If He's Dangerous by Hannah Howell Page A

at hand. Her sympathies are too easily roused. So, you are in real danger?”
    â€œI did not do this to myself,” Argus grumbled in between swallows.
    Max looked him over. “You have evidently been hard done by, but an angry husband could easily be the cause. The tale that you have some strange gift that a man sought to steal from you is, as I am certain you know, a little difficult to believe.”
    â€œLet me show you what my enemy wished to steal,” Argus said as he gently grasped the man’s wrist, caught his gaze, and began to tell him that he should not interfere.
    â€œIt is my duty to interfere if I believe her ladyship is in danger.”
    Argus was so startled he released Max’s wrist, got another spoonful of broth shoved in his mouth, and had to swallow before he could speak. “You felt nothing?”
    â€œA brief inclination to heed your words, but it was easily shaken off once I realized it was not something I was inclined to do.”
    â€œDamn my eyes. First Lady Lorelei. Now you.” He grimaced when he saw the way Max’s dark eyes narrowed in suspicion.
    â€œYou tried that trick on her ladyship?”
    â€œI was attempting to ensure that I remained well hidden and to protect myself.” From a highborn virgin’s outrage or expectations , he mused, but had no intention of telling this protective butler that. “And it is no trick. It also works quite well on most people. It was certainly easy enough to convince Vale that it would be best if the servants at Dunn Manor remained ignorant of my presence. As I told her ladyship, I usually only experience difficulty if I try to use it on members of my family.”
    â€œOr someone with a strong will?”
    â€œAh, yes, that, too. At times.”
    â€œI am also a distant relation to a Vaughn. Some great-great-someone. That, too, may be it. I did, as I said, feel a touch of compulsion to heed your command so I can accept that you have this gift. Just as I have to accept that you somehow managed to appear to her ladyship in her father’s garden and asked for help. But, why would anyone think they could take such a gift away from you?”
    â€œMadness? Greed strong enough to disorder good sense? Cornick and whoever is his ally thought I could just give it to them or teach it to them. Cornick even said he was bringing a witch soon to try to spell it out of me.”
    The soft noise Max made was so full of derision, Argus almost smiled. Instead, he dutifully ate the rest of the broth Max fed him. It was with great reluctance that he took the tankard of cider Max held out to him, however. He could smell the herbs in the drink and briefly considered holding Lady Lorelei to her word that the one he had drunk before the trip here was the last one. But, he could not deny that, after the long journey to Sundunmoor, he needed it if he was to get any sleep at all. The ache in his ribs alone was enough to keep him awake for hours. Last time , he promised himself, and began to drink the potion.
    â€œHow is it that you were able to tell her ladyship that you were in danger?”
    â€œThis may be difficult for you to believe.” Argus decided that Max was very skilled at saying a lot with but one quirk of a dark brow and then proceeded to tell him of how he had arranged to reach his family, only to make a brief appearance in the gardens of Sundunmoor. “I am still not quite sure why I ended up in that garden instead of at my sister’s or cousin’s home although Lady Lorelei believes some old rune stones may have had something to do with it. It certainly was not where I had intended to be, and the few times I have done it before I went where I planned to.”
    â€œThe stones may well be the answer to that puzzle. They are very old, set into the ground in a circle, and there are many old tales of such places holding a great deal of power. Or magic, if you prefer to call it such.”
    â€œSo