Chapter One

One year later

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Kane dismounted and tossed the reins of his fine new horse over a low limb. This was it; the place where his life had changed. Here, on this very spot, he had been transformed from a lost soul who had no hope for the future, a man who had every intention of drinking himself to death, to a man determined to put the past behind him and to make something of himself. He had gone to sleep beneath this very linara tree, drunk and hurting and wishing for death, and had awakened to see his Angel in the water. Smiling, asking impossible questions, then walking out of the water more beautiful than any mere woman could ever be. She had loved him, healed him, and changed his life.

With Angel in his arms he’d slept without nightmares. He’d awakened alone.

He’d thought her a dream for a while. But the next night when he’d stopped for a few hours’ sleep he’d found the evidence that she had indeed been very real. A spot of her virgin’s blood stained his bedroll. His Angel’s blood. He’d dreamed of her every night since.

He had tried to return to this place when he’d realized that his Angel was real and not a whisky-induced dream, but somehow he’d gotten turned around. He’d taken a wrong turn, then another wrong turn. He’d gotten completely and totally lost before giving up the search.

Since leaving this mountain he’d been a different man, yes, and he’d also had the devil’s own luck. Not two days after leaving the hills behind, he’d found a coin on the road. The gold piece, struck with the image of Emperor Sebestyen as a regal child, had been sitting there in the dirt catching the bright rays of the sun. He’d taken that coin and slipped it into his pocket, and when he reached the next town he walked into the nearest tavern, intent on drinking it down. But there had been a friendly card game in progress, and instead of drinking away his newfound treasure he’d decided to gamble it. He’d won. He’d won big.

He’d won everything.

For the past year, Kane Varden had gambled his way from one town to the next. It didn’t matter what the game might be. Whether the pastime of choice were whist or faro or slam, he always won. He couldn’t stay in one place for long. People tended to distrust a man who couldn’t lose. A dozen men or more had tried to prove that he’d been cheating, but of course since he had not been cheating there was nothing to prove. Still, he’d found it was simply best to move on after a few days in any one place.

Women were drawn to a man with good fortune and a bundle of cash in his pocket, and in the beginning Kane had taken full advantage of his newfound luck with the ladies of a certain type. But lately—for the past six months or so—he had been living like one of the emperor's saintly priests. Or, more rightly, like a faithful married man. In his heart he knew it wasn’t right to dream of Angel while another woman slept in his bed, and he had come to feel like he was cheating on her when he so much as looked at a pretty woman. He had come to feel like he was obligated to this Angel.

The only way to end that fanciful supposition was to face her one more time. When he realized that the angel he’d conjured in his head was nothing like the real woman he’d shared a moment of happiness with, he’d be able to move on, once and for all. She was a woman like all others.

It had taken him almost a month to find this place. He’d gotten lost again, confused and turned about and downright dizzy. He had finally stumbled upon a narrow path that looked familiar. Luck, again. He’d followed it, riding by the light of the moon until he found the pond and the grove of linara trees that were once again in bloom. Their color and their fragrance called to him.

So here he was once again at dawn, watching the sun come up over this pond. The odds that he would find Angel were slim, he knew that, but this was the place to start.

She couldn’t be as beautiful as he remembered; she couldn’t be as passionate, as perfect. It simply wasn’t possible. Sex was always good, but it was never that good. He’d confused memory with his dreams, that was the only explanation. He had manufactured Angel in his mind, and he had to get her out. When he got a good look at the girl, the real girl with all her faults, maybe he’d quit dreaming about her. Maybe he’d be able to get on with his life without feeling like he was haunted by a fair-haired, blue-eyed angel. He’d accepted that the woman herself was real, but the memory he carried couldn’t be.

Kane had been a happy man for the past year, and why not? He had everything any man could possibly want. He had not been a happy man when Angel had come to him in the dawn of a year ago. In fact, he had been miserable. He didn’t know why he had been so unhappy, and to be honest he didn’t care.

