She’d sensed Alex’s frustration and had hoped to plant the idea to return. But she’d been a little heavy-handed with the seed, and now she feared she might have given herself away.

If he thought her sympathetic to Bruce, how long would it take him to connect her to the person feeding the “rebels” information? Perhaps he’d made the connection already. He’d been acting so strangely and purposefully evading her questions.

What a mess. The situation had become unbearable. She cared about him too much to continue to lie to him. But did she trust him with her life? Strangely, despite his betrayal of her brethren, she did. Unfortunately, there was more to it than trust. Telling him the truth would put him in a horrible position. He’d be forced to decide between her and his honor and duty. She didn’t want to do that to him yet. Not until she was sure there was no other way.

But what did he know?

She’d followed him to Pembroke’s solar to find out. As she could hardly listen at the door in the hallway, she gave proof to her spectral war name and passed through the wall like a ghost—or in this case, through the neighboring chamber with the unlocked door. She’d done this countless times before, but spying on Alex was different.

Though most of the castle was at the evening meal, just to be safe she hid behind the heavy tapestry that covered most of the wall. The partition was wood, but as it had been plastered, it muffled their voices enough to prevent her from hearing the entire conversation. But she heard enough to know that if Alex knew something, he had not passed it on to the earl. She also heard that he was being sent away, and that caused a surprisingly hard pang in her chest.

She was growing too attached. But how could she stop it?

She left the room not long after she heard him leave. When she was sure there was no one coming, she made her way down the tower stairwell and out into the yard.

She glanced around, scanning the area, and her heart slammed into her chest. The air in her lungs turned so hot and acrid it hurt to breathe.

It hurt all over.

She hadn’t waited long enough. Alex stood about fifty feet away near the entry to the chapel. She stepped behind the corner of the building, but she needn’t have worried about him noticing her. He had his arms around a woman and was lifting her off her feet. When he started to spin her around and knocked off her hood, Joan could see that it wasn’t just a woman, but one of the most beautiful women she’d ever seen in her life.