Too stunned to speak, she was frozen as he retreated and melted into darkness.
“Goodbye, Elizabeth.” The words sounded in her ear, like a caress upon the wind. When she looked behind her, he was already gone.
The server didn’t say anything, but accepted the payment left on the table and handed her a large bag with her leftovers. Meals he had insisted on paying for.
Leaving the restaurant, she couldn’t decide if she wanted to find him and apologize or if she never wanted to see him again. So, when she headed home, she took a longer way, taking many turns and side streets. If Caspian, or anyone from his household were following her, she didn’t want them to find out where she lived if they didn’t already know.
She looked behind her twice, but no one was there.
When she made it home, she stoked her fire and collapsed on the sofa chair by the window. Caspian would be fine, she assured herself. He would find a new mistress in a week, and the next time he went “hunting” with Asmodeus, he would forget all about her.
She stared off into space.
There was nothing in the contract that said he couldn’t harm her after their three months. And … he would never have to pay her if she were dead. A nearly fatal oversight, and one she was surprised she had missed.
A means to an end.
Revenge upon her ancestor.
That’s why he had picked her.
She had always wondered. She stared out at the night sky, as pieces of the last few months slowly clicked together.
Chapter 47
A Final Gift
The next day, she returned home from Risna’s when she noticed something unusual. There was a large, heavy-looking burlap sack beside her writing desk. She saw that the small balcony door was left unlocked.
Someone had been here while she was gone.
Bolting the door, she grabbed her knife. She walked around her townhouse, opening closets and peering around corners, searching for a demon or intruder lying in wait.
No one was there.
Every corner of her home proved empty. Someone had forced open the lock, set down the burlap sack, and left.
Looking at the burlap sack, she took a tentative step forward and nudged the sack with her foot. The brim opened, and she saw gold.
She exhaled weakly. There was a fortune of gold nobles in here. Realizing what it was, her heart nearly stopped in her chest.
Five hundred gold nobles.
Payment for her time with Caspian. His side of the deal honoured.
He had remembered, and from what she had gathered last night, she was the only one he had let live, the only one that he had ever paid.
Oh, Caspian.
Looking at the pile of gold made her sad, and it made her miss him, which was even more dangerous.
She pressed her lips together.
Her feelings for Caspian were too complicated to unravel, and it hurt too much to dwell on, so, in an attempt to avoid them, she picked up her latest letter from Charlotte.
Envelopes bearing the yellow seal of House Harrison filled her writing desk. Charlotte’s correspondence had been lengthy and frequent, providing her with some much-needed entertainment and news from home.
Rumours about Lord Wilkinson’s death had continued to circulate as everyone had begun to speculate why he had been targeted and if their families mightbe in danger too. Charlotte had sent her several letters detailing every rumour she had heard on the matter.
