Chapter Sixteen #2
I didn’t think there was enough tea in the world that would help me recover from this.
I didn’t see Marcellus in the days leading up to the dinner, as it happened, so we didn’t have a chance to discuss what we’d learned—his father received word of some business that required delicate handling, which meant Marcellus had to return to Hell for a few days, giving me the chance to feel what it would be like to be without him.
It felt awful.
But I was able to spend time with Dante, whom I’d neglected since getting this assignment, and also spend time with Hannah, as well as cook the one thing I could passably handle—eggs—so she didn’t always have to feed me.
“I’ve missed this,” I said and took a sip of tea. We’d cleared the plates and were seated at our table, Dante snoozing at our feet.
“Mm, me too,” Hannah said. “I did enjoy attending the party, but I much prefer staying at home with a cozy fire and a good friend.” Her eyes met mine over the rim of her cup.
“What would you normally be doing if you weren’t here living with me?” I asked.
She wrinkled her nose as if smelling something foul. “I’d have to be sharing a room with a few of my sisters, and we’d be fighting over gowns and slippers and then going out to cause mischief. I don’t like causing mischief—it’s just such a bother.”
She said it in such a fatigued tone I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Do you miss your sisters, though?”
She considered it. “Not really. I have a lot of sisters—ten or twelve of them?—and I always felt a little different from them. My mother used to say I wasn’t the right kind of fairy because I was more interested in reading or being alone than flying about and drawing attention to myself.”
“That must have stung.”
She nodded. “It did at first, but then the Revelation came, and it felt like an opportunity. To do something that wasn’t what was expected of me.
To experience life not just as a fairy but as a being who has her own thoughts and feelings.
” She jerked her chin toward me. “You must feel the same way, but it seems human females have a bit more freedom.”
I snorted. “Not especially. At least, though, human males now have as little freedom as we do, having been reduced to the least powerful members of society. So in that way it is a bit more even, I suppose.”
She laughed. “I like knowing things like that. I would never have learned about humans without the Revelation. I am terrified of the Queen but very grateful to her.”
“I haven’t heard of her draining a fairy, so I think you’re safe.”
“But you’re human, so I’m terrified for you.”
I gave her a warm smile. “Thank you.”
Having friends like Hannah and Lily made the prospect of life without Marcellus completely tolerable, even if it would be difficult in the immediate aftermath.
“When is your friend arriving, Miss Hastings?” Mrs. Collins asked.
It was finally the night of the communal dinner.
Marcellus had returned from Hell the previous day, though I hadn’t had the chance to see him, since I was occupied with taking his father to another church bazaar—this time without a portal opening and with a willing vicar.
He bought up all the strawberry jam, several embroidered handkerchiefs, and an exceedingly hideous tea cozy.
I was setting the table, laying out the mismatched cutlery beside the equally mismatched dinnerware.
The site of the communal dinners was Mrs. Collins’s own room, where she conducted business and received visitors.
Once a month she would push her desk to the side and put the leaves into her dining table so it could accommodate all her boarders—currently there were fifteen of us, though that number had sometimes swelled to twenty—and attendance was mandatory, unless one had a very good excuse.
I enjoyed the meals usually. When I’d gotten my position, it had been beneficial for me to be able to ask advice from some of the other species who lived in the house.
They already knew me as a fellow resident, so they didn’t regard me as any kind of enemy, which was the norm, unfortunately, for strangers, particularly humans.
I’d learned about pack dynamics from the werewolves, and manners and protocol from the vampires, and had already been comfortable interacting with various species.
But tonight I was anticipating the meal with equal parts trepidation and longing. Yes, I wanted to spend more time with Marcellus, but I also knew spending more time with him was going to do even more damage to my heart, what with the whole falling-in-love bit.
I’d tried to talk myself out of it, but I hadn’t been successful thus far. And so every new encounter with him was painfully bittersweet, knowing I would have to say goodbye in a week.
“Miss Hastings?” Mrs. Collins said, jerking me out of my thoughts.
“Oh, yes, apologies. I believe he will be here at six o’clock.” I glanced at the timepiece pinned to my waist; it was ten minutes to the hour.
“Good. I’d like a moment to meet him before everyone arrives.” Communal meals started, for obvious reasons, after the sun went down, and that would be around six thirty or so.
