Page 27 of Stitched Up in You
Itighten my hands in my lap and pinch my lips together, refusing to snap back. The limo may be huge but so is he, and no way am I getting into a spat with him while in a moving vehicle. I’ll take my chances after we get to this manor place he mentioned.
Something tells me it’s better to keep my mouth shut right now, the lines of Frank’s shoulders are lined with tension, his hands the size of dinner plates fisted in his lap.
Well, I wanted to piss him off. Looks like mission accomplished because Frank Stein is acting like a tiger in a cage, like one I'd seen at a circus that came traveling through the city once and Granddad took me to see. He stares blankly ahead, barely moving, but every time I make even the smallest of movements, he seems to know about it, those gray eyes of his pinning me.
I don’t try to make small talk and instead look outside the window and watch the backdrop change from busy city streets to remote back alleyways and clear roads. My brow puckers into a slight frown at how it doesn’t take long before the sidewalks turn to fresh green grass and lush trees dot the drive.
I sit up a little straighter to look out at the scenery and find myself in what seems like a different planet. The sight of fields and trees isn’t what surprises me though, it’s because we only left the city mere minutes ago.
Faster than I can believe possible, the car comes to a stop at a large concrete wall, so tall I wonder at what’s on the inside. I freeze in place when a set of armed guards seemingly come out of nowhere and start walking around the car.
My heart leaps in my throat when my gaze clashes with Frank’s, his demeanor entirely different than it was two days ago. If I thought he was trying to intimidate me before, I was mistaken. Because when he takes advantage of the parked vehicle to swap seats next to me, I feel very much like a rabbit and unlike the fox I thought I was.
He says nothing as the car pulls away and I choose to ignore him, my face plastered to the window to see where the fresh hell he has taken me. My jaw drops, unhinging when I get a look at the large mansion coming into view. Multiple turrets line the top, and a big balcony can be seen on one side with the other covered in ivy, its thick greenery creeping along the gray slate of the roof. The car pulls into the circular driveway, and I can just make out a big willow tree in the distance and a rectangular pond in front, complete with geese.
What in the Pride and Prejudice is this place?
“Welcome to my home, or should I say, your new prison,wife,” he says, answering the question before I can ask.
My head whips around to him at the words, the underlying threat in them making me shiver for more reasons than one as I stare at him from across the limo, but I suppose this leaves the guessing out of it. Frank Stein has brought me to his house.
I quirk a brow, secretly elated. “Oh, honey bunches, you just signed up for your very own nightmare.”
FRANK N. STEIN
I step out of the car and breathe in the fresh air, letting my lungs inflate fully for the first time in what seems like weeks since leaving for the city while glancing up at the large house. For once, the peace that never fails to calm me is absent in the one place I can always count on it to be.
Stein Manor was the first purchase I made after seeking refuge from New Orleans, and I have cultivated much of its estate with my own hands.
“Let me go!” she shrieks, making the sound of a wounded animal as Bruno extracts her from the vehicle.
Its large brick façade, usually a welcome sight, brings me nothing but unease as I bring the one thing I said I never would cross its threshold—a human.
The topiaries I purchased and planted myself sit dotted around the circular drive, their leaves lush and ripe in need of an expert hand to tame them, but for now they will have to wait. My home and sanctuary are being tainted by my enemy, and I will no doubt have to hear more than one complaint about the female’s arrival.
The ghouls that followed me from New Orleans, and Odette’s rule, expected and needed strong leadership, and I was the only one that could provide it.
In hindsight they saved me as much as I saved them in the long run. Although it wasn’t an easy process at first, and now, I will test their resolve in a way that hasn’t been done in almost a hundred years.
Bruno and Nero make their way to the front of the vehicle after extracting the menace; I shove my hands into my suit pockets as I wait.
“You can’t just keep me here you know,” the woman mutters, her tone petulant.
She sputters and blows at the fallen bits of her hair that covers her face, and glares. Her lip pouts making her look almost cute.
“Take her inside and see that she stays put,” I tell them, pushing away my wayward thoughts. “No electronics.”
Bruno snickers, but I ignore it and start up the stone steps to head inside. The sounds of her raised shouting music to my ears.
I don’t bother waiting on anyone to open the door for me, I’m the only one who’s ever lived here, and it’s unnecessarily wasteful to keep a crew on when I’m rarely in attendance these days. Growing Talbot to the heights among the so-called elite of the humans took time and now that Jekyll is wanting to expand the supernatural product line, I haven’t been able to stay at the mansion for more than a few days when I get the chance.
The sage green walls of the expensive mansion sit mostly unadorned, and I look up at the staircase in a new light, the white pillars and the glittering chandelier overhead. I wonder if she will find it to taste. My brow furrows. Why should I care what a human likes?
A sharp squeal rings out from the drive, and it occurs to me that this may be the best place to keep the harridan out of trouble and bring her to heel. The mansion sits in a valley along with Jekyll’s home and the nearby village, all heavily fortified. Even if she were to make it out of the house, the ghouls guarding the entrances will keep her from leaving.
The sounds of her shouting escalate, and I turn to see Nero in the small parlor, pulling her across the wooden parquet floors bodily by her arm as she struggles to get away. His hand tightenson her arm, and a flood of energy rises inside of me, threatening to overtake my will, raising to dangerous levels once more.
I withhold a growl and tamp down my ire. I need the induction chamber, now. Releasing some of this current is the only way to avoid an incident, and this interaction is costing me time and patience.
