I flinch away from the sting of the hypodermic needle, gathering the quilt protectively around myself, shocked to see Liam straightening next to the bed.

"I'm sorry," he says in the voice I used to find calming and friendly. I don't anymore. "I didn't realise you were awake, or I would've warned you."

"Please don't handle me," I whimper, anxiety clogging my throat as I scurry to the opposite side of the bed from where he is standing with the syringe still in his hand. I want to escape from the bed and run, but where would I run to? How would I get away if he could just slip in and out of secret passages and intercept me?

What did he inject me with?

For all I know I could pass out before I've even reached the door. I wish I could call Billy, but is he even on my side? I want to scream for Alaric, but he must be the one who brought me here, and Liam is his brother; surely they are on the same side. Is there anybody in this mansion I can trust?!

Ransford...

"Excuse me?" Liam is a really good actor because he seems to be truly baffled by my behaviour until he follows my frightened gaze to the needle in his hand.

"Oh, it's a vitamin B and Iron combo," he smiles. "You seem to be somewhat anaemic."

I narrow my eyes, watching him like a trapped animal, and he lifts a vial from the nightstand, holding it out to me to read the label. I've had injections like that in the past, but how do I know this one is authentic? It could be anything inside that labelled ampule.

"What are you doing to me?" I whisper, terror riding up and down my spine. My mouth is so dry, and my head is fuzzy. What happened to me? One minute, I was lying peacefully in Alaric's arms and the next...

"I just told you-"

"No."

"Aubrey," Liam says, placing the syringe and vial on the nightstand and sitting down on the edge of the bed, looking sad when I move away even further. "Alaric asked me to take care of you. He found you passed out in one of the salons upstairs."

"No."

"No?" he frowns.

"I wasn't passed out. He sat with me; he told me stories."

He kissed me... or I kissed him, or we kissed each other. I'm not sure anymore, but there was kissing going on, and it was good!

"Alaric went to the mill in the afternoon, and when he returned in the evening, you were lying in the salon."

"No," I say again, narrowing my eyes and glaring at Liam. "Is Billy still here?"

"Billy wasn't here today."

"I was in the salon when you were there with him," I inform him, anger over his lies bringing my courage back, misplaced as it might be. "I heard you talking, and I saw you give him a small case."

I watch Liam's face as he hears my words, and the sadness of his expression deepens, but he doesn't look guilty, which is the reaction I expected. Then again, I've noticed that the Slatherties are very good at hiding their feelings.

"That wasn't-."

"And just after you left, Alaric came in and spoke to me. I wasn't passed out."

Telling Liam this is probably a terrible idea, but I cannot handle his lies anymore, and if he is planning on hurting me or killing me, then I'd rather he didn't pretend otherwise. I'm not feeling sleepy or anything weird due to the injection. At least not yet. In fact, I feel rather good. I'm mostly just thirsty and hungry, and my bladder might burst any second.

I need a shower. I'm still dressed in the dusty dress I wore in the tunnel, but my cardigan and shoes were removed.

"Alaric wasn't back from the mill when I was in the salon with Billy," he says gently, and I'm relieved that he's not denying his conversation with Billy, but Alaric was definitely there! I felt his shirt's texture and under it, his muscles' sculpted contours. His breath teased goosebumps all over my body whenever he spoke. I smelled his heady fragrance of nature and danger and deep, dark secrets. I tasted him!

It was real! I did not kiss myself!

"You told Billy you're handling me. What does that mean?!" I challenge, shoving my chin in the air with a determination and fearlessness I'm definitely not feeling. My flight or fight instincts got tangled somewhere along the line and launched me into full-on confrontation mode. I might be a Chihuahua challenging a Rottweiler.

Liam rises from the bed and rounding it, he strides to the small table by the windows. The curtains are drawn, the room shrouded in deep shadow, but I can see the table is ready for me to have a meal.

