Total pages in book: 241
Estimated words: 229266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1146(@200wpm)___ 917(@250wpm)___ 764(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 229266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1146(@200wpm)___ 917(@250wpm)___ 764(@300wpm)
“Why would you think I’d want to escape?” I asked as I leaned back, folding my hands in my lap as I crossed my ankles. I sat just like I would if I wore the veil. It was like slipping on a mask—a suffocating and toxic disguise. “I feared that no one would come for me. I’m surprised that you found me so quickly.”
“We have eyes everywhere, Maiden,” he replied, rubbing at the space above his wound. “Even in places where the Descenters are firmly entrenched.”
“Is that how you found Mrs. Tulis? The woman who…who was with you?” In this very carriage, possibly where I was sitting. And now she was dead on the cold ground. Where was her son?
A tight smile appeared. “It was mere coincidence that we happened upon her. She was on foot, a few miles outside of New Haven, walking in the snow. She was nearly frozen when we found her. What an idiot.” He let out a rough laugh, and I wanted to strike out at him, making his laugh the last breath he took. “She claimed that the Dark One had killed her husband.”
Mrs. Tulis hadn’t chosen any of Casteel’s options. Heart sinking even further into grief, I suppressed a shudder. Had Casteel known that Mrs. Tulis had left? Could I blame her? She probably feared the same would happen to her.
“We were already en route to New Haven, only a handful of days behind you,” he told me. “We discovered that several of those who were escorting you were not who they claimed. The Descenters had worked their way even into the highest ranks of our guards.”
Did he mean Commander Jansen? It would make sense if they’d discovered that he had helped Casteel. If so, I knew Jansen was dead.
“So, Mrs. Tulis was an unexpected find, but she confirmed that a woman traveled with the Dark One, someone that others whispered was the Maiden,” he told me, swallowing thickly. “She was right.”
“But if you knew that, why did you kill her?” I asked, a part of me needing to understand such an action.
“She fled the city instead of obeying the order of the Rite.”
I waited for him to say more, but there were no other words. I inhaled sharply, nearly gagging on the floral scent of his cologne. “And what of her child? Her son?”
Lord Chaney simply smiled. There was no explanation. Nothing. Dread knotted in my chest at the sight of the cold, inhuman curve of his lips. He couldn’t have done something to the child. Right? My eyes closed briefly. My refusal didn’t come from a place of naivety, but from the inability to fathom how one could smile if they had harmed an infant. But there were all those children, some so young, that were given over to the Temples during the Rite. No one ever saw them again for a reason, and it had nothing to do with their service to the gods.
“What of the boy?” I opened my eyes. “His parents may have been Descenters, but he is only a child.”
“He remains at the keep.”
That was a small measure of relief, but I latched on to it. Anything to stop myself from vomiting as I fixed what I hoped was a serene expression on my face. A look of blind, devoted trust as he watched me, and I…watched him.
Lord Chaney could be considered a handsome man. I’d overheard a few of the Ladies in Wait, those second daughters given to the Court to Ascend, speak of him. But I didn’t remember him being this pale. His skin was leached of all color, and I could see the faint blue veins underneath.
“Are you…well?” I asked. “The wound appears…quite fierce.”
“It is a very…fierce wound.” He continued massaging his chest. The lines bracketing his mouth deepened as his lips parted. “Penellaphe?”
I twitched at the sound of my name. “Yes, my Lord?”
He still hadn’t blinked. Not once since I woke up, and wasn’t that entirely unsettling? “You can stop pretending.”
Ice hit my veins. “Pretending what?”
Chaney leaned toward me, and I tensed. His fingers stilled. “Tell me something, Maiden. Did you welcome the bite of an Atlantian? Perhaps even enjoy the forbidden blood kiss? Or did he force it upon you? Hold you down and take your blood against your will?”
That damn bite.
My fingernails dug into my palms. “It…it was not welcomed.”
A hint of red churned in the black abyss of his eyes. Just like a Craven. Gods. “Is that so?” he asked.
I nodded.
“The Dark One bit you, and yet, you sit before me, not as a Craven. That must’ve come as a shock.”
Gods, I’d forgotten that. How could I have forgotten that the Ascended had taught us that an Atlantian’s bite was poisonous? “Yes, but I am the Chosen—”
“And you saw us tonight, out in the yard. You saw what we are,” he interrupted. “Yet you do not seem surprised. You showed more shock and concern regarding that woman’s death.” He lifted a hand, placing it on the bench beside my knee. “You say you’re relieved that I found you?”