Ethan held up his hand. “I’ve said it before: it’s Ric’s story. If you want to know, you’ll have to ask him like a respectable creature.”
“Where did you get the impression I’m respectable?” I swung my legs to the side of the chair and squared my shoulders.
“Certainly not from your bedroom manner,” he said, raising his eyebrows. “Your nightgown doesn’t exactly leave much to the imagination.”
He was teasing and I knew it. My nightgown was entirely appropriate but for the blue lace that caressed my breasts and thighs.
“What about the other story?” I nodded my head toward the leather cuff.
Ethan paused, clearly in a far less cheery mood, to recall that memory. “That’s my story to tell.” His free hand inadvertently found the band. “It’s not for your ears.”
I stood from the chair and followed after him as he stepped away from the window. “I thought we were done with all the secrets?”
Ethan rounded on me, backing me up against the windowsill, and brought his face close to mine. “We’ve exposed plenty of our greatest secrets to you already. Secrets, if you’ll remember, that you’re not supposed to know about.” He pressed his hands to the windowsill either side of my hips. “Why do you think that your people dismiss our kind as folklore and fairy-tales? Gnathians don’t understand us. Their monsters are our pests. Their Daeus are our celebrated acquaintances.”
“I think you mean ‘your’, not ‘their’,” I corrected him, folding my arms. I was one of them after all.
“Gnathians are simple-minded, moronic creatures whose immediate reaction is to exile or kill those who aren’t like them,” he finished. Boy, if that wasn’t just the truth.
“Is that why the barrier’s in place?” I asked. “So you’ll be protected from them, not the other way around?”
“Exactly,” he said.
“Pity, I should have liked to have found out about you all sooner.”
“I didn’t realise you enjoyed my company so much.” Ethan didn’t miss a beat, and there, that stifling heat was back.
I dodged to the side as he moved in closer, ducking under his arms. “I was actually taking about Lavender.” He actually seemed a bit disappointed. “Women like her and her mother don’t exist in my town.”
“That’s probably a good thing. Any more Gnathians like you and the world would cease to exist altogether.” He brushed me aside and walked to the bedroom door, smelling his stale shirt.
“That’s rich coming from you, old man,” I said behind him.
“Ouch,” he feigned, turning toward me again. “That’s a little below the belt, don’t you think?”
“I can go lower,” I purred.
“My, my, here I thought you were a good girl.” He grabbed the door handle and twisted it open. “Come down once you’re decent.” He moved to leave and poked his head back in for one last bite. “Oh, and try not to molest anyone else. The others aren’t as receptive as I am to such improper attention.”
I clicked my tongue. “Here I thought you were a good boy.” Without another word I walked to the cupboard and pulled it open. When I could still feel him standing there I quickly slipped my arms out of my sleeves and pulled the top of the nightgown so it just exposed my upper back. Behind me Ethan cleared his throat and hurriedly slammed the door shut.
Winner.
I listened to the rhythm of Ethan’s fading footsteps and dropped to my knees, pressing my forehead against the cold wardrobe door. Sounds from yesterday’s nightmares filtered back in but what were they from? I remembered yelling and broken glass. Something terrible happened. But it was like before, a couple of nights back, when my dreams changed again. I felt…wrong; like the world around me was moving so much faster than I was, while my body slugged onwards, and my locket was unbearable. Ever since I’d arrived in Vremia it had taken up a new base weight, and I certainly wasn’t pleased about it.
My fingernails dug into the skin surrounding my eyes as I groaned into my hands. The disembodied voice of a woman breathed around me again and again. Why did it frighten me? Sleep now, it said. Sleep now, it wasn’t my mother’s voice but in some strange, distant way it felt familiar.
“Sleep now,” I repeated, over and over again until my eyes stung as they had last night. My frustration boiled over and I kicked out at the drawers, changing in a cluttered hurry. All of a sudden the room seemed small and insufferable.
Glittering light greeted me through the trees as I descended to the terrace, the early morning air crisp and clean. The wood was dewy but stable enough for me to concentrate on tearing a hair tie out of my tangled locks. I growled and eventually it came loose along with a small clump of matted hair as I passed through the terrace door.
The long hallway leading to the descending staircase seemed darker for some reason. Each step I took was too loud; too insensitive to be right. I ran my hand along the thick bark of the intrusive tree and came to the end of the corridor. Then felt a pull on my mind. Look left, it seemed to say. I did as instructed and cast my eyes to the over-looking balcony and what hung in the centre of the entrance hall. A light fixture: two rings, heavy metal bars connecting everything together and a beautifully constructed finial with a sharp point. Something prodded in the back of my skull as I let my eyes follow the thick chain up to the ceiling and back toward the wall behind me.
Then I remembered: the squealing of the chains; the sound of crashing metal and stone; the final spread of blood across the entrance floor. I ran my hand along the chain fixtures on the wall and made sure each one was fastened and secure. Nothing budged under my hands. It was safe. My heart still hammered in my chest despite feeling slightly lighter now I’d seen everything was in its place. I hurried down the stairs, chancing one final look back before the chain disappeared from view. When I entered the lounge Daniel and Alistair were still absent.
“Good morning, little sparrow.” Willow greeted me fondly, but paused to study me. From the look in her eyes I knew my heavy concerns failed to slip past her. No, sir. The woman had the eyes of a hawk. She smoothed a piece of my tatty hair and traced my cheek fondly. “Someday soon, I pray Oesella will allow you a full night’s rest.”
Ah, yes, Oesella – Daenia of pleasure and joy; if anything, she might owe me more than a night of decent sleep once everything was over. Willow moved to the kitchen as Lavender pushed a chair out at the table for me with her foot. She snuck a look at Ethan and back again and I saw the words on her lips before she’d voiced them.
“I hope he’s nothing to do with the tiredness on your face this morning.” She waggled her eyebrows.
I tapped her in the shin with my boot. “You really need to work on your sense of humour,” I said.