"I thought you might wake up now, so I had Leopold send you food," he says, sweeping his hand in a gesture at the table. "You must be starving. Why don't you have something to eat first?"

"No." I'm starting to like using this word. Right now, those two defiant characters seem like my only defence against whatever manipulation and lies I'm suffering under.

"At least have some water..."

"No."

"How about a shower," he winces. "Or use the bathroom?"

"No."

Liam sighs and moves away from the table towards me, grimacing as I scurry to the other side of the bed when he sits on the edge closest to me again.

"Aubrey-." His voice is trying to seduce me with its warm, gentle tones. I don't want to be soothed and lulled into feeling safe and cared for. He might be looking at me with a tender, concerned expression on his handsome face, but...

Liam is evil!

"How are you 'handling' me, and why was Billy so against it?" I demand, glaring at him in a challenge to dodge my question again. "Yes, I heard," I assure him when he silently gazes at my face, his expression filled with sympathy. He seems a little hurt by my hostility. Any minute now, he is going to turn aggressive and show his true colours; it's only a matter of time.

I'm waiting!

"Oh, Aubrey," he finally murmurs, looking defeated, which is the opposite of aggressive, I know. "I can understand that hearing that must've scared you. I'm sorry."

I don't respond or offer absolution or whatever he might want from me; I simply watch him warily, waiting for a better response... an actual answer.

"Peace Haven and especially the village, Slaughtaverty, are soaked in superstition, history and traditions," he finally tells me. "It goes back centuries, and some of it might be disturbing for outsiders and difficult to understand. How am I handling you? Honestly, I would like to wrap you up in cotton wool and hide you in a box. That is how I would like to handle you."

"Oh!" I gasp, scooting further away from him until I almost fall off the opposite side of the bed. "Yes!" I exclaim, giving him an appalled look. "That is a disturbing tradition I'd rather not participate in if you don't mind."

"What?" he frowns, and then his eyes widen and he laughs softly. "No, that's not-."

"Is keeping girls in the wall one too?" I grumble, and for a moment, Liam seems even more lost than earlier when I acted in fear to his presence beside my bed. He follows my eyes as they anxiously turn to where I know the secret passage lies behind the Turner painting, and for a moment, his composure slips, and he looks genuinely alarmed. "There's a tunnel in there; I saw her."

"Saoirse?" he whispers, sounding doubtful.

I flit my eyes between Liam's face and the frightening section of the wall. "Saoirse?"

"She sometimes wanders off in there," he sighs.

I'm not sure, but I think my attacker had dark hair, not silvery strands that smelled like Jasmine. Her aroma was dusty and dark and coppery like blood.

"Would she attack me?"

"You were attacked?!" He tilts his head, frowning as if he finds the idea impossible.

"I don't know," I finally admit when I cannot get the memory straight in my head and yet, the scent I didn't know I registered at the time is swirling in my nostrils as if I'd smelled it mere seconds ago. "The wall spat us out and sucked her back in."

Oh, marvellous! I sound like a lunatic.

"Look, Aubrey, I didn't mean it literally," Liam returns to the topic of fun island traditions, choosing to ignore my weird statement. "I just feel that you should be sheltered from as much of the internal strife and issues of this island and this family as possible so that one day you'll be able to leave here and carry on with your life and not be embroiled in or hurt by all the power-plays and what-not and struggle with keeping secrets you're not allowed to divulge."

Well, that does make sense on some level. I did sign a pretty extensive non-disclosure agreement, and the less I know to disclose, the easier it will be not to break it.

"And Billy doesn't agree with that approach?"

"No," Liam grimaces, levelling his eyes on my face in that earnest way that always makes me feel slightly nervous. "He wants everything to be spread out and fed to you in a huge buffet and leave it up to you to decide how to feel about it and deal with it."

Oh! That's nice. A fun information feast... It could be overwhelming, but I might like that... perhaps... At least it gives me options and choices rather than causing me to stumble around in the dark.

