Chapter 13 The Choker
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE CHOKER
Lilyanna lay flat on her back, arms cinched by her sides and her legs extended like she was in rigor.
I ran to her side and shook her, eliciting a small rattle as air wheezed through her clenched teeth.
The silken sheets were wrapped around her body so tightly her chest barely moved.
The edge dug into her neck, bruises mottling the pale skin underneath.
Her lips were tinged blue, a solitary globule of saliva crusted to the edge of her mouth.
I shook her again. “Lilyanna, wake up!” Where was the end of the sheet? It appeared fused to her body as if she’d made the cocoon herself and would stay in there until she rotted.
Pushing my fingers as far under the sheet at her neck as I could, I sliced with the knife, the fabric ripping easily with the pressure. She gasped.
I shook her again, slapping her chest. “Wake up!”
Her eyelids fluttered open, her pupils obscuring the whole eye. She coughed, her body shuddering under the sheet.
“Hold still, I need to unwrap you.” I rolled her onto her front, finding the seam and shook her out.
“What are you doing?” she murmured, her voice hoarse.
“What in Goddess’s name are you doing?” I helped her into a seated position and scooted her back against the wooden frame. English ivy was carved into the headboard, its tendrils almost pulsing in the weak light. “You were literally dying. Didn’t you feel yourself trapped?”
She rubbed her throat. Angry red slashes encircled her neck, the flesh between storm cloud gray.
“I was dreaming.” She pointed a trembling finger toward the carafe of water on the dressing table.
I filled a glass for her and she sipped, wincing as the cold water sloshed down her tender throat.
“The prince and I had just married, and the price of gold skyrocketed. My province was flourishing and to celebrate, they sent me a gown woven from pure gold. It wound from my neck to my ankles, hugging my body, reminding me of the joyful future to come.”
“Well, I can tell you it would not have been a joyful ending if I hadn’t burst in.” I took her empty glass, refilled it for myself, and drained the water in one gulp.
Lilyanna turned toward the dark window, the thick pane blocking even more light than usual. “Do you think it’s a sign?”
“Yes. Yes, I fucking do. I don’t know how much more obvious you want it to be.
How many accidents can you have before you realize something is out to get you?
Squashed by chunks of the ceiling, burned alive by a sconce, or choked to death in your own bed.
It’s a sign. Get out.” I gasped for breath, my heart hammering.
“Maybe.” She stroked her throat, her eyes finally meeting mine. “Will you sleep in here for the rest of the night?”
“Oh.” I looked at the tangled bedsheet, the carved vines on the headboard and the ashen-faced young women propped up like a doll. “Well, I don’t think it would be appropriate...”
“It’s an order.”
I snorted. “I don’t think you can order me around.”
“It’s your job.”
“I just saved your life.”
She slid down until her head rested upon the matching white pillow, her blonde hair matted and wild and pointed to the space beside her.
“I won’t be able to sleep.” I filled another glass of water.
The adrenaline had ebbed, the magic in my veins completely disappeared, and my body screamed to rest. It wouldn’t begin to regenerate until the morning.
Although, I did prefer the emptiness, the solitude and the calm left in its wake.
I sighed. “Do you need me to tuck you in as well, Your Ladyship?”
“Seeing as you’re already up, I doubt it would inconvenience you greatly.”
I grunted and flapped the sheets over the bed. It settled like a starved ghost, clinging to her form. I slid in beside her, keeping my arms firmly wedged on top of the covers and the cold surface far from my neck.
Lilyanna rolled onto her side and leaned toward me. “Since we’re having a sleepover, I have so many questions for you. I want to know everything about you, Tam, and I'll tell you everything about me. It’ll be so much fun!”
I grimaced. “I don’t think—”
“I’m joking.” She laughed softly, but it caught in her throat, and she coughed in my face until the fit had passed.
“We’ll talk about this again in the morning.
” A heavy silence fell between us. “Okay, goodnight then.” I turned back and fixated on the ceiling.
Lilyanna’s rhythmic breaths tickled my neck with warm air almost instantly.
Every inhale produced a delicate wheeze, but at least I knew she was still alive.
Perhaps I could slip out when she fell into a deep sleep and resume my position on the floor by her door.
