10. Chapter 10
10
Nelle
I dropped to my knees, hugging Sage.
Fire and brimstone, is that how Crowther saw me?
I could keep a handle on my temper.
What did he know about me?
Nothing. That’s what.
Sage’s wet nose nuzzled against my neck, tickling my skin. “Gods, Sage, taking on a Horned God. Don’t you ever do that again,” I admonished, pulling back to give him a stern look. “You listen to me. He could have shattered you into wisps of nothing.” Master Sirro would have killed Sage if Graysen hadn’t gotten to my wraith-wolf first.
Sage narrowed his strange, otherworldly eyes and lifted his muzzle to let out a huff of disagreement.
My mother collapsed into a cane chair, the wood creaking beneath her, drawing my attention away. Evvie crouched beside me, framing my cheeks between her hands. She stroked her fingers along my temple, smoothing away the locks freed from my braid as she scanned my face with worried eyes. “Are you alright?”
I nodded, but I still hadn’t calmed the thunderous beat of my heart.
“I thought—” My mother began, pressing a hand to her chest.
“He didn’t, okay?” I shot back in a low whisper. Master Sirro had found nothing other about me. The strange power I possessed had kept itself locked behind a shield, hidden deep inside. I patted my fingers against her bony knee, wanting to reassure her. “I’m fine, Momma.”
She was pale, and her frail hands shook as she tipped one, two, three more tiny pills from the vial into her cupped palm, swallowing them dry. She glanced about the room at our guests, her eyes wide with fear. “What do I say? What do I tell them?” Because we all assumed the Pellans would ask.
“Tell them the truth,” Evvie whispered back.
My mother’s shocked face practically screamed her answer.
I knew how dire it was to not be discovered. It wasn’t only my neck on the line.
“No,” Evvie said, shaking her head and lifting a delicate hand. “That’s not what I meant. Tell them it was more about Crowther than Nelle.”
“Crowther is a jerk,” I muttered, scowling. My mind turned back to the patio and shame coursed through me at how easily I’d responded to the warmth of his touch. By messing with me, Graysen Crowther revealed just what a prize-A Asshole he truly was. And yet… he’d saved Sage.
“That’s not what I saw.” Evvie rubbed behind Sage’s ears. The wraith-wolf pressed eagerly back, his tail wagging and thumping on the ground. “Crowther reacted as soon as Master Sirro looked at you in that way.”
“Er…what way?”
She barked a laugh, her shoulders shaking with her mirth. “Nelle, really? ”
I squinted, not quite understanding.
“You know…” she said with emphasis. “In that way.”
Oh… oh…
What the?
Me?
My lips parted in surprise.
“I think if you weren’t bound to Crowther, he’d have instantly invited you to join his harem.” Her eyes went a little hazy, cheeks flushing pink, and she chewed the corner of her mouth as she gave it some thought.
Glancing around the room, I realized Carola Pellan and her younger sisters were sharing the same heated look as my sister, excitedly whispering to one another, their gazes trained in the direction Master Sirro had left.
A shiver slid down my spine. They’d think it an honor being invited to Master Sirro’s bed. But me…I’d heard too many things about the Horned God. That was me, always listening when I knew I shouldn’t.
“I didn’t know who was angrier. Sage or Crowther.” Evvie’s mouth twitched with amusement, dimpling her cheeks. “You’ve certainly gotten under Crowther’s skin.”
I rolled my eyes, snorting— Highly doubtful . I didn’t want to say that he was under mine.
“Let’s not make what happened with Master Sirro into a big deal, okay?” Evvie whispered to us both. “Smile, Momma.”
Evvie let out a laugh, a carefree sound as if we were all talking about something else altogether—not that Sirro held our lives in his palm. “We go about this evening as if nothing happened. Master Sirro will soon be leaving.”
“I didn’t know he was coming. Why didn’t Father warn me?” I asked my sister. He should have mentioned it, so I’d be able to prepare for the Horned God’s arrival.
“I don’t think he knew either.”
My mind speared back to sundown. Outside, at the edge of the woodland, Graysen had shared with me that something had rattled him today. Whatever had happened, I was sure it was the reason the Heads of Upper Houses, including Master Sirro, had arrived at our home.
“What’s going on? Why are they here?” I asked Evvie.
She glanced at her fiancé, frowning a little. “Corné won’t say.”
I fought the urge to shake my head at her. I doubted Corné would tell her anything, anyway.
Evvie rose, smoothing her dress and flicking her hair over a shoulder. She still wore a pretty, mindless smile on her lips. “Momma, go back to Irma. Say nothing unless she asks. And then keep it simple: Master Sirro was punishing Crowther, not Nelle. And I—I’ll do the same.” She bent over to rub the top of Sage’s head. “And you, my brave, wild friend, will get another treat tomorrow morning.” She tickled under his chin, the wispy ghostly fur sliding between her fingertips. “Taking on Master Sirro—do you have a death wish?” Except she didn’t sound like she was scolding Sage. She sounded impressed and utterly grateful.
