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"A spy?" I repeated nuencers," Kit said tartly

"Shut it, Marlowe," Hancock growled, "or I&039;ll stop that mouth for you" "Spare us, Hancock No one takes you seriously when you sputter like that" Marlowe&039;s chin jutted into the rooue with s and soldiers on the stage I&039;ll "

"What is a va for his notebook with one hand and a piece of gingerbread with the other As usual, no one was paying much attention to him

"So you&039;re some kind of Elizabethan James Bond? But" I looked at Marlowe, horrified He would be e of thirty, and the crime would be linked to his life as a spy

"The London hatmaker near St Dunstan&039;s who turns such a neat brie chuckled "Whyever would you think Mattheas a hate, not that Jaabout this" "Bullshit" I neither knew nor cared if this was an appropriately Elizabethan oath "I deserve the truth"

"Perhaps, Mistress Roydon, but if you truly love him, it is pointless to insist upon it," Marlowe said "Matthew can no longer distinguish bethat is true and what is not This is why he is invaluable to Her Majesty" "We&039;re here to find you a teacher," Matthew insisted, his eyes locked on ation and the queen&039;s agent will keep you fro aware of it"

"For so, you were blissfully unaware that I&039;ve thought for days that so on in this house There is too " "You see what I want you to see Nothing h Matthew&039;s tendency toward irown exponentially since we

cae, my jaw dropped at his tone

"How dare you," I said slowly Matthe I&039;d spent h price for it, too I stood

"Sit down," he grated out "Please" He caught my hand

Matthew&039;s best friend, Hamish Osborne, had warned me that he wouldn&039;t be the same man here How could he be, when the world was such a different place? Women were expected to accept without question what ahis friends it was all too easy for Matthew to slip back into old behaviors and patterns of thinking

"Only if you answer ot elanced over at his nephew and his friends, worried that these were state secrets

"They already know about Kit and led to find the words "It all started with Francis Walsinghaland late in Henry&039;s reign I spent tih Spain, fought at Lepanto-even set up

a printing business in Antwerp," Matthew explained "It&039;s the usual path for a wearh We search for a tragedy, an opportunity to slip into so suited ious and civil war When you&039;ve lived as long as I have, you learn the signs A Huguenot schoolo to Geneva, where he could raise his daughters in safety I took the identity of his long-dead cousin, moved into his house in Paris, and started over as Matthew de la Foret"

"&039;Matthew of the Forest&039;?" My eyebrows lifted at the irony "That was the schoolerous, and Walsinghanet for every disenchanted rebel in the country Late in the suer in France calish Protestants he was sheltering"

"Theof the blood-soaked wedding between a French Catholic princess and her Protestant husband

"I becaha Her Majesty&039;s e to one of the Valois princes" Matthew snorted "It was clear the queen had no real interest in the haencers"

My husbandso from me I reviewed the story, detected the fault lines in his account, and followed thele, inescapable conclusion: Mattheas French, Catholic, and he could not possibly have been aligned politically with Elizabeth Tudor in 1572-or in 1590 If he orking for the English Crown, it was for soation had vowed to stay out of huhts of Lazarus had not

"You&039;re working for your father And you&039;re not only a vampire but a Catholic in a Protestant country"

The fact that Mattheorking for the Knights of Lazarus, not just Elizabeth, exponentially increased the danger It wasn&039;t just witches ere hunted down and executed in Elizabethan England-so were traitors, creatures with unusual powers, and people of different faiths "The Congregation is of no help if you get involved with human politics How could your own farinned "That&039;s why there&039;s always a de Cleration-to ood business"

"This isn&039;t the first time I&039;ve worked for Philippe, nor will it be the last You&039;re good at uncovering secrets I&039; them," Matthew said simply

Scientist Vampire Warrior Spy Another piece of Matthew fell into place, and with it I better understood his ingrained habit of never sharing anything-major or minor-unless he was forced to do so

"I don&039;t care how ha hiham is dead I report to Willialass said quietly "Except for Philippe, of course"

"And Kit? Does he work for Cecil or for you?"

"Tell her nothing, Matthew," Kit said "The witch cannot be trusted"

"Why, you sly, wee boggart," Hancock said softly "It&039;s you who&039;s been stirring up the villagers"

Kit&039;s cheeks burned red in twin pronounceuilt

"Christ, Kit What have you done?" Matthew asked, astonished

"Nothing," said Marlowe sullenly

"You&039;ve been telling tales again" Hancock waggled his finger in admonishment "I&039;ve warned you before that on&039;t stand for that, Master Marlowe"

"Woodstock was already buzzing with news of Matthew&039;s wife," Kit protested "The ruation down upon us Hoas I supposed to know that the Congregation was already here?"

