Page 22 of The Soulless Witch

“My apologies, Madame Celeste. Welcome to the Kaiser residence. May I be of any assistance?”

“First-aid kit and something warm to drink,” Roman ordered before I could say‘No’. The light in the foyer blinded me and by the time my sight adjusted, we were on the top of a painfully familiar staircase. We didn’t speak until Roman finally pushed one of the doors open, striding inside. I half expected it to be our bedroom, but I was disappointed. No, not disappointed—relieved.

It was still a bedroom, ornately decorated with care and taste—from the four-poster bed, the mahogany armoire, and the writing table, to the Silk Isfahan rug on the floor.

Roman set me down on the edge of the bed, raising my leg so he could look at my foot. I resisted the urge to close my knees, reminding myself that he likely remembered every inch of my body in intimate detail, judging by how well he reconstructed the entire fucking building.

“It’s not too bad, but it needs to be cleaned.” His eyes studied my exposed legs, then the rest of my body. A small wrinkle appeared between his creased brows—his version of frowning—at what he saw. “And not just the foot.” He got up from where he was kneeling, motioning toward the door beside the armoire. “That’s the bathroom. Take a shower.”

“Stop ordering me around,” I said, crossing my legs pointedly. Roman gave me a knowing look, locking his arms in a matching gesture. His biceps bulged underneath the shirt, his shoulders looking even wider from my position. There was nothing threatening in his posture, yet I found myself straightening, almost eager to do as I was told.

“Fine.” He smiled. “Then we can have a long overdue conversation, shall we?”

I wanted to throw something at him, but with his reflexes, it was just going to look like a temper tantrum. I got up with all the dignity I could muster, raising my chin. He didn’t so much as blink as I took a step toward him, stopping just short of bumping his shoulder.

“I think a bath might be a good idea after all,” I said, moving past him before he had the chance to show me that knowing smirk of his. He scoffed loud enough for me to hear and I gritted my teeth, grabbing a small porcelain owl from the decorative table I passed. Spinning around, I threw it toward his head, sucking in a surprised breath while the figurine flew closer and closer to its target. In a blink of an eye, Roman cocked his head to the side, not even bothering to turn, and the object shot past his ear, landing on the fluffy bed.

“Keep your weight off that foot,” he said, and even without seeing his face, I could feel him smiling through the words. I stormed into the bathroom and locked the door, taking in the spacious accommodation adorned with spotless checkered tiles. I tried the windows first—they were all facing the garden sprawled behind the mansion, too high for me to jump off without breaking my neck. Not that there was a chance of outrunning a vampire, but this exit could be of use when the sun was up and he was bound to the house. Though, knowing Roman, he probably had other safeguards in place. I doubted I’d be able to pull the same escape a second time, not if he really wanted to keep me here. At least he hadn’t spelled the house to keep me inside like that one time.

I needed my damn medallion back. It could take years before I was at full strength, powerful enough to take any living creature on this earth. I didn’t have this kind of time. With the magic I had stored in that medallion, I could easily speed up the process. I just hoped whoever had it hadn’t figured out what kind of treasure they possessed.

I took a quick shower, checking on my foot with a grimace. Even by human standards, that was just a scratch. Leave it to Roman to fuss over nothing.

Wrapped in a soft bathrobe, I stepped out of the steaming bathroom to find the butler waiting for me. I looked around suspiciously, but Roman was nowhere in sight. I gave the old man another appraising look, letting my magic taste him, only to confirm he was one old and perfectly ordinary human.

“Where is Roman?” I asked, limping toward the bed. I half expected his master to step from the shadows just to rattle me, but no matter how much I looked, the shadows remained empty.

“Master has retired. It is almost dawn,” the butler replied in a polite tone, motioning at the bed as I gave him a look of disbelief. “Please sit so I can take care of your injury, Madame.”

“You don’t have to do that. It will heal by itself,” I murmured, but his face remained just as determined. He must have spent a lot of time with Roman; he really had mastered that cold, blank expression Roman liked to annoy me with.

“Please, Madame, I have my orders. If I don’t do it, Master will be displeased,” the butler insisted. I sighed quietly as I strode to the bed, sitting on the edge while the butler kneeled to examine my wound.

“Will he punish you if I refuse?” I asked as he diligently pressed a gauze with what smelled like cleaning alcohol against the cut. When he was done, he swiped a layer of a strange herbal-smelling creme before wrapping my entire foot in a bandage.

“Not likely, Madame,” the butler replied as he got to his feet, packing up his box with medical supplies. “But he might sulk for a few days, and seeing him like that is unsettling.”

I scoffed at the thought of Romansulkingwhile the butler bowed and headed toward the door.

“Stop.” He paused with a hand on the handle. “What am I supposed to do now? Did Roman tell you…” I trailed off, giving the butler an appraising look. Just how much did he know about Roman and me, about what we were, both as creatures and to each other? If Roman let him take care of my wound, he must really trust the man.

The butler’s eyes softened, as if he understood the implications of my question.

“Have some rest, Madame,” he suggested with a surprisingly gentle smile. “There will be breakfast waiting for you when you wake up, and I will bring clothes for you to change into.”

“And then?” I demanded. The butler hesitated, his hand slowly turning the handle like he wanted nothing more than to get out of the room.

“Then you and Master can decide what to do next,” he replied, opening the door. “Good—”

“Am I a prisoner?”

The butler’s eyebrows rose slightly as he stared at me with surprise.

“Of course not, Madame.” He shook his head. “Master would never do that to you.” I snorted while he pursed his lips, as if deliberating if he should continue. “However, I would think after running for so long, you might be tired, yes?” I blinked in surprise, my lips parting.He knew. He definitely knew what I was. Roman had told a human about me. “Get some rest, Madame. You are perfectly safe here.”

And with that, he left me to stare at the door, my mind reeling this way and that until my head started to throb. I fell back into the bed, staring at the chandelier as my body gradually relaxed. My eyelids drooped, the thoughts getting harder to grasp the more I sunk into the fluffy pillows. I didn’t fight it, not when I was this tired and weak.

If there was one thing I knew about Roman without a shadow of a doubt, it was that as long as I was with him, my body was safe. My heart, on the other hand, was in mortal danger that grew with every second I stayed in this house.

---