‘It’s no trouble, Dr O’Neill,’ he rumbled, the tone saying different, and turned away. And what could she say to that because she had no idea where her room was. She was entirely relying on him to show her around the place. As children Alex and Theo had been banished to the old nursery. She sincerely hoped he wasn’t planning to put her up there.
Alex turned her attention to the tray. There were biscuits as well, home-made from the look of them, sitting on a small plate beside a bowl of sugar cubes, silver tongs, and the matching milk jug. Her stomach gave a far too loud rumble. When had she last eaten? She had stopped somewhere on the way, just off the motorway, and that had been a bland sandwich from a chain which she suspected had as much nutrition as the cardboard it had come in.
The biscuit was sweet and buttery, just the right level of crumb, and she had never tasted anything quite so perfect in her life. Her hand was already reaching for another before she thought about it. That didn’t stop her.
‘Where did you get these?’ she asked but he’d already gone. Damn, he moved quietly for a big guy. More used to Gabe, who could make noise while sitting absolutely still, and the rest of them who were impossible to keep quiet even on an investigation, perhapsespeciallyon an investigation. She was surprised how unsettling she found it.
She towel-dried the excess water from her hair and checked the phone again as she drank her tea and finished the rest of the biscuits.
We’re here if you need us, Gabe’s message said.Even if it’s to ward off a Sasquatch. Hope he’s not too pissed with us. Sorry!
Alex shook her head. At least she had that support. Even if it was half the world away. And prone to insulting everyone around her, especially the one person she couldn’t afford to piss off right now.
Her gaze travelled around the room. It was a strange mixture of things, its grand fireplace dominating it, the oval mirror hanging above it, the tall windows almost lost in shadows at either end, draped in heavy brocade curtains of blue and gold. There were ornaments set in an array on a console table, and scattered across the mantelpiece.
The fire was merry and warm and she suddenly felt like she could almost nod off sitting here, as if she was a child again listening to Gran spinning her stories about the forest, and the good folk, and changelings and the walker in the woods, hunter and guardian. The firelight played on the stone surrounding it, that heavy grey stone with flickering bits of mica, seemed to hold shapes and patterns which couldn’t be there. Old impressions of spirals and diamonds, faces made from the way light and shadow moved, eyes watching her…
From behind her, in the depths of the house, she thought she heard laughter, a high and girlish giggle. Overhead something creaked, floorboards maybe, under a heavy tread. And then something else, something far closer. So close it might have been in the room with her.
A whisper.
Her name.
Alex shot up to her feet and the cup flew out of her hands, smashing as it hit the edge of the fireplace.
The house was horribly quiet in the aftermath.
‘Shit!’
She dropped to her knees, pulling the towel off her head to mop up the tea before it got to the rug. The china was in pieces, and as she tried to gather it up, a sharp edge dug into her palm. She cursed again and threw the fragments onto the tray in frustration. No blood. At least there was that.
‘Are you all right?’
Nick was back in the doorway, frowning down at her in bemusement.
‘Yes, I’m sorry. I just…I dropped the cup and…’
Slowly, she stood up, feeling her face heating up. Tears stung her eyes. She was making a fool of herself and she hated that.
Nick looked at her, his gaze steady, his eyes almost unbearably severe. Judging her, like her grandfather used to.
‘You’ve had a long day,’ he said at length, as if talking to an overtired child. ‘I’ll show you your room. Get a good night’s sleep and tomorrow will be better. I’ll clean that up.’
‘Yeah,’ she sighed, defeated. Maybe she should just let him clean it up, and try again tomorrow. He wasdefinitelyjudging her anyway, and when he found out why she was here, if he didn’t already know…well… ‘Bed would be good. Take me to bed.’
The words were out before she could stop them. They both stood there, staring at each other in abject horror, and Alex wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole. To get it over with quickly for once.
Nick cleared his throat painfully and then stepped back, averting his gaze. ‘This way,’ he said, his voice a little too tight.
Oh God, Alex thought, face burning, barely here half an hour and already sexually harassing the staff. Generations of de Wildes would be so proud of me.
CHAPTER 5
NICK
Sasquatch, her friends had called him. It surprised him that he worried whether Alex agreed.
Nick hadn’t really thought about his appearance in months. No one had cared. They’d left him to his grief, letting him work through his loss. He had never been what you might call the life and soul of the party to begin with anyway.
