Page 26 of The Umbra King

“Nina,” he called out. “Fresh meat!”

This time she did glare, and to her surprise, he smirked. A girl who looked to be a couple of years older than Rory stepped out of a closet and frowned. “Good. Staying up late for her was not on my agenda.”

She was beautiful, with curves that would make Rory jealous if she weren’t in prison, and smooth skin the color of Lenora’s porcelain cats she displayed in her room. Nina eyed Rory in cold assessment, and her scowl deepened.

“If it isn’t the famous Butcher.” The repulsion was clear in her voice, and Rory steeled her spine. Nina stepped back into the closet and grabbed a bucket full of cleaning supplies.

Sam turned to Rory. “Remember what I said about transgressions,” he warned before turning on his heel and leaving her alone with the sour woman.

“What color is your hair?” Rory asked, without thinking. It was a shade she did not see often.

Nina’s face screwed up. “It’s red. Did they not teach you colors in school?” Rory itched to slap her, but before she could snap back, the bucket of supplies was thrust into her hands. “I hope you like scrubbing grease.” She tilted her head. “You do know what an oven is, don’t you?”

Ignoring Nina’s jab, Rory laughed under her breath at the cliché of being assigned the grunt work after all. “Where will I be starting?”

A cruel smile spread across Nina’s face. “Follow me.”

The woman led her through a series of kitchens, pointing out various ovens and stoves.Why did they need so many kitchens?Rory thought to herself. Seemed like overkill.

“Do not stop until they are spotless,” Nina sang before leaving.

Rory bent in front of the first oven, exhaustion making her body groan. Her eyes crossed at the sheer amount of grime coating the metal. It was obvious they had not been cleaned in some time.

Her mother kept their kitchen appliances immaculate, passing the habit down to Rory, and because of this, they were easy to clean. The thought made her sit back on her bottom, and the cool stone soaked through her dress.

For the first time since being arrested, she cried.

Her hands covered her face as pictures of her mother assaulted her. Her bright smile on good days, her dwindling state of mind, and her barrage of questions over breakfast. Rory would never get to laugh at her mother’s silly questions again.

As a sob ripped from her chest, a warm, weathered voice filled the room. “You don’t seem the type to cry over a little grease.”

She lifted her head, and a man who looked to be roughly one-hundred and twenty years old stood across the room with his hands in his pockets. She searched his face for the usual taint of disdain but found none.

A sharp retort was on the tip of her tongue, but something made her swallow it. “My mother is aSibyl, and I was her only caregiver.” She didn’t know why she told him.

Understanding filled his eyes, followed by pity. “Do you have any other family to care for her?”

“No,” she replied, anger filling her voice. “My sister was murdered, and my parents divorced when my mother’s powers manifested. My father will step up, but she wouldn’t want him to.” Her answer brought on a fresh wave of tears.

“I heard you’re sentenced to half a millennium.” He whistled. “But not hell.”

She hardened her gaze and waited for the blow. “Go on, then. Call me whatever you’d like.”

The man shook his head. “The Scales of Justice is never wrong. If she sent you here, I suspect there’s a reason.”

Rory looked down, not wanting to meet his eyes as shame heated her skin. “I am a monster,” she rasped. “I did everything they said.”

He nodded. “I’m sure you had your reasons.” Before he turned to leave, he said one last thing, “Dry your tears or they will eat you alive. Kitchen staff will be here in an hour.”

Dragging her hands across her face, she nodded, but before she could thank him, he disappeared. Sighing, she climbed to her knees and started to scrub, realizing she hadn’t asked the man his name.

Caius lingeredoutside the doorway to the kitchens, cloaked in shadows. He told himself he came for his usual late night sweets, but he knew it was a lie. His curiosity about Aurora Raven led him here against his own protests.

After overhearing her conversation with Max, a man convicted of breaking his neighbor’s legs with a shovel for disrespecting his wife, Caius stopped himself from entering the room.

The woman wept over her mother, concern and regret lacing her every word, but those were traits black souls did not possess.Unless she’s acting.Admitting to her crimes so freely suggested she was exactly what he thought her to be. Black inside, no matter how beautiful on the outside.

It was obvious his sister knew this woman would tempt him because physically, Aurora was everything he sought in a partner when he could still move freely between the two realms.

---