Page 57 of A Heart So Haunted
As soon as I managed to open the door, I hit my knees to check under the bed. Nothing but dust bunnies. Something told me not to look in the mirror when I searched her ensuite bathroom. I kept my breathing shallow and my eyes quick—tried to ignore the smell of lavender and citrus or how a set of clothes was still folded on top of her dresser.
The only room left was Emma’s.
I shut Aunt Cadence’s room tight behind me. Just a quick peek. I wasn’t going through Emma’s things—I wasn’t invading her privacy. Not really. I was protecting her from this—this—decision I’d made.
Hesitant, I opened the door, just a crack. A wayward T-shirt hung off the desk, barely visible.
Careful, I leaned in, using my shoulders to edge the door open farther.
A shadow jerked under the bed.
My jaw clenched. “Hadrian?”
A steady, lazy drip of water echoed from her bathroom. I wavered. Eyed her desk, which sat to my left. I reached for the chair back and used it to lean on when the door swung open. As if I might hit Hadrian with it if he came out from under the bed.
Or, by some chance, if itwasn’tHadrian.
“You’re acting like a child. What am I supposed to do if Emma comes home and sees me with every light on in the house?” I muttered.
“I do not know this Emma you speak of.”
“My sister.”
A long pause.
“Maybe if you turned the lights backoff, I would not have to hide under this monstrosity,” came the grizzled snarl.
I pictured a vampire, evaporating in the sun. “Does it hurt?”
A growl. “No, it feels like … resistance.”
To humor him, I flipped the bedroom switch. The room plunged into darkness. Emma’s gauzy, cobweb-like curtains hung open, drifting with a breeze. I had the sudden urge to shut each one, but that would involve walking closer to the bed. Knowing my luck, he’d grab my ankle for the fun of it.
“Are you happy now?”
A grunt. “Quite.” With care, an arm snaked out first. Hadrian’s body moved unnaturally, awkward bent joints, his chest pressed close to the floor. I watched two droplets of blood land on the floor, but as soon as his foot passed over them, they vanished, as if they never were.
He was bleeding again?
“What do you think you’re doing? You’re supposed to be in—that.” I took a step back and pointed down the hall.
“Perusing my house. So kind of you to allow me inside so soon,” he chuffed. “Why? Does it unsettle you, thinking I’m meddling in your things? I have to admit, much time has passed. It looks nothing as I left it.” His forked tongue slid over his teeth.
I tried to stifle the surge of panic those words induced. Ibroke a seal. As if there were things he still wasn’t telling me.
“My house, not yours. You’re here because I let you in,” I corrected. I widened my stance, as if that would make me more intimidating.
“A mere technicality.” He drew himself upright, both of his knees popped, and he rolled his head as if to loosen his shoulders.
The only way to keep him in check was to keep him under my thumb. He spoke with confidence—an air of certainty that came from high social standing or rank. Just like Ivan; though Ivan’s social standing was propelled by his parents’, and Hadrian’s felt sturdier. Older.
If I wanted to play his game, I would need to keep up.
“You’re hiding in a woman’s bedroom.” I kept my words breezy. “Last I checked, creatures with horns didn’t hide under beds if they had the leg up, Hadrian. You need me. And if you decide to blow it, like you’re doing right now, I won’t help you. At all.”
He smirked. “You mean to tell me this isn’t your bedroom? Where you tremble in fear every night of what might be hiding in your closet?”
My jaw worked. “This is Emma’s bedroom.”
