I pounded on the door harder, and to my surprise it gave an inch. Unlocked. Fear crept up my back as I pushed the groaning hinges open another inch, just wide enough to peer within.
“Juliet, wait,” Montgomery said. “Something’s wrong. Let Balthazar go first.”
Balthazar pushed open the door, taking a few steps inside. “Hello?” he called.
The only response was silence. He poked his head out again.
“Stay here, miss. I’m going to check the kitchen and upstairs bedrooms.”
I nodded, pacing slightly, not sure if I should worry more about Montgomery’s labored breathing or the fact that the entire household seemed to have vanished. We waited twenty minutes, then thirty, and still there was no sign of Balthazar.
“I can’t stand this,” I said. “Something must have happened to him. I’m going in.”
Montgomery shot me a look. “Like hell you are.”
“You aren’t exactly in a position to stop me. Stay here and try not to freeze.”
I went to the pony trap and took out a blanket and two rifles. I pushed one into Montgomery’s hand and then cracked the other one to make certain it was loaded. I took a deep breath and stepped into the foyer.
My boots echoed on the stone floors. The electric lights weren’t working, and the grand fire looked as though it had been out for hours. When I pressed my hand against it, the ashes were cold. I dusted off my hand, heart pounding in my ears, as I headed for the stairs to the second floor with only the mottled light of day through the windows to light my way.
I was halfway up the stairs when a pot dropped in the kitchen, and I whirled around.
“Balthazar?” I called. “Is that you?”
I slowly descended the stairs, crossing the foyer to the rear hallway that led to the kitchen. I kept the rifle cocked and aimed in front of me, though without the electric lights, it was black as night. I could make out only the shadows of doorways off the hall until I entered the kitchen, where a few small windows let in shadowy light.
A small pot rested on the floor.
“Balthazar?” I called again, trying to keep my voice from shaking.
I felt a presence behind me. Heard the scuff of a boot. Startled, I tried to turn, but strong hands were on me too fast, tearing the rifle out of my arms. The smell of woodsmoke and meat clogged my throat.
“Hello, my love.”
The hands turned me around, and I was looking at Edward, but it wasn’t Edward at all. The features were the same, his body hadn’t swelled in size, and yet every part of me knew it was the Beast.
“Did you miss me?” he said with a sly smile.
EIGHTEEN
“DON’T LOOK QUITE THE same, do I?” he added at my shocked silence. “We’ve finally melded, Edward and I. He won physically, but I won mentally. My mind in his body—a bit of a sacrifice, but nothing I can’t work with.”
A thousand fears flowed into my chest. Somehow, the Beast had defeated Edward. He’d won possession of Edward’s body and broken free of his chains and, for all I knew, had slaughtered Lucy and the rest of the household. Sweat broke out on my forehead. I knew I should fear him, and I did—but I also felt a terrible kinship.
You and I, the Beast had once said, are more alike than you want to believe.
“How did you break the chains?” I whispered, taking a step back, but the kitchen table prevented me from going any farther.
His yellow eyes reflected in the low light—the only part of him that hadn’t belonged to Edward. “I didn’t have to. Lucy unlocked them. She was convinced Edward was still in here, but I had long ago won the battle. It was easy to pose as him, delirious and weak. She planned to slit his throat, reassuring him the entire time it would be only temporary and the mistress of this house would bring him back to life. A neat trick, I must say. But she couldn’t bring herself to kill him. Such a naive soul.” He took a step closer. “That’s when I dropped the pretense and made myself known.”
Fury flooded my veins. “What did you do with her?”
He clutched the rifle so casually. “It’s sweet how much you care about your friend.”
He was taunting me now, and it made my blood boil. “Where is she, and Elizabeth, and Balthazar?”
“That lumbering puppy should have smelled me a mile away. I suppose he was too distracted by his master bleeding out on the front porch.” He leaned toward me, bracing either arm on the table at my side. “Oh yes, I’ve a keen nose, too.”
“Where are they?” I demanded.
He was only inches away now, close enough for me to feel the heat coming from his skin. I had always expected the Beast to be cold, but he was burning up with fury, just like I was.
“Don’t worry about them, my love.”
“Stop calling me that! You aren’t even a true person. Edward told us that you’re a manifestation of a disease, a strain of rabies and malaria and damaged animal organs. You’re a virus attacking a host. You can’t live on your own because you were never real!”