Page 71 of Locked
CHAPTERNINETEEN
Zelle
In retrospect, I realize now that everything that happened that day wasmeantto happen.
But in the moments during and the days after, it felt like hell.
It all started out in my bed with Sorrel the next morning. I awoke calmly enough, with my fingers stroking through his blonde hair as I welcomed the morning.
I realized soon after, though, that we'd slept in, and he only had minutes to slip out without Mother seeing him.
How this had happened, I still do not know to this day, but happen it did. And it was terrifying.
So once we'd woken up and realized what we'd done, it was a scramble to get his clothes on and make sure the place was cleansed of his presence.
I was casting cleansing charms left and right, trying to groggily remember each and every chant that Kinden had given me while Sorrel summoned all of his clothes from wherever we'd dropped them the night before.
He kissed me goodbye quickly, promising to be back soon before slipping out the front door with a strand of hair I'd given him.
My heart was thumping rapidly as I went back over the cleansing ritual once more, just to be sure there was no trace of his cologne or his minty scent left anywhere in the apartment.
I worked diligently to cleanse the air and right the messes. I dilly-dallied on whether or not I should re-lock the door to the sun room and decidednotto rock the boat, snapping my fingers and sending the locks and chains back onto the door.
I got dressed and mussed my hair up, taking the time to drop some eye drops into my eyes to make them look red and watery. Like I'd been crying. Not like I'd been up fucking a hot elf all night.
I was cursing myself for not telling Sorrel to wait and come tonight instead of last night, but at the same time, our night together had been magical and I wouldn't have traded it for anything.
I made sure I had the chicken ashes in the living room where Mother could see them as she entered.
I was just buttoning the last button on the front of my dress when I heard the chimes at the front door.
My gut wrenched, threatening to expel the small glass of water I'd drank that morning to keep my throat from being so parched. I took a few moments to gather myself. To calm my rapidly beating heart. To offer up a prayer to Earth and ask for her guidance as I dealt with Mother.
When she rang the chimes again moments later, I thought for certain I'd done everything I could. It looked like I'd been shut in the dark for days.
With my dead cat's ashes.
I dropped a hair into the fire and the door swung open.
Mother stood there in the doorway, searching my eyes. My heart was pounding in my chest as I attempted to look like I'd been shut up alone for days and not like I'd been tangled in someone's arms not even an hour before.
I thought about Basil and my eyes began to cloud with tears. My heart was still thudding though. My palms were clammy. I clenched them into fists around handfuls of my skirt to keep from shaking.
"Dearheart," she simpered. "How troubled you look…"
I allowed her to envelop me in a hug as she cooed over me, stroking my hair in a way that made my skin crawl. I kept myself stiff and unpliant, lest she realize what was going on.
"Would you like to go out in the sun, Rapunzel? I know you haven't been outside in a long, long while.."
I nodded once, twice, a third time, biting down hard on my lip all the while.
Mother's eyes searched my face, narrowing infinitesimally before she turned away.
I remained quiet as she dropped the locks and chains from the sun room.
She led me out there, her arm resting lightly on mine as we walked. "Something's wrong, isn't it?" Mother inquired, her beady little eyes stared quizzically as I swallowed my fear and spoke.
"Basil has… he's…" I gulped. "He's gone."
