Enchantment & Bridge of Dreams by Christina Skye

was always your favorite, though Adrian—”
    Draycott’s breath exploded in a curse. “You bloody little liar!”
    Kacey flinched beneath the force of his anger, but she had come too far to stop now. Most of all, she had to have an end to thisterrible uncertainty. “You called and called, but he wouldn’t come away from the tunnel he was searching. And then the tide surged.”
    â€œDon’t do this, Kacey,” Nicholas rasped. “I can’t take much more tonight, I warn you.”
    And then she saw it all, as clear as the pages in a book. “Dear God, you just managed to get out and—and Adrian didn’t.”
    Draycott’s curse cut her off. “Who told you those things? Who, damn you?”
    â€œ He told me.”
    â€œHe? Armistead, you mean?” Nicholas pounded across the room, seizing her shoulders in a hard grip. “How much did he pay you to—”
    â€œCan’t you stop looking for villains? I didn’t say anything about Armistead. It wasn’t Armistead who told me. It was—” Kacey took a quick, unsteady breath. “It was…Adrian.”
    A muscle flashed at his jaw. “Stop this bloody charade, Kacey. My brother has been dead for almost thirty years.”
    â€œI didn’t believe it either. Not at first. But I saw him, can’t you understand? He was standing right there by the French doors, his cloak steaming, his shirt fluttering in the wind. He said…he said we were both in danger.”
    Nicholas’s mouth twisted. “In danger, are we? So that’s where all this is leading. How much? How bloody much do you expect me to pay you?”
    â€œStop it, Nicholas. Just listen to me!”
    But he didn’t stop. Grim-faced, he pressed her back, step by step, until a ridge of books bit into her spine.
    Struggling vainly, Kacey closed her eyes, trying to ignore the fire of him, the searing steel of him, desperate to make him listen.
    â€œDo you think that you’re the first to try this scam?” the Englishman growled. “Over the last ten years, dozens of helpful mediums have written to offer their services so that I might escape a terrible fate that’s supposedly hanging over me.”
    Kacey’s shot open. “And you paid no attention?”
    â€œHalf of England must know the story of the Draycott ghost. Any one of those people could tell you that the ghost appears only when a member of the family is in danger. Why should I listen to every crackpot who—”
    â€œBut you must! There’s a reason the ghost is appearing, don’t you see? If we don’t listen, he said it will happen all over again. Dear God, the storm—the cliffs—” She swayed as the dark images flashed over her again: lashing wind, ragged lightning, the explosive fury of collapsing earth.
    And then the thunder was beside her, in the growl that ripped from Nicholas’s throat. In the savage force of his body wedged against hers.
    â€œHow did you know, Kacey? No one but Adrian and I knew those things! And did you guess the rest of it—that I was jealous of Adrian? Dear God, maybe I even…wanted him to die.”
    Suddenly Nicholas stiffened. His glittering eyes seemed to look right through her. “So you think you know the whole of it, do you, my sweet?” He laughed mildly, mirthlessly. “You never could let it alone, could you? You just couldn’t accept the fact that Adrian and I were enemies, and you the cause of that enmity. No, you always had to be about your infernal meddling, determined to smooth over what could never be set right.” His fingers tightened on her wrists. “He doesn’t love you, Katharine, haven’t you realized that by now? Adrian is incapable of love—except for himself. And perhaps for that great gray cat of his!”
    Kacey’s breath caught. She had the riveting sensation that she was looking into the blank