Lair of the Lion

anything should happen to me, promise me that you'll look after him for me."
    Francesca nibbled thoughtfully at her lower lip, revising Isabella's opinion that she was wildly impetuous. Francesca was not about to give her word lightly. "I suppose being in charge of a man might actually be fun. I do know a few things that would help him… if I like him."
    Isabella leveled her gaze at the other girl. Francesca rolled her eyes and shrugged. "All right, I'll help you take care of him, Isabella. But I hope you realize Sarina and Nicolai won't agree with your decision."
    "It's my decision to make, not theirs." Isabella tilted her chin with a distinctly haughty air.
    Francesca laughed aloud. "They think I've been touched by madness, and yet you're willing to put tuo fratello's life in my hands. How perfectly extraordinary."
    Isabella put her hands out toward the dying fire to ward off the sudden chill that crept down her back. "Why would they think you're mad? You and I can't be the only ones who hear the wails at night."
    "Everyone hears them wailing. The 'others' want them to hear. It was a joke at first, something to do when they were bored, but I think they want everyone to remember they're still here in the valley, locked in it like the rest of us."
    Something indefinable in Francesca's face, in her far too intelligent eyes, something about her mouth and chin, mesmerized Isabella. In the gathering darkness she tried to grasp what was eluding her.
    "What are you doing here?" The demand was harsh, accusatory, the voice purring with menace.
    Both women whirled around to face Nicolai as he emerged in his usual silent manner from the hidden passageway. He stalked across the room, inserting himself protectively between Francesca and Isabella. There was something frightening in his posture, in the line of his mouth.
    Francesca backed away from him, clearly appeasing. "We were just talking, Nicolai, that's all."
    Isabella started to walk around Nicolai, a sudden urge to comfort Francesca welling up in her, but Nicolai's long fingers wrapped around her wrist, locking her to him. "Just talking, Francesca?" His tone held disbelief.
    Immediately Francesca drew herself up. "It's obvious you don't believe me, Nicolai, so I will take my leave. Good night, Isabella." She started toward the passageway. "As for tyrants and dictators, I give you my brother and thus prove my point."
    "I did not dismiss you, Francesca," Nicolai bit out between clenched teeth. "Come back here immediately."
    Isabella stared from one face to the other, shocked that, although she'd noticed a resemblance, she hadn't guessed the relationship immediately.
    Francesca turned back slowly, her face sulky. "I don't much care for interrogations, Nicolai."
    "Francesca," Isabella said softly, hurt in her eyes, "why didn't you tell me you were Nicolai's sister?"
    Nicolai swept Isabella under the shelter of his broad shoulder, his hand finding her so.
    "What game are you playing now, Francesca? Why did you follow Isabella and frighten her this evening in the city?"
    Isabella gasped and would have protested, but his fingers tightened in warning around hers.
    Francesca looked bored, tapping her foot and heaving an exaggerated sigh. "Pray tell, why would I bother with such nonsense? You manage to frighten her enough for both of us." She steadfastly refused to look at Isabella.
    "You dare to deny it, then?" A growl rumbled deep in his throat, a distinct threat. "You think I can't smell DeMarco blood? You stalked her through the streets and scared her for your own amusement. Did you think you could get away with such a thing?"
    The blood drained from Isabella's face as she stared at the young woman she had come to feel affection for, the woman she called friend. It was a painful betrayal, unexpected and frighteningly sinister.
    Francesca finally shifted her gaze from her brother to Isabella. "I adamantly deny your idiotic charge, Nicolai. Look elsewhere for your enemies. I've sought only to protect Isabella. You seem far too busy planning your battles to watch over her properly." There was accusation in her voice. "Sophia might protect her here in this room from the entity that mars our valley. Isabella awakened it—don't tell me you haven't felt it—and she should be protected at all times. Yet you leave her alone."
    "No one but you would dare defy me, Francesca."
    Francesca narrowed her eyes and lifted her chin. "That's sheer arrogance talking. You won't look at our