11. Chapter 11 #4
Her eyes dropped down my body. “Do not fall in love with him. It will do a good girl like you no good.”
She paused by the door when I asked, “Aren’t you scared that it might be you next?”
Irritation coloured her face red. “I am safe.”
“How can you know that?”
“Because I am a sensible woman!” she hissed in my face, more than out of patience. There was pain in her words. Frustration. And something else.
“You know something.” I grabbed her arm again just as we left the powder room.
Thankfully, Liam had pissed off somewhere.
“Tell me one thing. Just one thing. Is it related to this Madness? It has to be somehow. Every time a witch dies, a noble has gotten infected and died only days to weeks apart. Has one of us created this infection?”
Panicked, she skimmed the empty hall before whispering in my face, “I’ve already told you all you need to know.”
“You’ve told me nothing.”
She shoved me off. “Maybe that’s for the best.”
“You were once one of us.”
She swung around, jabbing a finger against my shoulder.
“I was never anything more than a pawn to the Holy Mother.” Her gloved fingers touched my shoulder, reaching to push down the sleeve where my birthmark was barely hanging in there.
“You are, too. Only someone without a heart could send someone like you in this useless wild goose chase.” She turned around one last time.
“Be careful. You’re not doing anyone any favours uncovering this.
If I were you, I’d let it go. There’s nothing to be done about it. ”
“I can’t. Agnes has my friend. She’s threatened to excommunicate her if I don’t dig this up.”
The rage in her emerald-coloured eyes softened. “Then I am sorry for your friend.”
The sound of the orchestra was drowned by the thunder pouring outside. The red curtains blended with the red carpet beneath my feet as the entire room spun on its axis.
I crashed against something hard just before collapsing to my knees.
A strong hand came around my waist, pulling me against him, and the scent of cloves and bergamot flooded my lungs with relief. With safety. “Don’t ever do that again,” he gritted out against my ear, a little lower than a growl.
The violins emptily screeched across the hall, and hope seeped from my veins. Ethel…I had to write to Ethel. I had to warn her.
“Willow,” Logan gritted out, wrapping his hand around my jaw and pulling my attention to him. “Did you hear what I said?”
I shook my head.
“I said, Sybil’s husband is a secretary of the clergy; he sits at the head of the Basilica. If you’ve told her something you shouldn’t have, you need to tell me now.”
“If I did, would you kill her? It’s what you do best, isn’t it?”
The gold in his irises burned. “Her husband has been advocating the burning of every witch within a ten-mile radius for solely existing. If he finds out mine has been running around plotting with another witch, he will turn this entire marriage into a theatre. And he’ll put me on the front row seat to watch you burn. So, yes. I’d kill her.”
I brought both hands to cover my face, swallowing back tears. I’d never felt so lost and found at the same time. So safe and terrified at the same time. “She won’t say anything. I promise.”
He pulled back, letting go of me. “You missed Piper.”
No.
No.
His hands came to cup my cheeks as I sobbed. “What’s wrong? Did she do something to you? Willow, look at me. Did she hurt you?”
I shook my head, struggling to inhale properly.
“Hey.” He pulled me to him as I cried harder, wrapping his large arms around my shoulders. “Hey,” he murmured, pressing his face to the top of my head, holding me tightly. “Everything’s alright. It’s okay.”
Everything was not okay, but surrendering against him was the easiest thing I had done in a long while, and the most comfort I’d received from anyone without being afraid for them, so I chose to believe him.
I’d always been so cautious with Ethel, choosing how much of my pain and suffering I wanted to share with her in fear I’d cause her harm.
But Logan…everything feared him. Maybe even pain itself. I was safe here.
The bouquet of flowers shook in my hands as I crouched down to give it to little Piper.
Her little face scrunched up at my expression and she grabbed my face with both her wet hands. Goddess, I hoped that was sweat. But it was okay, I deserved it even if it wasn’t. “Are you upset, Boo?”
Yes, I was very upthet. And threthed. And thuper annoyed. It would be a month next week since I’d arrived in Mortdale. If I didn’t have an update for Agnes soon, I feared she’d grow impatient and let Ethel loose. And I hate myself for not being there to watch you demolish the stage.
“I’m fine, Pipe.”
She wiped away my tears. “You can have my hot chocolate when we go home. Bird says the king sends us only one cup of hot chocolate a night, but you can have mine.”
Theodora was a stinking liar.
“I’m sorry I missed your dance.”
She flashed me a toothy little smile. “It’s okay. I dance lotta times.”
With her arms wrapped around my head, she held me as I sobbed with my face pressed against her tiny shoulder.