I turned back to her, propping myself onto an elbow and studied the smooth contours of her face.
What was she doing here? I hardly knew her, yet I couldn’t bear to hear about her grisly murder spouted as idle gossip in town.
If I left her, that would surely happen.
When had history ever changed? None of the prince’s fiancées had made it up the aisle so far.
She knew this. What was she playing at? How could she believe that effigies and tea leaves would lead her to succeed when every other woman failed?
I sighed softly, the weight of responsibility settling onto my soul. Was this what it was like to have a little sister? Did I just have to sit here and watch her make a fatal mistake?
I edged away from her, but she grunted, flinging an arm out and over me. Men never gave me this kind of trouble when I wanted to escape their beds. Clement, however, would probably be quite watchful. I bet no one ever slipped out of his bed without him knowing. Stupid Clement.
Night took forever to fall away. The windowpane eventually clouded gray, the pre-dawn light unable to penetrate the thick clouds that congealed overnight in the sky. I scanned every inch of the ceiling, alert for even the smallest scratch, but the castle slept soundly.
The kitchens should be alive by now, pots clanking, grease sizzling on the stove.
Matron should be marching up and down the corridors, dusting shadows and shaking out rugs, but this room was a vacuum.
The only sound was Lilyanna’s soft breath.
Even the storm building outside and the rain lashing against the stone walls were deadened.
I wriggled out from under Lilyanna’s warm arm and padded toward the lounge.
Once out of the bedroom, a sharp rapping sounded on the door.
I crossed over and opened it to a very irritated-looking Clement.
His fist was still raised, caught mid-knock, and he looked as if he were about to muscle shoulder-first through the door.
Perhaps it was worry instead that lined his face and clawed his hands into fists?
“What do you want?” I said.
“Good morning to you, too.” He exhaled slowly, running his hand down his face. The wrinkles across his brow and the sag to his cheeks remained. His stubble was even longer today, it wouldn’t be long before I could twine my fingers through it. He eyed me too. “You look awful, Tam.”
I groaned and went to shut the door, but he shoved his foot in the way. His now familiar pine scent washed over me, but it was mixed with sweat. Was he nervous?
“Didn’t you get any sleep?” he asked.
“I slept like a dog.” I folded my arms, not ceding my position in the doorway.
“You mean with one.”
I scowled. So, he did know. Heat itched up my neck and stained my cheeks. “What do you want?” I nodded toward the items crammed under his arm, two boxes and a rolled-up newspaper.
He extracted the paper and tossed it at me. “Page two.”
I opened it with a crack and flipped quickly.
A handsome man gazed demurely out from amongst the text.
The black and white image didn’t do justice to the long blond hair he had pulled back in a ponytail, nor the slim frame hidden beneath a tailored jacket.
The caption read: Prolific Lothario, dubbed ‘The Sheriff’ found brutally murdered in the town of Bellinor.
My stomach seized. My eyes locked upon the words.
Clement reached forward and gently took the paper back. “I’ll summarize for you. He was found alone in a room at the Diamond Nightingale early this morning. His body had been shredded. His entrails...disemboweled. There was so much damage that the cause of death could not be ascertained.”
Acid crept up my throat. At least the scratches were hidden.
“I didn’t do it,” I said.
“You were the last to be seen with him.”
“I was here all night.” I swallowed. I clamped down on my thigh muscles, trying to stop the tremors that fired through me.
“Do you want to read the preliminary coroner’s report? They’re having a special doctor brought in who deals with this level of torture to confirm. As head of the castle guards, I attended the autopsy so I could be prepared to issue a threat warning for the prince.”
“I don’t want to know.” I sucked in air, trying desperately to dilute the vomit swirling at the back of my throat.
“Tam.” His voice softened. He leaned closer, his hand gently tipping up my chin. “Look at me.” I swallowed down another mouthful of bile. “I know you’re lying.”
“I didn’t do it!”
“I saw you there last night, with him. And in the market, you were the one to warn me. I know you know him.” He shook the paper at me. “But there is no mention of that and there never will be. Why do you think I’d tell?”
I didn’t answer.
His thumb stroked my cheek, and he sighed. “If you’re in trouble, if you’re next, tell me.”
I pulled out of his grasp. “There’s nothing to tell. I wasn’t there.”
