“Did he touch you?”
“He didn’t get the chance. I… think he threw a rock at me when I wasn’t looking.”
Braden dropped Cassidy’s hand and shot to his feet. Every muscle in his neck and jaw stood out in relief.
“Quentin.”
His brother, who had been waiting in the background, stepped up beside him. “It doesn’t seem possible—”
“Remember Telford,” Braden said. “There are always a few who can resist—or whose minds are too weak.” He bared his teeth. “If he dared to attack Cassidy—”
“Perhaps he didn’t recognize her as one of us?”
“It doesn’t matter. You know what must be done.”
Cassidy tried to sit up, resisting Isabelle’s admonitions to stay quiet. “I told you—he was loco. He was drinking out of a bottle. I don’t think he even knew…”
“He is dangerous, Cassidy. Not only to you, but to all of us.” He spoke every word with a studied calm that couldn’t hide a deadly ferocity. “You will rest here, with Mrs. Smith. The human will not harm you again.”
“What are you going to do?” Cassidy said, looking anxiously from Quentin to Braden.
Lord Greyburn loomed over Cassidy, and Isabelle felt the very edge of his power, like the outermost wake of a passing steamer rocking a rowboat. “Sleep,” he said. “Sleep until we return.”
Cassidy stiffened in resistance, then slowly relaxed. Her eyelids drifted shut, and her breathing settled into the easy rhythm of slumber.
“I beg your pardon, my lord.” Aynsley stepped in the door and inclined his head. “I have just learned that Dodd cannot be found, and a hack has been taken from the stable.”
“Then he’s already running,” Braden said. He turned on the butler. “Is there anything you failed to tell me about this John Dodd when you proposed him for service at Greyburn?”
“No, my lord.” Aynsley was visibly shaken. “He is the eldest son of a local family, with training in smaller houses. His recommendations were impeccable, and he showed no signs of… I cannot understand—”
Braden dismissed Aynsley with a chop of his hand. “He can’t have gone far.” He returned to the bedside. “Mrs. Smith, if you wish to make yourself useful, you will see that Cassidy gets her rest and remains quietly in bed.”
“Of course.” Isabelle met his gaze, and, once again, found it difficult to remember that he was blind. How could a blind man’s eyes hold such potency?
But he wasn’t merely a man. He felt for Cassidy’s face, traced her brow with his finger, brushed damp hair away from her forehead. She murmured, and he withdrew his hand.
“Look after her,” he said to Isabelle, and left the room, Quentin and the butler at his heels.
Cassidy opened her eyes. “Is he gone?” she whispered.
“You weren’t asleep,” Isabelle said.
“I couldn’t.” Cassidy propped herself up on her elbows. “I felt strange when Braden told me to sleep, but I’m all right now.”
If Lord Greyburn had attempted to will Cassidy’s obedience in the way he’d done with the servants at the ceremony, he’d failed. That small victory gave Isabelle great satisfaction.
But he’d been right in one respect. “You should rest,” she said.
Cassidy shook her head, tried to sit up, and fell back again. “Isabelle… I have to go with Braden.”
“Out of the question. You’re in no condition to go anywhere. I saw men injured in the mines—”
“I’m afraid of what Braden will do.” Cassidy touched her bandage. “He was… very angry.”
“If the man attacked you—”
“But there was something wrong with him, Isabelle. I could feel it. And he didn’t hurt me badly. During the ceremony… he was afraid. Sometimes fear makes people crazy.”
It was typical of Cassidy’s unselfish generosity that she worried over the servant’s punishment, but Isabelle didn’t like the idea of Cassidy putting herself between Lord Greyburn and John Dodd. She must be distracted from any idea of chasing after Lord Greyburn. “How did you come to be in the woods alone?” she asked quickly.
Cassidy’s face lost its anxious look and became soft, almost dreamy.
“I wasn’t alone,” she said. “Not at first. Braden took me there to teach me how to Change.”