Page 61 of Reflections of Silence

“Yes. I suspect they will.”

Charleton nodded again, taking my completed invitations away. I watched him leave, foreboding roiling in my belly. I hadn’t been able to settle since we’d returned from the bayou, except for those few stolen moments in Sebastian’s arms.

The valet had indeed outdone himself in service to his master. And to me, I supposed. Charleton organized the staff, telling them what was coming and what we expected of them all, in terms of service. I suspected this ball would be less like any other the area had seen—if the fledgling town had even held one before.

I sank back in the bath, letting the water take my weight and my muscles uncoil themselves from the knots my shoulders had wound themselves into. Leaning over the desk writing out adverts and invitations hadn’t been good for my posture. I stretched out, learning to paddle across the pool on my own. In a different place the skill might have made me outcast or worse asa witch, but drifting in the pool was one of the activities I looked forward to once the sun rose, and Sebastian retreated from the day.

But it wasn’t the same without him during the day—being here with him had become my peace, my sanctuary. As it had been his for the years here, I suspected. I wondered what he had done in France to relax? I needed to remember to ask him.

He’d had some errand to do during his waking hours, mumbling something that sounded rather likeDolionandwolves, launching himself from the second story balcony to land onto the drive with barely a crunch of gravel. He disappeared into the garden as a blur—I was still getting my mind around who he was and how his body worked.Lived.

I frowned, searching for him; usually, I could still feel him in my mind, but perhaps he didn’t want me listening in on his conversations with Granny Smythe and her pack. The wolves might have let us go to her, but I got the feeling we weren’t particularly welcome to drop by at any random time.

I leaned back, letting my hair trail in the water, and closed my eyes. In the semi-darkness of the pool-cave, I was able to let go.

Do you miss him, Gisella?

I shot upright, water streaming from my arms. Wet hair hung in a long stream down my back.

“Amy?” I whispered with no small dose of horror, her name echoing across the ripples in the pool. “How are you in my head?”

Inside, I screamed, and I supposed she could hear that, too. But this was my private place, with Sebastian. Where we rediscovered each other, after his absence and my…disobedience.

The word sat poorly in my mouth, but I considered it, turning the thought over. But he demanded it, and I gave to him freely, submitting to his will, enjoying it.

If I asked something of him, would I wanthisobedience? According to our current laws—even the unfortunate ones New Orleans inherited from France—I had no right to such a thought. But I suspected Sebastian, having experienced so much in his overly long life, was different.

Was I being too outlandish, too modern in my thoughts?

Not to me…Gella. Is that what he calls you? How quaint.

“Get out,” I whispered, my senses hyperalert. I turned in circles, but she wasn’t in the room with me.

But she had taken up residence in my head without my permission.

I wasn’t sure what was worse. Would I ever be able to sleep without either of them talking inside my mind, or keep my secrets?Hissecrets?

She laughed, a brittle thing, her sarcasm bouncing off the walls encasing my mind, though she had purred my name a moment before, like a lover.

You’d know something of that by now, surely, about your husband? You were so beautifully naive.

“GetOUT!” I screamed, my vocal cords straining with the effort, breaking at the end. “You’re never welcome here. Anitta.” I used the name Sebastian had given me, hoping it would banish her behind a door of her own making.

Her mocking laugh tinkled in my head.

No such luck.

He did do the thing properly, didn’t he? Well, I’m sure I’ll be back.

I blinked, and my mind was my own again. Her presence had vanished with the last, faint echoes of my screams.

I didn’t tell Sebastian about Amy’s intrusion into my waking hours. I couldn’t. Everything we planned was based on a being, an entity, who he seemed to understand. I was the weak link, the mortal amongst monsters.Monsters who love.I could muse the point all day, but it wouldn't get anything constructive done.

Bolts of fabric in several shades of complementing blues and one horrible mustard-yellow lay across my lap. I fingered one of deepest blue while Minette removed the others, replacing them with a cream lace and a silver trim ribbon. I smiled, discarding the lace for the first time in my life, and handed the ribbon back to her.

“What style would you like, madame?”

I shot her a hard look. She held my eye before giggles erupted from her lips. She was an infectious creature, and soon my sides ached. I pressed a hand to my stomach, waving her away as shadows lengthened across the floor. Sebastian opted to sleep in the prelude to the ball. Whether to renew his strength or for the simple solitude to meditate, it was unclear.

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