Blackthorn didn’t move out of the way for me to pass, but he did turn to lead the way down the stairs. “I will escort you back to your room.”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” I hurried to tell him, chasing down the steps after his long legs. “I can find my own way.”
Blackthorn didn’t answer. He simply kept walking until we made it to the bottom of the steps. He then turned back down the corridor toward the main entrance. His silence was unsettling and made it hard to find the right time to ask him to let me leave. However, the tugging in my stomach told me I had no choice.
“Blackthorn,” I began, swallowing down my fear. “I understand what you’re trying to do for me. You’re paying me back for saving you, but this isn’t the way. I’m not stuck in some pit about to die. I made a deal with Rumpelstiltskin, I can’t back out of it. And he’ll see this as me trying to run away, not as being kidnapped.” When Blackthorn didn’t answer, I moved to pleading. “I’ll be punished for it.”
The vampire snorted. “He’d have to find you first.”
I grabbed his arm, stopping him as I swung around to look at him. “But he will. Our contracts are magical. It doesn’t matter where in the world I go, Rumple will find me.”
Blackthorn’s eyes narrowed, his lips pressed into a tight line. “Then I will kill him. No one will take you away from me.” He brushed past me, but I caught him adding on something under his breath.
“Not again.”
We walked in silence until we reached the door to my bedroom. Blackthorn turned to me. His hand lifted up as if to touch my face before he dropped it, his eyes closing briefly. “I’ll let Fran know that you have returned.”
Then without another word, Blackthorn swept back down the hallway, leaving me on my own.
I stared after him, a strange feeling in my stomach before entering my bedroom. Thankfully, Fran wasn’t there, but I didn’t know how quickly Blackthorn would find her. So, I headed toward the closet and searched through the drawers and cabinets.
Finally, at the very bottom of the closet shoved behind some dresses, I found a large silk-lined bag.
It was a bit elaborate for what I planned to do, but it would do. The bedroom door opened, and Fran’s voice called my name.
“I’m in here.”
Quickly, I rolled the bag up and shoved it back into the closet. Fran appeared in the closet doorway, confusion pulling her lips tight.
“Did you want to change clothes, mistress?” Her lips curled up into a smile. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist the lovely dresses we had prepared for you. Come, let’s get you all made up for dinner. I haven’t had a chance to make anyone up in a long time.”
I had planned on telling her no, but her last comment made me pause. Fran had probably been here just as long as the others. The thought made me sad.
“Actually, yes, I do want to change into...” I grabbed the blue dress she’d tried to dress me in this morning. “This one. Would you help me?”
Fran beamed with excitement.
I might not be here for very long, but if I could bring them a bit of joy, then I would do it. After all, I didn’t have to stay in the dress forever.
Tonight would come soon enough.
Chapter 9
I hadn’t had someone brush my hair since I was little, and watching Fran hum along behind me as she pinned my hair this way and that made me a bit nostalgic for home.
I blinked rapidly to stop the tears that were forming from falling and chastised myself. What the heck was wrong with me? Twice now, I’d become home sick being here. Nothing about the factory had ever made me think of home at least not in a fond way. What was it about this place that made me so nostalgic?
Since I had no answer to my questions, I pushed them to the side. Watching Fran smiling while she worked made me glad to have given into her pestering. Then the guilt set in. I was about to escape this place, and I feared that Fran and the others might get punished for it.
No. I couldn’t think that way. Blackthorn kidnapped me. It’s only right that I’d want to leave. Even if I didn’t have Rumple’s spell on me, who would just stay with their kidnapper? Even if his staff were wonderful, and this was the nicest I’d been fed or dressed in years. It was ridiculous.
Besides, Blackthorn was a vampire. Who knew if he was planning on making me his next meal?
My eyes dipped to Fran’s neck, tracing the scar on her neck.
“Fran,” I began not wanting to spook her. “How did you get that scar on your neck?”
Fran’s hands froze in my hair. Then, after a brief moment, it began once more. Her eyes focused on my hair. “Master hasbound us to him for eternity. We will serve him until he perishes. This scar proves we belong to him.”
