Chapter 27
Stella has been different since yesterday. I know she’s happier, and I know that it has a lot to do with me. No, now is not the time to grin, Alistair. I bite down on my smile, my pride deflating as I watch the pinch between Stella’s eyebrows. Something’s wrong.
I’m fairly certain that it has something to do with the man that’s been treating her like a caged animal for Lord knows how long. But I meant what I said, no one will ever own her again. I don’t care what I have to do to ensure it.
“You look very threatening,” Stella teases, stealing a potato from my plate. “Who are you plotting to kill?”
I smile in spite of my anger. How could I not with her sitting beside me? No one will ever own Stella again, but she certainly owns me. And I’m not sorry for it.
“I don’t need to kill anyone,” I lie. She doesn’t need to know about the violent things I’m planning for her former master. It would only worry her.
“Oh? And why’s that?” she asks.
“Because, Freckles,” I smirk. “I don’t need to kill anyone. I can just sick you on them.”
As I hoped, she jabs me in the ribs, and I take the opportunity to wrap an arm around her waist. She fails in her fight against a smile, and I place a sweet kiss on her temple before letting her go back to her food.
The fact that she doesn’t seem eager to leave my touch is a boost to my male ego.
“I was thinking that we should move the table and books from the library to the ballroom,” she says, taking a sip of her water. “That way you can enjoy the sunlight while we work.”
I still can’t believe what she and the staff accomplished. To some, it may not seem like much to cover a few glass doors, but it means everything to me.
I hadn’t felt sunlight in four years without being burned by it. And while the feeling of reflected sunlight is nothing compared to the real thing, it gave me a joy I didn’t know I’d lost.
“You wouldn’t mind carrying all those books?” I ask, still bemused by how beautiful she’s become. I know it’s not new—she’s always been beautiful. But I’m seeing it for the first time, finally smart enough to know real beauty when I see it.
“Who says I’d be carrying them?” She smirks and I kiss the tip of her nose.
“You know, you lied to me,” I say, leaning back in my chair.
She goes strangely still. “What do you mean?”
Surprised by her reaction, I study her face. “You told me that you were plain looking,” I explain, noticing the way she relaxes. Hm…What did she think I was talking about?
“I didn’t want you to take an interest in me just because of how I look. So I lied.”
“Is that all you lied about?” I don’t mean to ask, but after all the ground we’ve covered, I don’t like that there are clearly still secrets between us. Maybe you should confess yours first.
I cringe. I still haven’t told her that Orrin is the duke. I want to, but in the last few weeks, I’ve come to the conclusion that once I’m free of the curse, I can’t just get revenge on my brother.
I have to take back my inheritance and become the duke my father always wanted. And I’m not sure that Stella will want to be my duchess.
Instead of being angry at my question, she looks serious; resigned. I hate that I said anything. I hate that she looks so hopeless. I’m the king of hypocrites.
I’m about to apologize for being such an idiot when Brutus comes storming into the room, Milly on his heels. They’re both red in the face and panting, and I stand from my chair on instinct, ready for battle.
“He’s here,” Brutus gasps, looking from me to Stella. “Your brother is here.”
It takes my mind three seconds to process those words. My brother—my evil brother—is here. It’s been two years since he last visited me. It’s not good that he’s chosen now to appear again. I have to keep him away from Stella.
I can only imagine what he’ll do if he finds out I’m in love with her.
“Make sure Stella’s room remains locked,” I say to Milly, throwing my napkin on my plate. “And lock the library too. We can’t risk him seeing the paintings. Keep him away from my wing of the manor and have the doors in the ballroom uncovered. Have the boys help Tilda and Denise hang a tapestry over the mural in the hall and see to it that any trace of Stella is removed or locked away where Orrin can’t find it.”
“Come on,” I say desperately, yanking Stella to her feet. I don’t mean to be rough, and I mumble an apology, but I’ve never felt so much fear in all my life. Even when I had to send my mother away to keep her safe from Orrin’s violent whims, I wasn’t this terrified.
“Alistair,” Stella pleads as I pull her to the door that connects to the kitchen. “Alistair, we’ll go faster if you stop pulling.”
I glance down at my grip on her arm, ashamed that I was practically dragging her. “I’m sorry, Freckles. I just…You have to understand, I can’t let him find you.”
She sets a hand on my face, and all at once I see the wolf. Gone is the girl who rearranges ballrooms and pets annoying cats. In her place is a fierce woman who’s ready to fight tooth and nail.
I’ve never loved her more.
“Let’s go,” she says with a decisive nod.
