A Crystal Angel (A Marsden Romance Book 6) Read online

  A Crystal Angel

  Dawn Brower

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  A Crystal Angel Copyright © 2015 Dawn Brower

  Cover Artist: Victoria Miller

  Editor: Jennifer Herrington

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Dedication

  This book is for everyone who wants more of Pia and Thor. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it.

  I want to acknowledge all the people who helped make me look good: Christina, Debbie, Amanda, and especially my editor, Jennifer. I can't say thanks enough.

  Chapter One

  December 1875

  An emerald green vase flew across the room, hit the wall, and shattered into thousands of tiny shards. Quick reflexes allowed Thor, Viscount Torrington, to shift his head just in time to avoid it nearly connecting with his skull instead of the wall behind him.

  "Pia, you really need to calm—"

  This time a bronzed horse, crafted in mid-gallop, flew at him as he dodged to the right of his desk. He needed to subdue his wife before she permanently injured him. At the very least he wanted to stop her from breaking any other pieces of furniture or knickknacks lying about his study in her fit of rage. He didn't know what had brought on this impromptu temper tantrum, but he'd already had enough of it. The previous night’s overindulgence hadn't left him feeling well. His stomach churned and his head ached something fierce. He'd been sitting at his desk the better part of the afternoon staring at the same business reports, unable to decipher the meaning of them.

  "How dare you tell me to calm down. I know what you did, you bloody idiot." Pia stormed towards him, waving a rolled parchment within her tight grasp. She twirled it around in circles with each step closer to him, her face growing a deeper shade of red. "You have a lot of explaining to do. What made you think this bit of nonsense would ever be a good idea?"

  Thor pinched the bridge of his nose as pain shot daggers through his skull. He'd been out playing cards with the Earl of Devon the night before, attempting to persuade him into doing a bit of business with him. The events of the night before were a bit sketchy in his throbbing head.

  "I don't have a clue what you're talking about."

  "Well, if you hadn't decided to get sloshed with the Earl of Devon last night maybe you'd recall agreeing to betroth your son to his only daughter."

  "What? Of course I wouldn't."

  Her eyebrows rose in derision, her pale blonde curls framing her red face. "Oh really? That's why the Earl sent over this document outlining it in fine details. He even signed it. His note says it has all of the items you discussed last night and he looks forward to doing business with you in the future. Just sign it and send it to his solicitors."

  Some of it started to come back. Devon had mentioned something about tying their families together. His daughter, Gemma, was a couple of years younger than the twins, Lily and Liam. Though they never really had any opportunity to interact with each other, Thor wondered why Devon would think Liam and Gemma would make a good match.

  "Let me see it."

  Pia threw the paper on his desk and folded her arms across her chest. Her blue eyes glared at him as he opened up the document and read it. Thor scanned the contents and clenched his fists. Damn it, she was right. He was a bloody fool.

  "You're right. It's a betrothal. In my defense, I don't recall agreeing to this."

  "Well, you can just send Lord Devon an apology. We do not choose who our children decide to marry."

  How to explain it wasn't going to be as easy as she thought. He didn't want to betroth Liam to the earl's daughter, but it might already be too late.

  "Now Pia..."

  "Don't even start, Thor. You messed up and you're going to fix it. Unless you want this to be the birthday and Christmas present you give your son this year. The twins are going to be turning fourteen this Christmas. Liam just got home from Eton. Are you prepared to spoil the holiday with your foolishness?"

  "I don't know if it's that easy." Apprehension filled him as he stared at his wife.

  "Of course it is. Go over and tell him you’re a drunken idiot and you made a mistake. Trust me, if you don't make this go away, I promise you'll regret it."

  Thor ran his fingers through his hair and sighed in frustration. He didn't like it when Pia was angry with him. He had to repair this damage before his wife did some irreparable harm to an important appendage of his. No doubt it would be the most heinous of deeds.

  "I assure you, I already do."

  "Good. Don't bother touching me until you make sure the Earl of Devon understands you are not signing a betrothal contract. I don't want anything to do with a man who plans on forcing his son to marry someone he doesn't love. I love you, Thor, but I have to do what I think is best for our children."

  "Pia—wait! Stop"

  Pia spun on her heels, ignoring him, as she stormed out of the room. A few strands of her pale blonde hair had come loose and floated around her neck as she breezed out. Her feet stomped hard on the ground, echoing through his study in rhythm with the pounding in his head.

  "Bloody hell, what a mess."

  Thor stood up and walked out of his study. It looked like he would need to pay a call on the Earl of Devon. He had to clear up this mess if he ever wanted to bed his wife again.

  ***

  Lilliana breezed into the room, smugness oozing out of her. She couldn't wait to tease her brother with a bit of the information she just stumbled into.

  "You are not going to believe what I just heard our parents arguing about."

  Liam looked up from the chessboard, pale blond hair framing his face. "I don't really care. I'm trying to concentrate."