I was unsure what to do next, whether to stay or retreat to my quarters. I wanted to hide away until Master Sirro left, but maybe my absence would arouse more suspicion. So I sank into the chair my mother had vacated. Without the Heads of the Upper Houses, the Pellans had thinned into three groups, and their chatter was quieter and more distinct. Momma rejoined Mrs. Pellan, as her husband had gone with my father, while Evvie returned to Corné. I blocked out the intrigued conversation floating about the room. I didn’t want to hear what they all were talking about.
Fiddling with the wine-stained folds of my dress, I felt the dagger beneath the skirt, and it reminded me of Crowther. I let out a hiss, rubbing my temple with the heel of my palm, trying to drive away the unwanted memory of silky hair brushing against my jaw, the stroke of calloused fingers down my throat—
Gods, I’d shown myself to be such a fool out on the patio.
“Maybe we shouldn’t wait until tomorrow for a treat,” I said to Sage as I stood up. Then wiggled my eyebrows. “Why don’t we find a delicious morsel in the kitchen?” He could have something rotten and mangy and I’d eat my way through a tub of ice cream.
Sage happily followed me with his bushy tail wagging enthusiastically. As I headed away, movement in the corner of my eye snagged my attention and had me turning around slowly. It made everything else fade and instead made fire and brimstone spark up against each other.
Corné grabbed hold of Evvie and yanked her closer. A scowl darkened his freckled features as he finished hissing something low and fast.
I hadn’t caught what he’d said either.
Godsdammit!
Evvie winced—an involuntary reaction. She covered it quickly with a warm smile, placing a gentle hand over his fingers squeezing her arm. But I was her sister. I saw the tight line in her shoulders and the taut cords in her swan-like neck as she swallowed in pain.
He still held onto her, his fingers digging into flesh with the harshness of his hold.
And she took everything he gave her, graciously, as if that nasty grip was a sweet caress.
That’s it! That’s fucking it!
Anger ignited, flooding all my senses, and driving out the need to keep myself hidden. No one messes with my sister!
I saw through a haze of red, my hands fisted so stiffly my knuckles burned.
Without even realizing what I was doing, what I even intended to say, I stepped right into the space of the Pellan siblings.
I was tiny, but my anger swamped the room.
Taking a step closer to Corné, I loosened my adamere bracelet from around my wrist, letting it dangle to its full length. I snapped it up and down, catching and releasing the tail end, a furious gesture that matched the rage hissing through my blood.
The creature inside me unfurled, stretching claws.
A flick of the adamere beads. A second… A third… Corné watched it like a cat, his eyes darting back and forth, tracking its movement. His gaze dropped to Sage bristling beside me, before snapping to meet mine. Narrow-eyed and thin-lipped, he gritted out, “Want something, Nelle? ”
“Take. Your. Hand. Off. My sister.” Each word was laced with a promise of violence I was going to deliver .
He flinched at my tone. But he let go of Evvie’s arm.
My anger was palpable and raked across the divide separating him from me, reaching for his milky skin. I could wind my power around his freckled throat and squeeze the life out of him. I could cleave his fragile bones as easily as crumbling a dried leaf in my palm. I could boil the blood in his veins and incinerate him from the inside. I could—
“Nelle?” Evvie’s soothing voice broke through my fury. She gently wrapped her fingers around my shoulder. “It’s fine, really.”
I jolted. My sister’s touch extinguished my raging anger. She’d always been a calming influence and the only one in my family who could soothe me as a child. That was the reason her bedroom was near mine. When nightmares ensnared me in their clammy grip, the walls of my wing vibrating, shivering, and quaking, she was there to ease me through the dreaming terror.
Evvie didn’t say it out loud, but I saw the words forming on her lips— Master Sirro.
I blinked. Calm, calm… I reeled that dark power back.
There could be no hint that I was other , not in this room filled with Pellans. Not with Master Sirro here, too.
Still, I gave Corné a blistering scowl, warning him off.
He swallowed, and I watched the bob of his vulnerable throat. My mouth quirked up one-sided— Good, you should be afraid of me.
Carola delivered a queer look and reached out to pluck something out of my braid. Her ruby lips twisted into not quite a sneer, but close enough. Her eyes lit with amusement as she twirled a crinkled leaf coated with spiderwebs between her thumb and forefinger. “No wonder Danne likes you so much. He has a soft spot for those… Well, I guess, a little off-beat. A bit like his love for jazz.”
She meant it as an insult.
Distantly, I registered the words— Danne likes you— but all I could think about was stopping Evvie from marrying that cruel bastard.
“Nelle,” Evvie lightly squeezed my shoulder. “I’m okay.”
She was the perfect Wychthorn princess— How could she let him get away with this?
“No,” I snapped, slicing a hand through the air in a furious gesture. “Just. No.”
If she couldn’t save herself, I would. My father had to stop this. I’d make him listen. I’d make him revoke the engagement.
I pivoted, my skirt flared wide, slapping against my thighs as I bolted from the room with Sage faithfully bounding by my side.
Behind me, I heard Carola’s laughter. “Maybe, brother, you picked the wrong Wychthorn.”