Page 54 of A Heart So Haunted
A breeze met us back at the entrance to Harthwait. The door still hung crooked. Stars winked in the distance, clouds long forgotten.
“Where are you going?”
A glare over his shoulder. “You intrude into my home and expect me to answer all your questions?”
Fire sparked in my veins. “On the other side of that door, this is also my house. I don’t know what you expect from me, but findingthis”—I motioned around us—“is a little jarring, and I’d really appreciate it if you’d answer my questions like a polite human being.” My fingers tightened on the railing.
His nostrils flared. “Do I look human to you?”
“Half-human.”
Eyes narrowed. “If I answer, will you leave?”
I mimicked his stare. “If I can. Maybe.”
A grumble under his breath. I took that as a yes.
“Did you live here at one point?” I asked.
“It was my home.” He stopped just inside the parlor, crouched by the rocking chair. His ears twitched, at a noise only he could hear. Tendrils of black hair, so stark compared to the white-blond it had been earlier, hung around his shoulders. “It is home. For the foreseeable future.”
“Lovely choice of decor.”
He stuck a claw through the corner of a rug and yanked. It split to the trim. “I agreed to speak, not to listen to you smart mouth my decorating skills. And if you must know,” he said, snide, “what you see changes based upon the memory of the day. Come back tomorrow, and you might find something a bit more becoming of your tastes.” He let his hand drop. “Unless, of course, you’re too frightened.” He gave a wide, gaudy smile.
I hovered at the banister. “Meaning you can orcannotleave if you want to?”
“I assure you, if leaving were an option, I would be long gone.” His expression turned haughty. “Need I spell it out for you in the dust on the floor, or can you not read, either?”
I crossed my arms in front of me. What a one-eighty from the first time I’d come through that door. I would have had to wipe tears from laughing too hard had I told myself I’d come back and start bickering with this creature.
“I can read just fine, thank you. Excuse me for making conversation—or would you rather me leave you to your dust and termites? I’m sure they’ll make extraordinary company—or did you bore them to death already?”
He snickered. “Ah, so there is a bit of fire on that tongue after all.”
I shifted my weight. I didn’t know why I was standing there. What exactly I was waiting for. But if he was here, alone—and stuck—I’d have been lying if I said the thought didn’t make me a bit sad.
“I never had a mind for other people,” he said, flinty. He slunk across the parlor and found a spot by the closest window. He crouched there, half the height of the window, even relaxed.
“I think that’s obvious.”
He shot me a look.
“If you left, where would you go?”
He stretched his neck. Stared at the ceiling. It was such a human, impassive thing to do, I almost smiled. But I didn’t.
“I have little clue.”
“Where’s home, exactly?” I leaned against the opposite wall. An idea started to bloom.
If he left, surely that meant Haddy would stop crying every night? It could be a win for both of us. But he didn’t even know the logistics—or where he would go—would there be a point?
“Here, as I said.” He flicked invisible dirt from underneath his inky, stiletto nails. They were as thick as a bear’s. “I do notunderstand why you need to know, dearest. Leaving might never be an option. Besides, perhaps I prefer it here, and I doubt you have the resources to help me.” He gave a wistful sigh.
My arms fell to my sides. “You suck at lying.”
“Says the human that tells me she knows nothing about entering that door,” he groused.
