“What do you want?” I demand instead.
“We’re curious,” he drawls while his companion stands still and mute next to him. “We haven’t been let out of our cage in millennia. So much has changed.”
“That’s why you took the door away?”
“We just want to talk,” he says with a lifting of his shoulders. “Our brother has taken such an interest in you, and we wanted to see why.”
I glance from one to the other, disbelieving the flimsy explanation.
“You could have simply asked him.”
The creature chuckles a wet, sticky sound of someone choking on blood. “He is not forthcoming. A bit of a liar, our dear brother. Will do and say whatever it takes to get what he wants.”
The unease is a cold whisper against the nape of my neck. An uncomfortable scuttle that almost makes me shudder.
“This has nothing to do with me. Let me out.”
“Aren’t you even curious?” he interjects, ignoring me entirely. “Why you? You’re not an Usher. Not really. You have no power. Nothing he could possibly need. Yet, he chose you.”
I tell myself to ignore the goading. To put my foot down and demand they let me out.
“What are you implying?” my mouth says instead.
The creature ambles a single step closer.
The other one remains where he is. Stone still. Too watchful with those endless voids.
“I’m sure nothing, but what do you know about him? How do you know you can trust him?”
I blow out a breath and give him the best frown I can muster. “Move out of my way. Bring back the door.”
“It’s fine if you don’t want our help—”
“I don’t,” I snap before he can finish.
But he continues, “But think of the baby.”
My blood goes cold. The hold over my middle tightens even when I will myself not to react.
“What about the baby?”
It’s obvious that they’re trying to get under my skin. I know they’re manipulating me. There is nothing wrong with the babyand I know Veyn would never hurt me. Yet, I can’t shake my unease.
“Why do you think we’re here?” He gestures to the room, but I know he means the manor. “We’re trapped. Bound to these stones. We need the blood of our captors to be free.”
I roll the information around in my head and still don’t understand.
“Are you talking about the Ushers?” I hazard, guessing.
“Their great, great, great grandfather found our shrine. He stole our talisman, binding us to his bloodline. Without that effigy, we are bound to this place, but only an Usher can find it and free us.”
I frown. “Why are you telling me this?”
The creature moves with slow, shuffling ambles around the casket, leaving a thick trail of bloody footprints across the stone. I have no desire to turn my back on the other one, but he’s less threatening than the one circling the room.
“Because he chose you. It could have been the final Usher upstairs, but he wanted it to be you.”
“Why?”
