Page 38 of Tales of a Monstrous Heart
Somehow acutely aware of my attention on his bowed head, those dark eyes lifted, meeting my curious gaze.
‘William said you’d been called away.’ I frowned, wondering what on earth the Council could be up to for him to be in such a state.
‘There was a ghoul running rampant in the students’ quarters.’ He bit into his bread with mild annoyance.
My mouth went dry.
Ancestors above.
The ghoul.
As if hearing the treacherous pounding of my heart, he paused his eating and considered me sharply. I quickly returned my attention to my stew, blinking at it like an idiot, trying to think of anything to say to detract from the subject. Internally scolding myself for being so bloody stupid.
‘You don’t seem surprised,’ he observed, a cold calculation in those sharp eyes as he spooned stew from the pot between us into his bowl.
‘I am,’ I half stuttered, trying to swallow despite my dry throat. ‘How terrible.’
I quickly spooned the too-hot stew into my mouth to take away any other chance of speaking.
A ghoul was a vicious foe, no wonder he was in such disarray. Apprehension made every swallow tedious but thankfully my bowl was empty soon enough and I could retreat to the sink.
Muttering something about William needing help – despite the boy’s absence – I instantly busied myself with the dishes, batting away the enchanted dishcloth that tried to do the job for me, trapping it under a stack of plates and focusing intently on scrubbing a stain off an old pan to try and quell my rapid pulse.
I tried to think through any possibility the ghoul could be traced back to me. I hadn’t summoned it, but, I didn’t know if ghouls were protected under the Imprisoning Act. Maybe locking it beneath my bed wasn’t the most humane idea, even if it was a cursed entity.
I was rummaging in the sink for another plate, pulling it out when a hand closed around my own. Scarred fingers with that soft cold bite of magic.
My head darted up, almost catching his chin with how close he was.
‘What were you doing with a ghoul, Kat?’ he asked softly, as if we were sharing secrets.
So close, and with him touching me so casually, I had no room for conspiring with a lie. Wondering if his fingers pressed against my wrist so carefully to test my pulse.
‘It slipped into my bag from the ruins,’ I half whispered conspiratorially, like it had just happened and I needed an accomplice to cover my tracks.
‘When?’ His brow furrowed, leaning closer until there was nothing but that bloody alluring scent of beasam bark that did little to calm me.
‘A … a few months ago.’
He closed his eyes, seeming to struggle to pull in breath. As if he might combust. They opened again, no longer grey but black. As dark and endless as the night. ‘Do I even want to know how you contained it?’
‘In an old sweet tin under my bed.’ I winced. ‘I was going to put it back.’
His face was blank, a stony quality to it I didn’t understand and I worried I’d somehow broken him.
‘I forgot,’ I added gently, hoping he believed me. That I didn’t intend to put the Institute at risk. That it wasn’t some crazed retaliation.
‘You forgot,’ he repeated, that dark annoyance not abating, and I wondered if he was reconsidering the whole bloody partnership.
I bit my lip and watched as his eyes followed the indentation my teeth made in the skin. Something changed in the warm air between us, that strange brush of his magic more prominent.
My heart pounded a little louder in my chest as an unknown sensation knotted in my stomach, as if travelling over a bump in a road.
‘You’re back.’ William’s cheery voice greeted from across the kitchen, making my face heat as I turned to see him grinning in the stairwell’s doorway. He was carrying a box of muddy vegetables from his garden in his harms, but he halted as he took in Emrys’s appearance, worry flickering in his warm gaze. ‘You look like—’
‘Thank you, William,’ Emrys interrupted sharply. Clearly in no mood to be reminded just how he’d gotten in that state. How it was my fault.
The lord didn’t break my gaze. A silence lingered between us as William huffed out a laugh and started prattling on about the stew and the mess Emrys had made of the stack of bread rolls.
