“Yes, and I do not like to let go of my toys.” William cocked his head with an awful sneer.
Blood shrilled in my ears, my stomach bottoming out. Under the table, I shifted Silas’s ring on my finger, not even registering the words until they hung heavy on their grim faces.
“I am sure that will be no problem.” I whipped my hand from under the table, showing them the band. “I am sure I can ask myhusbandto ensure the welfare of my family and not depend on a man who would rather be in the company of prostitutes than of a proper lady.”
William sent the chair flying back, shaking. Fury raged in his gaze, a vein popping out of his forehead becoming clear as he lowered himself to me, finger pointed high.
“You say another word, and I will not hesitate to kill you,” he whispered. “You may have gotten away from me once, but I will not let that happen again or your sister, such a submissive woman—you should take after her lead.”
I pondered, knowing everyone within the business is watching with eager eyes, frothing at the mouth for the drama. I let the burn of the absinthe coat my throat, pulling myself to my feet, for all I had endured the last six months—this small man meant nothing to me now.
I raised my head, lips curled. “You are mistaken, William. You ever touch me or my sister again, you will die. That, I am sure of.” I dug through my coat, brandishing a pouch of gold and silver with more than enough to live a comfortable lifestyle. I tossed it toward Miriam. “Take it and find yourself someone who is worthy of you.”
Miriam swiped the pouch from off the table, quick enough before Mama or William had a chance to take it from her. She opened it and gasped. “Valeria...”
I glared at Mama, letting the next words ring out into the space. “If you sell Miriam to this abusive man, Mama, you will have sealed not only William’s but your own deaths. I nor Miriam are to be pawns. Is that clear?”
Mama scowled.
Miriam’s eyes widened, nodding in appreciation. She would have never fought Mama in the matter. Never saying a single word about objecting to the notion of saving our reputation—our money for the sake of this man. No, she would have gone on to marry William, enduring the daily abuse only to become burdened with a child, unable to leave or worse.
Dead.
This was the one thing I could do for her, this one small mercy. She’d find someone, maybe not from Endovier or someone rich, but one who’d keep her happy for the rest of her days. That is the best gift I can give her before walking out of her life for the last time.
For the last time, I took in Miriam’s soft features—always the opposite of me. The light to my dark, the soft to my harshness—innocent and pure more than I ever can hope to be. The last tie I had to this side of the mortal coil. I strode to the door of the teahouse, aware of the eyes upon me, but I dared not to look.
I twisted the ring, heat singing under the band. Silas was waiting. One foot after another, the path opened for me, becoming clear and unhindered. Whispers of both the past and future collided with one until they were one voice, urging forward through space and time.
I would not dally any longer. I had a promise to keep.
Mama cleared her throat, catching me off guard as my hand rested on the knob of the door, the mist closing in on the city streets. The simple sentence laced was with venom.
“Happy birthday, Valeria. May you live long and happy.”
I stumbled back through the mist and onto a familiar dirt road. The castle greeted me as the ring upon myfinger seared onto my hand with the pain barely registering. I walked the long path up to the grand wood door.
Ebony greeted me with open arms, but I just opted to travel up the long staircase up to my room—to the darkness that was eager to either greet me or to feed off on.
I shouldn’t have been rattled.
Miriam was saved from a life of torture and pain. I should’ve been happy about that. I tossed myself onto the soft cushion of the bed, the scent of Silas having faded on the silk sheets. I yearned for the simpler times when I had thought I knew what was right and what was wrong.
It was my birthday, a day of supposed blissful happiness to celebrate the turning of another year. I survived to see another year turn and no longer thought to be at death’s door. So why did I already feel as if I were dead?
The evening sun set in the west and the darkness greeted me eagerly as it always has.
Twenty-Eight
That night, atdinner, a huge box wrapped with suspicion and intrigue sat on the table in my seat. Silas grinned ear to ear, lounging in his chair, watching me intently, dressed handsomely—devilish even wearing a suit cut from the darkness itself. A vision of shadows shimmered under the bright candlelight. Flecks of red and gold accented his collar draped in fine gold and rubies. The only piece missing was a heavy crown of silver on top of his—
I snapped back to Silas, piercing gold eyes watching me closely.
“Everything alright, Little Dove?”
Silas indeed wore a suit, but it was not the luxurious one I had seen moments ago. It was simple, as fine silk glimmered softly.
I gripped the back of the chair, returning my perplexity to the enormity sitting among delicacies, the red bow draped the white of the wrapping paper with eagerness and haste.
