Page 21 of The Devil In Blue
I was definitely dreaming…
When he was only a few steps away, he stopped, lifting his chin as if he were a nobleman looking down on a servant. His eyes were like glass marbles, the light of the globe reflecting off of them like a storm.
“The power of a sun is contained in that globe,” he said. “And it can burn you where you stand.”
I swallowed, completely oblivious to his meaning. How could the sun be contained? I had no idea what to say to him, either. I had so many questions and yet none of them made it to my lips. He cocked his head, watching me too closely. He lifted his hand a little as if he was going to reach out and touch me again, but he stopped. His stern expression gave away so little about what he was thinking until his brows twitched. He was… sad.
But the flash of expression was so subtle and so brief that I was forced to dismiss it entirely. He drew back his hand and cleared his throat. His gaze dropped momentarily to my neck where I still wore the necklace he’d given me. I hadn’t thought to take it off. I loved it too much.
No one had ever given me anything I actually wanted before. No one had paid attention enough to even know what I liked.
Realizing I wasn’t going to speak, he sighed, dropping his hand back at his side. He was exasperated, but if my suspicions were correct, he kidnapped me. Why would he be frustrated about that?
Spinning on his heels, the count began walking briskly out of the long room, his robe flaring out behind him.
“Follow me,” he demanded.
He was rude. But I was no stranger to rude men or doing what I was told. I started after him, confused, a little afraid, and entirely entranced by everything. When I was able to pull my thoughts together, I watched the count walking ahead of me and wondered what he was.Whohe was. Why did he want me and how the hell did he get me? I wished I could remember something for once.
We kept moving through other equally enchanting passages, which gave me a better idea of how giant the place was. Sometimes, I found my steps slowing just so I could take in the sights, but when I realized the count was getting further away, I jogged to catch up. The toe of my foot caught the edge of his robe and he hissed, spinning around to face me. It was so abrupt that I almost crashed into him and had to rear back to avoid doing so. The count’s nostrils flared, his blue eyes piercing as he towered over me.
I wasn’t the cowering type. I never had been. Even when Father Eli finally declared me tame, I never curled into a ball or whimpered in a corner. I simply went quiet and still. I wasn’t sure it could be considered defiance. Acceptance of what might come, perhaps. And that moment was no different. I stared up at the count’s irritated gaze and forced steel into my spine, hands firmly by my sides.
We became locked in a sudden and heated stare for a moment before his eyes slowly softened, gradually tracing over the rest of my face like he didn’t think I was real either.
Strange.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered.
That flash of sadness washed across his gaze again but he swallowed it down, replacing it with a stony hardness that made his jaw clench.
“Come,” he said, turning around to keep going.
“Where are we going?” I asked. “Where are we? How’d I get here?” I stopped for a breath, wondering if Lucien would be looking for me, but the sight of the count’s pointed ears and strange eyes distracted me. “Whatare you?”
We came to a tall set of double doors. The count pushed one open with one hand, but I could tell by the way it moved that it weighed a lot. I slipped into the room behind him to see a long table made of frosted glass. On it was a feast of foods unlike anything I’d ever seen. Crystal cups of water sat at two place settings while glasses filled to the brim with dark red liquid sat at another three. At those settings were three familiar women dressed in black.
Naeve, Lura, and Elanor lounged in blue cushioned chairs picking at small, red fruits with their sharp teeth. I was almost relieved to see them, but then again, they were as much strangers as the count was. And if I remembered correctly at all, they slaughtered everyone from the masquerade right in front of me. I recalled the smell and the blood staining the hem of my gown.
No wonder someone changed me…
The count sat himself in an oversized seat at the head of the table and when I looked around, I found only one more place left to sit and it was across from him. I walked over and I slipped into place in front of a plate filled with fruits I’d never seen and hot, buttered toast with jam on the side. Only then did I realize how starving I was.
Suspicious, I looked up at the three women, who all watched me with fixed stares. Elanor was the only one who never seemed to give away any sense of what she was thinking. Her face was straight and unreadable, but her eyes were sharp.
The count sat back lazily and twirled a grape between his fingers, his eyes on the table in front of him as if he were in deep thought. Reaching out, I took one of the bite-sized fruits and popped it into my mouth, chewing carefully.
The fruit was tangy and sweet like a tiny orange, but it wasn’t an orange. The whole time I was chewing, Elanor’s eyes felt like needles on me.
“Are you certain, my lord, that it was a good idea to bring her here?” she said.
Naeve and Lura whipped their heads toward her like they were surprised to hear her speak. The count, however, said and did nothing. He had one of his knives upright with the tip of the blade on the table while he slowly spun the handle with his fingertips.
“It was a mistake,” I said. Everyone’s eyes came for me at that moment, even the count’s, and I felt like I was being crushed by them. “You don’t understand. I’m not stable around others. This was surely a misunderstanding.”
Lura let out a childish giggle. “She is not what I expected.”
“What did you expect?” I asked.