Knowing that Orrin is probably already waiting in the foyer, I quickly lead the way out to the hall, nearly running as we make our way to my wing of the manor. As we make our way up stairs and down hallways, I just keep imagining the look on my brother’s face if he ever finds Stella.
He won’t grin, he’s not that theatrical. No, Orrin’s eyes will sharpen and he’ll give me the smallest of smiles, silently telling me that he’s won. That this leverage is all he needs to make me a willing soldier, an obedient puppet. But as we arrive at my room, I promise myself that Stella will be free.
No matter what.
I don’t stop moving even after the bedroom door is closed, making sure both the door to my sitting room and the bedroom are locked behind us.
“Alistair,” Stella begins reassuringly, but I shake my head.
“He can’t find you, Stella. You don’t know my brother. He will see you as a weakness and he will exploit you any way he can. I don’t have the manpower here to fight him off.”
“You don’t understand,” she insists, taking my hands, “I have to tell you something. There are things I haven’t explained yet.”
“Tell me when I come back.”
“But I’ve kept secrets, Al—”
I pull her close and kiss her hard. “I’ve kept secrets too. But this love is tough enough to handle it. So, let me go see why my brother is here and when I come back, we can tell each other everything. Okay?”
She looks unsure and I expect her to argue, but she kisses me instead. “Okay. Just be safe. I don’t want to lose you to him.”
I smile, taking the knife from my bedside table and slipping it into my boot. “Why Kitty Cat, I’m hurt that you think I would be so easily defeated.”
“Just come back,” she says with a glare.
I wink for her benefit, unlocking the door. “Don’t open this for anyone but me or Milly, okay? I’ll be back within the hour. I promise.”
And then, even though I feel part of myself detaching to stay with her, I leave.
My brother is waiting in the foyer when I arrive, and I don’t bother pretending that I’m happy to see him. His expression lifts at the glower on my face, probably pleased to have surprised me with his arrival. There are four guards standing by the door and I hate the curse for allowing him to bring company through my gates.
“What do you want, Orrin?” I drawl lazily, getting to the point.
“Is that any way to greet your brother?” he says, lips twitching in a small smile as he opens his arms like I would actually embrace him.
“Am I supposed to hug you now?” I mock, crossing my arms.
“We are brothers,” he says, his voice deep and threatening.
I stare him down, searching for the boy I grew up with. His face, his posture and his clothes all reflect a man of greed and power. Something Father always abhorred. But his eyes reflect a watered-down cruelty. He’s an overall counterfeit version of my brother.
“Are we?” I ask, my concern for Stella and the staff greater than my own sorrow for the brother I’ve clearly lost.
I catch the barest hint of anger in Orrin’s eyes and tell myself to go easy on the insults. I want him gone, not angry.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, brother,” he hums, straightening his black shirt, trimmed with gold, “But you don’t seem happy to see me.”
“You thought that I would be happy to see the man that left me here to rot alone for four years?” I say scornfully, remembering how quickly he fled back to the castle when the Poet informed him that anyone still here by daybreak would be stuck in the curse.
Orrin rolls his blue eyes. “You’re not alone. You have your staff.”
“All of whom chose to stay with me, unlike you who fled not an hour after I was cursed.”
“Details,” he shrugs, waving a hand.
I shake my head as I study him, looking for signs of the boy I used to know. I can’t blame him for becoming cruel. It wasn’t that long ago that I wasn’t so kind myself.
But I’ve also never killed anyone for my own gain. I mourned Leeta’s life and I send her brothers money every month to assuage my guilt. It doesn’t make things better, but at least I feel guilt. Orrin does not.
Four years ago, I played dumb, pretending to be blind to my brother’s behavior. But I knew what he was doing, and I let him get away with it. I won’t let him do to Stella what he did to Father.
“What are you doing here, Orrin?” I ask, nerves twisting in my stomach as I think of all the people I’m responsible for. All the people he could hurt. “It’s been two years since you last visited me and that was only because you needed a place to stay on your way back to Roburry.”
His blue gaze turns assessing, but I refuse to fidget. Let him scrutinize me, I won’t give him a reason to suspect my feelings for Stella.
For being brothers, there’s very little about us that looks alike. He got mother’s eyes and father’s dark waves while I got just the opposite, claiming father’s green eyes and mother’s light hair. Even our features are different—his more angular and sharp. The one thing we used to have in common was our smiles. But he so rarely uses his anymore unless it’s to gloat.
“I’m looking for something of mine,” he says, measuring my response with a calculating look in his eyes. “An indentured servant. She escaped two months ago and she’s highly dangerous.”
No. There’s no way. But I feel my blood turn cold, and my heart begins to pound.
“Her name is Stella.”