Chapter Sixteen #2
Duke’s yowl sliced through the air. His paws barely touched the ground as he sprinted across the room, stopping under the window. With pointed ears and a wagging tail, he crouched lower to the ground.
The wind stopped, the voices lifting and the heaviness of the room quickly dissolved, as if nothing untoward had happened.
With trembling lips, Charlotte peeked at the reflection in the glass, a loud exhale rattling from her mouth. The demon was gone.
“You really are my familiar, aren’t you?
” she asked, leaning forward so she could run her fingers over his sleek body.
He turned, his yellow eyes closing softly when he looked at her.
“Are you a spirit?” He climbed into her lap, paws batting her dark curls.
She ran her finger over the glossy, black fur on his stomach and smiled.
“You’re definitely not a demon,” she continued.
“Or if you are, you are the cutest demon there has ever been.”
His soft meow calmed her racing heart, and everything suddenly felt brighter. She brought him to her face, pressing her cheek against his comforting, warm body. “Don’t leave me again.”
Long, deep purrs vibrated through his chest and into her face.
Minutes passed in silence as she held Duke, her only friend in the entire world.
Every so often, he would drag his paw over her stomach and hip.
He wasn’t the only one worried about the bite.
If she told a doctor, they would use hot metal on the wound or bleed her out.
Neither of which she wanted to do considering the last time she had an infection, the cure left her bedridden for weeks.
If only she could get her hands on her grimoires, which should have been easy considering they were hers. Nathaniel wouldn’t let her practice from them on her own. Which was ridiculous, and if she wasn’t so afraid of what he might do to her, she would find him and give him a piece of her mind.
I crave your death.
Those same words kept ensnaring her mind in an endless loop of thorny vines. Katherine was right. Being alone with him was a terrible idea. Especially when she couldn’t get the thought of his hands on her body out of her head.
In a sudden leap, Duke darted across the floor, paws patting over something unseen by Charlotte. She jolted, torn from her dangerous thoughts of the vampire.
“What is it you have there?”
The points of his ears curled inward, his body crouching back and tail flicking. With a groan, she leaned forward to see under him, but his loud hiss stopped her from moving any closer. He’d never hissed at her like that, not with his fangs showing.
“What’s wrong?”
Something wriggled under his paws. Charlotte glimpsed the large, glossy brown body of a cockroach and tsked under her breath. “Let him go.”
With a flick of his head, he let out another violent hiss, but she wasn’t going to let him kill a creature in front of her. What he did in his own time was none of her business, but to see an insect tormented like that was too much.
“Duke, I mean it! Enough.”
With her hands around his body, she snatched him away.
Duke writhed in her hold, his claws dragging over her wrist, but she didn’t care.
The poor, tiny cockroach scuttled away quickly, antennas twitching when he reached the edge of the floorboards as if the insect was thanking her.
In a flash, he was gone and she let Duke go who jumped over to where the cockroach had disappeared.
She stood, crossing her arms over her chest when he whipped his head back and growled. “I’m sorry, Duke, but I won’t allow that in front of me.” With a huff, she added, “What you do in the gardens is none of my business.”
It was hypocritical, but if she didn’t have to witness it, then that was fine. He was an animal, and the primal urge, no, deep-seated drive to hunt was a part of him. Yet, if she could aid a helpless prey in its escape, knowing firsthand how it felt to be the target, she would.
Loud ticks sounded from the wall clock, pulling her focus. The gold pendulum swayed back and forth. Tapping echoed from the other side of the door, and Charlotte froze.
Hartley’s voice sounded through the room, and she sighed in relief. “Miss, are you awake?”
“Yes, yes. Please, come in.”
“How are you this evening?” she asked as Hartley placed a tea tray on her dresser.
Charlotte quickly combed her fingers through her curls, taming them back, and wiped the sheen of sweat from her forehead. “Do you ever see ghosts here?”
Hartley’s face blanched. “Sometimes I hear things.” She tucked back a blonde ringlet that had escaped under her white cap and looked around. “Knocking, footsteps, you know. The attic is the worst. I hate going up there.”
“Why do you need to go into the attic?” she asked.
“Lord Sallow often takes his tea up there.”
“He drinks tea?” she asked, surprised that was the first question that came to mind. “Although I have seen them drink whiskey and wine. I just assumed they’d only be able to tolerate blood.”
“They can eat, but it tastes like ash to them. The alcohol gives them somewhat of a sensation, from what Mr Young has told me, but the tea is just habit.” Lowering her voice to a whisper, she leaned forward and said, “I think Lord Sallow takes it to feel more human.”
“Why does he go to the attic?”
Hartley fell silent, pursing her lips as if she wished she could take back the slip in statement.
Charlotte leaned forward, gripping the edge of the mattress. “Please, Hartley. Tell me.”
“I should not have said anything, Miss. Please, put it from your mind.”
“Of course, I will.”
She would not.
With a tense breath, she nodded and rolled back against the headboard as Hartley poured her tea.
“I can do that,” Charlotte offered, and Hartley shook her head.
“No need at all. Miss Ellenwood would like you to join her in preparing for the ball tomorrow night.
Would you like help dressing?” she asked, replacing the teapot in the center of the silver tray. “
Her stomach knotted at the thought of them already preparing for it.
“No, it is okay. Thank you,” she said, picking at her cuticles. “You have been here for some time, correct?”
“Two years, Miss. Hopefully soon that will change.”
She nodded. “I understand why you want to become a vampire, but do you not worry that would lose touch with your humanity?”
Hartley shook her head and handed Charlotte a small teacup. “I’d only kill those who deserve it. If you do not require anything else, I should go and serve Lord Sallow.”
“In the attic?”
Hartley smiled but didn’t say anything.
“Why is it only you serve me?” Charlotte asked before Hartley could leave. “I know there are more staff.”
“Lord Sallow asked me to take care of you. He doesn’t trust most of his staff, especially not the men. He wanted them all to stay away from you.”
Her stomach clenched. “I didn’t know that.”
“How could you? You’re in good hands here, Miss. You are his chance at a fresh start, at redemption.”
Her heart palpitated. “Why does he need his curse to break to get that?”
“Because he believes himself to be a monster and by God is he right. He is adept at savagery, Miss. I’ve cleaned up enough after him to see how he leaves his victims. Alexander and the others who come don’t come close.
I think that’s why he is so desperate to become mortal.
Since you’ve arrived, he’s fed three, sometimes four times a day. It used to be once or twice a week.”
An icy slither wrapped around her, sinking through her pores. She brushed her fingers against her throat. She had a good idea why that was. The bond was driving him to madness, pushing him to destroy everyone else instead of her.