His unhappiness might’ve had something to do with the war, he supposed, though he no longer remembered much about his life before finding Angel, and in the past year he had steered clear of any and all political situations. His life was easy, blessed. Whatever pain he’d been carrying with him, Angel had washed it away.

The swishing of tall grass on the opposite side of the bank drew his attention there, and immediately he saw a flash of blue among the green. He held his breath until the woman on the narrow path walked beyond the tall grass and into the clearing beside the pond.

He smiled. It was her. His Angel. His smile faded. She was every bit as beautiful as he remembered.

Apparently she’d come here to do her laundry. She carried a very small bundle of clothes in her arms, as if she’d rolled up a stained frock and planned to wash it in the pond. While he watched, entranced, she carefully lowered herself to the ground, sitting on a bed of soft grass with the bundle still in her grasp. Angel lifted her face to the sky and closed her eyes. Loosened hair, impossibly fair and touched with gold, fell around her shoulders and caught the rays of the sun as it tumbled to her waist.

Kane didn’t move. He stood in the shadow of the linara tree and watched, his heart beating too hard. This was the woman he dreamed about. She was real.

If he showed himself to her now, would she run? Or would she take off her clothes, dive into the pond, and swim to him with that smile on her face? Would she swim to him, then walk out of the pond with water dripping from her hair and rolling down her body and ask him to lie with her again?

She shifted the bundle of clothes into one arm, and began to unbutton the bodice of her dress. She wore a very plain gown without frills or ribbons; a long, flowing garment of ordinary fabric without shimmer or adornment. The blue suited

her, though it was not as remarkably blue as the eyes he remembered. She deserved better than such a simple frock, and he had become a man who could afford to give her gifts. He would buy her a fancy gown before he left this time, he decided. Something befitting a woman of such beauty. He would buy her other things, too. Jewels and ribbons and satin shoes—all the things pretty girls liked.

He would take her in a soft place this time, he decided. Not on the ground, but in a proper bed.

Maybe she was going for a swim, Kane thought as he watched her slowly unfasten those tiny buttons. Maybe she would disrobe and step into the water as she had on that morning a year ago. If she did, he wouldn’t wait for her to come to him. He’d follow her example. Undress. Swim to the center of the pond. Meet her there and make his dreams come true. The bed could wait, he supposed.

Bodice unbuttoned, Angel folded the blue fabric back, bared one full, rounded breast, and shifted the bundle in her arms. She turned her gaze to the bundle and smiled brilliantly.

Kane’s heart made a strange move, as if it sought to escape through his chest, and then his throat. No, that wasn’t his heart, it was his stomach. That wasn’t laundry Angel held so close. It was...a baby. His baby? His knees went weak. He swayed on his feet just a little.

If he revealed himself now, would she run? Yes. He was quite sure she would run. Instead of moving to the bank where he could get a better view and Angel could see him, Kane stepped to the side, his eyes never leaving her and the baby she held to her breast. Each step was careful, well-calculated, and luck was with him as he circled the pond without making any noise.

He would marry her, of course. It was the proper thing to do. The idea of taking a wife gave him an unpleasant chill. He had once sworn he would never get married, though he couldn’t remember why. Still, if there was a baby involved, he had no choice.

Kane edged his way around the pond. It never occurred to him to leave, to sidle back to his horse and take off. If that baby was his, he had a responsibility.

At last he could see his Angel clearly. The child she held suckled hungrily, mouth closed around a nipple, one little fist resting on the pale swell of a breast.

When he stepped out of the cover of the trees she lifted her head slowly. She was not surprised to see him. He’d been so careful as he approached; had she heard him in spite of his caution?

Would she recognize him? A year ago he’d been dressed in rags, his beard had been months old, his hair had been tangled and wild.

Today he wore a fine suit, and yesterday morning he had been clean shaven. He might have a bit of stubble on his face, but it was nothing like the beard she’d remember. His hair was clean and pulled back in a neat queue. He was a different man. Inside and out, he was not the man who’d camped here a year ago.

“Angel,” he said, his voice refusing to rise above a whisper.

