Page 16 of Little Doll

Fane pulled me into his arms, stroking my hair and cooing shhhhh in my ear, desperate to sooth me as some sort of devilish strength built inside me and I thrashed against him.

A maid brought me a new gown to dress me in because of my more voluptuous frame. My wraith like body was gone so none of my clothes were going to fit anymore. I had calmed somewhat, and Fane told me I must dress so that he could escort me to the parlor where Mother and Father and Grandmother Cleo were waiting to speak with me.

“I promise, Little Doll,” he said. “We’ll explain it all to you.”

I glowered at him. “Stop calling me that. I hate it,” I hissed.

He startled, peering at me taken aback. But I doubted he would abide by my demand.

When the young maid scurried nervously into my room, I attempted to dispatch Fane. However, he tried to convince me I must allow him to stay for now. That it wasn’t safe for me to be alone.

“I won’tbealone, you dankish clay-brained giglet!” I clamped my hand over my own mouth as soon as the harsh words flew from it. Fane indeed was damn near insufferable, but he was here trying to help me. It was unfair of me to show him cruelty.

He cocked a small sideways smile and chuckled. “Tsk tsk, Little Doll. Grandmotherwould not appreciate that mouth. And yes, I know she is here. I’m just asking you to trust me. I need to stay this time.”

My attention shifted to the maid. It was a young girl, the one that my brother Draven often followed around like a puppy. But she looked frightened as she brought in a lovely purple dress and laid it on my bed. I tilted my head to the side and gave her a questioning look, but her cheeks reddened, and she dipped her eyes away from mine.

And then it was as though I could hear that blood rushing to her face. It roared like the tide of an entire ocean inside my mind, and I stopped dead, staring at the girl.

My teeth ached.

Fane stepped between me and the girl and smiled down at her cordially. “That will be all, Theodora,” he said. The girl gave him a look that seemed almost… Thankful? Then she scurried out like a little mouse. He escorted her out the door, then turned back and strode to the bed, where he fingered the silks of the dress. “I’ll help you dress, Little Doll.”

Wondering quite frankly, what in the hell was going on, I rolled my eyes and groaned. I no longer cared to battle with him and simply pulled down the straps of the nightgown and let it slide down my body, which was now tight and restless.

It seemed every fiber of my being itched since I thought I heard that girl’s blood.

I felt frustrated and cross.

Fane’s lips parted, and he stared openmouthed at me standing there nude with my chest heaving. This time,hisface burned red, a phenomenon I’d never witnessed before.

I couldn’t be sure what happened, but somehow, I was across the room in the blink of an eye with my fingers wrapped around his neck. My fingers seemed longer; my nails sharp. I could feel his blood pumping in his veins beneath my fingertips, which burned in the places where they connected with his skin. I pressed my mouth against his ear, feeling both full of rage and ravenous in a way that bordered on desperation. “What are you looking at?” I seethed into his ear, my voice low and lethal.

His spine stiffened, and he stared down into my eyes. He seemed to be barely breathing. It was as though he was weighing his next move in a chess game. “Nova,” he said softly. “Just let me help you get dressed and we will join the family in the parlor.” Never had he spoken so softly and tenderly to me.

It was almost enough to make me regret imagining ripping out his jugular with my teeth.

Soon I had slid my body into the luxurious fabric of the dress and stood squirming as he pulled the laces of my corset tight. It accentuatedmy tiny waist and swollen bosoms. I wished I could look in the mirror.

But, although I was ready to murder my brother, I wasn’t ready to face the horror in the mirror again anytime soon.

He led me through the doorway of my stone room. I had been expecting to step into some stone tower stairway I had not even known existed. But as soon as we stepped through the door, I found us standing in the hallway outside the grand foyer of the ground floor of Blackmoth House. I gasped and spun around, only to find the door we’d just come through in fact led into the dining room, not a windowless stone tower.

My head spun and a dark throbbing pain began deep behind my eyes.

“Fane, what just…”

My sentence drifted off as he led me into the parlor. Outside the tall windows, pitch darkness cloaked the world. A starless, moonless night sprawled outside over the misty garden. Father paced in front of a crackling fire in the fireplace. Grandmother Cleo sat on the sofa holding Mother’s hand. And Mother sat with her head bowed, weeping softly.

It was almost as though I had never seen hernotcrying. It was almost as though she thoughtshewas the one who’d just gone through miserable pain and confronting a terrifying monster in the mirror. Either something was very wrong with my body…

Or something was very wrong with my mind.

It wasn’t abouther.

“Alright, enough with the crying!” I snarled. Everyone in the room snapped their attention to me. Mother leaped from her seat and raced to me, throwing her arms around me. A tiny woman, I dwarfed her. My body trembled in the embrace I would’ve a short time ago found comforting and loving. I wanted to wrap my arms around her, but for the life of me, I couldn’t seem to will my body to do it.

I found my teeth hurting once again. “Does someone want to tell me what the hell is going on?” I seethed while clenching them so hard they felt as though they might break.

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