Page 66 of Changeling
“What if it isn’t?”
On cue, Liv sweeps through the back door, bringing a wave of power with her that rolls from the top of my head to my toenails. She brushes Clara and me behind her as she strides to the door. “Let’s see who disturbs our happy little reunion at this hour, shall we?”
At least she doesn’t seem worried. I suppose you wouldn’t be with as much clout as she possesses. Besides, Remy and Laurence are at the ready downstairs.
We make our way through to the front, where the knocking sounds again. Clara squeezes my hand. Without hesitating, Liv opens the door.
“Greetings, vampire,” says Liv. “What business have you here?”
A familiar figure stands at the threshold, his red-and-gold robes dull but recognizable in the low light. My stomach flips with excitement.
He bows his dark head. “Livia of Rome, I presume. Haci Ivazzade Pasha of Bettina’s line, here to deliver a message and seek shelter for the day.”
“Ivaz!” I squeal. Stars, it’s good to see a friend.
He sends me a smile. “Hello, Sebastian. I’m glad to see you’re faring well.”
Liv makes way for him to enter. “Welcome, traveler. What news have you brought us?”
Ivaz pulls a letter from his silks. “A letter for Sebastian from Dominus Drusus of Pest.”
My heart drums against my ribs. Heat flames my neck and face. My hand trembles as I take the precious letter between my fingers. Maybe this one is different. If Ivaz has delivered it personally, maybe this one is special. Hope rises foolishly.
“Oh my,” says Liv, observing my embarrassingly obvious reaction, “I see it’s of importance to you, my dear. Shall I take Ivaz below so that you may read in private?”
“You don’t have to.”
Her chuckle is amused but also warm. “I think I do. Come this way, Ivaz, and I shall introduce you to my Clara and the others below. You can fill us in on the trouble Bettina has gotten herself into with the Báthory woman.”
Ivaz gives me a pat on the shoulder in passing. “Dominus misses you, Sebastian. He needs you. And if he doesn’t admit as much in that letter of his, you come to me, and I’ll tell you everything.”
Hope soars. “Really?”
“Indeed.”
They leave me once more by myself in the quiet of the little bookstore. I curl up in a plush chair in the corner and slide a candle closer.
The letter feels fragile in my hands. Just a bit of folded cream parchment, marked by a silver-gray wax seal with an embellishedDpressed in the center. I run my finger over the hardened wax and picture him sitting at his neat desk, marking this letter with his stamp.
I’m almost afraid to open it. What if it’s more ramblings about the weather? If I get one more line about the clouds or the sun or the rain, I might cry. Of course he won’t tell me what I really want to hear. If that were true, if he missed me, if he wants me back, surely he’d have said so before now. Wouldn’t he?
But Ivaz had said as much.
And I want Dominus so badly my heart aches.
Carefully, I break the seal and unfold the parchment. His delicate, tidy handwriting fills the entire page. A first. Butterflies flap in my belly.
Please, please, please.
CHAPTER19
Dominus
My boots crunchthrough a thin layer of snowfall as I stomp uphill toward the farmhouse of my new acquaintances, the Toth family, Fulop, Mira, and their little ones. I could have ridden a horse, but Rizpah insisted the fresh air and hike would do me good. So with a wooden pole balanced over my shoulders and slop buckets dangling from either end, I trudge farther from Pest into the countryside.
It’s a cloudy day. The sun, not that I can see it, sets early this time of year, and I must hurry if I want to reach the farm before dark.
After Ivaz set off for The Dozen last month, I decided I had to stop wallowing. If Sebastian does choose to come back to me, the least I owe him is to be someone worth coming back for, not a shell of a man who refuses to eat or take care of himself.
