When his hand had touched my leg, warmth flooded that patch of skin, and I had never felt so guilty or ashamed in my entire life. I wasn’t supposed to feel anything other than complete hate and disgust toward Kane, but my treacherous body had other plans.
For the briefest moment, I had looked in his gaze, felt his hand on my thigh, andwantedhim.
Not only did I betray Crispin’s memory, but I did it so easily… I hated myself.
But that guilt sharpened my resolve. I wouldn’t succumb to momentary desire. Kane could not be trusted.
I needed to get up, wash my face, and absorb yesterday's events, to process them into something that made sense because I was losing myself in this place.
Leaning over, I twisted the lantern on, illuminating the room in a warm glow.
A book sat on the night table.
This wasn't here last night.
Thunder boomed outside and I jumped.
Another rainy day.
I’d seen more rain here in the mountains than anywhere else.
Dropping my bare feet to the stone floor, I padded across the room and checked the lock on my door.
Still locked.
Knowing Kane had a secret passageway in his room, Iwondered if I had one in mine and he just didn't tell me. Did someone sneak in and leave that book?
The thick green tome had a lock on the front and lying next to the book, an old key with a twisted head on it.
Someone had left this here, but who and why? And what was it?
I looked at it, rubbing my hand across the velvety top.
Should I open it?
What’s the worst that could happen? It’s just a book.
Taking the key, I put it into the book, twisting it, until the lock popped open. Scrolling black ink covered the first page.
There are no chickens here.
If this was a diary.It was a very odd way to start it.
There was nothing else on the page. I turned to the next one.
It has been a week,and Mother still hasn't returned.
My heart stoppedand I quickly slammed the book shut. Was this what I thought it was?
Did Kane keep a diary?
Thinking back to what I knew about stories surrounding him, little was known about how Kane became immortal, but there were rumors that when his father died and he took the crown, there were murders happening in the castle. His mother was involved somehow and had disappeared with the head guard.
But that was it.
Kane survived all that because his mother had hidden him away, but no one knew where.
For the only people who truly knew the events surrounding Kane and his father’s death were his father, his mother, his pixies, I assumed, who seemed to know everything that went on, and the guard.
