‘Juri hasn’t written to you?’
‘No one has,’ I muttered.
He uttered something under his breath I had a feeling no proper lady should ever hear, then spoke at a normal volume.‘How many people have you written to?’
I put my palms to my eyes in desperation.‘Oh, don’t pretend you don’t know,’ I said.‘I found sealing wax in the fireplace.’
He shrugged, but the tension in his shoulders was anything butnonchalant.‘And?There are three of us living in this castle, Clara.You’re not the only person who writes letters.’
‘But I’m the only prisoner.’
‘You’re not a prisoner.’
‘Can I go home, then?’
My candle sputtered.Raleigh fished a fresh one from his desk, crossed to me and lit it with mine as the flame died.He wedged it into the candlestick, hot wax running over the sides.Then he turned to me.I scooted my chair back, suddenly aware of how close he was, how he loomed over me.He twitched, as if he realised it himself, then returned to where he had been sitting.
‘I’ll look into the issue with the post.’
I didn’t reply.My question remained hovering in the space between us, unacknowledged yet thoroughly answered.I looked down, allowing my hair to fall over my face so he couldn’t see me fighting down the rising lump in my throat.
He was infuriating.Arguing with him felt like we were playing a game of chess, only he refused to move any of his pieces.If he would only admit I was his prisoner, I wouldn’t feel half the growing desperation within me, but his refusal to acknowledge any wrongdoing made me want to scream.
‘What about your research?’Raleigh continued.‘How can I help there?’
I was tempted to tell him to do his own bloody research, but I knew I had an opportunity here that I shouldn’t squander.I ran my fingers over the cover of one of the books beside me that I’d been too intimidated to open, tracing the embossed lettering sullenly.‘I need an English dictionary.’
‘Oh.’Raleigh lit up.‘I have one somewhere.One mo—’
‘I already found it.It’s a hundred years old and hardly has enough words to work with.’
‘Can you not make do?’
‘I can’t speak English!’I cried.‘I can slowly translate it, but this is barely a dictionary.If you want me to read these, you can either hire a real translator or find me a proper dictionary.’
‘All right, fine,’ Raleigh said.‘I’ll find one.What else?’His eyes fell upon the stack of books he’d picked out for me, still untouched after all these weeks.‘Did you already read all those?’
I’d never returned to that first book nor the rest of the stack he’d chosen.Growing up in Orlfen had prepared me well enough.No matter what else I read, I never felt like I was missing context from having pressed ahead.I had no intention of wasting my limited time reading what Raleigh and Moira already knew.‘Yes,’ I lied.
I could tell Raleigh expected something more.‘And you … don’t have any questions for me?’
I blinked, unsure what exactly he was asking.‘About what?’
‘Anything interesting you may have read?’The corner of his mouth twitched.‘I do know a thing or two about vampirism, you know.’
I wondered if he really meant to help me, or if this was another empty promise to placate me.Still, I had to ask something.I racked my brain for a question without an obvious answer that wouldn’t hamper my research if he lied to mislead me.Raleigh began to tap his foot – I’m not sure he knew he was doing it – and every tap felt like it was hammering home the fact that I was letting this chance slip through my fingers.
I glanced back to my notes.Did Raleigh keep company with other vampires?I couldn’t remember him speaking of them before.Clearly there were others, and not so far from here.If there was an entire coven on the other side of the mountains, perhaps one of them already knew of a cure.
‘Do you know anything about this queen in Bavaria?’I asked finally, gesturing to the book in front of me.
Raleigh stood suddenly, his chair grinding loudly against the stone floor.‘I’ve just remembered I have somewhere to be.’
What?I knew he didn’t have anywhere else to be or he wouldn’t have come to the library looking for anovel.I felt my anger rise again.He was sabotaging me, wasn’t he?Of course they would know about a cure, I was more certain now.And even if they didn’t, we could learn so much more from a short visit than I ever could from books written by humans.The fact that he refused to speak to me about it was maddening.
But that was it.Our deal was his way of making me feel like I had a choice.If he’d wanted me to be his research partner, he would have led with that, but he wanted a bride.I didn’t know why, but I did know he had no intention of helping me.
‘Of course,’ I found myself saying, inwardly screaming at myself as I did so.
