“Okay, how about this? You turn around, or we’ll let the dog eat you.” Rhoden gives him a sardonic smile.
With no more questions and needing no further instructions, the coachman quickly closes the window before sitting back in his seat and turning the horses around.
“Thank you,” I smile at Rhoden.
She waves her hand at me before dropping her chin in it and resting it on the top of her knee. “Yeah he better be worth it,” she grumbles.
A weight that had been pressing on my shoulders lifts, making me feel light. Braxton is the right choice, and I’m not going to let him push me away. I’m coming back to him whether he wants it or not.
Though it makes no sense, Braxton is my home, and all I’ve wanted is to go home. I just didn’t realize I had been there the whole time.
57
Braxton
Somethingisn’tright.Ican see the carriage heading back to the front of the castle at breakneck speed.
The trip to get Azalea to the harbor so she could sail home would take two days. There is no plausible reason why that carriage would be coming back, even if they sped right to the harbor with no stops.
One of my guards summoned me after spotting the carriage coming back on the castle grounds, and now, as it draws nearer, I can tell something is off.
My chest seizes as I wonder if I was wrong about being able to leave the castle grounds. I try to remember what would happen to Azalea if she stepped outside the border while the curse was in place. Could it do any physical harm to her?
My feet stumble over each other at the thought, and I waste no time rushing to where the carriage comes to an abrupt halt.
I run to the carriage door and practically rip it off its hinges as I open it. There in the back seat is… no one. It’s completely empty. Looking up at Thomas, the coachman, I see he’s as white as a sheet.
“Where is she?” I growl at him.
Grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, I yank him from his perch on the carriage.
“Th-this woman. She stopped the carriage. She was horrible… haunting. The air felt like it was filled with the world’s deepest nightmares when she stopped us on our path back.”
“Path back? Why were you coming back at all?” At this point, both of my fists have curled around Thomas’ shirt, and I’m pulling him up off his feet to be nose to nose with me. I shove his back against the edge of the carriage, my gaze murderous.
“A-Azalea. She told me to turn around. She wanted to come back to the castle.”
My grip lightens, causing Thomas to slip from my fingers and back to his feet. I shake the shock his words caused from my system and pin him with my scowl before placing my forearm against his neck and pushing him back up against the carriage. When I do this, I hear an inhuman whimper inside, and quickly shove past him. I know it can’t be Azalea, but still I have to check.
My eyes scan the small compartment, and I watch as Luna crawls out from under the seat just before my eyes rest on the crumpled heap of ruffles on the carriage floor. My chest constricts. I don’t know how I could have possibly missed this before, but based on the smear of crimson coming from the same place I just saw Luna crawl from I conclude that she must have been hiding under the seat and only just crawled her way out. Bounding into the carriage, I quickly pull her limp body into my arms, but am met with silky black locks instead of wild curls.
“Rhoden?” I brush her hair from her face to find her eyes closed, and a blooming red stain taking up most of her corset. When I drop my ear to her chest, I hear soft rattled breathing, and a sigh of relief leaves me. But my relief is short lived as I exitthe carriage and turn back to Thomas. I slam him against the side of the carriage again.
“Where the fuck is she?”
He squirms under my arm, but it’s a useless effort in trying to get free. “The w-woman who stopped us t-took her,” the shaking coachman stammers. “I couldn’t stop her. She took lady Azalea from the back of the carriage.”
I drop my forearm away from his neck, dread swallowing me whole. I know exactly who the woman he’s talking about is. And she’s no woman at all. She’s a witch. Dianthus took her. I let her outside of my protection, and that bitch took her. This is my fault. I should have known she was always safer with me than away from me.
I run my fingers through my hair, panic filling my chest, constricting my ability to breathe. Just when I fear I’ll drop to my knees and let my anxiety consume me, I feel a soft patch of fur rub against my palm. I look down to find Luna pressing into my side before looking up at me with pleading eyes.
“I-I’m sorry sir. I don’t know where she took her,” Thomas admits.
I run one hand down my face while simultaneously scratching behind Luna’s ear with my other one. I leave the man where he stands, trembling and on the verge of tears. Climbing back into the carriage, I pick Rhoden up and hold her close to my chest.
“You’re okay,” I whisper, hoping Rhoden is conscious enough to hear me. “I’m going to get you to the infirmary. You’re going to be okay.”
With Rhoden cradled to my chest, I stalk back into the castle, beckoning Luna to follow me with a sharp whistle.
