Page 21 of A Dance With Devils
“No.”
“Guess we’ll never know then.”
The chuckle that reverberates through me is long and low. Little game player, trying to ply me with her attributes and then pull them away. “Silly Alice. There isn’t any choice for you now. You’ll run, and I’ll catch you. Quickly I would assume given your attempt at escape earlier.”
“But I wasn’t prepared.”
“And it would have made a difference if you were?”
“I’ve outwitted worse than you. Had to.”
The response intrigues me further given Whit’s involvement with her, and I turn the chair fully to concentrate on my new little thing instead of labouring in times gone by. “How do you know Eli Whitney?”
“I can’t talk about that.”
“Dull.”
“It’s private.”
“As is your cunt. But I’ll see that soon enough.”
The look of indignation on her face shines strong and hard, every inch of her hardening up for a fight. It’s not necessary yet. I won’t lay a finger on her until she can run from me, and even then I’ll probably give a few chances to try again.
“How do you know him?” she asks.
“I saved his daughter's life a few years ago. Fixed her.”
“Fixed her?”
“Fixed her.”
“How was she broken?”
“That’s not my story to tell. You’ll have to ask her.”
She frowns again and looks at her bottle of drink, slowly pulling her legs up until she’s scrunched up in the seat. “You said that, that you like fixing things.”
“I do.”
“Why?”
The question makes my mouth falter for a response. I don’t really know why. It’s just life. What I am. Or who I am beneath the veil of a Jones. My castle does it to me. It gives me a place to breathe and do what is inside me rather than what the world expects of me. No press. No expectations to help the world turn smoothly. No charity or parties where I should behave accordingly. I’m free there. As is everyone I invite into it. No limits. No timeframe. No concerns other than those I choose to acknowledge.
My smile broadens, eyes looking over her face as I notice the crease lines in her brow again. Little Alice has concerns. Me probably. Good. She should be concerned. And she should be ready this time. Maybe she’ll be more amusing like that, a better chase to chase.
“Outwit me, and I’ll reduce the time you owe me.”
“What does that mean?”
My eyes close, hands resting in my lap and feet kicking up onto the table. “Be prepared, little Ally cat. The castle is coming. Time’s about to stop for you.”
Chapter 9
Ally
This is all too freaky for words. He is. This plane is.
And the air beneath us, as we hurtle towards the ground at breakneck speed, definitely is.
