Cheron paled and watched him uncertainly, as if trying to read into his words.
“No,” I said, standing. “I will keep your secret. I will …”
Montoni raised an eyebrow. “You will what?”
I hesitated, looking at Blanche. Could I marry her? Even for the life of my aunt? A woman who had been cold to me my entire life, who had threatened to confine me to a mental facility? It would mean tying myself to Montoni for life. Who knew what he would do even if I did comply?
With a sigh, Montoni waved a hand at my aunt. “But alas, Father Schedoni has need of some subjects for an … experiment. Madame Montoni would fill that position very adequately.”
I swallowed hard. The leeches. He didn’t know what I’d seen in the dungeon, that I was onto him in that regard. I wouldn’t rise to the bait and let him know that I’d seen more than he already knew. That would give him even less incentive to keep me alive. But I knew that he meant to drain my aunt of her blood for whatever he was doing. It had something to do with the antidote, but I couldn’t quite make it out. What was he doing to them?
Aunt Cheron laughed, but it was a weak laugh. “What are you all going on about? Is this some sort of prank?”
Montoni slammed his fist onto the table and we all jumped. “Shut. Up,” he ordered my aunt. “I’ve had enough of your prattling.” He swiveled his head in my direction. “In a fortnight, we will hold a ceremony for your marriage. If you do not go through with it, the rest of your stay here will look very different. And it will be indefinite.”
I met my aunt’s eyes momentarily, holding them, before turning to Montoni. I took a deep, shuddering breath. “I’ll marry her.”
Montoni paused. “What was that, Marquis?”
I sat up straighter. “You win. I’ll marry Blanche.” I glanced at Lady Morano’s startled expression before returning Montoni’s gaze.
“Oh, Emile,” my aunt said softly, a hand to her chest. She looked torn. This was what she’d wanted for me, for our family. But this certainly wasn’t how she’d pictured it, despite her own coercions.
A sly smile spread over Montoni’s lips before he gave me a nod. “A wise choice. Still, I think your aunt would benefit from … fresh accommodations until then. Wouldn’t you agree?”
He meant the dungeons, of course. I glared at him. “Even if you were only a man, you’d still be a monster.”
Montoni barked out a laugh. “You seem to be under the false impression that you have any power here.” He held up a hand and we all watched silently as his fingers elongated into claws, hair sprouting from his skin, nails sharpening to points. “Or have you forgotten already?”
My aunt slumped forward in her seat, her head hitting the table with a dull thud and rattling the saucer beside her.
“I saw that coming.” Montoni smiled grimly, reverting his hand to its human form. “I honestly thought it would be much sooner. Maybe a little backbone runs in your entire family.”
“Better than a curse,” I said.
Montoni tossed his napkin onto his plate and stood with a humorless grin. “What you call a curse, I call a gift.” He strode from the room. “Unfortunately, it seems that I’m the only one in this family worthy of it.”
Blanche reached across the table and grabbed my hand. “Emile …”
“It’s okay,” I said, sending her a tight smile. “He needs to at least think I’m willing to go through with this. If anything, it’ll buy us some time.”
Blanche worried at her lower lip while I wondered just what I would be able to do with that time. My choices were limited. I was trapped here.
“Maybe Henri will have an idea,” Blanche suggested.
“Maybe,” I said, not believing it for a second.
Blanche didn’t send for me that evening. I paced my room until well after midnight, before I gave up, realizing that she wasn’t going to bring me to see her brother tonight. I was anxious as I slipped into bed. I couldn’t get the image of Henri wrapped in chains out of my mind, nor my aunt having leeches applied to her skin. If anything, perhaps the impending nuptials had spared my aunt that particular fate.
What a villain Montoni turned out to be. And it seemed that I was to be tied to him forever. Could I actually go through with this marriage to Blanche? In the end, I might not have a choice.
I lay on my bed, cold despite the fire Ludovico had stoked for me. The whole castle was drafty. I could hardly imagine it was livable in the winter months. But if I was to spend the rest of my life behind these walls, I would find out soon enough.
I was just drifting off to sleep when I discerned a tapping noise in the room. Was it rain on the roof perhaps? I tried to ignore the noise, cocooning myself deeper into my bedsheets, when I heard a creak.
I froze. The creak had been close. In the room, in fact.
I didn’t dare move, let alone breathe, but I kept my eyes wide open as I watched something appear out of the corner of my vision. A figure dressed all in white glided across the room.
