Page 28 of Poison Nights & Twilight Alchemy

Surprise, desire, and confusion all warred within him. Desire quickly won over the others, and Reed began to turn around, all thought vanishing, powerless against his longing to obey, to take Dulce in his arms and kiss her, just as he’d wanted to when he first saw her.

But instead, sudden pain halted his movement.

Dulce’s hands were claws, her razor-sharp nails digging into his chest, blood welling in their wake. Her soft lips became teeth, ripping at his neck. Reed cried out in alarm, cursing into the darkness, as he threw himself from the bed, shoving Dulce from his side.

A ray of candlelight shone from the opening bathroom door, and Dulce stood frowning at him, fully dressed.

Reed blinked. “What—”

Movement in the mirror caught his eye, and the blood drained from his face. A woman as thin as a skeleton smiled at him from his bed, the depths of her hollow eyes appearing to laugh at his desire while rotting teeth elongated to form the sharp fangs of a beast.

Reed flinched away, whirling back to Dulce, only to find that the girl from the dining room’s painting stood behind her in the bathroom’s light, her clothing dripping wet, her skin that of a drowned and rotting corpse.

“I take it you see one of the ghosts standing behind me.” Dulce plucked up her cloak from the bed. “We should probably leave. It’s well past dawn.”

“Am I going mad?” Reed asked, opening his shirt to inspect the skin of his chest. Though he could still feel the cuts along it, his roving fingertips proved there was nothing there.

Cheeks pinkened, Dulce turned away, and Reed hurried to button his shirt again. “No, you aren’t going mad,” she told him. “I believe they want you to themselves by the way they’re staring daggers at me.”

“Well, they can continue wanting. Let’s get out of this cursed place.” Reed hurried to slip on his boots, then threw on his cloak and hat without bothering to comb his hair. He snatched up their luggage and strode toward the door. With one last glance back before leaving the room, he found the woman still grinning at him from the bed, the girl still standing in the bathroom, her gaze full of sorrow.

“That was nothing a little blessed thistle and rue couldn’t have prevented,” Dulce said beside him on the stairs. “I can purchase some at the next apothecary we seeso that ghosts can’t appear at all.”

He arched a brow. “I don’t care if you buy all the thistle and rue in the world, we aren’t staying anywhere with ghosts again. I’d rather sleep outside in the rain.”

She rolled her eyes, a hint of a smile curling her lips. “As you say then,Mr. Jones Taylor.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

DULCE

“How was I supposed to assume that you didn’t know ghosts are real?” Dulce asked as the carriage traveled away from the Black Fox. “Does the Glen not speak of such things?”

“We have other things to worry about,” Reed said. “Like getting food into our bellies. But to be fair, yes, magic and ghosts are spoken of. I’d just never encountered either until I met you. So I suppose I have you to thank for that, Majesty.” His tone ended the sentence on the edge of flirtation.

Dulce angled her head to the side, the corners of her lips lifting. “Is it Highness or Majesty that you mean?You’ve used both.”

“I meanboth. Unless you prefer Your Royal Majestic Highness,” he drawled, his deep baritone sending delicious tingles down her spine.

Get a hold of yourself, Dulce. “Anyway, I promise I won’t let a single ghost appear to you in Alder Bay.”

“Good. Otherwise, we may need to sleep in the same bed.”

She blinked and straightened in her seat, trying not to imagine him shirtless, his bare chest pressed against her thin nightgown.

“To protect you,” he clarified, a hint of amusement dancing in his gaze.

“Of course.” Had she been wanting a different answer?No, she was married only days ago. Nearly murdered by said treacherous man. But the tea leaves… Don’t think about those blasted tea leaves!

Dulce had only encountered one other haunted inn when she was younger. It had been on a family journey to the edge of Moonglade to visit her grandparents before their deaths, and her mother had cast the malevolent spirits away with thistle and rue.

She’d packed numerous ingredients for the journey in her satchel, her pockets, and a spare bag to keep in the carriage. But still, she’d been more focused on the witch than ghosts. “I should’ve been more prepared, yet I wasn’t expecting the ghosts to fall head over heels for you either.” The memory of his surprised expression made her smile, and he noticed, glowering, which only made her smile more.

“You’re enjoying yourself way too much,” he muttered. “When a stout old dead man climbs into yourbed, we’ll see who’s laughing then.”

Dulce rolled her eyes while fighting another smile and took out a dried elderberry from her velvet pouch, then placed its poison against her tongue.

Rain poured from the sky in heavy sheets as the carriage approached the Thyone Pass, and Dulce was thankful their horse had a thick coat of fur when the temperatures dropped. She attempted to memorize more new spells from her mother’s book while casting her gaze every so often to Reed, who was sketching a cat atop a headstone in a weathered journal he’d found beneath the seat. The chestnut locks suited his handsome features just fine, yet the ivory hair felt more like him. The elixir they’d taken before leaving her manor would linger in their bloodstream for a good while. But for how long? The answer was to be determined. However, she’d brought a few other batches in case they were necessary.

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