“Why would I run? Someone will be held responsible for the treatment I’ve received tonight.”
They ignored me and exited the car. I followed behind them up stone steps and in through double wooden doors. I couldn’t see much of the inside of the home as all the lights were off, but I could hear our steps echo against stone floors, which told me the entryway must’ve been enormous.
The twins approached a cupboard along the wall and removed two candles. While holding them, the wicks ignited at the same time.
“Follow us,” Helen said.
“Not far,” added Harriet.
The twins pushed open a door that led us through a narrow hallway. The light from the candles made shadows twist and turn unnaturally upon the dark paneled walls. Was it a trick of the light or something magical causing the illusion in an attempt to frighten me? I yawned loudly.
At the end of the hall, one of the twins opened a door. I still couldn’t tell them apart unless they were standing next to each other. Helen always stood on the right and Harriet on the left.
“This is your room,” Helen said.
“It’s well-guarded tonight, so it’s useless to try and escape,” Harriet said.
I stepped into the room and then turned to insult them, but the door had already closed and locked from the outside. I pounded on it with my fists twice, before I stopped. Get a hold of yourself. You must stay in control.
I took a deep breath and looked around. The bedroom was bare except for a table and chair in the corner and a nightstand with a lamp on its top next to a single bed. The room had the same wood paneling as in the hallway. There were no pictures or decorations anywhere.
After waiting a few minutes, I tried to open the door by using magic, but as soon as I touched the doorknob, a jolt of electricity shocked my body, sending me to the ground. Angered, I jumped up and rushed the window opposite the door, but again was shocked. The room had been fortified with magic. No wonder there weren’t any decorations. The simpler the room, the better guarding spells worked.
The twins were right—I wasn’t getting out.
I peered out the window, frustrated. The dark sky glowed as the morning sun began to burn the night away. Surrounding the mansion, a pine forest and jagged mountains jutted sharply from the ground, trapping me as if in a cage. I leaned my forehead against the cool glass. On every exhale, my breath fogged the cold windowpane and then disappeared. What I wouldn’t give to be back with Boaz.
Just then, a shadow moved into my view from the left side of the house. It slid across the lawn, a dark mist, until it disappeared into the forest. A ghost perhaps? I’d encountered others while playing with the dead, a game Liane and William had taught me. Ghosts did nothing but tease my curiosity.
A few hours later, after lying in bed, my eyes snapped open to the creak of the bedroom door opening. I quickly sat up. A woman wearing a silk red robe entered the room in a grand gesture, her gown swaying back and forth. She looked eerily similar to me—long blond hair, almond-shaped face, small straight nose, but instead of green eyes, the woman’s were an artic blue. They reminded me of Hunwalds. In her hand, she carried a champagne glass filled with a red liquid.
“It’s a little early for a drink isn’t it?” I asked.
“Not early enough.” The woman took a sip as she stared at me coolly. “So you are my brother’s daughter.”
I stared back, mirroring the woman’s venom. “And you must be my father’s sister. Funny. I never knew he had a sister.”
Her eyebrows rose. “And I never knew he had a witch for a daughter. We assumed you were average.”
I moved to the edge of the bed. The slit in my dress opened, exposing my naked long legs, which I crossed. “Hardly. Average is what my twin escorts were last night.”
The woman’s lips tightened, as did the grip on her glass. She opened her mouth as if to argue, but after a deep breath, she said, “We could insult each other all day, and as much fun as that sounds, I have a headache. I’d rather we get this conversation over with as civilly as possible so I can go back to bed.”
“You are my aunt, yet I don’t even know your name. You have kidnapped me to who knows where, and you expect me to be civil?”
“Very well. If you want me to be formal, then my name is Anne Swithin. I am your brother’s older sister, and we live in northern Vermont. Your grandfather’s name is Erik Segur the second. His wife’s name was Gertrude. She died ten years ago. Now can we have a civil conversation?”
“Why am I here?”
She strolled toward the window. Her long robe stirred the dust in the room, spinning and twirling it in the morning light spilling in from the window. “There is a matter of an inheritance that needs to be resolved.”
“An inheritance? What does this have to do with me?”