Page 48 of The Beast of Ashwood Manor

As Cale came back in, I handed him the plates. “They seem to like it,” I said.

Smiling, Cale nodded. “I’m glad. They may end up eating both of them!” He rushed out of the room with the plates.

By the time everyone at the table was served, I stood outside the dining room, leaning against the wall as I listened to them.

“Did Gil seriously make this?” Natalie muttered. At first I thought she was going to make a rude comment, but I was surprised when she said, “I’ve never seen the man cook or bake in his life, so really, it’s not fair that he can make something so good.”

My lips twitched.

“If you don’t want it, I’ll take it,” Eugenia said.

“Who said I was giving it over? I’m going back for seconds.”

“We only have one,” Cale said. “You’ll have to fight over the last piece.”

Edgar chuckled. “Remember to save some for Royce and Annie.”

“I’ll take them plates soon. Cale, will you make this more often?” Mary asked.

“Of course.”

When someone walked my way, I left the wall and gathered my plates of pie. I didn’t want to sit with everyone else, but I didn’t want to take Cale away from the others.

He came into the kitchen and took up his plate as well. “Want to eat in the library?” he asked. When I nodded, he smiled, and we took our meal to the library, where we ate over books. One in particular—a tome about mythological creatures—had fascinated him, but I found such things less thrilling.

“That Shade,” he started, digging into his pie. “Was it coming here looking for something?”

“Most of the time, Shades want souls. That one seemed very peculiar.”

“Why?”

“Because most of the time, they stay confined to forests. It’s rare that they venture out into the open just to search for souls.”

“Do you think any others will come here?”

“Unlikely.” I chewed and looked out the window, part of me tense that our defense was failing. It seemed while the curse remained, the roots of Ashwood were spreading toward the manor, wanting to consume it. And with me butchering the creatures within it, it made sense that such things wanted to destroy this place.

They’ll have their time for that soon enough.

Cale turned the page to a tall, wolf-like creature, and my heart pounded.

Clearing my throat, I placed my plate on the book and took his. “That was good.”

Leaning back in his chair, Cale sighed. “I loved the apple. Who knew I could teach the lord of a manor how to make a pie?”

“You do it well. There are a couple things you do well.”

“Such as?” He leaned his arms on the table and raised his brows, waiting.

“You’re a fast learner. You build things. I could never do that. And you have some strange fascination with painting rocks.”

He laughed and looked away, then he cut his eyes up to me and asked, “Will you come back to my room?”

“To paint rocks?”

Smiling, he looked away. “Maybe.”

I licked my lips, hesitating. I knew that if I went into Cale’s room and started kissing him like we did at the beach, I was done for. “If I do, I’m afraid I won’t come out for hours.”

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