Page 43 of Firefly

He opened his mouth, but words died on his lips.

Alexander’s spell was as binding as all the others. Unbreakable.

He turned, spinning on his heel. With Alexander occupied and Rebecca out of reach, he was at a loss for what to do. He went to the kitchen, sitting at the butcher block table, and drummed his fingers over the wood. He could eat.

Standing, he moved to the refrigerator and pulled the door open. Inside, there were several plates made in preparation for the next day. Alice would be sorely upset if he touched those. Sliding a few dishes to the side, he found stew carefully parceled into several bowls for staff. He grabbed one, along with a spoon from the drawer.

He should heat the stew, but as he bit into a cold potato, it was almost comforting, reminding him of nights beneath the tents when a fire would have drawn too much attention, so they ate their meals cold.

Pain twisted his gut as he swallowed. None of the men he’d shared those meals with would ever eat another cold meal. They didn’t have the luxury of spoons and prepared meals. They wouldn’t crawl into a bed at the end of their night.

He bit into a cold chunk of meat, grinding it between his teeth. It was dead and devoid of the life-giving blood the other half of him craved. The juxtaposition between two warring desires within him, often left a foul taste in his mouth when he indulged one or the other, but tonight, he craved something iniquitous.

It was a reminder that everything about him was wrong.

A startled gasp from the door had him spinning in his seat. Elation soared through him a moment before it was dashed.

A woman stepped into the room. They hadn’t met, but he’d seen her with Sarah the night before and assumed she was the girl’s nanny. It was a change he hadn’t expected to find upon return since Rebecca never let Sarah out of her sight. Or she hadn’t before he left.

“You scared me. Why are you sitting alone in the dark?” she asked, a slight quiver in her voice.

“I apologize. I didn't mean to frighten you. I sometimes forget to turn on the lights.”

It was a weak excuse for his night vision. Had he been in a better state of mind, he might have thought of something more clever to say, but the words were out, and he could see she wasn’t any less unsettled by them.

She flipped on the light. “There. That’s better.”

Remembering his manners, he held out a hand. “I’m Simon.”

She came into the room and took it. “Thea.”

She released his hand and moved past him, opening the refrigerator door and pulling out a bowl of stew.

As she moved around the kitchen preparing to warm her meal, an idea wiggled its way into Simon’s mind. “Thea, could you give Rebecca something for me?”

She stirred her food, nodding. “Do you have it now? I believe she’s still awake. I could take it up after I eat.”

“No, I’ll be right back.”

Abandoning his cold stew, he raced to his room, pulling out paper and pen. He pressed the pen to the page but couldn’t form the letters. Biting off curses, he tried again. The pen snapped in two, and he swore again.

Damn Alexander. He was always a step ahead.

He stood, pushing back his chair, and marched back to the kitchen.

“Nevermind. I couldn’t find it.”

Thea gave him a quizzical look but said nothing as she blew on her spoon, not meeting his gaze as he slid into his chair. She ate quickly and silently before she slipped out, leaving him to his thoughts. There was a loophole somewhere in Alexander’s commands. He just had to find it.

With nothing to do with his time and no one to spend it with, he did something he hadn’t done in more than a year: he thought of Elizabeth and offered her the use of his body for the rest of the night.

Chapter 33

Simon

Three nights had passed, and he was growing restless. Alexander had given him no tasks, knowing it would be all the more torturous when he couldn’t go to her, couldn’t write to her, couldn’t see her.

He paced the long hall lined with windows, hoping for a glimpse of Rebecca, but as with every other night this week, when she moved, he did too. As she breached the treeline, his feet took him in a new direction, forcing him into one of the empty rooms on the first floor.

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