Wind howled inside, as if fleeing the storm. A bright flash lit up the windows, followed by a crash of thunder.
I didn’t move. Couldn’t.
He shook. Writhed. The sounds coming from him were anything but human, reverberating through the room.
It was a familiar roar, just like the one I had heard in the woods.
My eyes widened as the same dreaded fear dawned on me, and I pressed my body harder against the wall.
This cannot be the same.
He roared again, the sound echoing anger and pain.
“You’re—”
He was raging. Huffing. Grunting.
I thought I was seeing things when fur began to sprout where limbs had been, the body swelling with the growl of something feral.
Disbelief and panic anchored me in place as I watched the most impossible sight of my life unfold before me, the air heavy and thick with a metallic taste.
Where the man had been just minutes ago now stood the massive creature I had encountered in the woods, his clothes shredded on the floor. The menacing beast stood before me, teeth bared, chest heaving with laboured breaths.
Reagan was the one who captured me.
CHAPTER 4
I followed Cerridwen up the grand staircase to the second floor in silence.
They had instructed me to bathe and rest until dinner, when we would try the conversation again.
I was unscathed, which, for long minutes while the animal bared its teeth at me, I thought I wouldn’t be. It struck painfully hard how reckless I’d been, how truly outmatched I was.
Cerridwen led me down a long hallway. She stopped before one of the many doors, opened it, and gestured for me to enter.
I took in the deep grey walls, the bronze sconces cradling flickering candles. At the heart of one wall stood a bed with a dark frame and cream-white linens, wide enough to accommodate three. A carved mantel loomed on the opposite side.
The room seemed as though it belonged to another time, much like the rest of this place.
Floor-length curtains framed a tall glass window with a view of the evening sky and snow-capped mountains on the horizon.Nearby, a small wooden table rested with two chairs, a carved wardrobe, and a matching dresser next to another door.
“Through that door, you will find the washing chambers. If you need anything, just ask the room,” said Cerridwen, though a glance behind revealed only emptiness where she had stood. She’d left.
I walked towards the window and evaluated the distance to the ground.Too high. I could see guards pacing in the garden outside. Not regular guards, though. A guard with a duck’s beak, and another with a fox’s tail. Others with claws and wings.
What is this place?
I went to open the wardrobe, finding drawers and hangers devoid of any clothes, as a guest bedroom would be.
The door to the washroom creaked open, catching my attention as if inviting me in. The room was empty, and as I stepped inside, a porcelain tub began to fill with water while a set of soap bars appeared on a standing table. On my right, a towel and a fresh set of clothes lay neatly upon a wooden cabinet.Myclothes from my luggage.
“It can’t be...” I murmured under my breath, turning to the tub faucet, which had no knobs. “How do I turn it off?”
The water stopped, and my eyes widened as I watched the remaining contents swirl down the drain. When I turned again, the clothes had vanished.
I took a few steps back until my body hit the cold, white tile wall and slid down to the floor. My neck throbbed with soreness. Leaning my head back, I closed my eyes. Just for a moment.
If they wouldn’t let me leave, I could try to sneak out. But without knowing what kind of powers these people possessed, or where the most unguarded exits were located, escaping could be a death sentence. If I didn’t die in those woods with the creatures there, Reagan could still find me and tear me apart. The thought made me curl further into myself.