"And you don't like that?" I ask Liam, wondering if his motives are purely to make life easier for me or whether he simply wants to keep the family secrets in the vault and away from me.

"No," he admits. "Partially because I want to protect you and keep you out of all the superstitions and intrigue tangled in the lives of all who live here, but I also want to protect my family's privacy. It's difficult to serve both. It's easier to just keep you out of it completely."

His frankness surprises me. He probably would've made up some story if he weren't sincere rather than admit to having conflicted interests.

"I feel that if you remain ignorant, you're safe from being used or manipulated, while Billy feels that keeping you ignorant is exactly what makes you a vulnerable target for use and manipulation... he might have a point."

I peer into his eyes, their pupils dilated in the gloom, almost swallowing his aquamarine irises. His expression is as open and direct as it's ever been on the few occasions I've dealt with him, and I watch him swallow slowly, betraying the extent of his tension. If he is lying to me or toying with me, he is excellent at hiding it from me.

"So, to what lengths would you go to keep me ignorant?" I finally ask, rubbing my arm where the injection area still stings a little bit. "Drug me?"

"No, that was a vitamin B and Iron combo, I swear!" he exclaims, holding his hands out, palms up, in a beseeching gesture. "You were pale, and your blood pressure was way down and... I know it might be hard for you to believe, and believing or not is your choice, but I promise you, Aubrey, I mean you no harm."

"You just want to lie to me and keep me in the dark?" I summarise his intentions for him.

"Yes... uhm... n-no... I reached a compromise with Billy," he shoves a hand through his thick, dark auburn hair and offers me a slight smile. "I agreed to answer any questions you might have to the best of my abilities unless it forces me to move into territories you needn't know about or could harm our family. Does that seem fair to you?"

"Maybe..." I mutter, deciding to test this compromise of his a little bit to see how honest he is about sharing information with me. "Billy is family of the Slatherties?"

"Yes," he nods, his forthrightness once again surprising me. "Very distantly. As you must know, since you're quite educated on history, virtually all the bloodlines in old communities have some ancestors in common, and the lines crisscross each other at some points through the ages."

That is true. The population of countries are made up of people who integergrated with each other over centuries. We all share a few ancestors, and the branches and roots of our family trees overlap directly or indirectly at intervals... unless we're recent immigrants.

"Peace Haven is no different. Though there's been a constant inflow of new blood, and the island is by no means an in-bred society where everybody is closely related to each other, we all share some ancestors at some point. Through the centuries, the Slatherties have occasionally married villagers; there are a few Doyles, O'Neills, Collins and MacCleods in the direct line.

"Billy's blood relation is not really what matters, though; he is important to the people of Peace Haven. His loyalty lies with them more than with the Slatherties, but he also realizes that this family is the glue that holds it all together, and he will, therefore, serve and protect them in any way he has to. The island's people look up to him, and the Slatherties depend on him."

"I see..." No, I don't really, but I understand what he's saying... at least on the surface. "What power struggles? Infighting among the Slatherties?"

I almost giggle at the idea of Alaric, Liam and Ransford trying to sabotage each other to seize control of the family jewels. Judging by the few interactions I've seen between them, I find the idea ridiculous, though I do think Ransford might enjoy undermining Alaric's valiant attempts to remain stiff and proper at all times. I would rather like to undermine that myself. "Or is the struggle among the Slatherties and the islanders?"

"No," Liam says, searching his mind for the right words to explain without disclosing too many family secrets, no doubt. "There is a powerful family that would like to own the island and take over the role currently filled by the Slatherties, and they will stop at nothing to make that happen. Their power hunger stretches way beyond the borders of Peace Haven, and their intentions are not good for anybody but themselves."

That does not sound ominous at all!

"It's all politics, Aubrey," he grunts with disgust. "It's a filthy thing... everywhere in the world."

I cannot argue with that, and I can also see that Liam is closing the door on this topic. I'll let it slide for now, as I have more important things to ask about than political conspiracies.

Unless...

