Page 14 of The Beast of Ashwood Manor

Cale frowned. “How come?”

“Because we just met.”

“What do you think I’m going to do?”

I glared at him, letting him know I was always cautious. I made my way past him, tired of the conversation.

“Are you leaving?” he asked.

“I have a few things I need to do. You should get better acquainted with the others.”

“I’m not . . .” He trailed off.

“Pardon?” I turned around, waiting for him to go on.

Cale cleared his throat. “I’m sorry for last night. I didn’t mean to say you were all awful. I suppose this is all just a bit alarming.”

I stared at him. He looked lost, but he had been kind to everyone so far, and his apology sounded sincere. “It’s forgiven. I understand it must be terrifying, but I hope you feel more comfortable here now after seeing everything. I don’t venture out often, so everyone’s seen more of me than they’re used to. You’re welcome to go anywhere on the manor grounds.” I nodded at him and left, not giving him another chance to ask more questions.

I clenched my fingers around the doorknob as I stood outside his door. Shutting my eyes, I battled inwardly with myself to go back in and apologize for leaving so abruptly. But why? I hardly knew him. Perhaps it was guilt. It was always guilt.

Taking a breath, I moved away from the door and left for my tower.

IdidasGilsuggested, and after mulling over my situation for a couple of days, I tried to acquaint myself with the others who lived there. The cook, Royce, was nice, but if he wasn’t in the kitchen, he was either in the library or his room, and I didn’t want to bother him. Eugenia slept in the morning until afternoon, and Gil was nowhere to be seen. That left the three maids and Edgar. Figuring I would try and help Edgar with the farm work later, I tried to acquaint myself with the maids first.

I found Mary cleaning the sitting room. She hummed as she dusted the walls, even though they already looked spotless.

“Oh!” she started, her face beaming. Her almond-shaped eyes looked almost black, and her skin was slightly darker than mine. She looked around my age. “Hello, Cale. Nice to see you up and about.”

“You too.” I smiled. “So, what do you do around here?”

“Well, I tend to the housekeeping mostly. I draw baths, help in the kitchen, clean the rooms, wash the linens.”

“Gil told me you’re not required to do any of that. You don’t mind doing it?”

“Lord Gil keeps us safe here, and I will do anything to help him, as I always have.” She reached for a cobweb that was too high up. “He just keeps to himself most of the time. We don’t see him often, so the past few days have been unusual.”

I grabbed a duster from the end table nearby and helped her clean the walls. “Did you all eat the cursed food, too?”

Mary laughed. “No, most of us have been here since the beginning, except for Natalie and Eugenia, if you remember. They came here six years ago. My mother was a servant here when it happened. She died eight years ago.”

“I’m sorry.” My shoulders fell. “How awful it must be to die in a place that isn’t even your own world.”

“It’s all right. She really helped hold the place up, but after she passed, a few people left into the woods and never came back.”

I furrowed my brow. “Why would they do that?”

Her cheerful demeanor suddenly melted. She glanced at me briefly. “There are some things you’re going to find out as you stay here, Cale. Some of them you won’t like, and others, you will. Don’t let the bad things cloud your judgment.”

Taken aback, I didn’t speak anymore of the curse. Instead, Mary told me about the others.

“Annie is the oldest of everyone here. She’ll be fifty-four this year. She and Royce married a few years ago. And Natalie and Eugenia are lovers. As for Edgar, he’s a bit odd at times about the animals, but he’s a very sweet man . . .” She chuckled and smiled.

I nodded, thinking back to the times I had seen Natalie around the manor in the past few days. While Natalie seemed taken with both Eugenia and Edgar, I noticed she seemed much closer to Eugenia. The two of them acted like kindred spirits, and there were moments when they thought no one else saw them holding hands or leaning against each other, but I saw it, even in my brief time here.

And I envied it.

“And what of Gil?” I asked.

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