Page 59 of Tales of a Monstrous Heart
Perhaps I had just missed Emrys after all. Mr Thrombi was still unconscious, but his fever had come back. Perplexed, I mixed up a stronger dose of the treatment. Waiting only a moment to see it finally work, the man pulling in an almost relieved breath.
I checked his bandages and saw that he’d been bathed, and the sheets changed, but his skin was oddly cold, strange grey marks had appeared beneath the flesh close to the wound, as if someone had run coal-covered fingers across his pale flesh.
I needed Emrys. This was his area of expertise, after all.
Turning on my heel I opened the healing door, stepping through and raising my foot to meet with the worn wooden floor of the study.
Instead, my boot met with an elaborate rug and I was enveloped by the comforting scent of beasam bark. A warmdampness lingered in the air, as if someone had just finished having a bath.
My head shot up to see a room similar to my own, only far more worn and in disarray. Dark, masculine furniture accented with thick, navy velvet, with fixtures carved to show mythical beasts in battle rather than wildwoods and ancient plants.
Emrys was standing by a large window as the warm morning light spilled over him, catching on the toned contours of his chest and the webbing of silver scars that stretched across his broad shoulders and down his side as he pulled a shirt over his muscular back, the cotton sticking to his still-damp skin. The early-morning light brushed over the streaks of scarring across his chest and throat, tracing a path down his abdomen. Some curving around the indentations of his muscles, others cutting harshly through them. A strange map that went right down to the waistband of his half-unbuttoned trousers and probably further.
A treacherous gasp slipped from my lips, sounding more like a wanton cry in the stillness of the room.
He turned towards the sound the same moment I tried to dart back out the door, only to trip over my own feet, tumbling out into the hallway, crashing into the opposite wall. An involuntary shriek left my lips as cupboards in the hallway rattled with the house’s laughter.
‘Kat?’ Emrys voice was gruff, caught somewhere between confusion and amusement.
A moment earlier and I could have caught him bathing or, worse, naked. My cheeks flamed at the thought as I grasped foolishly for words, rolling over to get my knees beneath me as I continued to be tangled in my own blasted skirts.
‘I … I was coming to find you.’ I pushed stray strands of hair behind my ears as I looked up to see him filling his bedroom doorway, his shirt still mercilessly open.
‘The house likes to play tricks.’ He crouched before me, hand extended to help me up. Wet hair falling across his forehead, his eyes soft grey, a wicked grin on his lips making him appear almost boyish.
‘I didn’t know … I wouldn’t have …’ A foolish tangled mess of words fell from my lips, cheeks burning. ‘I’m sorry. I was thinking about—’
You.Thankfully I swallowed that word down to avoid any further mortification.
‘I’ve had worse surprises,’ he commented, taking my hand and pulling me up effortlessly. ‘Releasing beasts from books and now charging into bedchambers. Maybe you’re more dangerous than I first thought.’
The casual playfulness of him in undress stunned me, and I seemed unable to release his hand as I pondered if I’d hit my head.
‘I should be more cautious. There are terrible stories of fates suffered by those who fall victim to fey charms.’ The wickedness in his gaze was something I had to be imagining.
‘They usually exclude Kysillians,’ I replied dryly. Most deeming Kysillians to be too brutish to have any seductive qualities.
‘More fool them,’ he muttered. ‘What seems to be the problem the house thinks needs my attention so intensely?’
‘Mr Thrombi is getting worse. I couldn’t understand the new markings that—’
‘New markings?’ He frowned, something about the severity of the words reminding him of his current state of undress. He buttoned up his shirt and ran a worried hand through his hair.
‘Yes, there are—’ Before I could finish, a ringing started that made Emrys go completely still. His eyes darkening like ink spilling across fresh parchment.
‘Those are the study warning bells,’ he said.
Chapter Nineteen
If I was in any doubt of Emrys’s status as a renowned fighter in the wars, they were all erased as he bolted down the hallway, giving me no choice but to run after him. I lifted my skirts to an inappropriate height, catching up with him just as he jumped the banister of the main staircase, landing with the grace of a cat on the steps below.
Despite my natural urge to copy him, I flew down the stairs instead, gripping onto the banister and using it to launch myself down the hallway after him.
Despite my Kysillian blood, he was somehow faster. A crash and thud echoed down the narrow corridor, followed by a cry of alarm as the bells continued to chime. The repetitive slamming sound of a door guiding me until I turned the final corner to see the study doors opening and closing erratically.
Emrys skidded to a halt before me, flinging his arm out to brace it on the wood panelling, blocking my path as I ran into his forearm, almost winding myself where it caught my ribs. I held onto his shoulder and tried to catch my breath.
Then William was flung out through the study doorway, crashing into the wood panelling just in front of us before slumping painfully to the tiled floor.
