I shut the door gently, carefulnot to wake Aurick if he’s already asleep. We haven’t spoken about the night Masten was here; how he yanked the back of my head and demeaned me like a thief caught with their hands in a safe.
There was a keen look in Aurick’s icicle eyes that night—he observed my fear and only had a subtle wariness in his expression.
I trust a murderous patient more than the man I’m living with.
“This way,” I whisper to Ruth. But she can’t hear me. Not with her mouth hanging open and her eyes like those of a child, spinning in a circle as she marvels at the mansion. The lights are dimmed to the soft flickering of dozens of candles across the glittering chandeliers and fireplace.
I laugh as she pretends to wipe the drool from her chin.
“I can’t believe you live here,” she whispers back.
“You’d never know with how little she’s actually here.”
That voice, annoyed, jerks my muscles into defensive mode. That voice is like ice melting down my spine.He’s awake.
Ruth goes rigid against the front door.
I’d like to follow her lead, but if tonight taught me anything, it’s to never show fear. Otherwise, they will walk over you like a dirty rug under their feet.
“Is it fine with you if my new friend, Ruth, stays the night?” I walk toward him as he sits, slouched, in front of the dim fire with a bottle in one hand and a leather journal in the other. “Or is that against the house rules?” I challenge.
He perks up, but only enough to get a better look at me.
“Where have you been all night?”
I was so hoping you would ask.“There was a dinner at a conformist’s house. I believe you know Meridei, right?”
And as predicted, he straightens up completely, wide eyed, like he was the one caught with his hands in the safe. Her name, sparking sober recognition in his eyes, confirming everything she said. He was with her before me.
“We’ll be starting our lady-doll regimen now. Please don’t disturb us.”
I snag Ruth’s moist hand and race up the stairs as if he were going to chase us. But he stays put, possibly considering a way to explain his activities with the woman who torments me.
We enter my bedroom, and I close the door behind us. Ruth wastes no time enjoying the amenities of this room. She skips twice, then launches herself in the air, absorbing into the soft fluff of the massive bed. She rolls over onto her back, smiling with her eyes closed.
“Wow,” she says slowly, with dragged-out admiration. “This is lovely.”
I nod. It is. I never needed all of it, though. I’m happiest under the trees when the wind picks up and the leaves create their own symphony.
I walk into the washroom, suddenly grateful for having two copper bathtubs. I light three vanilla-sugar scented candles and arrange everything we’ll need in the jars spread across the golden countertop. I reach into the cold chest under the counter and retrieve two pitchers of milk. Then, I carefully arrange four teaspoons of honey, two small vials of lavender oil, two bowls of freshly plucked rose petals, and Epsom salts. For hair care and skin lathering, I organize butters and oils to the far right of the counter, whipped and blended in glass bowls.
“I peeked into your wardrobe and watched my soul exit my body. It will reside with your beautiful, expensive dresses if you should ever need it.” Ruth sighs heavily as she sits on the edge of the copper tub.
I nod, smiling. “You’re welcome to borrow them whenever you’d like. I’m in my Emerald Lake uniform, mostly.”
“I beg your pardon, but if I lived here, I’d wear a new gown every hour.” She runs her hand through the hot running water absently, imagining the luxurious life I must live.
“Ruth…” I step in front of her tub, pouring the milk into the water, mesmerized by the way it dissipates, turning into rolling white clouds. “I want to give you my sincerest apology for what you saw at Meridei’s dining party. I should have stopped—”
“In my interview, they made me watch Meridei attempt to drown someone. They laughed about the way the woman’s body seized up, about the way her lips turned blue. And when I went home, I cried to my father. I begged him to not make me go back. But they didn’t believe me—or did notwantto believe me.” She uses her hand to mix the teaspoons of honey I let melt off the spoon into the bathwater. “When I arrived at the dinner, I thought I was going to be alone. That I would face their cruelty and have to force a smile. But—you fought back.”
As she smiles, her cheeks turn a soft shade like that of a rose petal, and the freckles scattered across her nose and cheeks draw closer together.
“I’m quite proud to say you’re the only friend I’ll have there,” she says.
You sent her, didn’t you, Scarlett?My skin warms from the heat of the stream and the triumph of making my first real girl friend.
“You’ll be my only friend there too.” I blow out a sigh of relief. At least, my only friend that isn’t a patient.