Her eyes met his. Yes, she remembered. “Soldier,” she said gently.

He stepped closer with caution, afraid he might spook her if he made any sudden moves. There was something unexpectedly moving about that baby feeding at its mother’s breast. The sight grabbed his heart and held on, and he couldn’t make himself look away.

“Is that”—he stopped, licked his lips, shook off a chill—“mine?”

Angel sighed. “Yes, soldier. This is your daughter, Ariana. Ariana Kane Fyne.”

Sophie wasn’t at all surprised to see the father of her child at the pond. She’d dreamed of him for the past three nights. As he lowered himself to sit beside her, she sighed. Oh, this complicated everything!

Kane’s eyes sparkled with fascination as he watched Ariana feed. Why did he have to be so handsome without all that hair on his face? He looked younger than she’d imagined he was when she’d first seen him. Years younger. His features were much more comely without the shaggy beard, and the neater hairstyle suited him. His hair was not blond and not brown, but both, as if it had been streaked by the sun or spun with burnished gold. The black suit he wore looked as if it had been made for him, it fit so well, and his tall boots were of the finest leather. The past year had been good to him, as she had known it would be.

Today he wore no knife close at hand, that she could see. If her wishes for him had come true, he had not needed that weapon in the past year.

Almost everything about him was changed, but his eyes remained the same.

“Ariana,” he said as he studied the baby. "That’s a beautiful name.”

“It was my grandmother’s name,” she said as she shifted the baby to the other breast. Kane watched the entire process without once averting his eyes. Ariana latched onto the nipple of the full breast, and made a low, sweet baby sound of pure satisfaction.

Finally, Kane lifted his head. “I didn’t know,” he said. “If I’d known, I never would’ve left.”

Sophie gave him a sweet reassuring smile. "Don’t be silly. It was impossible for you to know, and even if you had there was no reason for you to stay.”

“No reason?” His brow furrowed. His mouth thinned.

Kane would surely be reasonable about this. With a few well-chosen words, Sophie would ease his mind and send him on his way. “You had already done your part. My goodness, what else could you have done?”

“Married you?”

She laughed. “Don’t be silly,” she said again.

“Silly?” For some reason, he was getting angry.

Sophie turned her eyes down and ran a finger through the pale downy hair on Ariana’s head. “You shouldn’t have come back,” she whispered. “Your presence here will only complicate matters. While I am glad to see with my own eyes that you are doing well, I suggest that you ride away and forget we ever met.”

“I can’t forget,” Kane said, his voice low for the baby’s sake, but his anger unmistakable. “I dream about you every night. A year, Angel. Every night for a year! It’s like you come to me in my dreams, like those dreams are more real than my waking hours. And now this. A baby. Our daughter. I can’t ride away and leave you to raise my child alone.”

“I’m not raising your child alone.”

Kane didn’t argue. In fact, he didn’t say anything at all. He was so quiet Sophie was forced to raise her head to look into his eyes. He was beyond angry, almost enraged.

“You’re married to someone else,” he whispered. “Another man is raising my child.”

She tried to soothe him with a smile. “It’s my sisters who are helping me raise Ariana, not another man. By the moon, Kane, I’m never getting married.”

She saw the relief in his expressive eyes, and then, a moment later, the fire of determination. “Never?”

“Never,” she said emphatically.

“Why?"

Sophie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She should have taken a hint from her mother and traveled away from home to find her lovers. Then they could not track her down so easily. She already had a soft spot in her heart for Kane, purely because he was Ariana’s father, of course. She couldn’t possibly allow him to become a permanent fixture in her life. If she fell in love with him, disaster would follow.

Her life must remain unencumbered by the bonds of love. She had to convince Kane and herself of that fact, once and for all. Somehow, she had to make him go away. “I need no man to take care of me. I will have all the lovers I want, when the desire comes to me, and I will...”

“All the lovers you want?” Kane interrupted.

“Yes.”

He took a deep breath of his own. Then another. “And how many lovers have you had, thus far?” he asked, his voice unnecessarily tight.

