Page 56 of What Is Dark Within Me

“Really?” Louisa said, with obvious relief. “I don’t mean to sound so desperate, but the prognosis was—well, I suppose that doesn’t matter now. I’ll wait for you in the night garden.” She smiled and kissed his cheek. “Wasn’t there a loose dog? What will I do if it attacks me in the dark?”

“Do as any witch would. Give it a scolding and send it on its way home. Go on, dear. I’ll be right behind you.

The woman left the room with a last look back, and Aleja wanted to scream at her to run beyond the iron gates of this place and never return, no matter how tantalizing the doctor’s offer sounded. Violet had also fallen for this man’s crafted concern and now she was someplace cold and dark, surrounded by snow and bones.

She was dimly aware of Nicolas’s hand pressed against her stomach, keeping her back. The doctor watched Louisa close the door before turning back to the room. If she had questions about Violet being the first desperate woman who’d come to him, they’d been answered. This man’s act was too confident, too easy, and too practiced.

James crossed his arms. “You’re clever thieves, I’ll give you that. Fey, I’d wager. Few else could get past my wards. What is it you’re after?”

Aleja nearly charged forward, but Nicolas shook his head and together, they watched James circle the writing desk until he reached the display case with the opalescent sickle inside. “Is it the Mourner’s Blade? A fine object. You wouldn’t be the first to try to steal it.”

The doctor briefly turned away from them to tap at the display case, and Nicolas took the chance to whisper. “This is no Thierry Laurent. Stay silent. Stay hidden, no matter what he says.”

Nicolas’s shadow filled the room like two great black wings spreading across the sky. The lights flickered, then turned a deep red. Even she shrank back from the force of his presence.

James stood before the open case, staring calmly at the newly appeared Otherlander. He abandoned his quest for the sickle and crossed his arms as he stared at Nicolas with wary bemusement. “I can’t recall ever lighting the black candle,” he finally said, “Though I’m sure a few of my guests have tried once or twice. Are you certain you’re not mistaken, Prince of Shadows?”

Nicolas kept silent as he took a few steps forward. The doctor’s face remained impassive, but Aleja caught the way his eyes darted to the closed door, as if he was charting out the best escape path. You should be scared, you little creep,she thought.

The Knowing One’s voice rumbled out like a thunderstorm. There was the tinkle of bones against glass, and she knew Nicolas had gestured to the Unholy Relic around his neck. “I’m never mistaken, James. I find it ironic you would accuse me of thievery.”

“I came into possession of the relic through a fair deal,” James said. “I recently lent it to someone. If they absconded with the object and sold it, they had no right to.”

Bad move, Aleja thought. What the hell was this guy playing at? Even her family, who’d dealt with the Knowing One their entire lives, had always taught her to be afraid of him, lest they end up a sacrifice. Ask him about Violet, she wanted to snap. She hadn’t come here to cower in the corner while these two guys snarked at each other about a finger bone.

“Tell me who you purchased it from, and I’ll allow you to leave this room with your life,” Nicolas said.

A fleeting smile passed across James’s face. “I have no bargain with you, Knowing One. There are limitations to your power, as with any Otherlander.Couldyou kill me should I choose to stroll from this room without answering your question?”

The black wings of Nicolas’s shadow spread further, and it felt as if there was nothing in the room but him and the singular glow of the desk lamp. “Would you like to find out?”

“Enough of this,” Aleja snapped.

The doctor jumped, rattling the display case. She ignored the look Nicolas shot her—something between annoyance and surprise. “You gave that relic to a cancer patient named Violet Timmons. You’re going to tell me where she isnow, or it won’t be the Knowing One you have to worry about.”

It was an empty threat, but her dress seemed to respond. The glimmers of red and gold in the fabric flared to life, and when she stepped forward from the darkness, it felt as if she were surrounded by flames.

“Well?” Nicolas said, turning back. “You heard her, doctor. Violet Timmons?”

“I have a lot of patients. I don’t recall that name,” James told them, shifting his weight.

“Liar. You gave her those bones to lure her somewhere, like you were trying to do to that poor woman just now. Where are you sending them?” Aleja did her best to keep her voice low, but that was impossible when it felt like there was a slow explosion growing in her stomach.

James didn’t flinch as she pushed past Nicolas. “Whatever you believe, you are mistaken,” he said, as Aleja approached close enough to catch a whiff of his expensive cologne.

“Talk. We’re not leaving until you tell me where Violet is.”

The doctor’s pale blue eyes bore into hers. She couldhearthe tension in his muscles, like she was stretching a rubber band too close to her ear. “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know if he leaves. He is a danger to those women.”

“Not a chance,” Nicolas scoffed.

Aleja turned to him. “Please. We’ve come so far.”

“This man could very well be a murderer—”

“Nicolas,” she said, not missing the way James’s eyes darted between them.

The Knowing One’s shadows partially obscured his face, allowing his silver eyes to glow like warning beacons when he addressed James again. “I won’t be far. I will know if you touch her, and I will make you pay for it.”

---