A flutter of wings jolted her, and Lux turned to see the crow from the fence. It landed on the railing and, in a single hop, neared her side. Lux knew it was not the crow from her old life. She reached out anyway. The animal didn’t bolt or twitch, allowing her forefinger to run along its sleek crown.
“What do I do about the hallucinations?” she asked the bird and the world both. “I won’t allow that lunatic to carve anythingout of me. Does this mean I’m meant to live out my days as the necromancer who faints with her revivals and speaks to the nightmare haunting her even while awake? That didn’t work out well for Riselda.”
She hissed a sudden breath of pain.
“What wasthatfor?” Lux lifted her hand to see. A red streak marred the back of it. “You bit me, you cruel bird!”
She sank down to the floor, the book in her clutches. Between the sharp pain in her hand, and the hollowness of her heart, she suddenly had no strength left to stand. She glared out at the cliffside. The barest gleam of pale stone could be seen around the manor’s onyx tower: the edges of Grimrook House she now knew.
The crow hopped onto her lap. Lux froze. The bird tilted its head, its beady eye searing her own. If ever an animal could look disappointed, this bird managed it.
Her teeth clacked together. Her jaw grew hard. She breathed a deep breath, and at its end, her face relaxed. “I won’t give up so easily,” she explained to the animal. “I was only grousing.”
Again, she picked apart that conversation in the workroom bit by bit. From the treatment of the girl to their cryptic talk of Lux herself. Disgust filled her over their eager words. “Who in the saintforsaken hell is that overlord? I’m sure I have no idea.”
This time, the bird pecked at her thigh.
“Devil—get away!” Lux shoved the bird off, where it immediately took flight and was gone. She hauled her skirt into her hands until the mark was revealed.
It didn’t bleed, but it was certainly an ugly scratch.Beast,she seethed. She’d been told they were clever birds, but it seemed this one was just awful.
Her skirt pooled around her at the same time a knock came upon her door.
“Lux?” said the muffled voice.
Devil below.Corvin.Lux shoved to her feet and called, “Just a moment.”
She’d told Hildred to invite him to dinner. She’d forgotten to also tell the woman to report back on his answer. The attendant was the most literal person she’d ever met.
Lux hurried from the balcony to depositThe Risen.She ran then to the mirror, and when she neared it, saw that though she’d become disheveled from the breeze, she wasn’t entirely unpresentable. Her fingers worked quickly to twist windswept strands from her face, securing them with clips she’d purchased in Loxlen.
Not for the first time, Lux felt relief over her shorter locks. She could well imagine the state of her hair by this point had she kept its length. She wiped at the space beneath her eyes and admired the new pink in her skin.
She returned to the door and opened it.
Her joints stiffened.
Corvin held out a gloved hand. And following that gloved hand was a black shirt and black trousers. He’d changed into a similar ensemble as their first meeting.
He also had that familiar half-smile on his mouth, the coy one, and her eyes narrowed upon seeing it. His smile bloomed fully. “I’ve come to escort you to dinner. Thank you, of course, for your invitation, but I’d something else in mind than the small tables these rooms allow.”
Lux raised an eyebrow. “Is there an evening room?”
His hand further bridged the distance. “Better. Please, allow me to distract you. I understand you’ve had the roughest of days, and I won’t pretend you haven’t. But the night is perfect, and I know you love the sea.”
Distract her? Her perusal began at the top of his light head and didn’t finish until she’d dragged it down to his well-craftedshoes. When she met his eyes again, she found his cheekbones tinged with color.No, she thought.Iwill not be distracted.
“All right,” she said, offering a coy smile to match. “If you insist.”
MothlockManorpossessedasecret terrace. One Lux hadn’t been able to view from her balcony’s position, jutting from the building’s side. Attendants held the doors wide, and once outside them, she lost her breath.
“This is almost too beautiful to be real,” she whispered.
Lux felt Corvin’s glance for a moment before he proceeded to follow her gaze. From the intimate seating to the lit lampposts and all around the extended intricate railing. The lamplight wasn’t blue, but warming and soft and in pleasant contrast to the moon. The sea’s lullaby haunted her in a delicious way.
Now youarebeing distracted,admonished her head.
She snapped free of the trance.
