He pressed the back of his hand to her forehead in a way that might have made her lean into him if she didn’t already know what he was capable of. If it didn’t feel like he was doing this just to show her that he still could. She held herself stiffly as he inspected her.
“Yes, a bad one—you’re a little tense. Are you sore?”
She jerked her head away from him, outraged. “Last night you said it was too late to leave. What did you mean by that? Did you know the roads were going to be blocked?”
“What are you accusing me of, Nadine? Acts of god?”
(Would you kneel before me?)
“Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god,” she snapped.
“Well.” A slow smile appeared over his face. “I was going to go hunting with Ben and Odessa, but perhaps I should stay here and tend to you, since you seem to be so agitated. There’s plenty I could do to make you feel better.” His knuckles dragged along her side, just grazing the underside of her arm. “Especially if you’re not sore.”
She hugged herself tighter. “Deena’s bringing me medicine.”
“Deena can’t do for you what I can.” It was a ghost of the way he had used to tease her and hearing it here, now, made her stomach feel like it had just dropped out onto the floor. “We could start by getting you out of those wet clothes.”
She took a step back. “I thought you didn’t sleep with sparrows.”
“Stop saying that.” The smile disappeared as if by a switch and she saw him glance down the hall. “You don’t want the wrong person to hear you.”
“Why?” she said defiantly. “What does it mean?”
Cal leaned closer, gripping her doorway by the frame. “You’re in too deep, Nadine. The best thing you can do for yourself right now is to pretend. Pretend you’ve given up on finding Noelle, that you’ve turned to me in your grief. That you can’t get enough of me.” A hard smile curved his mouth. “From what I’ve seen so far, it wouldn’t have to be much of an act.”
You bastard.“This is sick,” she said. “What you’re doing, it’s—mind games—”
“It’s more than that. You want to live, don’t you? There’s enough dead things in this house already, little sparrow. I’d rather not see you become one of them.”
“Screw you,” she whispered.
He looked down at her for a beat longer, shaking his head almost ruefully.
“I’ll leave you to cool off then. Don’t take any more cold baths. Ring Thomas, if you need to. He can mix boiling water in with the cold so you won’t catch your death.”
“You don’t care about me, Caledon,” she said harshly. “I don’t know what it is you really want from me but d-don’t pretend like you give a shit.”
He gave her an ironic smile at the sound of his full name. “You really don’t know what I want from you?”
Her belly throbbed at that glance. She could see why he had gotten so many women to come with him, despite all those evil rumors. Even now, paralyzed under his gaze like an insect trapped in amber depths, Nadine found herself recalling the sweetness of his lies with bitter longing.
“Why did you do it?” she asked pitifully, hating that he could still make her feel this way. “I thought you were going to kill me.”
“My father was going to give you to Ben.”
“What?”
“I warned you about him. I said he played for keeps. We’ll talk later. Leave the tapestry door unlocked and I’ll come see you.” He glanced over his shoulder, and she saw the ragged edge of one of the marks peeking out from the collar of his shirt, puffy and heavily scabbed over. Satisfaction flared up in her at the sight of it, and she thought,Good. “It’s unwise to involve your friend. Your aunt, too. Your sister should have never involved you, either, though it’s too late for you now.”
“Don’t you dare hurt them,” she said. “Don’t youdare. If youtouchthem, I’ll—”
“What?” His voice was intense. “What will you do to me, my little sparrow? Beat your hands against my chest? Scratch me up? Shout at me in that sweet, trembling voice? If that’s the case, you tempt me to villainy, simply by making me crave the punishment.”
She wilted, her hands falling to her sides like she’d been struck like an arrow. “Why are you doing this?” she sobbed. “Are you going to hurt me?”
“No,” he said, with strange emphasis. “I won’t.”
“But what—”
