Before I could move, a hand clamped down over my mouth.
My scream was muffled, knife clattering to the floor as another hand dug into my wrist, impinging the nerve. I kicked and hit shin, but the hand didn’t loosen. I thrashed, getting just enough purchase to bite down on their fingers. My teeth ground into bone.
“Goddessdamn you!” The man spun me around, his arm pinioning my chest against the wall. Clement’s face moved barely inches from mine as he hissed, “Do not bite me again.”
I snapped my teeth and glared at him. “Then let me go.”
He leaned closer, his taut body aligning with mine and heat rushed off him, warming the air around us. His breath panted into my face, filling my senses with traces of pine and polish. He hissed in a barely controlled whisper, forced out through gritted teeth, “What are you doing in this part of the castle?”
This part of the castle? I processed the chill, the wooden floors, the accumulated dust. This is where Lilyanna and I had strayed on the first night before being turned around.
“A midnight stroll.” I tried to sound airy and casual. I’d been caught snooping many, many times before, it came with the territory. My words usually saved me but today my body betrayed me. My voice wavered, heart pounding beneath the corded muscles of his forearm, and he knew it. I wasn’t about to tell him I’d followed imaginary voices down the corridors, nor that I suddenly felt like the castle had led me down here.
“What are you doing out of bed so late?” I asked.
“My job.”
Something changed in the atmosphere around us. I couldn’t place it, couldn’t hear anything but Clement felt it too.
“Go back to your room. They sense you’re here and even I wouldn’t be able to protect you.” He loosened his grip, and my lungs dragged in oxygen, but he remained uncomfortably close, his torso pressed against mine.
“From what?”
He swallowed, his eyes flickering to my lips before settling back upon my own. “You can’t leave her unguarded. Go. Please. I’ve said all I can.”
He hadn’t really said anything. He knew something too. Everyone in this place was keeping secrets. If I’d been allowed to hunt the prince in my own way, I could’ve found out what was being hidden before I jumped feet first into the middle of it all. Siobhan was testing me. She must know. Or maybe she didn’t, and her reach didn’t extend quite as far as she wanted. Either way, I didn’t want to find out what inhabited this castle the hard way.
I nodded, and he stepped back. I scooped up my carving knife, the handle ice-cold. The blade had notched where it struck the stone, fractures spiderwebbing through the metal. He took it from me, wincing as he touched the handle and pocketed it as he strode away, rubbing his hand down his tunic afterward. The wood creaked beneath his boots, swallowing his body long before the sound.
A door snicked shut, leaving me in silence.
If his room was nearby, then shouldn’t Prince Bellinor’s be as well? The guards would likely be standing sentinel outside or on alert in adjoining rooms if the prince wanted to maintain his image of normalcy inside his own home. Maybe that would be my way in. If this area of the castle was banned, my presence could go undetected. If I could only slip past Clement’s sharp ears first.
Although, if I found the Sheriff and quickly, I could bargain with Siobhan and avoid having to destroy the prince at all. Lilyanna could find herself a new maid, marry the prince, and they’d all live happily ever after in this creepy castle while I spent all my hard-earned coppers inn-hopping my way south. Back to normal.
I sighed. My breath misted in front of me, spiraling like dragon’s steam toward the ceiling. An awareness prickled the hairs on my neck. Even the walls had fallen silent. The castle pulsed expectantly, and I was the fly caught in the center of its web. For the second time that evening, I felt like I’d been deliberately lured down here.
I turned and fled.
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY
I flicked through the crumpled newspaper as I walked Lilyanna to the fencing room. Why had they shunted the story of the missing woman all the way to the back? I scanned each headline, my elbow irritatingly jostling Lilyanna with every turn.
She tripped over my foot and grabbed my arm to steady herself. I stopped while she unwound from my body, smoothing her gold tunic with an air of nonchalance.
“You should be concentrating more on your job and where we’re going,” she huffed. “These floors are most uneven.” She eyed the sconces flickering high on the walls. “And the walls could crumble at any second.”
I folded the paper and tucked it under my arm. I scanned the ceiling for any loose slabs or cracks. “Okay, job done. Shall we go now?”
She glowered at me but took my arm and let me lead her onward. The castle did seem to be behaving. Even though the daylight barely penetrated the infrequently spaced narrow windows, the corridors were wide and straight. But it was as though we were being corralled, it knew exactly where we ought to be heading.
What a ridiculous idea. I shook my head to clear it, trying to infuse my clogged mind with sane thoughts. I was just tired. Even if there was magic here, it couldn’t have a mind of its own. Someone had to be in control.
“I don’t feel like ending up like those other women.” She spoke lightly, but her nails gripped my sleeve, piercing my skin.
“His fiancées?”
