Chapter Twenty-Three #2
The elder cockwomble continues on and I go back to my food, eating as delicately as I can whilst making no noise whatsoever, not even letting my fork scrape my plate.
It’s then I notice the house manager, Weeple, has stepped into the room, bending low to speak into Mr. Ainsworth’s ear.
His eyes dart to mine. Though I feel the color draining from my face and down to my toes, I do my best to not shake as I reach for my glass of water.
I break eye contact just as Kane leans over and pats my knee under the table.
“I think you’ve had enough breakfast, darling. Wouldn’t want you to get sick again.”
I thumb the handle of the butter knife at my disposal.
He catches the movement. “Maybe not so much bread or butter?”
Miserable.
I would have been miserable as Kane Burton’s little wife.
“Oh, Kane, always thinking of me.” I grin in his direction, wondering how many times one needs to stab with a butter knife to truly work it through all three layers of skin.
There's a prickly sensation shirking at my spine like I'm being watched, and I spy Alice in the far corner of the room with an expression resembling half scowl, half worrisome.
I understand that feeling. I know Parker said nightfall, but I'm running out of patience.
And I'm not sure how much more of Kane's passive-aggressiveness I can withstand without breaking and shattering into a thousand crazy Sabrina pieces.
The longer I'm near him, the more I can't hold my tremble. My hives are worsening, save last night when Maksim’s hands were on me.
Like a balm to both my burning skin and my aching soul.
It's either that or Elizabeth Bathory had a point in taking blood baths to keep herself young.
Ohhhh…
Is that where that saying comes from?
The chit-and-chattering around me is growing to an excited hum as I wait for The Initiates to finish their breakfast. The first rays are beginning to break through the clouds, and it’s stopped snowing, although the clouds gathering in the distance tell me the crisp morning will be turning into another bitterly-cold evening. And Maksim was already looking sickly.
“Gentlemen… and lady.” Mr. Ainsworth grabs our attention again. “Seems your contestants are ready. All have been lined up. Except there has been an issue. The Hunt has been postponed until I can get to the bottom of this.”
Grunts and groans are heard all around the table.
“Kane,” the old man snaps, and Kane shoots up from his seat like it’s on fire. “Might I have a word?”
It’s the second time I’m perched outside of Mr. Ainsworth’s office eavesdropping. They speak in rushed, hushed, aggravated tones, so it’s difficult for me to hear, but what I do sends me closer and closer to losing my breakfast.
“Three guards were found slain in a bathroom in the east wing. We’ve checked the cameras. It shows absolutely nothing. Whoever did this used a hunting knife of some sort. Knows how to trick the cameras.”
“What’s that have to do with me?” Kane questions.
“We’re currently searching Sabrina’s bedchambers.”
“Grandfather—”
“Your obsession with that girl has you blind, Kanedrew Cornelious Burton—” I almost guffaw at Kanedrew Cornelius.
“She is behind this. She is the only different factor in this equation, and if you do not get your nose out of her twat, she will be your downfall. Our downfall, grandson. That girl has ‘danger’ written all over her face, and you’re too preoccupied with not only trying to fulfill your lifelong dream of marrying her but killing her husband in the process.
Open your eyes, Kanedrew, and see her for what she really is—a conniving little she-devil.
She’s telling you what you want to hear, Kane.
She is a farce! She’s not here to watch you kill her husband as some grand gesture of love, son.
She’s here to retrieve him at any cost. By god, has she even let you fuck her? ”
“She… she’s been on her monthly.”
Mr. Ainsworth laughs robustly. "What's the point in having a sword if you don’t get it bloody?”
Oh fuck. I try to breathe as normally as possible.
I don’t have the switchblade on me. I gave it to Maksim.
And my gun is currently in my bra, safety on.
My phone is in my pocket but utterly useless out here.
Leaving Kane to speak to his grandfather, I find another quiet corner and send a text out to Parker and Raven, hoping if I roam about the old manor, it’ll send it as soon as it finds a bar of service anywhere.
I’m a ball of nervous energy. It feels like hours have gone by. I’ve milled about so long my feet ache, and yet, there’s no text back. No call. Frustration and hopelessness creep along my brain, and the heaviness in my heart amplifies the longer I stroll with no communication.
I’m walking past the old library when I’m yanked inside, back flush against the door. I let out a small yelp, but Alice covers my mouth with her hand. She’s a strong little thing. “They’ve moved them all back down to the facility.”
I move my head away from her hand and she drops it. “Tell me how to get there.”
She shakes her head. “The only other way to get down there is through the shed and the stables on the outskirts of the property. Either way, you’ll need clearance.”
My eyes roam around the room. “Do I need a badge? Can I kill the security guard? Tell me how to get in. I can’t be here another day, Alice.
I’m going out of my fucking mind. The rabbit is to come soon.
If Kane touches me one more time, I’ll go berserk and ruin it all.
Chaos. Destruction. Devastation. I need a way to get in there, a way to get to Maksim, and a way out. ”
“A way out isn’t difficult. It’s getting in. There are even more guards going down with them now that the ones you killed have been found. There was so much blood, Sabrina.”
I try not to grin, but I am a teensy bit proud. “Thank you.”
She sighs with aggravation, but her lips lift just a tad in my direction. “I don’t know how to get you there in broad daylight. You’ll be seen.”
“I have an entire team coming at nightfall. But Alice, they’re searching my room as we speak.”
“Did you leave the weapon in there?”
I shake my head. “No. I gave the switchblade to Maksim, and my gun is safely nestled into a space I’d rather not say.
” I press my hands to her shoulders and move her a bit away from me so I can step around her and go to the large window overlooking the sad gardens of Ainsworth Manor.
“Alice… what if I’m captured and put into the facility? ”
“You don’t want that. They’ll do a very thorough cavity search.”
I shudder. Drat. “Have the guards and whomever else is down there seen my face?”
“No. But they’ve all heard of you.”
“And if there were a distraction?”
She squints at me. “It would have to be a big one.”
I yank my phone out of my pocket to see I only have one flickering bar and send a text message to my mother.
It goes through with an onslaught of messages and social media notifications coming in.
I ignore the notifications and only look for important threads from Parker or Raven.
There are no more than the ones we exchanged this morning.
I shove my phone back into my pocket. “Well, at least I had a signal for once.”
Fifteen minutes later the doorbell rings and soon after a very loud, very distraught “Where is my daughter?” is heard from the grand foyer.
I grin at the brown-eyed nurse dressed as a maid. “Well, that was quick.”