The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes Read online

  Lizzie glanced down at Elric, who’d rolled on his side to look at her, a faint smile on his mouth as he tugged at the hem of the silk nightgown. ‘I know this is upsetting for you but…’ she said lamely.

  ‘Why would your choice of nightgown upset me?’ Dee said.

  Lizzie gave Elric another confused look, but he simply smiled and shrugged, saying nothing, although his hand was touching her foot beneath the silk, and she could feel the tremor of response dance across her skin. And then she felt a flash of relief. Dee couldn’t see Elric lying in her sister’s bed. As far as she could tell, Lizzie was simply sitting alone in an inappropriate nightgown.

  ‘It’s time to talk about Xan,’ Dee said.

  ‘Xan?’ Lizzie echoed absently. Why was he touching her when he knew there was nothing she could do about it? She couldn’t respond as some dark, secret part of her wanted to, she couldn’t slap him away without Dee noticing. All she could do was sit there and shiver in delicious anticipation.

  ‘Did you see her? You shivered. You saw her.’

  ‘No, no,’ Lizzie said.

  ‘Well, come out for breakfast,’ Dee said. ‘It’s time for the vote.’

  ‘We voted yesterday’ she protested.

  ‘Somebody told Xan we’re here, and we need to get the heck out of Dodge.’

  Instinctively Lizzie glanced down at the man in her bed. His hand froze, his beautiful face an unreadable mask, and she knew who had betrayed them.

  She scrambled out of bed, jerking the quilt with her to wrap around her. Elric lay back under the sheet.

  ‘It’s okay, Lizzie,’ Dee said. ‘Just get dressed, and we can decide what we’re going to do. Not that there’s much to decide, apart from which piece of jewelry…’ Dee’s eyes widened. ‘What are you wearing? What’s that around your neck?’

  Lizzie had forgotten all about the Borgia pendant that Elric had placed around her neck just before he’d kissed her. It lay between her breasts, a comforting weight against her heart, and she knew it belonged there.

  Just as a beautiful, treacherous creature like Elric belonged in her bed. She was going out of her mind -she must be. She started to pull off the pendant, but he sat up, reaching out and covering her hand, stopping her. ‘Liz, what’s going on?’ Dee said.

  Lizzie shook her head. ‘I’ll be out in a minute – we can talk about it then.’

  Dee looked surprised and not pleased, but she shut the door, and Lizzie flinched automatically before realizing that she wasn’t feeling her usual emotions of dread and disaster. She was going to leave the room, and Dee and Mare were going to fight, and then there’d be shoes and bunnies and wildlife everywhere.

  But right now the only wildlife in the room was in her bed, watching her warily.

  ‘Xan sent you,’ she said.

  He seemed totally unmoved by her accusation. ‘I was planning on coming here anyway – she just pointed me in the right direction. Someone needed to stop you from making such a mess of things.’

  She had no words for him, none that she was comfortable using. Mare could have told him off – Lizzie just wanted to cry.

  She wasn’t going to let that happen, not in front of him. Nor was she going to strip off her clothes so he could watch. She grabbed her discarded clothes without another word and disappeared into the workroom, tripping over a new pair of shoes. High-heeled sandals with gold coins dripping off the ankle band – both tacky and charming. She didn’t bother to look too closely – if the coins were real gold and she’d somehow managed to transmute something into the precious stuff, she didn’t want to know. She was too overwhelmed.

  When she came back through the bedroom he was nowhere in sight. It was only a small relief – he wasn’t gone forever. The bed was made, the deep purple sheets smooth and inviting. He should have changed them back, but then, Dee had probably seen them, even if she hadn’t seen the naked man lying beneath them. She could feel the pendant against her skin, even through the layers of clothing, and its slow pulse calmed her. Calmed her enough to face the calamity her life had become overnight.

  When Lizzie walked into the dining room, Mare was sitting at the end of the table with Pywackt in her lap and a cup of coffee cradled in her hands, looking like her last friend had just died. She looked up when Lizzie sat down. ‘So who’s this Elric? I’m all for him, I’m just curious. The roof over your workroom was practically bouncing last night.’

  ‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ Lizzie said. There was just the hint of defiance in her voice, and she hoped neither of her sisters would notice that the sweet little peacekeeper was developing a backbone.

  It was a vain hope. ‘You sure you’re okay, Lizzie?’ Dee said, coming in from the kitchen, coffee mug in hand. ‘It’s not like you to sleep late. And why did you take the Borgia pendant from the jewelry case?’

  Lizzie took a deep breath to steady herself, answering the easy part. ‘The jewelry belongs to the three of us, and this particular piece belongs to me.’

  Dee looked as if one of Lizzie’s bunnies had turned around and bitten her. I’m pretty sure that needs to be the next piece to go-’

  ‘It’s not going anywhere,’ Lizzie said. ‘It’s mine.’

  ‘Lizzie, do you know how much that piece is worth?’ Dee said.

  ‘I don’t care. You can do what you want with the rest of the stuff – I don’t need any of it. I can take care of myself. I should have had this years ago – it was supposed to be mine.’ There was something about Dee’s distracted behavior that alerted her. ‘It was, wasn’t it?’

  Dee sighed. ‘Honey, it was in mother’s jewelry box-’

  ‘But it was supposed to go to me.’

  Dee rubbed her forehead. ‘Xan said you should have it, but as far as I knew, it was a trick, maybe some way to track us.’

  ‘That’s fair,’ Mare said, watching both of them with melancholy interest. ‘But you should have told us what Xan said.’

  Lizzie nodded. ‘Or if it’s dangerous, you should have gotten rid of it years ago.’

  Dee sat back, clearly upset. ‘I tried. I even threw it in the Pacific Ocean one year. It just kept ending up back in the jewelry box.’

  ‘Well, if that’s where it’s supposed to be, then it will be there.’ Lizzie sat at the opposite end of the table. ‘Somebody tried to steal it yesterday, too, and that didn’t work, either. Maxine even tried to take it for some fund, but it’s still with me. It belongs with me.’

  ‘Maxine was collecting for charity?’ Mare said. ‘What is the world coming to? But the signs are clear. The amethyst belongs to Liz.’

  Lizzie looked at Dee. Are you going to call the meeting to order?’

  Dee looked uncertain. It wasn’t an expression Lizzie was used to seeing on her practical older sister’s face, as if Dee’s entire universe had shifted unexpectedly. Just as Lizzie’s had.

  ‘Let me just get the jewelry box…’ Dee said.

  ‘Dee, don’t bother,’ Mare said tiredly. ‘It’s a waste of time. Just call the vote and get it over with.’

  Dee sat down. ‘Well, Xan has found us. I’m afraid it’s time to leave. I’m sorry but I vote yes, we go.’

  Mare nodded, all fight gone. ‘As long as I’m in Salem’s Fork, I’ll never get over Crash. I vote yes, we go.’

  Dee looked over at her. ‘No Italy?’ she asked gently.

  ‘Nope.’

  Dee patted her hand. ‘Lizzie?’

  They both turned to look at her, only a formality, since sweet, spacey Lizzie avoided conflict like the plague.

  But sweet, spacey Lizzie had changed. She felt the amethyst throb against her heart, and she lifted her head to look at them squarely.

  ‘I vote no.’

  Lizzie could feel her sisters’ amazement, but she wasn’t about to back down. ‘I’m tired of running,’ she said. ‘I’m not a frightened child anymore. I like it here, and I’m not going to let anyone drive me away.’

  Mare blinked at her. ‘Lizzie?’

&nbs