Page 26 of Once Charmed, Twice Cursed
“I wouldn’t,” I say. “Regret it.”
“You don’t know that. Not for sure.”
I clench my fists, but I have no way to refute that. “Please.”
He shakes his head, short and sharp, and hauls his gaze from mine. “It’s not going to happen. I’m sorry.”
Before I can answer, he slips out into the night.
This time, he doesn’t even say goodbye.
Chapter Ten
Aweek passes.
Each morning, I rise early and listen to the woman across the wall. Day by day, her coughing eases, gradually replaced by even breaths that filter through the stone. I spend long hours curled in bed, keeping vigil with a book in hand. While my unseen charge heals, I lose myself in one fantastical world after the next.
Jack, true to his word, mostly stays away. He plunks a bag of food onto the counter each evening, then turns and walks right back out again. Each time, disappointment sits heavy in my gut. I want to invite him to stay. Entice him back to the fireside and ask him to work the tangles from my hair. I want to work the tangles fromhim.
But fear of discovery keeps my jaw locked tight. According to Jack, the duke’s men venture further into the woods each day.
For as long as he remains distant, I’m protected—if the duke’s lackeys stray too close, they’ll inevitably suffer asnakebite to the ankle, or a tree will fall and bar their way. Something.
But if Jack lingers here, I become vulnerable, and dread swirls in my gut when I imagine being discovered. Being dragged away and chained to a life of lovelessness. Meaninglessness.
Still, after a week of non-stop reading, punctuated by evening glasses of milk, an idle restlessness sets in. I’ve never gone this long without human interaction, and the isolation that felt so freeing a week ago now tips toward the claustrophobic.
I can’t hide here forever, alone. Something has to give.
So, when Jack arrives that night, I throw caution to the wind.
I hold out the hairbrush. He eyes it with skepticism, but ultimately sighs and traipses over to the chair by the fire, tilting it to keep himself ensconced in shadow. He sits and fiddles with his mask until it obscures evenmoreof his face. “Let’s be quick,” he says in that gravelly baritone.
I take my place on the floor between his knees. I chose my flimsiest nightgown tonight, mostly in an effort to entice him, but he seems tragically unaffected. He makes quick, utilitarian strokes with the brush and plaits my hair with a deftness that shocks me.
He must have been holding out on me, that first time. Lingering, whether he meant to or not. Because tonight, he seems almost...harried.
“What’s wrong?”
Jack’s gloved hands still in my hair. “What? Nothing.”
I roll my eyes, even though he can’t see it. “Come on. Something’s bothering you.”
He’s quiet for a moment. “Why do you say that?”
I lift a shoulder and drop it again. “It’s obvious.”
For long heartbeats, he just breathes. “Okay. Fine. If you really want to know, the duke’s men are getting closer. It’s like they know where to look. Which I realize is just my curse. They’ll go wherever I do, without even realizing it. But that means I had to spend the day running in circles. Leading them away from this place. And it’s tiring. I’m tired.”
My insides squeeze. He has his own reasons for doing this, I know. He needs me here so the mystery woman can heal. And yet I appreciate his efforts more than I can say.
“How’d you know?” he says quietly. “That something was weighing on me?”
“Because.” I hug my knees tighter. “You’re not that hard to read. You’re not half as mysterious as you think.”
He lays the braid against my shoulder, finished now. “Mysterious? I don’t think I’m mysterious at all.”
I can’t help but smile. “Really? Why wear all that black, then? The gloves? The long shirt? The mask?”
