Page 11 of The Beast of Ashwood Manor

“Clearly you do.” He gave Annie the bowl and rag and nodded at the door, and she left hurriedly. Gil took up my suitcase and placed it on the table near the wall. Making a face, he said, “This is very heavy. What do you keep in here, rocks?”

“Actually, yes . . .”

Gil raised an eyebrow as I opened the suitcase and took out several rocks and my paint set. He blinked at me then sighed, saying, “All right.” He moved away from the table and went to the window to lock it. “I suppose I’ll have the lattice removed in the morning. Or I can lock you in here. Which one would you prefer?”

Clenching my teeth, I said, “I get it now. I’m in some awful place with awful folks who want to keep me here as a prisoner.”

“Perhaps the next time you risk leaving, I won’t stop you. So you won’t have to be around such awful people.”

I shut my mouth, feeling foolish for being so harsh. Either way, he didn’t reprimand me for it, for anything I’d said so far.

I pulled on the new shirt and buttoned it. It was of much better quality than anything I’d worn, the fabric soft and very clean. Then I climbed into the bed. It had to be past midnight. Gil looked tired, but he insisted on staying in the room. It was hard to fall asleep with him in here, but my eyes were heavy from being awake for so long, and as I watched him as he sat by the fire, blinking often to keep myself from falling asleep, I couldn’t help but succumb to it.

Dawnbrokewithrain.The thunder woke me early, but I hadn’t gotten much sleep anyway. I straightened up in the chair, my back sore from sitting in it all night. What other choice did I have? I couldn’t leave Cale alone again. Not after what had happened last night.

I didn’t think he’d actually do it, running off into the woods. Mary had banged on the door of my tower to inform me that she’d been loitering outside his room and heard something from inside. Then Eugenia had sounded the alarm to me that something was amiss. And when I heard the Nix scream, I knew he had found his way out and to the other side.

Standing from the chair, I glanced at Cale as he slept in the bed; he was on his back, his face toward me, one arm on the pillow and the other over his waist.

He was handsome. Beautiful. And I had taken his life from him.

No, he gave it freely. I didn’t force him to come to the manor or eat the food.

But guilt ate at me regardless. Only desperate men took shelter in an abandoned manor or ate mysterious food because of hunger. Who was Cale? Where had he come from?

I wanted to know, but I pushed it away.

I don’t care.

When Cale stirred awake, I busied myself at the fireplace, poking out any remaining embers.

“I’m still here,” came his soft voice.

I looked back at him. “Yes, you are.”

“Did you stay all night?”

“I wanted to make sure you didn’t try to escape again.” I came up beside him.

“After what happened, I won’t.” His eyes were distant as he gazed at something past the foot of his bed. “I’ve accepted this isn’t a dream. I’m in some cursed place.”

“So, would you rather pity yourself or come with me for a while?”

That seemed to change his mood, because he looked up at me with sudden eagerness. “Go where?” he asked.

“I can show you the manor. The kitchen, the rooms, the animal pens. You haven’t seen them.”

“Animal pens?” When I nodded, he got up from the bed and said, “All right. I’ll go.”

I started the tour of the manor by showing Cale the kitchen, where Royce prepared breakfast for everyone. His big frame and shaved head must have intimidated Cale, since he tensed and cut his eyes away when they first met. But after Royce smiled at him and gave him a pat on the back, Cale beamed back at him.

“Good to see a new face around here,” Royce said. “I mean, you know, it is and it isn’t.”

My lips pulled taut, but I nodded. “Perhaps you could show Cale around the kitchen sometime?”

“Sure. I could use some more help in here.”

“That’s actually my job,” Cale replied. Then he said, more quietly, “Before I found myself here, that is. I helped cook in a tavern in Tolburg.”

---