Page 136 of A Curse of Hope and Shadows: Part I
And yet—
The door banged open, and Dimitri’s father walked onto the balcony.
Chapter Thirty-one: The Girl at the Grave
Edvard Von Mortimer seemed to have grown a foot since Adeline last saw him. He was as tall and broad as a bear. In his midnight suit, he held the facade of elegance, but his eyes held something dark and cold and mountainous. When he smiled, Adeline thought he looked more like a wolf than Dimitri had ever done, and was far, far more terrifying.
“Well, well,” he said, stepping across the threshold with a walk like liquid silver. Dimitri scrambled to his feet, removing his hands from Adeline like he’d been scalded.
Adeline froze in position, a rabbit facing down the barrel of a pistol.
“Looks like my son has some skills in the romance department after all. Either that, or he’s found a woman truly desperate for his fortune. I’m not even sure I mind. At this rate, any woman would do…”
Adeline wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but she doubted that last statement. She doubted it a great deal. Only her dress protected her, stopping him from seeing her for what she was.
She tried to shuffle to her feet, to rearrange her skirts, to cover up the indecency but also the shoes certain to give her away—
“No need to be so modest, my dear girl, although perhaps you should stave off on anything too irreversible until I’ve had a chance to talk to your parents. Although I personally don’t mind waiting until you’ve a babe in your belly…”
No one had ever looked at Adeline the way the Duke looked at her now, something between object and meat, like a thing that could be carved up and sold.
“Father—” started Dimitri.
The Duke held up his hand. “Come, girl. Tell me your name. Who is your family?”
“It… it isn’t like that, Your Grace,” Adeline said, finally sliding off the table. “The Young Lord and I were just dancing when I injured myself. He was assisting me. Nothing… nothing untoward is happening between the two of us, I promise you.”
“Is that so?” The Duke crept closer. “You look familiar, but I can’t place you…”
Adeline’s heart thumped. Dimitri trembled, swallowing audibly. He tried to step between them, but his father raised another hand.
“No, it isn’t your face…” The Duke’s hand inched towards Adeline. “Your necklace. I know that piece.”
Adeline’s heart raced as the Duke’s cold fingers reached out to clasp the jewels at her neck. The Duke’s eyes flashed.
“This was my wife’s,” he said. “I gave this to her… this necklace… this dress… ”
Adeline raised a hand to her throat, but the Duke snatched it from her, eyes widening at her short, stubby nails, calloused fingertips, chafed skin. His gaze travelled to her worn shoes, her clumsy hair… realising in an instant that this was no lady before him.
In the flash, he wheeled around and struck Dimitri in the face so hard he fell to the ground.
Adeline gasped. “Dimitri!”
“Bastard!” the Duke boomed. “What whore have you found to defile your mother’s clothes?”
He raised his hand again, but Adeline clamped her arms around it. “Don’t hurt him!”
He shoved her to the ground, eyes flashing. “How dare you touch me, whore—”
His palm came swinging towards her, but Dimitri’s arm was faster. He seized his father’s wrist, eyes blazing, with all the weight and fury of a monster.
“Do not touch her,” he snarled.
The Duke’s gaze flickered as he stared at Dimitri’s hand, the talons digging into his skin. For a moment, his eyes shifted to the knife on the table. Adeline made a move for it, but before she could reach it, the Duke swung a heeled boot into Dimitri’s midsection and kicked him to the floor.
“Do not give me orders, boy.”
Adeline froze between the table and Dimitri, wanting to run to him, run away, disappear entirely.