"Was I brought here by the Slatherties' rivals to use against them?"

Well, now that I've said it out loud, I realise how absurd the idea is. How on Earth could I be used? I have no fortune, fame, political power or special abilities.

"Alaric appointed you," Liam says, looking startled by my question. I'm also startled by my question! It is utter nonsense!

Unless they want to force me to steal some priceless artefacts to help them gain financial power. I would recognise those when I see them, and I have access to them now. The idea is making me feel ill.

Oh, I hope that's not it! I don't want to become a thief!

"He didn't know it was me, and that's what Alazne said," I tell Liam, no longer finding the idea quite as absurd.

"Alazne said that?" he exclaims, his obvious alarm causing me to glance anxiously at the secret door again. "It's locked, Aubrey. It can only be unlocked and opened from in here now."

He rises from the bed and crosses to the painting, and I watch him move, mesmerized by the broadness of his shoulders and the supple rolling of his hips. Honestly! I never used to look at men in this way! I've never been this aware of them! What is wrong with me? Besides, I'm in the middle of a battle to determine if I can trust the guy!

I need to remain focused!

Stopping in front of the painting, he pulls on the corner that previously triggered the secret door, and nothing happens. I cautiously get to my feet and walk across the floor to join him.

"Try it," he encourages me, and I slide my fingers down the edge and pull on the frame, but the painting barely moves, and the door remains closed.

"Do you feel a tiny button here?" he asks, taking my hand and running my fingers over the back of the frame's edge before I can flinch away from his touch. The warmth of his hand silences the nervous tension that's been humming through my body, and I relax my hand, allowing him to guide it. "Go ahead, press it."

I do so, and a sharp click resounds from within the wall, and when I, once again, push my fingers behind the bottom corner of the painting and pull it towards me, the door opens. I jump back from it, instinctively grabbing Liam's arm and trying to hide behind him.

"It's okay," he soothes me, closing the door and, taking my hand again, he helps me find the button. I press it and am happy when I can no longer open the door. "It's just a matter of finding and flipping that switch."

Standing this close to Liam, I can smell his very being and it is stirring a rich hunger inside me that goes beyond a physical hunger for food. It is a yearning, reacting to the tantalising aroma coming from his skin, something beneath the exquisite fragrance of bergamot and cedarwood. Something secret and pure calling to me.

Startled when I lean towards him, savouring the beautiful scent, I back away, and almost at once, the dread I felt when the secret door opened fills my gut again. I turn my head to look at it, assuring myself that it remains closed and locked.

"How many more of these secret passages and doors are there?" I ask, feeling queasy. I wish these tunnels were just a dream. My apprehension increases when Liam's eyes shy away from mine, and he grimaces, pulling his shoulders up in a shrug.

"Too many," he says. "I'll lock all the ones here in your wing for you."

Should I believe him? I really want to, but...

Deciding that I will run from room to room and up and down the hallway, searching each painting for switches and ensuring they're all locked, I turn my back to the secret door and walk to my bed.

"Where do Alaric and Ransford stand on this information issue?" I ask, sitting down on the foot-end of the bed, looking up at Liam. I can breathe much easier when there is this much distance between us.

I've spent time with him before and did not react that way towards him. I remember thinking I rather liked his cologne, but it didn't make me feel hungry... or something similar.

"Ransford wholeheartedly agrees with Billy, but he loves drama and intrigue, and his heart always overrides his head," he says, grinning affectionately, and I can once again not imagine him being his brothers' rival. "Alaric agrees with me, but he gave his permission for the compromise."

"He wants to keep me in the dark?" For some reason, that really hurts, though I'm not surprised that he agrees with Liam. I'm more surprised that he is willing to compromise. I wonder how they convinced him to do that. Still, he was so sweet and warm and forthcoming with information when I was lying in his arms... while he was apparently at the mill and I was in the salon all by myself...

Ugh, my head hurts.

