I’d stayed out of his way as much as I could, afraid to meet his eyes in case he guessed what happened last night and the thievery of his blood.
I focused on cleaning outside: sweeping his private courtyard, weeding the flowerbeds around the wall, and finding I actually liked working with plants. My headache hadn’t gone—I doubted it ever would—but it eased enough that I’d had a rather pleasant time.
Especially as Whisper kept me company, lounging with his tail and front paw dangling over a branch where he lay in the only tree.
By the time I heard Lucien in the kitchen, I’d done most of the chores outside and even planted a few veggie seeds I’d found in the small shed holding the pruning gear.
With dusk falling and my fingernails black from soil, I brushed off the dirt on my knees, shook out the creases in mycalico linen dress, and headed toward the tree in the centre of the courtyard.
“I’m leaving.” Smiling into the branches, I tugged Whisper’s tail gently. “You’ll visit me tonight?”
The huge cat yawned with his giant fangs.
I took that as a yes.
Which meant I would actually sleep. I hated that he’d become a strange sort of sleeping pill. My love of napping had faded in the last few weeks, thanks to the other girls getting desperate.
Another few bodies had been removed, steadily erasing the would-be killers. But the more Lucien exterminated, the bolder the ones left behind became.
Not for the first time, I wondered if it would be safer to move into Lucien’s palace. To claim a wing for myself instead of heading to my pavilion on the outskirts of his estate every night.
Squeezing Whisper’s tail one last time, I headed toward the patio doors.
The heavy thud of the panther dropping behind me hinted he’d left his snoozing spot and followed. I shut the door once we were both inside and pulled the curtains, transforming the space into a sanctuary instead of a prison.
Lamps and lanterns cast a golden glow over the huge library shelves, the couch with its panther-shaped divot, the half-set chessboard, and the tower of books by the window seat. The room seemed homely and calm but after spending twenty years in this place without leaving, it would be just as sickening as a jail cell.
Shaking away those thoughts and shoving aside the pity I felt, I left Whisper to prowl toward the kitchen to find Lucien and slipped out the door—
“Ahhhh!”Clutching my racing heart, I staggered backward.
“Are you always this reactive?” Lucien narrowed his eyes where he stood in the middle of the corridor as if he’d just returned from somewhere.
Dropping my hand, I rolled my eyes. “Only when someone scares me.”
“You’re the one who appeared, not me.”
“Weren’t you in the kitchen?”
“I was but now I’m here.”
I exhaled and forced a smile. “What are you doing lurking about?”
“I was coming to find you actually.”
“Me?”
He nodded, his eyes locking on mine with an intensity I didn’t like. “I couldn’t find you.”
“I was in the courtyard.”
His gaze dragged over my dirt-streaked dress. His jaw flexed. “You’re filthy.”
“That’s why I was going home. To shower.”
Home?
This place wasn’t my home, no matter how much of a routine I fell into.
