Page 48 of Anorthic Anarchy

I’m practically skipping around the furniture as I slink downstairs through the conservatory. When I pass the pipe organ, I let my hand caress the ivory keys for a moment, sad it’s been so long since I’ve played. But I find myself wanting to play with something else now.

Rows of high shelves crammed with dusty tomes fill the tight room. House staff have lit the tall fireplace, making it cozier than it normally is in the Strauss family library. A shuffling sound rings down from the second story. The brass railing lingers with the cold that lurks in this part of the manor.

In front of a large architectural table overflowing with ancient scrolls sits my little star. Looking every bit the angel sheis as the afternoon light streams in from the Palladian window behind her. Her golden hair glows like a halo and, if I didn’t know the shadowy curtains danced whenever the drafts hit, I’d think they were her fluttering wings.

So engrossed in her studies, she barely heeds my approach. Her fingers work over a blank sheet of paper as she sketches something that appears to be a rugged cabin. The land surrounding the place looks lush with flowers and plants, mountains lining the background. A covered porch surrounds the cottage and ferns dangle from the rustic rafter.

She doesn’t move until I poke her ribs with an extended digit. Like I’ve punched her lung, a terrified scream erupts from her chest as she curls in on herself. When she realizes it’s me, she picks up a tube of rolled paper and smacks my stomach with it while I roar out a laugh.

“Why did youdothat? This place is haunting enough!”

Between sips of air, I manage to say, “I wasn’t trying to be sneaky.”

When I glance down at her studies, I notice some Belizean works among her drawings, as expected. Then her hands dart to fold up the other pages as she stammers. “Um, just looking at some stuff.”

I stop her, snatching her wrist. “Wait.” My heart races at what I think she had been looking at. “Let me see.” She’s reluctant to let the paper go, but I shove my body next to her and unravel it from her fingers. Spreading it out on the table, I give her a poignant look.

Her voice shakes slightly. “I wanted to know…about Gnarled Pine Hollow. About where I came from and where, uh,youcame from.”

I consider her for a moment, then hook a finger underneath her chin so she has to look at me. Her plush pink lips part with a breath as I do. “We were formed by the decay of evil men. Rottook root in this town until its roads were paved with a reckless desire formore. Cupidity led to covetousness and corruption. Andyou, the snake, andI,the bull, stand here today, a result of the wanton war for power.”

Her little brow pinches. She’s quiet, but there’s so many words plastered on her forehead I want to shake her to get them out. The interest in invading her mind is taking over mine.

With a little rub against the north of the paper, she ponders aloud. “The organization that my brother worked for…that myfamilyworked for… They weren’t good people.”

“No.”

Not even with a flutter, her blue eyes capture me in a gaze so intense, I hold my breath. “And neither were yours.”

“No. And I’m not either.”

“But you don’t want to take over.”

My jaw tightens. Smooth, young skin greets my hands when I hold her face. Our chests almost touch, the closeness of her body surrounding me like a lullaby. “Not anymore. I only want one thing.”

Reverently, she whispers, as if she already knows the answer. “And what is that?”

“Anarchy.”

She takes a step back from me and scratches her head. “But why? And…how?”

“Because my lust for vengeance vies for vitality and will not sate until devastation envelops all the villains.”

It takes a long time, but she blinks. Twice. “I don’t understand. This is for revenge? Against who? And you didn’t say how.”

“It’s ‘whom.’ Move over.”

Utter confusion crosses her face, but I pick up her little body, then take her spot on the stool. Placing her on my lap, I wrap my arms around her and point at the map. “Your people onceruled all of this, just like mine. Yours would not cooperate with the powers that be and so the Strauss family was sent to destroy your name. Except your great-great-grandparents got away. This family and this one and this one…they all serve the unseen forces Clavius and Herodius. They just don’t know. To ruin their hold on this city, I’m going to take it from them. Because of what they took from me.”

“Why don’t we just tell the other families that those organizations are bad people?”

Pressing my forehead to her back, a smile cuts my lips. Warmth fills my chest, and I squeeze her tighter to me. I think, in just one naïve question, my wife has become my favorite person.

And I don’t like people.

“My precious angel. No one would believe me.”

Her hair tickles my nose as she whips her head to the side. “Well, I’ll tell them. Wyatt would have wanted me to, I’m sure.”

---