"He wants to shield and protect you, Aubrey, that's all," Liam assures me, looking earnest. "He means you no harm."

"Where is he?"

He kissed me and left me and now claims he found me unconscious, and according to Liam, he couldn't have been with me in the salon right after he and Billy left. Well, I have two men to go, then I will have kissed all the men in this mansion... unless I include Leopold. I am making huge changes to my social life, just as Professor Griffith always urges me to do.

He will be so proud.

"He's in a meeting with Simon Lambert, the owner of a large chain of liquor outlets who came to the island to visit the brewery. They're over there discussing some new import contracts. He'll be back soon."

Simon Lambert... Simon Lambert... the name rings a bell, and I vaguely remember Diarmuid mentioning him this morning.

"I thought there was a meeting set with him for Thursday." Well, I wasn't really listening at the time, and I had no idea what Alaric and Diarmuid were discussing, so I could be completely wrong, but Liam is biting his lip, looking perplexed.

"It was moved to uhm... Tuesday afternoon instead."

I do not like the look on his face, and with wide eyes, I jump to my feet and run to the nightstand, glad to see my phone plugged into the charger. I lost it during the altercation with the girl I'm pretty sure wasn't Saoirse. Somebody- Alaric perhaps – brought it to my room and plugged it in. When the screen turns on, the time, 14:30 and the date... Tuesday's date is vividly displayed on the screen.

"I slept for almost 24 hours?! Again?!" Come on! At this rate, I'm never going to get any work done, and the next time I wake up, I might be in my 80s, my youth long gone!

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Liam says sympathetically. "You had a fever. You woke up a few times, but I suppose you don't remember since you were quite delirious."

"Why?!"

"I don't know, Aubrey," he sighs. "You might've caught a cold, which is why I've been injecting you with vitamins, trying to build up your system."

I rub over the reddish mark on my bicep, thinking back to my first morning... or afternoon here in this mansion. "Did you inject me with it, too, when I was sleeping last Thursday?"

"Yes."

He injected me in the bend of my arm that time. Why didn't he do it in my bicep then, too? My arm hurt for almost a day!

"I thought you were a Neuroscientist," I frown, not sure what to think of this development.

"I am, but I'm also a GP, a surgeon, a paediatrician and an obstetrician."

What? I thought Billy was just kidding. Each of those courses takes at least seven years or longer to complete. How on Earth did he manage that? He might've gotten credit for some subjects where they overlapped, but still... It's blowing my mind!

"Have you been studying since birth?!" I gasp.

"I've... had time on my hands, and I like to study," he shrugs, turning away. "I'm the head of the Slaughtaverty Clinic. I needed to specialize in various fields, as we are often rather understaffed. Most medical professionals prefer setting up practices in busier cities and towns. The money certainly would be better there."

"Oh..." It makes no sense that he could've done all that. How old is he? I would judge him as somewhere between 25 and 28 and not a minute older. He is either lying or really impressive... or a bit of both.

"Look, Aubrey. Why don't you take care of your body's needs first?" he says with a compassionate smile, and I feel rather sad that the trust I'd felt in his presence before is now stuttering and tentative. His voice no longer washes over me with the same level of comforting warmth as it used to.

Instead, I'm periodically grasped by startling heart palpitations and excitement fluttering in my stomach, but before I can acknowledge it or ask Liam what he gave me to cause it, it's gone again, as if it never were there in the first place. I have a strong suspicion that if I were to take care of my body's needs, it might involve devouring him in some way. I doubt that is what Liam meant.

"Have a nice warm bath or something, and I'll answer all your questions while you're having your meal."

Yes, it was definitely not what he meant.

"You'll be here when I come out? Promise?" I really need to use the bathroom, or I might end up in an embarrassing self-created flood, but I don't want to let Liam go before he's answered all my burning questions.

"Yes, I promise," he smiles, and his eyes are wrapping my heart in warmth, just the way it always had. "I'll ask Leopold to send me some food too and wait right here. Take your time."

~~~