Page 102 of Tales of a Monstrous Heart
‘That’s pretty.’ I felt the voyav’s finger slide along the collar of my dress, catching the chain of the wishing stone hidden deep in my corset.
I slapped their hand away, or attempted to. They pulled it back faster than I anticipated. ‘Keep your hands to yourself.’
‘You know you shouldn’t take gifts from dark beings,’ they taunted darkly.
‘At this point I’ll take all the protection I can get,’ I countered sharply, watching their grin turn wicked. Impressed. ‘What happened at the ruins?’
Thean rocked back on their heels, waving a servant over to present them with a glass of wine. ‘Don’t remind me, my ears are still ringing from the lecture.’
‘Did you find the creature?’
They shook their head, unimpressed with their new wine, as the servant hurried away. ‘No, Emrys said something about needing a powerful cleansing charm. I became bored and stopped listening.’
I frowned. ‘There was something there.’ I knew there was. ‘It vanished as quickly as it came. When Emrys arrived, it was gone.’
‘Of course. It probably didn’t like the competition.’ The voyav smirked.
‘Why would a lord have such a creature dwelling on his lands?’ One that old and made of fear.
‘You expect me to tell the truth?’ They considered me carefully, amber eyes sharp.
‘You’re quite happy to let a grief-stricken old man’s house fall down around him, so you clearly have no love for the lords here. Therefore, I don’t see the harm in you giving the answer to me,’ I countered.
‘Clever girl,’ they half purred. ‘Creatures with that much power are born, not cast. Which means somebody has been performing verynaughtyspells.’
‘For what purpose?’ I didn’t know spells powerful enough to awaken such a darkness. Nobody’s greed could be that vile, could it?
‘The desperate only need a meagre one,’ Thean replied dryly, just as a man and his wife passed in their finery, nodding to the voyav in greeting. Obviously seeing whatever they were projecting for them to see.
It reminded me that everything in this world held a hint of a lie, a trick and a game. Everything was struggling to survive, and some did it more wickedly than others.
‘Do you think this house is strange?’ I asked as another wave of unease came over me, causing me to look behind me. Yet, I found nothing there.
‘Everything about mortals is strange,’ Thean said. ‘However, I will say just how stunning you look, Kat.’ They smiled, wicked fangs visible as that dark auburn hair curled onto their brow, amber eyes glinting with mischief. ‘When you don’t frown so much, you’re quite beautiful.’
‘If you’re trying to seduce me, you’re terrible at it,’ I replied dryly.
They chuckled softly, tracing the summoning mark inked on the side of their neck, deep in thought. ‘Darling, you’re not my type.’
‘In full possession of my senses?’
‘Tall,’ they replied wryly, and perhaps it was the humour of the response, or the impending sense of doom, but I laughed, startling both Thean and myself.
‘I was being serious.’ They sounded affronted. ‘Now, your little maid on the other hand …’
‘She’s not my maid,’ I countered. Shame washed over me that anyone ever had cause to think that Alma was.
‘You seem to have found unpleasant company, Miss Woodrow.’ The dark drawl of Emrys’s voice brushed my ear as he came to my side. His handsome face was one of indifference as he took in Thean.
‘Charming, my lord.’ Thean winked.
With Emrys so close, all I could remember was our proximity in the study. The warm solid nature of him. The feel of his cheek beneath my lips. The drag of his rough, callous hands down my throat.
‘D-did you discover anything from the guests?’ I flushed at my own traitorous thoughts.
Emrys’s attention dropped to me, lingering at the side of my head where Alma had arranged the flowers behind my ear, before he finally met my eyes.
‘Nothing. Everyone appears aggressively tight lipped.’ He reached out to take two glasses from one of the passing servants, handing one to me.
