“I won’t,” I whisper, even though it’s a promise that could become a lie.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The cottage is silent as I approach.
The windows are dark, the black curtains wafting quietly.
On impulse, I scoop up a fallen rose, holding it to the surface of the book, which is cradled against my side. I keep my right hand free, and I’m fully prepared to drop the book if I need to defend myself.
I step through the dark doorway, finding the shadowed hallway just as I imagined it would be.
The walls are inky blue and decorated with swirling, silver filigree. The furniture is ornate and carved, but sparse, each wooden piece in just the right place.
This is the home of a dark creature.
Before I obey the urge to move farther inside, I take a step back, testing whether or not the cottage will trap me.
I’m relieved when it doesn’t.
As I move easily back into the garden, I’m aware of my pack watching from a distance.
Even from afar, I can hear their relieved sighs.
Either I have no soul, or the cottage is simply obeying my wishes as its creator.
I remove my boots and place them at the door so I can walk more quietly along the hallway.
So far, there’s no sign of Emil, and like before, I can’t sense his presence.
He may as well be a ghost.
Multiple rooms lead off from the hallway. Farther ahead on my right, I make out the shape of what could be a kitchen, but I can’t bring myself to go that far.
Too loud in my imagination is the sound of my mother humming within that room.
I swerve instead toward the second room on my left: a sort of living area but without large chairs. An ornate table rests against the far-right wall, a black rug covers most of the floor, and a fireplace burns softly within the opposite wall.
There’s no other furniture in the room.
The fire has completely died down and the soft glow of the coals isn’t too bright for my eyes, nor too dim for me to see clearly. Not that I can’t see in the dark.
Given how comfortably warm the air is outside, I would have expected a fire to make this room overly hot, but it doesn’t.
Once again, this environment is perfectly adjusted to my needs.
On impulse, I step toward the table and place the damaged book onto its surface, positioning the black rose beside it.
It feels like an offering, but I’m not sure to whom I’m offering it.
Or maybe it’s a declaration of war.
“You shouldn’t keep that book so close.”
I’m not surprised that Emil crept up on me.
Without turning, I close my eyes, sensing his location.
Behind me… and maybe a little to my right…