“He is looking forward to your shepherd’s pie,” I said.
She gave me a satisfied smile. “I do say it is a good one. I know he will like it.”
Mrs. Collins was a witch, though she limited her craft to making various brews rather than anything more drastic.
She belonged to a local coven, and a few of the other members were also her boarders, which meant that our house was safely warded against intruders and predators.
She’d had to disable a few of the wards to allow the marquis to enter, since usually demons were forbidden.
I was one of only three humans who rented here; humans were still skittish about other species, and though they were learning to coexist, they weren’t yet willing to get chummy with them. Of course I thought that was short-sighted of them, but then again, it was the nature of my work to think so.
“Mrs. C., can I help at all?”
Lily arrived in the dining room with an unmistakable glow about her—Hannah and I hadn’t seen much of her since Marcellus’s party.
She’d spent a lot of time with Keres, in addition to working her shifts at the dance hall.
I was glad to see her well-fed, though I remained terrified of Keres, who was just a tick below Jirzinar in terms of scariness.
I supposed I should be grateful Lily wasn’t succubusing with Jirzinar, at least.
“Miss Hastings and I have it all handled, thank you, Miss Wright,” Mrs. Collins said. “Just listen for the door—Miss Hastings’s beau is arriving shortly.”
I suppressed a snort at Marcellus being called my “beau.” He was my—well, I wasn’t certain, but I knew he wasn’t a traditional suitor. If anything, he was something that couldn’t be named, since it was so forbidden in so many ways.
But hearing her say that made me feel all warm inside, which immediately also made me feel foolish.
A traditional romance was not in the cards for us, what with one of us making his abode in Hell.
Of all the other types of creatures I could have fallen in love with, I had chosen the worst possible type.
Even a vampire would have been preferable. At least they lived in this realm.
Though I far preferred Marcellus’s taste in food.
“I’ll go listen for your beau, then, Cora,” Lily said with a sly grin. I made a face at her, and she laughed, then headed toward the hallway.
“Is he here?” Hannah flew into the room, her expression eager.
“Not yet.” I glanced at my timepiece again. “He should be here any—”
We heard the knock on the door, and I felt all tingly and nervous and excited. It felt different to have him in my home, meeting my other housemates, eating my landlady’s shepherd’s pie, especially after not seeing him for a bit.
“The marquis is here,” Lily announced as both she and Marcellus walked into the room.
My heart skipped a beat as I saw him. He had dressed in modest clothing—likely so as not to overwhelm anyone at dinner—but he was still the most gorgeous individual I’d ever seen, and that was remarkable, given one of my friends was Lily.
“Thank you for having me, Mrs. Collins,” he said, going to my landlady and giving her an elegant bow. She tittered and put her hand to her mouth.
“You are very welcome, my lord.”
“A gift for you,” he said, handing her a bottle of wine.
She took it, placed it on the table, then gestured to the sofa at one end of the room. “Would you care to sit for a moment? We won’t be seated for dinner until after dark—we have a few vampire boarders here.”
“Ah, I see,” he said, then went to sit, giving me a quick, intimate glance that further increased my heartbeat.
“Go join him, Miss Hastings,” Mrs. Collins urged, going to the sideboard to gather cordial glasses.
“You as well, ma’am,” I replied.
She nodded, then sat beside Marcellus on the sofa, indicating I should take the chair opposite. “And you, Miss Wright, Miss Green, you can pull the dining chairs over.”
They did, and soon we were seated in a circle, all of us looking at Marcellus, who didn’t seem at all uncomfortable under the scrutiny. Of course. He likely enjoyed all the attention.
“How do you find London, my lord?” Mrs. Collins asked. She placed the glasses in front of each of us on the table.
He paused before answering. “I am surprised to say I find it quite enjoyable.” He tilted his head toward me. “Though that may be because Miss Hastings is an excellent guide.”
I couldn’t help but smile, ducking my head to hide my pleasure at his words.
“What have you seen so far?” Mrs. Collins asked. She began to pour some sort of dark purplish liquid into the glasses.
“The Tower of London, the Royal Academy of Arts. A few pubs.”
“Oh, not what I would have expected,” Mrs. Collins said.
“Neither did I,” I said dryly.
“I’ve realized London is not all that different from my realm,” he continued.
Mrs. Collins froze in the middle of pouring. “You mean Hell?”