I’d paid my debt. I’d done my part. I just had to keep it together until I could find Siobhan—who usually found me anyway—and wheedle my way out of tagging the prince.
Even if the Sheriff was right, and he was involved in the murders, or hunting those with my kind of magic, it really wasn’t my problem.
This was why I should have kept out of it and why I should be halfway across the country on my well-deserved break.
I shouldn’t be responsible for assassinating the crowned prince for Goddess’s sake.
I gritted my teeth. I should’ve called for Siobhan straight away last night, but then those murderous sheets distracted me. Lilyanna would go too now that she’d been almost strangled—I’d make her—and we could leave this creepy-as-fuck castle behind us.
“I wish you would trust me.” Clement’s hand balled into a fist; his muscles locked tight. “Aren’t I your friend?” He infused the word with such a girly intonation that I snorted, pulled from my stampeding thoughts. He relaxed an inch, a shadow of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“Is that all you want to be, Clement?” He froze again, his dark eyes glued on mine. Tension warmed the air between us and my stomach twisted for a different reason.
“I think you might be a little more than I can handle.” He swallowed, his teeth crushing his lower lip. The distance between us narrowed. “Besides, I would like to keep my intestines inside my body.”
I pushed him away, noting how firm his chest was despite myself. “Goddess damn you, I didn’t do it.”
He grinned and my heart lurched. “Here.” He handed over the two small boxes. Both were wrapped in a golden ribbon and surprisingly heavy. “It’s for the dinner this afternoon. Specially requested by the prince.”
“I’ll give them to Lilyanna when she wakes up.”
“The smaller one is yours.”
I rattled it. “I don’t wear jewelry.”
“You wore a wedding ring last night.” I gaped at him. How did he notice everything? “And it’s from the prince. It’s not a request.” He rocked back on his heels preparing to leave. “Also, just a warning, Tam, it’s going to be weird.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “Any time the guards and the servants”—I scowled at the word ‘servant’ in reference to me—“are invited to a celebratory feast, rather than just watching from the edges, it’s awkward.
Just...” He took a deep breath, his head cocked to the side as he scrutinized me.
“Try to go unnoticed by the prince, okay? For all our sakes?”
“I’m not sure I can—”
“And next time,” he turned to leave, his voice floating down the corridor, “maybe you should take me up on my offer of a night out. You’d get into less trouble.”
“I’m not in any trouble,” I yelled after him.
“Yet.”
I rolled my eyes at the empty hallway. I closed the door and peeked my head in to check Lilyanna was still sleeping and hadn’t overheard.
The sheets lay flat where I’d left them and her soft breathing, broken by an occasion wheeze, was consistent.
Outside the thick window, a stray ray of sunlight broke through the swirling clouds and tickled the gargoyle’s face.
It shifted, its hollow eyes staring directly at me.
I shivered and backed away, leaving Lilyanna’s door ajar.
I freed one of the small knives from my boot and hurried down the spiral stairs to my unused room.
The fire crackled softly having barely burned through any of the kindling I’d set yesterday.
Pressing my back to the door and using the edge of the hearth to block my body, I speared the tip of the knife into my wrist.
“Siobhan,” I whispered.
A fat drop of blood rolled down my arm. I dabbed at it with my sleeve before it could spill onto the floor. Beside me the fireplace stuttered, and I pressed further into my recess.
“Siobhan,” I hissed louder. Where was she?
I’d found the Sheriff and completed my bounty.
She must know by now the Collectors were dispatched and a name permanently crossed off her list. If she would just hurry up and appear, I could sweet-talk my way out of setting up the prince’s murder and then beg Lilyanna to leave with me.
At the rate she was going, it wouldn’t be long before she was killed too.
Seconds ticked by, dragging into minutes. The fireside beside me devoured the kindling, suddenly ravenous. My heartrate accelerated and sweat dripped down my spine.
She wasn’t coming.
A gust of stale air rushed down the chimney and the fire went out. Smoke coiled, creeping around the hearth and toward my hiding place. I bolted for the stairs, keeping my thumb pressed over the wound on my wrist.
Siobhan had left me here, abandoned me in this cursed castle. If I wanted out, I’d have to murder the prince and do so before Lilyanna suffered the same fate as all the others.