  "On what?" Lily asked.

  "Beating His Grace here in a game of chess."

  "Don't let him fool you. He doesn't stand a chance. He has yet to beat me." Noah St. John, the Duke of Huntly and Liam's best friend, laughed as he watched him study the board.

  "You should care, it was all about you after all."

  Liam stopped staring at the chessboard and looked up at Lily. "I didn't do anything at school, I swear."

  "Got a bit of a guilty conscience, do you?" Lily couldn't help asking him as a feeling of mischief rooted through her.

  Noah's brown eyes widened with horror. "You don't think they heard about the incident, do you?"

  "Of course not. No one knows it was us. They wouldn't have had time to send any notice to my parents." Liam paused and tilted his head in consideration. "Of course, anything is possible. At least you don't have parents they would send any notice to. Your guardian can barely be bothered to check up on you."

  "I wouldn't call it luck."

  Noah's face lost all color at the mention of his parents, his mouth forming a straight, grim line. They died the year before in a horrific carriage accident, leaving him alone in the world. He had no family to speak of and a solicitor for a guardian. Once he reached majority he would take over control of his lands and title, but for the moment he needed someone to do it for him. It was th
e reason he came home with Liam from Eton on every break since his parents died.

  "You shouldn't pick on your friend, Liam."

  Lily didn't have any friends of her own and sometimes found herself a bit jealous of Liam's relationship with Noah. She didn't have the luxury of going away to school, and many of the girls her age didn't like her. She longed for the day she would have a friend who understood her. Of course, she was also realistic and didn't expect it to happen.

  "I have to ask"—Lily's curious nature took over—"what did you two do?"

  "Nothing," both boys chimed in at once.

  "I don't believe you."

  "We can't tell you."

  Noah nodded his head in agreement. "It would break the oath we took."

  Lily stared at the boys, studying each of their faces. Both of them had carefully schooled features, not an ounce of emotion showing, equally determined not to reveal their secret. She decided it didn't matter what they did. Well to be more apt, it didn’t matter in that moment. She'd still get the details out of them, but her other news would send Liam into fits.

  "All right. I suppose I can let it go for now."

  "Good, 'cause we didn't plan on telling you." Liam turned back to concentrate on the chessboard.

  "Why'd you give in so easy?" Noah asked.

  "Don't see the point. Besides I think we need to discuss what I overheard."

  "If it isn't about school, I don't care."

  "You should, Liam. I told you it would impact your life."

  "Well, what is it then?"

  "Father agreed on a betrothal contract."

  "Failing to understand how this might concern me." Liam waved his hand dismissively and turned back to his game. "Who is he going to marry you off to?"

  "Not me you, fool. The Earl of Devon sent one over for him to sign. He's going to marry you off to his daughter, Lady Gemma Kemsley."

  Liam's face turned stark white and he swayed in his chair. He turned to look at Lily as the shock settled in. His blue eyes glazed over as the astonishment of her words became clear. "Pardon me, what did you say?"

  "You're betrothed, as in when you both come of age, you're getting married. Congratulations, brother of mine."

  "No. Why would he do that?"

  "I don't know. Have to say I'm glad it's you and not me. If I marry I plan on doing it for love. I'm not making my marriage some kind of business contract."

  Noah stood up and placed his hand on Liam's shoulder. "I'm sorry. What can I do?"

  "Turn back time and make my father see how unwise this is."

  "I would if I could. Maybe if you go talk to him..."

  "Won't make a difference," Lily interrupted him. "If mother can't change his mind, no one can."

  "I'm doomed." Liam crumpled in his chair, his head slumping over into his arms, resting on the table.

  Lily rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't be so melodramatic. Maybe this Gemma girl is lovely."

  "I don't care if she's the most beautiful docile chit in all of England. I'm going to hate her just on principle."

  Lily shook her head. "How mean and rude of you. At least give her a chance. If you're going to marry her, you do realize you have to spend the rest of your life with her? It wouldn't be good to get off to such a horrible start."

  "What do you care? You aren't the one he's making marry someone you've never met." Liam turned to glare at his sister.

  Lily stared at the mulish expression on her brother's face and a wave of sympathy rolled through her. He was her only real friend and she wanted to help him if she could. She might have teased him, but she didn't want him to have an unhappy life. There had to be some way to undo what their father had done.

  "Well, maybe we'll just have to come up with a plan to persuade him against it."

  "You just said it was a futile endeavor!" Liam exclaimed.

  "Don't give your sister a hard time for wanting to help you." Noah turned toward Lily and gave her his full attention. "What do you have in mind?"

  "We could run away."

  "What good would that do?" Liam scoffed at her idea.

  "It would make him realize how dead set you are against it. If we leave, it would show him we would rather live alone than deal with such disrespect for our wishes."

  "Where would we go?" Liam asked.

  "We could go to Huntly. The servants would welcome someone to take care of."

