“Now?” she squeaked. She sat up, her face flaming. He wasn’t certain if it was desire or anger he saw there, but he’d be willing to bet on anger.
Finn pulled his watch fob from his pocket. “We have been gone for four hours. That’s long enough to have seen all the paintings at the exhibition that didn’t exist. We should go back.”
She was stewing. He could tell. And a tiny part of him was immensely comforted by the fact that he could make her so angry by not giving in to her physical demands and demanding an emotional response instead.
He was still hard for her. But he wouldn’t give on this point. He picked up the pins that he’d taken from her hair from the side table and called her to him. “Turn around. I’ll try to make do with your hair.”
“It’s fine the way it is.”
“It’s fine as it is if we don’t bump into anyone until you get to your chambers. But if someone sees you looking like that, they’ll think I just tumbled you.”
Her face flamed again. “Then I can assure them that you didn’t, can’t I?” She shot him a look of exasperation that made him chuckle. “I’m glad you find this amusing.”
If he didn’t laugh, he didn’t know what emotion he might be forced to deal with.
Finn lifted Claire in his arms and pushed her feet through the portal, but he didn’t let go of her hand when he set her down. She was just angry enough to leave him there, stuck in that room. With her gripping his hand tightly, he climbed over the edge of the painting as if it were a windowsill. It was much easier than going through the painting headfirst.
When he got to the other side, Claire still glared at him. But then a voice barked from the other end of the corridor. “What the devil have you been doing, Finn?”
***
Claire peeped around Finn’s shoulder to find Sophia and the duke glaring at them. The duke’s face was alight with anger, and Sophia laid a hand on his arm to calm him. It didn’t work. He turned on his heel and bellowed back over his shoulder, “I’ll see you in my study, Finn. Now!” He didn’t look back. He just kept walking.
Finn groaned low in his throat, then leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Claire’s forehead. “Don’t worry. His bark is worse than his bite.”
“Do you want me to go with you?”
He laughed. It was a loud sound and it bounced around the corridor. He was so amused that she couldn’t help but smile along with him. “No need.” Then he whispered. “Go fix your hair.”
He pressed her hairpins into her hand and turned. He bowed to Sophia and followed the duke toward his study.
But then Claire was left with Sophia. “Claire…” she began.
Claire held up a hand to stop her. “Don’t Claire me, Sophia. You are not my mother.”
“No, I’m your sister, and I’m your friend.” Claire turned to walk away but Sophia followed her. “Talk to me, Claire. If you won’t talk to me, talk to Mother.”
Mother. Claire snorted. Some mother she was. She’d allowed Claire to be taken back to the land of the fae.
“I know how you feel about her. I felt the same for a time. But then I got to know them. You should give them a chance.”
No chance in hell.
Sophia rushed on. “They tried to keep us. To keep all of us. They left a token within each of us.”
Finally, Claire looked up at her. Sophia rushed on to explain. “My love of music. It was a gift to me so that I could recognize the song of a loved one. They didn’t realize that Ashley would be in love with me and that I would recognize his song as easily as theirs, but they did try.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
Sophia looked at the painting they’d just stepped through. “The painting. Our father is an artist. It’s his favorite pastime. You think you can step into paintings when no one else on earth, or any other realm, can do so just because? No. It’s a gift from them. Marcus has one, too, although I don’t know what it is yet.”
“Sophia, I don’t want to discuss this right now.” She feigned a yawn. She needed some time alone. Some time to think.
“When will you be ready to discuss it? And to discuss what you were doing with Lord Phineas?” Sophia tapped her slippered foot against the floor.
“Nothing happened with Lord Phineas.” Not this time, at least. “He just went along with me to keep me safe.”
An unconvincing grunt was Sophia’s only response.