, thus proving you’re not fit to be earl because endangering an Invigilator-appointed official would be a fucking stupid thing to do.”

Ben nodded, and Ashley thought he was taking it all a bit too well. “Makes sense. Charles has never openly said that Catlin was a potential countess—she’s said to me she wasn’t interested, but I’ve been thinking Charles never discounted her. I’m the heir, and she’s the spare.”

“So what do we do? You can’t say you know Harry’s not the accuser because it’s you… I imagine that won’t go down well.”

“It wasn’t my brightest move, but I was desperate. Now I’ve got what I needed to finish A Third Eye for Cauldron Gazing we should find a way to wrap up your investigation.”

“That’s not difficult. We can put a report together in a matter of days stating there was nothing to find, but it doesn’t deal with Catlin or, if it were to come out, that you started the ball rolling.”

“I told Karl I need evidence I can take to Charles. And as I said to Jack, I will dispense justice myself. If I were to remove her without it then there would be other issues—none of us want another situation like Denmouth where infighting almost tore the House of Cartwright apart.”

Ashley knew Ben was right. The politics in vampire society were highly nuanced and repercussions could last for centuries. “How do we get evidence? She’s not stupid.”

“Karl and Alex are working on it, if you have any idea I’m all for it. Robin’s arriving in a day or so to discuss setting up a fake accuser so we can at least not worry about that side of things.”

Ashley had a flash of unwanted annoyance at the mention of Robin Flint. “You and him are close?”

Ben cocked his head to one side. “Sebastian asked him to support me when I was turned, we’ve been the best of friends since.”

“Just friends?”

“We’ve fucked several times if that’s what you’re asking, but there’s nothing deeper on that level. I mean, I never dated him—unlike you and Jack.” Ben’s nostrils flared. “You are still… close?”

Was Ben jealous? He seemed to be acting the same way over Jack as he had been over Robin. “Not in that way. It’s been a long time since we were together, and I didn’t have the same depth of feelings for him as he had for me.”

“Does he still have them?”

“No.” Ashley was still upset with himself for not realising that he’d handled the demise of his and Jack’s romantic relationship badly. “We are friends, and that’s it. We know each other almost too well, and can annoy the shit out of each other without even thinking.”

“Good. Ashley, I have to admit, I did have questions after seeing you looking after him.”

“I didn’t realise vampires got jealous. You don’t come across as particularly possessive when it comes to a partner.”

“That depends on the individual and the situation. I don’t know exactly where we,” Ben pointed between them, “stand at the moment. I do know that I’ve never been so enamoured with someone to the point of caring that they might be playing with others.”

Ashley stepped closer. “You would rather I didn’t let another put their hands on me?”

Ben squirmed, this was far too much fun. “Yes, I would prefer you not to. I’m sure it sounds ridiculous given the short time we’ve been together and the run-up before it, but I couldn’t promise not to tear the throat out of someone who touched you.”

A wave of desire hit him hard, like Ben, he’d never experienced this sort of need for someone before. He’d fallen in and out of love and lust several times but never with such urgency as what he felt for Ben. He didn’t know him well enough to love him yet, he knew that would come with time, and Ashley could say, without any doubt, that he wanted to see how whatever was between them would play out. Ashley offered his hand and Ben took it. He pulled him to his feet. “How about while we try and figure out what’s going on, we agree to be exclusive. This could fizzle out in a few months. At the moment I’m living in your house, it might not be so beneficial once the investigation is over.”

“I would agree to that.”

“The projects I take on are fairly flexible, and I wouldn’t have an issue adapting to a more unnatural sleeping pattern… although I’m not completely living in the dark. My Italian bloodline wouldn’t allow it.”

He yelped as Ben took him into his arms. “This needs marking in a special way.”

“One of the best ways to seal a deal is to do so horizontally.”