  Liam looked at Noah and appeared to think about his suggestion. He shrugged as a look of defeat crossed his features. "I suppose it's as good a plan as any. Maybe this can all be resolved before Christmas. If not, I don't want to be here anyway."

  "Go pack a small bag that you can carry. We can walk over to my townhouse and hitch a carriage to take us all the way to Huntly."

  "Why don't we just stay there?" Lily asked.

  Liam shook his head and replied, "It'd be the first place they looked. It's too close. We need to get their attention. Going to Huntly will slow them down a bit. I think we should leave a note saying we took one of the Marsden ships to America."

  "Good idea. Liam, you write the note and I'll go pack a quick bag for the both of us. Noah, you get whatever you need from your room and let's meet out front in thirty minutes."

  Both boys nodded at Lily and they took off to complete their tasks. Lily went upstairs and packed a small reticule for her and one for Liam. She grabbed each bag and poked her head out her bedroom door. No one was around, so she quietly sneaked out to the front of the house to await the two boys. Soon they would be at Huntly and hopefully their father, Viscount Torrington, would realize the error of his ways.

  Chapter Two

  Pia walked into the sitting room and found an abandoned chessboard. Earlier when she checked on them, Liam and Noah had been deeply engrossed in the match. Now the room stood empty and the game unfinished.

  "I wonder where the boys are?"

  "Excuse me, ma'am."

  Pia turned to see Tully directly behind her. "What is it?"

  "I wondered if you realized the children all went out earlier."

  "No, I didn't. Do you know where they were going?"

  "No ma'am, but they each had a reticule."

  What were her wayward children up to now?

  "Why didn't you stop them?"

  "I tried, ma'am. I saw them from the upper window. By the time I got it open they were long gone."

  Tully could be so vexing. She didn't know why she put up with her childhood maid. She looked back at the chess set and saw a scrap of parchment sitting on one of the chairs. She picked it up and read Liam's note.

  "Those bloody fools. They get this nonsense from their father. I'm going to wring their necks when I get hold of them."

  Of course, she didn't mean to actually do any real harm to the twins, but the fright of their running away ran rapid through her head. She hoped nothing serious happened to them while they were out alone in the cold.

  "What did the children do now?" Thor's voice bellowed from the open doorway.

  "They ran away. It's your fault too."

  "How's it my fault?"

  "Your stupid contract with the Earl of Devon caused this." Pia flung the note at him. It fluttered in the air and floated to the ground at Thor's feet. He picked it up and scanned the contents.

  "Bloody hell."

  "Exactly. Now go get those children before someone kills them."

  Thor pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "Pia, I'm getting tired of your constant harping. You need to take a step back and think about what you're saying."

  "Don't patronize me. I have every right to be worried about our children's welfare."

  "I'm not disputing that, but you need to calm down—and before you start off into another temper tantrum, you'll see I'm right. If we're going to find our children we need to have clear heads. Acting out in anger isn't going to achieve anything good."

  Pia glared at him and attempted to rein in her anger, as she could see his point. No matter how annoyed she w
as with Thor, attacking him wouldn't get any desirable results. She needed to focus on what was important—finding the twins and Noah.

  "All right, I can see your point, but I'm still mad at you."

  His lips tilted into a cocky grin and he winked at her. "Duly noted. Now let's go find the children. It says they are boarding a ship to America."

  "Probably Lily's idea. She always asks to go back to Charleston."

  "We don't have any ships going to America until after the New Year. I should be able to catch them at the docks," Thor explained.

  Pia decided she didn't trust Thor to handle the children. They probably thought they could outmaneuver them and escape. It might be Christmas, and their birthdays, but they were still going to be punished for their behavior. They were not even fourteen yet and shouldn't be out on their own.

  "Fine, I'll go with you."

  "It's unnecessary, Pia. I can take care of this."

  "Forgive me if I don't have faith in your abilities. You've ruined Christmas with your blundering already."

  Thor sighed. "Are you going to continue to harp on me about this for the rest of the holiday?"

  "Yes. You haven't made up for your mistake yet, but I'm willing to let it go for the moment. Did you talk to Devon?"

  "I did. He said he wished I'd reconsider, but understood why I wouldn't sign the contract. He urged me to keep it in case I changed my mind."

  "I hope you explained it wasn't likely."

  "I did, but I kept the contract to make him happy. I still want to do business with him sometime in the future. I put it in one of the locked drawers."

  "Fine. As long as you don't plan on signing it, I'm all right with that. Let's go get the twins and Noah."

  Pia walked out of the sitting room and grabbed her pelisse. She donned it and turned toward her husband. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

  Thor just shook his head and led her out the front door. The carriage still sat out front from when Thor had gone to see the Earl. The footman and driver looked surprised to see them out so soon.

  "We need to go to the waterfront. Make it fast," Thor explained to the driver as he turned to help Pia inside. She shoved his hand away, lifted her skirts and stepped into the carriage unassisted. Thor pursed his lips in frustration and followed her.