sir. Of course, but … ” The guy has so much white hair sticking out of his nose, he looks like he’s sneezed a scrub brush. “If you’ll forgive my insistence, I think you’ll want to see this visitor.”
Exasperated, I pause. No doubt my impatience is clear in my heavy exhalation. “Oh? And why is that?”
“Because the gentleman is Master Cole Wynter, sir .”
Chapter Ten
Cole
I freely admit I’m not the bravest guy ever. Walking up to Gideon’s house earlier today produced a coughing fit, dry heaves, and finally my lunch. There’s some small satisfaction in that, I guess—defiling Gideon’s manicured bushes with my vomit. While the act of returning to the place of my imprisonment makes me physically ill, the thought of returning to France without answers is unthinkable.
Nerves scramble over my skin like tiny spiders as I wait for Maddox in his imposing library. The room is unchanged. The smell of age, and dust, and pipe tobacco permeates leather book covers and antique rugs. Light streams in through the window at my right. It’s early summer and bright, but the weather does nothing to ease the chill in my veins. I’m here as a flesh and blood human this time, yet the Déjà vu is even weirder than I’d anticipated. That’s saying something, since I’ve become quite a coinsurer of weird.
A grandfather clock in the corner of the room marks the time. Amplified ticking drills a headache into the base of my skull. Maddox’s decrepit butler Jamis only left ten minutes ago, but it seems an eternity.
Multiple footsteps echo down the hall and my stomach cramps. I’m waiting for Raven, but it’s Gideon who enters first. His blue and green eyes focus on me the way a gambler watches another man’s cards. He steps aside allowing a tall black guy and tiny blond girl to saunter in. I remember these two. Dane and Maggie, friends of Raven’s who helped me escape The Void last year. Taking seats in the wingbacks across from me, they stare as well.
Cozy.
I nod to the room in general. Dust motes flit behind my host as he moves across the room to the heavy walnut desk. He leans lightly on his ornate walking stick to hide his limp. Springs creak as he settles into a brown leather chair. The lion head on his cane snarls at me over the edge of his desk. “Why are you here?”
No hello. No welcome, or greeting, or pleasantries. I expected as much. Dane’s hard gaze rivals Gideon’s, but Maggie grins as though I’m today’s guest of honor.
When I unfist my hands, my knee bounces instead. I focus on Rosamond. I’m here to help her, and if I can, save myself as well. All I want is freedom, real freedom this time. Well, and maybe to leave with Raven.
And then she’s here. A chain on her boot jingles with each step. My eyes follow her long legs until they disappear under a leather miniskirt; linger over her red mouth and spooky gray eyes. Seeing her again blows the doubt from my mind, breathes fresh air into my lungs. I’m out of my seat before I know what I’m doing. Her hand is small inside mine. “Raven.” The name is healing, her gentle touch medicinal.
She throws her arms around my neck and hugs me tight. “I’m so glad to see you.”
Whoa, me too. “Hello, duck.”
Our embrace is awkward, but the clumsiness is all on my end. I curse my rusty skills as I pat her back. The motion feels wrong, like something you’d do with your sister. Damn it .
She smells like flowers and rain. Clean, like a baptism, or a new beginning. I feel Gideon’s eyes boring into my back and resist the impulse to flip him off. Raven should have the choice of who she dates—more choice than Maddox, anyway. This girl isn’t another possession to flaunt. She’s smart, and kind, and generous. She deserves the moon, and I doubt Maddox cares.
I hug her a few seconds too long, mostly because I’m hoping it will piss him off. When I release her, instead of sitting near me, as I’d hoped, she inches her
Exasperated, I pause. No doubt my impatience is clear in my heavy exhalation. “Oh? And why is that?”
“Because the gentleman is Master Cole Wynter, sir .”
Chapter Ten
Cole
I freely admit I’m not the bravest guy ever. Walking up to Gideon’s house earlier today produced a coughing fit, dry heaves, and finally my lunch. There’s some small satisfaction in that, I guess—defiling Gideon’s manicured bushes with my vomit. While the act of returning to the place of my imprisonment makes me physically ill, the thought of returning to France without answers is unthinkable.
Nerves scramble over my skin like tiny spiders as I wait for Maddox in his imposing library. The room is unchanged. The smell of age, and dust, and pipe tobacco permeates leather book covers and antique rugs. Light streams in through the window at my right. It’s early summer and bright, but the weather does nothing to ease the chill in my veins. I’m here as a flesh and blood human this time, yet the Déjà vu is even weirder than I’d anticipated. That’s saying something, since I’ve become quite a coinsurer of weird.
A grandfather clock in the corner of the room marks the time. Amplified ticking drills a headache into the base of my skull. Maddox’s decrepit butler Jamis only left ten minutes ago, but it seems an eternity.
Multiple footsteps echo down the hall and my stomach cramps. I’m waiting for Raven, but it’s Gideon who enters first. His blue and green eyes focus on me the way a gambler watches another man’s cards. He steps aside allowing a tall black guy and tiny blond girl to saunter in. I remember these two. Dane and Maggie, friends of Raven’s who helped me escape The Void last year. Taking seats in the wingbacks across from me, they stare as well.
Cozy.
I nod to the room in general. Dust motes flit behind my host as he moves across the room to the heavy walnut desk. He leans lightly on his ornate walking stick to hide his limp. Springs creak as he settles into a brown leather chair. The lion head on his cane snarls at me over the edge of his desk. “Why are you here?”
No hello. No welcome, or greeting, or pleasantries. I expected as much. Dane’s hard gaze rivals Gideon’s, but Maggie grins as though I’m today’s guest of honor.
When I unfist my hands, my knee bounces instead. I focus on Rosamond. I’m here to help her, and if I can, save myself as well. All I want is freedom, real freedom this time. Well, and maybe to leave with Raven.
And then she’s here. A chain on her boot jingles with each step. My eyes follow her long legs until they disappear under a leather miniskirt; linger over her red mouth and spooky gray eyes. Seeing her again blows the doubt from my mind, breathes fresh air into my lungs. I’m out of my seat before I know what I’m doing. Her hand is small inside mine. “Raven.” The name is healing, her gentle touch medicinal.
She throws her arms around my neck and hugs me tight. “I’m so glad to see you.”
Whoa, me too. “Hello, duck.”
Our embrace is awkward, but the clumsiness is all on my end. I curse my rusty skills as I pat her back. The motion feels wrong, like something you’d do with your sister. Damn it .
She smells like flowers and rain. Clean, like a baptism, or a new beginning. I feel Gideon’s eyes boring into my back and resist the impulse to flip him off. Raven should have the choice of who she dates—more choice than Maddox, anyway. This girl isn’t another possession to flaunt. She’s smart, and kind, and generous. She deserves the moon, and I doubt Maddox cares.
I hug her a few seconds too long, mostly because I’m hoping it will piss him off. When I release her, instead of sitting near me, as I’d hoped, she inches her
Similar Books
