The Diamond Key
Barbara Metzger

Excerpt

Hero or hell-raiser?

The viscount turned to face her, his lips thinned in anger. “I don’t know what kind of game you are playing, Lady Victoria, but I refuse to take part.”

“It’s no game. It’s my life, my future. I made a vow, you see.”

“To whom? If this is between you and the Almighty, I swear I have not been in His good graces for years. I doubt he even recalls my existence.”

Torrie was not about to get into a discussion of faith and fallen sparrows. “To the Fates, then. Or to myself. I promised that if I was saved, I would wed, to make my parents happy and to fulfill my destiny...I asked for a favor and you arrived.”

“You were not making a bargain with your maker, then, you were making a deal with the devil.” He held his arms out. “Look at what such a foolish barter brought you. You should have negotiated better terms, if you were wagering your soul.”