"Surely you&039;ll let es," Hancock said, cracking his knuckles

"No You can&039;t kill him" Matthew rubbed a hand over his tired face

"There would be too many questions, and I don&039;t have the patience to co answers at present It&039;s just village gossip I&039;ll handle it"

"This gossip colass reported quietly "It&039;s not just Berwick You kno anxious people were about witches in Chester When ent north into Scotland, the situation orse"

"If this business spreads south into England, she&039;ll be the death of us," Marlowe pro at me

"This trouble will stay confined to Scotland," Matthew retorted "And there will be no e, Kit"

"She appeared on All Hallows&039; Eve, just when the arrival of a fearsome witch was predicted Don&039;t you see? Your neife raised the stor Jaland Cecil er to the queen"

"Quiet, Kit," Henry cautioned, pulling at his ar the queen is reed with ed! She has enchanted everyone in the house" Kit&039;s eyes were frantic

"You dote on her like a sister George is half in love Tom praises her wit, and Walter would have her skirts up and her back against a wall if he weren&039;t afraid of Matt Return her to where she belongs We were happy before"

"Mattheasn&039;t happy"

Tory energy

"You say you love him" Kit turned to me, his face full of entreaty "Do you truly knohat he is? Have you seen hier in him when a warmblood is near? Can you accept Matthew coht-as I do? You have your ic for solace, but I am not fully alive without hione, and only Matthew can see what little good I have in me Leave him to me Please"

"I can&039;t," I said simply

Kit wiped his sleeve across his ht reation discovers your affections for him-"

"If my affection for him is forbidden, so is yours," I interrupted Marlowe flinched "But none of us choose e love"

"Iffley and his friends won&039;t be the last to accuse you of witchcraft," Kit said with a note of sour triumph "Mark me well, Mistress Roydon Daemons often see the future as plainly as witches"

Matthew&039;s hand ers swept fro the curved path thatto a vampire For Mattheas a powerful reminder of his earlier failure to keep me safe Kit made a horrible, half-sed sound of distress at the intiesture "If you are so prescient, then you should have foreseen what your betrayal wouldhiht, Kit, or so helpleft of you to bury"

"You would have her over me?" Kit sounded dumbfounded

"In a heartbeat Get out," repeated Matthew

Kit&039;s passage out of the room was measured, but once in the corridor his pace quickened His feet echoed on the wooden stairs, faster and faster, as he climbed to his roolass&039;s shrewd eyes turned fro back to Hancock "He can&039;t be trusted now"

"Marlowe could never be trusted," Hancock h the open door looking stricken, another piece of roaned, sitting down and reaching for his wine His shoulders sagged against the back of his chair "There simply isn&039;t room in this day for one more crisis-be it queen, country, or Catholics Whatever it is can wait until "

"Butlanced at the decisive writing that marched across the front "Christ and all His saints" His fingers rose to touch the paper, then froze Matthew&039;s throat ht appeared in the corner of his eye, then slid down his cheek and splashed onto the folds of his collar A vampire&039;s blood tear

"What is it, Matthew?" I looked over his shoulder, wondering what had caused so rief

"Ah The day is not over yet," Hancock said uneasily while he backed away "There is one small matter that requires your attention Your father thinks you&039;re dead"

In my own time, it was Matthew&039;s father, Philippe, as dead-horribly, tragically, irrevocably so But this was 1590, which meant he was alive Ever since we&039;d arrived, I had worried about a chance encounter with Ysabeau or with Matthew&039;s laboratory assistant, Miriaht cause in future ti Philippe would do to Matthew

Past, present, and future collided Had I looked into the corners, I would surely have seen ti in protest at the clash But ht in the snowy linen at his throat

Gallowglass brusquely picked up the tale "With the news from Scotland and your sudden disappearance, we feared you&039;d gone north for the queen and been caught up in the madness there We looked for two days When we couldn&039;t find a trace of you-hell, Matthee had no choice but to tell Philippe you had vanished It was that or raise the alaration"

"There&039;s more, milord" Pierre flipped the letter over The seal on it was like the others I associated with the Knights of Lazarus-except that the wax used here was a vivid swirl of black and red and an ancient silver coin had been pushed into its surface, the edges worn and thin, instead of the usual impression of the order&039;s seal The coin was stamped with a cross and a crescent, two de Clermont family symbols

"What did you tell hi in its red-black sea

"Our words are of little consequence now that this has arrived You must be on French soil within the next week Otherwise Philippe will set out for England," Hancock mumbled

"My father cannot come here, Hancock It is impossible"

"Of course it&039;s impossible The queen would have his head after all he&039;s done to stir the pot of English politics You ht and day, you will have plenty of time," Hancock assured hiaze was fixed on the unopened letter

"Philippe will have horses waiting You will be back before long," Gallowglasshis hand on his uncle&039;s shoulder

Matthew looked up, eyes suddenly wild "It&039;s not the distance It&039;s-" Matthew stopped abruptly

"He&039;s your mother&039;s husband, man Surely you can trust Philippe-unless you&039;ve been lying to him as well"

Hancock&039;s eyes narrowed "Kit&039;s right No one can trust me" Matthew shot to his feet "My life is a tissue of lies"

"This isn&039;t the time or place for your philosophical nonsense, Matthew Even now Philippe wonders if he has lost another son!" Gallowglass exclaiet on your horse, and do what your father commands If you don&039;t, I&039;ll knock you out and Hancock will carry you there"

"You lass, to issue e to his tone He braced his hands on the chimneypiece and stared into the fire