I suspected everything he’d just said was true. I also suspected there was more going on than met the eye.
“Will you stop with the tap dancing and just tell me what this is about?”
He gave me an assessing look that made my stomach do a back flip. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what he was up to after all. I had more than my fair share of turmoil already, and the last thing I wanted was to add more to my plate.
Lugh smiled at me ruefully. “Take it easy, Morgan. It’s nothing as devious or as worrisome as you’re making it out to be.”
“Then what is it?”
“I just wanted to make some arrangements that I knew you weren’t going to get around to making in your state of mind.”
The warning bells were now so loud I was almost surprised Lugh didn’t hear them.
“In other words, you’ve been keeping my mind busy here in la-la land while you’ve driven my body around.” It wouldn’t be the first time Lugh had taken control of my body during my sleep, and, of course, he generally used such opportunities to do things I very much didn’t want him to.
“What did you do?” I demanded, meanwhile trying to muster my mental defenses enough to wake myself up and kick Lugh out of the driver’s seat. It always required some effort, but right now I felt so weighed down by the circumstances that I wasn’t sure I could do it at all.
“No need to try to shake me off,” Lugh said. “I’ve done what I set out to do, and I’ve put you back to bed.”
“Why doesn’t that make me feel any better?” I muttered, but my struggles to break through his control were weak and halfhearted. Somehow, it just didn’t seem worth the energy.
“I talked to Adam. I thought it best for you to have a bodyguard, at least until we find out what the story is behind that hand you received in the mail.”
I groaned. “Don’t tell me you invited Saul over.”
“All right, I won’t tell you that.” He smiled at me, a teasing glint in his eye.
I shook my head. “I don’t need a bodyguard!”
“I know,” Lugh said, nipping my incipient tirade in the bud. “But it made for a good excuse to move Saul out of Adam and Dominic’s house. There is enough tension already between various members of my council. I don’t need Saul and Adam in a romantic rivalry.”
I met his eyes. “If there’s a romantic rivalry going on, then just moving Saul out of the house isn’t going to stop it.”
Lugh shrugged. “Maybe not. But I’m sure it’s better for all involved, and it should at least slow things down.”
“Maybe you should have put more thought into it before you insisted on summoning Saul to the Mortal Plain!”
He gave me a quelling look. “There’s no point in arguing about that. Saul’s here—both on the Mortal Plain and in your apartment. Let’s just move on from there.”
My eyes widened. “You mean there’s more?”
He nodded. “I suspect that in his current state of mind, Brian isn’t going to be overly anxious to pay your legal bills.”
The blood drained from my face. The thought hadn’t even occurred to me, but of course Lugh was right.
He patted the air reassuringly. “Don’t worry. I’ve made other arrangements.”
I was anything but reassured. I lowered my head into my hands. “Adam again?”
“Yes. He has the financial resources to help you.”
I raised my head and glared at him, my hands trembling with rage. “And what if I tell you that I absolutely refuse to accept money from Adam?”
“Then I’ll call you a mule-headed fool and I will continue to take matters into my own hands as often as necessary.”
My jaw dropped. Lugh usually tried to be so gentle and patient about everything. I would have thought now, of all times, he’d treat me like a porcelain doll.
“My apologies,” he said, though he didn’t sound particularly apologetic. “You need money to defend yourself, and Adam has money. Getting through the lawsuit is going to be difficult enough without financial strain loaded on top. And don’t forget, the rest of your problems aren’t going to magically disappear while you’re being sued.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and scowled. “I haven’t forgotten.”
“Also don’t forget that you’re my host, and that I need you. I can’t afford to leave you undefended, and as Adam’s king, I have every right to demand that he pay for your defense.”
I was too tired and beaten down to argue, though I wanted to. “Adam paying for my defense is just going to reinforce Brian’s assumption that he’s my lover.”
“That can’t be helped.” He looked genuinely sorry this time, but I wasn’t sure I cared anymore.
“Let me go back to sleep now,” I said, my voice flat and hopeless-sounding.
Lugh slid across the couch until he was right by my side, then he slipped his arm around my shoulders and gave me a firm squeeze. “It will be all right,” he murmured in my ear.
Tears stung my eyes, and I felt the elephant weight on my chest again. I was going to humiliate myself by crying on his shoulder, after all.
But Lugh knew me too well to let that happen. Just when I thought I couldn’t hold the tears back another moment, the room began to dissolve around me, and I drifted into the peaceful oblivion I’d longed for.
The next morning, I woke up feeling like my head was stuffed with cotton. I remembered what had happened, and knew I should be very upset, but my emotions were stuffed in cotton, too. That was probably a good thing, since I needed to function today.
I took a long, steamy shower, moving by rote, not thinking about much of anything. Distantly, I thought perhaps I was a little too spaced out for my own good. But when I considered the alternative…
I was afraid coffee might wake some of my still blissfully sleeping brain cells. However, there was no way I was getting through the day without coffee, so I was just going to have to take a chance.
Luckily, I pulled on some yoga pants and a T-shirt before I headed for the kitchen, because I’d forgotten that Lugh had invited Saul to stay here. I came to a screeching halt in my bedroom doorway when I saw him sitting on my living room sofa sipping from a travel mug that hadn’t come from my kitchen. Considerate of him to bring his own dishes. I grabbed the door frame, my mind reorienting itself to my new reality.
“I brought some of Dom’s coffee,” Saul said when I just stood there like an idiot. “I hope you don’t mind.” He tried a grin that didn’t look terribly convincing. Oh, good. He wasn’t any more comfortable being here than I was having him here. “Adam told me your coffee sucks.”
“He didn’t lie.” I shambled toward the kitchen, hoping Saul had made enough coffee for both of us. When I saw he had made a full pot, my opinion of him softened considerably. I poured a cup and inhaled deeply. It smelled heavenly, so I took a big sip, not bothering with my usual cream and sugar.
It was a good thing it was such high-quality java, because Saul had made it strong enough to make espresso seem mild and diluted by comparison. I felt like pounding my chest with my fist after I swallowed. I turned to stare at Saul with watery eyes.
“Have you ever heard of the concept of moderation?” It was a good thing he’d brought the coffee himself or he’d probably have used my entire week’s ration in that one pot.
He frowned and took a sip from his mug. He made a show of rolling it around his mouth then swallowing. “Too strong?” he asked, and it sounded like he was just guessing.
I rolled my eyes and poured half the contents of my mug back into the pot. I then filled the mug to the brim with hot water, added cream and sugar, and tried again. It tasted just about right. I wrapped both hands around the mug. Not that it was cold in my apartment, but this was just so damn awkward.
“I don’t suppose there’s any chance I can convince you to go back to Dom and Adam’s place,” I said.