“Come on, I want to show you something else.”
We made our way back through the dining hall and through a door at the back of the kitchen to a set of stairs leading to the servants’ quarters, and I followed him back through the corridor and up the stairs leading to my room. The room at the top and to the left was the bathing room and held a giant tub in the center large and deep enough to be an indoor pond. The ceiling was solid glass, letting in natural light, but the walls also had sconces for darker days and nights. Next, he led me to the closed doors along the balcony and pointed to Enid’s room, in case I needed something when Marren wasn’t around. Then, he showed me his study filled with bookshelves, a large desk with a chair and scrolls strewn about and even a few statues of miniature dragons, fairies, and gnomes.
He faced me, leaning against the edge of his desk. “Now you’ve seen my entire home, what do you think?”
I couldn’t help the giggle that bubbled out of me. “You wait until now to ask me my opinion of your home?”
“Our home.”
I smiled. “It’s beautiful and enchanting, but there is one place you didn’t show me.”
He made a face as if to ask where.
“Where is your room?”
“I tend to sleep in my study, as of late.” He removed himself from his desk. “It’s getting late. I should escort you to your room.”
Chapter 5
Therianthrope
I walked directly to the table and sat the book down. I turned, jumping when my gaze fell on Marren standing in front of me. In one infallible movement, his arms wrapped around me and he kissed me again. This time, I experienced fear. A hidden fear I wasn’t meant to know. He kissed me as if for the last time. I clung to him when he pulled away from me.
“Wait, don’t go.” The words escaped my mouth before I could stop them and surprised me with the determination in them.
“As much as I would like to stay, I have things I must attend to. You should read about the world you need to know. You’re about to be thrown into darker waters than you’re accustomed to.”
“I don’t need to read the book. I can deal with whatever comes my way. You should already know I wouldn’t have let you kiss me if I didn’t want you to.” Although, that might not be true. “It can’t be as bad as you say.”
He squeezed me tightly. His words blew against my hair when he said, “You underestimate the severity of the knowledge you’re about to gain.”
“You promised not to hurt me.”
“Exactly.”
“Can’t you just tell me?” I sounded needy, like a child.
He smiled. “I will explain the things you don’t understand. This is difficult for me, too. I’ll come back later.”
He released me, turned on his heels, and left me in the room alone. Despite the fire that filled the room with heat, I was frozen.
I took the book to the balcony to read in the fading light of the sun. I stepped out, finding a hooded figure step out from the garden and walk toward the woods. I thought of Marren again, and this time decided to go after him. I tossed the book on the bed and pulled my hood over my head then stepped to the doors. I pulled on them, meeting resistance. Trying again, they still wouldn’t budge. Angered, I struggled with the door again and then punched it, feeling a pop in my hand. I cried out, holding my hand to my chest before shaking it out. I busted a knuckle that already swelled and bruised.
“Dammit to the darkest realm of the Netherworld!”
Stomping to the balcony, I peered over. Too high to risk jumping. An eerie howl broke through the air, piercing my soul. I moved into the room and stared at the book on the foot of my bed.
“What is so damned scary I have to read it from a book rather than have it told to my face?”
I glanced over my shoulder into the woods. I would leave this room, one way or another. I pulled the blanket and sheets off the bed, carefully tying the ends together so I didn’t injure my hand further, and then attached an end to the top of the railing. Hanging on to the sheet, I swung my legs over then climbed down. Each grip of the sheet, with my injured hand, sent tendrils of agonizing pain through it. When my feet hit the ground, excitement pulsed through me. Before anyone could catch me, I ran off into the woods after the hooded figure.
Darkness covered everything. The moon hadn’t risen yet and wouldn’t be full enough for me to see by once it did. I stumbled my way through the woods, tripping over raised roots and thick vines, risking further injury to my hand. When I found a path, I followed it deeper into the woods. A sound, like a snapping branch, came from behind me. I turned around to discern any movement but was so far into the thick trees I couldn’t pick out my hand in front of my face, much less someone or something else.