“Stephen and I are lovers.” Crane held Esther’s eyes as they widened. He didn’t want her to look at Stephen. “Have been for some four months. That is what causes the transfer of power, as I understand it. No blood magic, no warlockry. It happens when we go to bed, it’s something to do with my family line, it’s not within my control or his. That’s the long and short of it, and if you have any opinions to offer on the matter, you can address them to me.” More aggression than he’d intended rang in the last words, but he was damned if Stephen would stand here and take abuse.
Esther stared back at him, face tight with emotion. Crane saw Dr. Gold’s intent form in his peripheral vision. Under his hands, Stephen was rigid with tension, head bowed.
“Is this true?” Esther said at last.
“Yes. He—we— Yes.”
“You and he. And he’s a source.”
“Blood, bone and birdspit.” Stephen’s voice was thin. “You can’t tell anyone, either of you, not about him being a source. Please. Say what you need to the Council, Esther, tell them anything, I’ll resign whenever you want, but we can’t let people know about this. They’ll tear him apart.”
“You are not resigning on my account,” Crane said harshly. “He has not put a foot out of line, Mrs. Gold. He has not done a damned thing wrong.”
Stephen gave an almost-laugh. “Lucien, we’re breaking the law.”
Esther was looking at Stephen. “And this is why you’ve been letting us think you’ve gone bad. To hide this. For pity’s sake!” She turned abruptly away. Stephen twitched violently, and Crane gripped him tighter.
Dr. Gold let out a long sigh. “Oh, Steph. You might have said something.”
Stephen made a strangled noise. Crane drawled, “Might he?”
“Yes, actually, he might. We’re not imbeciles. Great Scott, man, did it not occur to you we’d understand?”
“I don’t understand,” said Esther, swinging back round. Her face was red. “You swine, Stephen Day. You pig. You horrible, vile—I thought—God damn you, I was so frightened!”
Her voice broke. Crane felt Stephen’s body stiffen under his hands. He instinctively clenched his fingers on his lover’s shoulders, but Stephen twisted free with a hoarse, “Es!”, and bolted towards his partner.
Esther flung herself into his arms and wept, choking with angry sobs. Stephen muttered something incoherent, face pressed into her shoulder, and Esther thumped him on the back with a hard fist. “Why didn’t you say?” she managed through her tears. “Why didn’t you just say?”
Crane took a step back from the pair, almost light-headed with relief, and heard a low whistle from the couch. He turned to see Dr. Gold jerking his head in summons, and moved over to him. “Doctor?”
“Nothing, really,” said Dr. Gold quietly. “It’s just that if Esther realises you’ve seen her cry, she’ll never forgive you.”
“Ah. Thank you.” Crane turned from Stephen and Esther, who were now talking tearfully, urgently and simultaneously. He could hear Stephen repeating, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” and Esther’s furious, “I don’t care about that!”
He concentrated on Dr. Gold instead. “Are you all right, Doctor?”
Dr. Gold made a face. He looked rather worn. “I’ve had worse. So. You and Stephen.”
“Yes. You don’t seem surprised.”
“Well, he’s been my best friend for ten years and my wife’s partner for five. We have had occasion to observe him. It’s the total lack of interest in the fair sex that gives it away, over the long run,” Dr. Gold added helpfully.
“I’ll make a note.”
“This business with the power started when he came back from that rather dramatic trip to the country in spring,” Dr. Gold said. “Which I seem to recall he said was a blood, bone and birdspit job. Now, does that make you the chap whose ancestor was the Magpie Lord?”
“It does, yes. Lord Crane.” He held his hand out.
Dr. Gold shook it. “Daniel Gold. Well, I can see why Steph’s been keeping you quiet, quite apart from the other. I am right in thinking it was your father who hounded Steph’s father to death?”
That was blunt, not to say brutal. Crane kept his voice level. “It was, yes.”
“Mmm. Hardly an auspicious start, I’d have thought.”
It hadn’t been remotely auspicious. Crane’s hated family had cast a very dark shadow over his first encounters with Stephen. He didn’t intend to discuss that, so he simply shrugged.
Dr. Gold cocked an eyebrow. “One might wonder why Steph would enter into a, er, liaison under such unpromising circumstances.”
“You’d need to speak to him about it.”
“I’ll do that, the next time I want to hear a pack of bare-faced lies. Lord Crane, I know Steph extremely well. And this is the first time I’ve known him risk arrest, disaster and the destruction of his professional reputation. Consider me fascinated that he’s doing so on your account. Fascinated, and just a little concerned.”
“I don’t intend to let him suffer any consequences.”
“I very much doubt you can avert them, in the long run,” Dr. Gold said. “This strikes me as something of a dangerous game.”