A Dangerous Collaboration (A Veronica Speedwell Mystery) by Deanna Raybourn (english novels for students .txt) ๐
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- Author: Deanna Raybourn
Read book online ยซA Dangerous Collaboration (A Veronica Speedwell Mystery) by Deanna Raybourn (english novels for students .txt) ๐ยป. Author - Deanna Raybourn
โWhat if we made a great noise and shouted for rescue?โ Tiberius asked, somewhat desperately, I thought.
โThe wind is blowing the other direction,โ Stoker told him with greater kindness than I would have expected. โIt will carry the sound away from the island.โ
We were silent, each of us locked in our thoughts. Finally, Tiberius burst out. โI do not accept this,โ he said, rising to his feet. He stood, magnificent in his rage. โDamn you! This is your fault, you bloody bastard,โ Tiberius thundered.
Stoker rose to face his brother. โSay it again.โ
โThis is your fault,โ Tiberius said with brutal clarity.
Stokerโs fist connected with his jaw before the last word was finished. I jumped between them. โIs this truly how you mean to spend our last hours?โ I challenged. โBrawling like boys? Tiberius, you are unfair. This is no more Stokerโs fault than mine.โ
โIt is,โ he insisted, rubbing at his jaw. โHe let her do this. He had a chance to overpower her on the beach.โ
โI would not risk Veronicaโs life,โ Stoker said simply.
โWhy? Because you love her?โ Tiberius jeered. โMuch good your love will do her now, brother. She dies with the rest of us.โ
โBut for now, she lives,โ Stoker returned. โIf I had acted hastily, God knows what that woman might have done.โ
โYou might have bested her,โ Tiberius said. โYes, there was risk, but risks must be taken in life, have you never learnt that?โ
โI have learnt that better than most,โ Stoker told him with icy calm. I stared at him in perplexity. I had seen him so often enraged or in a towering temper, but never this cold composure, this complete and utter placidity in the face of certain death.
โAnd still it profits you nothing,โ Tiberius returned. โYou risk nothing and so you are nothing. You love her,โ he repeated, jerking his head towards me. โAnd yet you have never told her, have you? Well, I am glad of it. She deserves better than you, you bloody fool. She deserves a man who would kill for her.โ
Stokerโs smile was slow and terrible. โYou think that is love, brother? That I should kill for her?โ He shook his head, his eyes locked with mine. โYou are the fool, Tiberius, because you still do not understand. I do not love her enough to kill for her.โ He stepped to the edge of the rock. โI love her enough to die for her.โ
And without another word, he disappeared over the edge of the rock and into the blackness of the sea.
โข โข โข
For a long while I felt nothing at all, only a bone-deep numbness. Eventually I came to feel Tiberiusโ arm roped about my waist. I pushed at it, none too gently.
โLet me go.โ
โOnly if you promise not to try to jump again,โ he warned.
โI did notโโ
โYou did.โ
After a moment, I gave him a sharp nod and he released me, moving his hand to my shoulder. โThere is nothing to do but wait,โ he told me.
I looked at him then and saw that he was older now. The moon had risen higher, hollowing his cheeks and deepening the shadows around his eyes. Four long scratches scored his face from cheekbone to jaw, the blood crusted.
โDid I?โ I gestured towards the scratches.
โYes. When I would not let you go after him.โ
I sat down heavily on the rock, thrusting my hands into my pockets in a futile search for warmth. I felt the familiar form of Chester, the tiny velvet mouse. I tried not to think of the fact that this would be our last adventure together. โI suppose I ought to thank you.โ
โDonโt,โ he ordered, sitting beside me. โI did it as much for myself as you. I could not have two lives on my conscience tonight.โ
โThen you thinkโโ I did not finish. I could not.
He shrugged. โThe sea is rising, the mist is falling, and the water is as cold as a womanโs heart.โ
โHe is a good swimmer,โ I said stubbornly. โI have seen him.โ
โHe is,โ Tiberius agreed. He did not believe, any more than I did, that Stoker could survive the swim to St. Maddernโs, not with the sea rising and a newly stitched wound in his arm hampering his stroke. Tiberius was simply trying to keep me consoled until we should both fall asleep on the rock, bone-chilled and aching with cold, until the sea crept over us and carried us off.
โWell,โ Tiberius said finally, his eyes bright with unshed tears. โI didnโt realize the boy had it in him.โ
โYou ought to have,โ I told him. โYou have known him longer than anyone. You ought to have seen his worth.โ
โI spent most of my life hating him,โ he replied. โFor no other crime than being Motherโs favorite. I knew the boy, but not the man. He is a stranger to me.โ
โIs he? You are peas in a very particular pod, Tiberius.โ
He gave a short laugh. โHow did you come to that conclusion?โ
โYou are both sentimentalists.โ
โI do not have a sentimental bone in my body,โ he protested.
โDonโt you? A hardened cynic would hardly have to hold back his tears at a time like this.โ
He pressed his fists to his eyes. โHow could he? I cannot bear this, Veronica. I thought losing Rosamund, losing our child, was the worst I would suffer. But this . . .โ
He dropped his hands and the tears he had shed mingled with the blood on his face. โHow will we bear it?โ
โWe shall not have to,โ I told him, nodding towards the creeping sea. It had covered the top of the rock, leaving us a small patch upon which to sit. With every minute, the silvery water came closer, whispering.
โIt sounds as if it were speaking,โ I told him. โI wonder if that is how the legends of mermaids and sirens came to be.โ
He shrugged. โI suppose. I wonder if Rosamund . . . do you think she walked into the sea? Is
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