I’m too dangerous for polite society. For any society. Look what I nearly did to you last night. What I might have done if I hadn’t been sure to eat just before sundown. I penned myself in here because it was one of the only places onboard with nothing to damage and no other people around after dark, but even then, you’ve told me, I nearly—” The words choke in his throat. Alec takes a deep breath before he continues. “I want to find an isolated place on the frontier. Someplace remote, where I can live without hurting anyone. My father will take me out West, help me get established, and then leave me behind. It’s past time he had a normal life again. At least one of us can. Maybe there I’ll finally be beyond the Brotherhood’s reach.”
Then he focuses on me. “But Mikhail’s after more than the box. That first night, in Southampton—you must have realized by now that he was the wolf who tried to attack you.”
I nod. “But why would he be after me? If it’s the box he wants.”
“For fun. The box—that’s only why he first began following the Lisles and you as their servant. After that, he wanted to kill you for fun.” The simple way Alec says it makes it all the more horrifying. “I thought if I helped you then, he’d probably never see you again. That he’d be looking for me and forget about you. When he saw you aboard the Titanic, though . . . now you’re something he wants and couldn’t get. Proof he’s not all-powerful: Believe me, there’s nothing Mikhail hates more. You have to be careful, Tess.”
Alec steps closer to me; though I feel a shiver run through my body, it’s not exactly fear. The morning sunshine grows brighter, bathing his sculpted face in almost dazzling light. “You probably wouldn’t tell anyone about this, regardless of what I say or don’t say. Who would believe you?” Then he sighs. “But all the same—help me keep this secret. I only need a few more days.” He finishes with a word that almost seems to be torn from him: “Please.”
Our faces are very close. I try to imagine his face, his eyes, his body as the red wolf I saw last night. The beast is there, just beneath the skin; I’ll always be able to see it now. He’s very kind now that I’ve got something on him, with his asking me nicely, but I wouldn’t like to find out what he’d do if I didn’t agree. “I won’t tell.”
He steps back, suddenly distant again. “Stay away from me as much as possible.” This is the voice of a gentleman again, one used to giving orders and having them obeyed. “It’s for your own good. Mikhail clearly likes the idea of using you to bait me. If he realizes we’ve spoken—that you know the full truth—it’s even more dangerous for you.”
“If you can steer clear of Lady Regina, I can avoid you well enough.” I think that over. “But I warn you now, steering clear of Lady Regina is easier said than done.”
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