Page 18 of Tales of a Monstrous Heart
‘I see,’ was all he said, a tension in his jaw, something else he wished to say lingering in his eyes before he turned back to that fire.
With that final dismissal, I left the room. Hoping I could think of something to calm the uneasy pounding of my heart before I got back into bed.
I see.Those two simple words chased me up the stairs and back to my room. Along with the fear that he did. That he saw too much. If that had been the first lesson in our mage partnership, I wondered how peculiar the others were going to be.
Chapter Six
There was a yowling in my dreams. Like banshee’s howling through the night, hunting for souls. Shadowy robes swirling like storm winds, long, sharp, bony fingers glistening in the moonlight with the blood of a fresh kill. Then came the stab of something biting into my chest. A pressing weight that pulled me slowly back to consciousness.
I opened my eyes, not to the milky eyes of a banshee, but those of a cat. The yowling didn’t stop.
Alma screeched into my face, her tiny white paws a dead weight, claws cutting through the thick duvet to poke into my skin.
‘Ow !’ I half groaned, trying to roll her off, but those sharp canines nipped at my swatting hands.
‘Alma!’ I snapped, but her urgency didn’t stop and it took one look at the clock to realise why.
I was late.
‘Bollocks !’ I kicked off the covers, sending Alma flying with the cushions as I darted out of bed, my feet sliding on my loose sketches from where my art folder had dropped to the floor. A reminder of the mysterious Lord Blackthorn who gave me no answers, just more questions.
Ineveroverslept. It was an impossibility considering the saint bells went off every morning at dawn in the Institutefor prayers. Normally, I’d be thankful for Lord Blackthorn’s apparent heathen ways, but I could have used the cursed bells today of all days.
I hurried to the closet, finding my only remaining good dress. Slate grey with a severe black lace collar and cuffs. I stuffed myself into it, messing up my charm three times to lace the thing. It ended up far too tight, but I’d rather suffocate slowly than make myself any later. I twisted my braid up onto the crown of my head and pinned it in place, ignoring the hair that my restless sleep had allowed to slip free.
Alma’s tail thrashed with annoyance as she pawed at the creased hem of the skirts, but I shooed her out the way, grabbed my bag and rushed for the door. I doubted the Council cared much about a creased hem considering they probably wanted to try me for attempted murder.
After almost tripping over the breakfast tray that had been left outside my door, I rushed down the stairs, almost falling off the last step as I caught sight of the stern form of Lord Blackthorn waiting in the entryway, head bowed in contemplation as William was listing off different types of soil with enthusiasm.
William was in a simple white shirt rolled up to the elbows, dirt clinging to his freckled forearms and smeared all over the stained, brown work apron he wore.
Emrys was an imposing figure in the warm morning light, wearing a sharply tailored black coat and trousers, cut perfectly to his commanding form. The only colour coming from his deep navy waistcoat and the gleam of a silver chain from his pocket watch.
It appeared I hadn’t imagined the unnerving handsomeness of him, then.
Without warning, and clearly impatient with my tarrying, the step beneath my feet tipped forward, sending me stumbling across the entryway. The clatter of my arrival caught their attention.
I straightened quickly, looking back at the step, only to see it was straight once more.
Bloody mysterious lords and cursed houses.
‘Good morning, Kat.’ William’s greeting grin was big enough to show his dimples as he tried to dust some of the dirt off his apron.
‘Morning, William.’ I smiled back, making sure my Kysillian ears were obscured by my hair as I met the lord’s assessing gaze.
‘Emrys.’ I nodded in greeting or in challenge, I hadn’t quite decided yet.
Those strange grey eyes were focused not on me, but on that bottom step behind me, considering something before they drifted to me almost reluctantly.
A tension in the harsh line of his jaw made me bristle for a reprimand, but he simply turned back to William.
‘I’ll take a look when we return, William.’ Emrys nodded to the boy.
‘Of course.’ William rocked back on his heels, digging his hands into his apron pocket. ‘I hope it goes well.’
I didn’t think William realised just how much hope I needed. Whatever charitable deed Blackthorn was trying to accomplish by having me here was about to bite us both sharply on the backside. The Council didn’t like a challenge, especially where it concerned me.
I wasn’t given the chance to dwell on that too long as Blackthorn made his way down the corridor, leaving me no choice but to follow. I struggled to keep pace as he moved through the arched hallways. Trinkets and paintings catchingmy eye and tiny stone gargoyles looming down from their small pedestals high above. Their curiosity wicked as we turned another corner and through a grand dark, wooden archway into another room.
