Darkest Dreams Read Free Page A

name.”
    Still, I felt strange making the declaration, for though I believed in Alexander’s innocence with every fiber of my being, I’d not been able to read his thoughts and emotions to know it was true.
    â€œSean didn’t kill Lady Helen either, nor did he want his brother to die during their fight. But I don’t think Sean will let himself admit that. If he did, he’d have to forgive himself, and for some reason he can’t. It’s easier to blame the Dragon’s Curse for what happened eight years ago.”
    â€œThe whole situation gives me a headache.” I sighed. “There has to be a way to manipulate both of them into admitting they are wrong.”
    â€œNot as long as the viscount stays locked in his castle and Sean in his,” Gemini added, having overhead the last of our conversation. “Oh look, there’s Lord Ashton and Mr. Drayson at the market with the Earl of Dartraven and Sir Warwick. Why, they’re nearly standing next to our carriage. I will wait for you two there,” she said, taking off before Cassie or I could say a word.
    As the carriage was only a short distance away, and the Earl of Dartraven, Sean and Alexander’s father, would be chaperone enough for Gemini, I turned my gaze back to Alexander. He stood surveying the wild horse on the deck of the ship, managing to look like an impregnable fortress.
    â€œHow can we get past Sean and his brother’s defenses?” Cassie murmured.
    â€œTrojan Horse,” I whispered softly as an utterly intriguing idea flared inside me. Weeks ago, long before Cassie and Sean announced their intention to marry, Alexander had mentioned that the generations of artifacts at his castle needed to be catalogued. We’d even spoken at length over dinner the last time I’d seen him about possibly hiring me to do cataloguing.
    I was desperate to escape being in close quarters with Cassie and Sean. It wasn’t that I resented the happy couple, but more that I felt as though I were intruding on their privacy. Too often, when I inadvertently touched Cassie, I felt her private emotions or thoughts. Cataloguing would provide me with a way to spend time on my own, to regain the inner peace I’d lost over the last few months.
    The burden of being able to see so much from the minds of those around me grew larger despite my efforts to escape knowing.
    â€œTrojan Horse? Andrie, you’re not making sense.” Cassie peered at me as if I’d spoken Greek. “You’ve spent entirely too much time with antiquities.”
    I squeezed her hand. “We need a Trojan Horse to get inside Lord Alexander’s castle.”
    Cassie paused, then slowly nodded as realization dawned. “I see. And wherever are we going to find one?”
    I smiled. “You’re looking at it. Me. It’s time for the Killdaren family to catalogue their treasures, don’t you think?”
    â€œYou’re a genius.” Cassie laughed, and a ray of hope lit her troubled gaze. Then her smile faltered. “I’m not so sure that it’s a good idea after all.”
    â€œWhy? Surely you still don’t think he had anything to do with Lady Helen’s death?”
    â€œNo. Not since you read Alexander’s thoughts on the matter. I’m worried about you.”
    I hadn’t read Alexander’s thoughts. Cassie had just assumed that I had when we’d argued about which brother could have been responsible for Lady Helen’s death. I’d yet to tell Cassie that I couldn’t read Alexander’s thoughts. I didn’t want her to doubt his innocence. “What do you mean?”
    â€œYou developed feelings for him when we were searching for the truth about Mary. Am I wrong?”
    â€œWas it that obvious?”
    â€œOnly to me. You usually go to great lengths to avoid contact with strangers. You didn’t with him. That he’s treated us like the plague since