Sophie wished she could lie well, but she couldn’t. Neither did Juliet, though at least Juliet could tell a small fib without turning purple. Now, if she could spin a tale like Isadora...but she couldn’t. “There has been only you,” she confessed in a low voice. “So far,” she added quickly.

Kane relaxed visibly. “So, in the past year, you haven’t met another man you want.”

“Don’t be tiresome,” she said softly. “Of course I have not taken another lover in the past year. I knew that first day that I’d conceived, and it didn’t seem right to take another man into my body while your child grew there.”

“At last, one sensible decision,” he muttered.

“And in the three months since she was born, I have devoted myself entirely to Ariana.” The mention of her daughter’s name warmed her heart. Motherhood was more remarkable and all-consuming than she’d imagined, and every day brought a new wonder.

Sophie tried to tell herself that just because she’d dreamed of Kane for the past three nights, that didn’t mean they would be intimate again. It had simply been a warning that he would reappear in her life. Nothing more.

Ariana finished feeding, and Sophie lifted her daughter to her shoulder. She patted the baby’s back gently, trying to raise a burp.

“Can I...”Kane offered his hands as the unfinished question lingered in the air.

“Of course.” Sophie very carefully handed Ariana into her father’s arms. He seemed almost afraid to take her, as if he felt his hands were too big to properly handle something so delicate. But of course they were not, and in moments he and Ariana were both perfectly at ease. Ariana settled her head against her father’s shoulder and continued to sleep.

“Pat her on the back,” Sophie instructed as she began to button her dress. “She needs to burp.”

Kane did as he was told, patting too gently at first, and then just right. Ariana let out a very unladylike belch, turned her head, and fell into a deep sleep.

“She’s beautiful," Kane said as he held his daughter close.

Sophie couldn’t stop her wide smile. “She is, isn’t she?”

Kane looked over Ariana’s head to stare at Sophie. He was not an easy man. He was not one to give up without a fight. “Yes, she is. I hate to think of you going through the past year alone. Did you have any problems?”

“Not really,” Sophie said. “I was never sick, and the delivery went as well as could be expected. It was painful, of course, but I was only in labor for three hours, and I only cursed your name once. I didn’t mean it,” she added quickly. If she had, there might have been all kinds of nasty complications. “And I was never alone. I had my sisters with me.”

She really should thank Kane, not only for giving her Ariana, but for helping her to uncover her true gift. During her pregnancy she’d discovered that while Isadora’s powers were varied and potent, and Juliet’s gifts of sight and healing were unmatched, she had her own talent.

Fertility. With a simple word, a spell or a wish, she could make anything grow. Fields flourished when she blessed them, and Juliet’s gardens were especially productive when Sophie uttered a simple spell over them by morning’s light. Women who had trouble conceiving would become fruitful with a touch of her hand: Juliet swore it was so.

Sophie looked into Kane’s eyes, and like it or not she wanted him to love her again. She wanted the pleasure, the feel of his bare body against hers. But that couldn’t happen.

If he touched her again, there would be another child. She knew it, as well as she knew that the sky was blue. Ariana was a blessing, of that she had no doubt. Still, she was not ready to accept another blessing so soon.

Even worse, she knew that if there was another child, Kane would never leave. He would insist upon staying, and he’d likely be annoyingly helpful, and then one day she’d look at him and the physical attraction she felt for him would grow to something more. Love. She couldn’t allow that to happen.

Kane very carefully returned Ariana to Sophie. “She’s a miracle.”

“Yes, she is.” Ariana settled in her mother’s arms. Sophie lifted her head and studied Kane’s face. It was just as lovely as the face in her dreams. “Thank you.”

He reached out and touched her cheek with gentle fingers. “Marry me, Angel.” His anger was gone; it had been replaced by an unexpected determination.

Sophie shook her head, and tried to remain outwardly calm while her heart leapt and danced and did all sorts of unexpected things. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I will never marry.”

“That’s not a reason,” he argued.

