“I think it’s kill or be killed. And no, that is so not her wheelhouse.”
“Well, in this house, it will be.” Cal slanted her a narrow smile. “There’s even a hunting festival in town. You just missed it—it’s called the Running of the Deer. For generations, my family has been importing deer and letting them loose in the woods every summer. For a whole day, people come from all over the hunt what they can carry. The town flourishes with venison for months.”
“Why?”
“Why not? Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god.”
Nadine made a face. “Is that from the bible?”
“No. It’s Greek. How do you like the prosciutto? We make it ourselves on the estate.”
“Really?” she asked, reluctantly impressed. “You do?” She meant:not the servants?
“Yes. In the cellar. It’s just below here. That’s why this room is so cold, as you’ve probably noticed. Would you like to see it? It’s rather fascinating. There’s an old furnace down there, too. Victorian. Made of solid iron.”
Another chill rippled down her spine as the image of hanging animal corpses popped into her head. She could almost feel the wet rasp of skinless flesh.
(A raven needs a sparrow)
“N-no, thank you. I think I’ll pass.” She pushed the plate in front of her away, suddenly feeling queasy.Relax. He’s just trying to be nice, she told herself.He’s just really, really weird.“It was nice of you to offer,” she added lamely.
A commotion sounded from outside and Nadine noticed a crowd had gathered around the arbor. “What a shame,” he said, following her gaze. “You’ve missed the bouquet toss.”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“Mm, but how will you know if you’ll be next?”
She glanced at him, and was startled to find him leaning much closer than he had been before. The look in his eyes frightened her and she leaned back uneasily, pushing herself to her feet. Nobody had ever looked like that before.
“W-what?”
“You might be. Next, that is. I think you’re prettier than your sister.”
Prettier than Noelle. She might have laughed if it hadn’t been such an awful thing to say. Noelle looked like a fairytale princess, blonde and sleek and tan. Nadine knew she wasn’t ugly, but she also harbored no illusions about where she stood in comparison.
“I don’t know about that.” Laughing nervously, she said, “Thanks for the, uh, this—” She swept her hand towards the table, already turning towards the door. “I—oh, okay.”
He was offering his arm again and Nadine could not think of a polite way to refuse him, so she rested her hand on his arm as gingerly as possible, trying to force some semblance of cheer to her face just in case Noelle happened to be looking, or a stray photographer happened by, wanting to capture the moment.
His grip was strong and powerful and made her feel curiously small.
She glanced up at him and saw him looking back at her. That strangely intense expression hadn’t left his face.
I wasn’t wrong, she thought.He was going to kiss me.
The dancing was winding down and everyone seemed to be drinking now—some more heavily than others. Cal’s father, Nathaniel, had switched to the hard stuff at some point and there was a rather unpleasant look on his face, like he was thinking of a very cruel joke.
It didn’t leave his face when his eyes drifted towards her and he saw her hand on his youngest’s arm. If anything, he looked even more amused. Nadine yanked her hand away, clasping both of hers in front of her as Noelle hurried over.
“Oh, Nad! You made it! I’ve been looking all over for you, but every time I thought I finally saw you, you slipped away and vanished.” Noelle embraced her tightly, jostling Cal aside as she crushed Nadine to her iridescent bodice. “Isn’t itwonderful?”
“Yeah,” Nadine said, looking politely away from the hickeys on her sister’s throat, which couldn’t quite be covered, even with makeup. “It’s like a fairytale.”
One of those ones where everyone gets eaten by wolves.
Her eyes went to the tables where the roses were continuing to melt. Someone had carelessly set their empty wineglass into one of the trays, and the red water inside had oozed over the side and was drooling lazily to the cobbled courtyard, dripping in a way that was very much like blood.
Cal was watching her, a faint smile on his face as Noelle turned to greet another guest, Ben following possessively in her wake, unable to take his eyes from his bride.
