We leave her and go down the hatch to the other cottage.
Chapter fifty-seven
An Arm... Cool
Alaceandra
"We come bearing food." I try to don a good mood when we arrive to Sorin and Sam's cottage, but I find that their moods seem to be no better than ours.
Tension crackles through the space and standing at the center of it is an angry Sam.
Sorin's eyes widen when we come in and he quickly stands in front of the table. "Hi, Firefly." He walks up to me quickly. "Let's put that over he-" A flash of red catches my attention causing me to almost drop the food.
"What is that?"
Sitting on the small table is an arm.A detached arm for that matter.The blood from where it is severed is pooling on the table and from the look of it, it does not seem like it was detached too long ago. My stomach turns slightly.
"I found the man who attacked you," Sam says, his voice icy. Sorin cringes.
"Did you?" I say, my mouth feeling a bit dry. "Does that… um… belong to him?" My gentle protector is looking anything but. Blood coats his shirt and his fists are clenched as he stares daggers at the arm on the table. For some reason a thrill surges through me at the sight instead of the fear I was expecting.
"It is his arm, yes," he answers simply, his tone still strangely detached.
"And how did it get there?" the prince asks.
"I relieved him of its weight and put it there."
"Ah," the prince says, taking the food from my hands. "Where is the rest of him?" He does not seem as surprised by the dismembered body part as I am. As confusing as that is, I cannot force that fact to worry me. Instead, the whole situation feels surreal— something within me is almost excited by all the violence the day has brought.
"I do not know." Sam's voice has deepened dramatically, his rage coating every syllable. "He got away." He punches the table. "Again."
"So, you decided to bring the bloodied part to your cottage? To do what? Examine it?" the prince questions, dryly.
"What else was I supposed to do," he roars. "If I do not find him, Alaceandra-" His gaze finally leaves the arm on thetable and clashes with mine. The blood drains from his face. "Alaceandra… fuck." His eyes flick back down to the arm. "What are you doing here?" His voice has returned to his normal cadence, along with an edge of alarm.
I swallow. "Ummm… dinner?" My eyes flick to the arm again. "Not the arm though… stew. From Sylvie." I point to the little containers.
"Oh," he replies lamely. "I uh, I will clean this up." Gathering the table as a whole he walks past me and opens the hatch in the floor before tossing the whole thing down and shutting the door once again. Glancing down at himself, it is as if he notices the blood for the first time. "I need to shower," he says before running to the bathroom.
I stare after him. "Am I dreaming right now?" I ask the room.
"Hmm…" The prince pinches me and I swat at his hand. "No. Dear old Sam just went a little overboard there." He stares at my face. "I take it you have not seen that side of him before."
"No, she hasn't," Sorin answers for me. He grabs one of my hands. "Sorry you had to see that. Are you okay?"
I let out a sharp breath. "Yeah," gently pulling my hand away from him, I walk over to the couch, checking the area for any bloody residue, seeing none I plop down. "It has just been a long day."
"I am surprised you are not running away screaming," the prince says, smirking.
So am I, but if that arm is really from my attacker, I cannot be upset with Sam for removing it.I reply mentally. "Par for the day, I guess," I say instead.
Sorin kneels beside me. "Look, Lace, you just caught him at a bad time, we did not realize you were on your way up. He-"
"It is fine. It is not the first severed limb I have seen, just the first at his hands. I can deal with it. I think we have moreimportant matters to discuss. Like the owner of that arm and what they were doing in the woods in the first place."
"Ah ah ah, like you are going to get off so easily. Mind telling us why you were in the woods yourself?"
So much for hoping being cheerful would make them forget about the whole thing.I bite my bottom lip. "Can we wait til Sam gets back? I would rather explain everything with him here. Less repeating myself."