With marriage came love, and with love came death. Isadora and Willym had tried to deny the curse, and in the end they had all suffered for it. “I barely know you,” she explained, “but I do not think we are at all compatible.”

“We have a child, that’s reason enough—”

“No,” she interrupted. “It’s not.”

Sophie could see the possible future Kane presented too clearly. With her heart dancing the way it did, with her body tingling at his very presence, she could very easily say yes. She could marry Kane, and together they would have a dozen children. And they would, she thought with a sigh. A dozen! Maybe more. If he slept in her bed every night, she could not bring herself to refuse him.

In the end, sooner rather than later, she might even come to love him. Her heart hitched. She could still remember what it had been like to go home one afternoon with a basket of berries to find Willym lying on the floor of their little house, dead. He had been like a father to her, the only father she’d ever known, and one day he was simply gone. He had a bad heart, Juliet said, and nothing could have prevented his death. They tried to pretend that the Fyne curse had nothing to do with Willym’s death, but they all had known the truth as they’d buried a very fine man before his time.

They could not love. Ever.

There would be other children in the years to come, Sophie suspected, but like her mother, she would choose carefully. She would go from man to man as her body and her dreams dictated, and she would never make the mistake of falling in love.

“I am an unfettered and adventurous woman,” she said defiantly, intent on sending Kane away once and for all. “I don’t want to be tied to one man. When the time does come to take another lover, I will choose someone new and exciting. I’ve already had you. Why would I want to have you again?”

Kane did not like that answer, not at all. His eyes narrowed, his jaw went hard. “A child needs a father.”

“I never knew my father,” she argued.

“And look at what convoluted ideas you have!”

Ariana stirred and scrunched up her nose. “Don’t wake the baby,” Sophie said softly.

“Sorry.” Kane turned his gaze to the pond. “We should get married for the baby’s sake, whether you like me or not. I don’t want my child to grow up a bastard.”

“I did,” Sophie said softly.

“I want better for my daughter,” he said. “I want better for you, too. I can give you so much now. You and the baby. Let me take care of you.”

“That’s very sweet.” Sophie reached out and barely touched Kane’s cheek. He had not shaved this morning, and there was a heavy stubble on his face. The skin beneath was warm. It would be nice to just sit here a while, to continue to touch him and let him touch her and...she dropped her hand.

He returned his gaze to her. “Marry me.”

She shook her head.

Sophie stood slowly, Ariana caught to her breast. “I appreciate your willingness to make such a sacrifice, Kane, I truly do, but it would be best if you returned to your horse and rode as far away from this place as possible.” She lifted a hand to indicate the horse he had left tethered on the opposite side of the pond. “Just...go away.”

He jumped to his feet. “I can’t.”

Sophie spun on him. Good heavens, he looked like he intended to follow her! It wouldn’t do for Kane and Isadora to meet. “Do you want to know the real reason I can’t marry you?” she asked sharply.

“Yes.”

“I’m not an ordinary woman,” she said softly.

Kane grinned. Oh, he had such a wicked, charming smile! “That doesn’t surprise me, Angel.”

“I’m a witch,” she said, chin high, Ariana held close.

His smile disappeared. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

She didn’t want to tell him about the curse. It was complicated and would take time to explain and besides, she didn’t want to indicate in any way that she feared she might one day fall in love with him. It would reveal too much. Best to keep it simple.

“You don’t have to take my word for it. There’s a small town at the foot of the mountain. Stop there as you ride away. Ask the people there what they think of Sophie Fyne.” Her chin trembled. “Ask them if I’m a witch.”

“Sophie,” he said, saying her name for the first time in a soft voice that sent shivers down her spine.

“Ask them,” she repeated, knowing what kinds of tales he would hear when he went to Shandley and mentioned her name. “And then escape, while you still can.”

With that she turned and ran, Ariana caught up close and safe. Tears fell from her eyes; unexpected, hot tears. She brushed them away, and one tear was flung into the grass. Before she’d taken three more steps, a wildflower sprouted where the tear had soaked into the ground.