THE FOREST LORD By Susan Krinard

Eden’s eyes filled with tears. There was a tiny oasis of sanity in this grim desert of pain and sorrow. She was deeply proud of Hartley and her father. Peace, and an end to the fear and hatred, was almost within their grasp.

“Poignant, indeed,” Claudia said with a lift of her lip. “But have you forgotten, Eden, that this monster killed your true father?”

The knowledge cast a baleful shadow over her hopes. She forced herself to meet Hartley’s eyes.

“I have not forgotten,” she said, very low. “I forgive you, Hartley. You did not know. You were different then.”

“But I do not forgive,” Claudia said. “You may have bewitched my daughter, Monster, but you have not paid what you owe me.”

“Is my grandson to be the price?” Lord Bradwell demanded. “Do you hate him, Claudia, as you hate his father?”

“No. But he will destroy my daughter’s life as long as he remains by her side. He is his father’s son.”

“Yes, he is mine,” Hartley said. He stepped away from Eden and stood toe to toe with Claudia. “You will give him to me.”

Claudia did not move. “Are you prepared for violence, Monster? Believe me when I tell you that not even all your magic will persuade me.”

“No!” Eden grabbed Hartley’s arm. “No, Hartley. There must be another way.”

“She must be stopped.”

Claudia looked over Hartley’s shoulder, catching Eden’s gaze. “It is he who must be stopped. Can you not see, my daughter? You must choose.”

In place of the anger that should have come then, Eden felt pity. This woman had virtually raised her without benefit of a mother’s name. She had taught Eden to thrive in Society and given her the strength to bear the past five years. The undying grief of a terrible tragedy had turned a decent woman into a pitiless stranger.

Eden could not stop loving her. In an odd way, that realization gave her the courage to go on and the determination to win. And it crystallized within her mind the decision she had been fighting since Hartley had revealed himself.

Donal would never be safe in a world containing those like Claudia Raines. Once he was with her again, she must choose—but not between Claudia and Hartley. She had already accepted that she must let Hartley go.

But he loved Donal. He could provide their son with the security he might never find in this world.

She moved between Claudia and Hartley and spoke to him over her shoulder. “Find our son. Take him where he will be safe.”

“That will not be necessary.” Claudia gestured toward the door. Eden looked, and gasped.

On the threshold stood a man, a stranger in buckskin and fur. Locked in his grip was Donal.

“Mother!” Donal struggled fiercely in his captor’s hold, but the man was far too strong.

“Easy, lad,” he said in an accented drawl. He lifted Donal off his feet. Hartley charged the stranger who pulled up a shotgun one-handed and jammed the muzzle into Hartley’s chest.

“Iron shot,” he remarked. “You’ll die, Wendigo.”

Hartley’s nostrils flared. “You are the poacher who tried to murder us in the forest.”

The man’s gray eyes blazed with fanatical light. “It’s my calling to rid the world of demons and evil spirits, Wendigo. Lady Claudia told me of the great wickedness you have caused. This innocent child won’t be twisted to your shaping.” He pressed Donal’s head to his shoulder. “I sense your weakness. You’ll soon be defeated.”

“Lady Eden,” Claudia said, “may I present Mr. Blake, of the United States of America.”

Eden walked up to the American, jaw set. He refused to meet her gaze. “If you shoot him,” she said, “you will also have to shoot me. Give me my son.”

“That I can’t do, ma’am.” But he loosened his hold on Donal and set him down to face Eden.

She smiled brightly at Donal. “I am so glad to see you. Are you all right?”

“Yes, Mother.” He stood very still in the stranger’s grasp. “Da?”

Hartley reached for him. The American thrust bruisingly hard with the shotgun. Eden knew that Hartley was angry enough to risk a very painful and permanent death.

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