Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 24242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 121(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 121(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 81(@300wpm)
Chapter Thirteen
Perhaps last night was an appropriate send-off, a depraved bon voyage for a virgin queen in metaphorical chains. Or maybe I’ve been used and degraded to the point where the after-dinner affair inside that bedroom seems normal.
Either way, I’m excited to put Mr. Bordeaux and his esoteric tastes behind me. I spend my last moments under his rule saying goodbye to Loren, since his master is absent when the clock strikes the noon hour. Loren thanks me for a night he’ll never forget, and then he wishes me luck.
Unlike last month, I’m alone, nervous energy infusing my steps as I approach the library. The door stands open—an unspoken invite to breach the threshold and give myself over to a new set of expectations, a new set of rules, a new man.
I’ve barely stepped inside the library when Faye wraps her arms around me. “I’m so glad to see you.” She veers back and studies my face. “How are you?”
“I’m okay.” I give her a squeeze before we break apart. “Where’s Elise?” I search the room, my gaze touching on the dark-haired man standing to the right of us, but my lady is notably absent. “Is she okay?”
Because she’d be here if she were.
“She’s fine.” Faye averts her attention to the floor.
“Faye, what’s wrong?” A cold fist of worry clenches my gut.
“She’s been…ill for the past few days, but she’s okay.”
She’s not telling me everything. On the cusp of panic, I glance at Landon for an explanation.
“Elise is okay.” He closes the distance and takes me by the arm, and I flinch from his touch.
It’s becoming an ingrained reflex when stumbling blindly into new territory. “I-I’m sorry.” Out of habit, I almost kneel at his feet.
“You’re not in Heath’s house anymore,” he reminds me with a gentle tug on my arm. “Come sit down.”
I follow him to the same grouping of chairs Liam and I used during our chess games, and we settle across from each other. Faye takes a chair to my left.
“She’s really okay?” I direct the question at Landon.
“She will be.” He reaches for a mauve journal sitting on the table between us, and something about it niggles at me to pay attention, but I’m too worried about the well-being of my lady.
“What happened?”
“There was an incident, but I’m handling it.”
“What kind of incident?” The vague run-around I’m getting from both Landon and Faye has me on the edge of crazy.
Faye clears her throat. “She wants to tell you herself.”
I move to rise, and Landon stays me with a raised hand. “She’s not here, my queen.”
“Where is she?” I shout, hands fisted against the arms of my seat.
“She’s returning to Zodiac Island this evening and will tell you everything then.” Landon leans forward, expression drawn in tension. It’s a foreign look on him, because he’s normally open and carefree, eyes glinting like emeralds.
Now those eyes are jaded, shrouded in concern over whatever information he’s withholding in my lady’s honor.
“You really won’t tell me anything?”
“Elise asked me not to.” Clearing his throat, he holds out the journal. “But we need to discuss this.”
The book is bound in leather, its ribbon keeping the jacket closed to shut out prying eyes. I’ve seen many of its kind because my mother had a whole collection.
“What about it?” I take the journal from Landon, and as soon as my thumb glides over the front cover and the handwritten initials there, a memory explodes in my mind. A shocked breath catches in my throat, rendering speech impossible, yet I force the question out anyway.
“Where did you get this?”
Landon and Faye exchange a heavy glance.
“It belonged to your mother,” he says, the confirmation pinning me to the chair in a state of frozen disbelief. “We have a lot to talk about, my queen.”
SONGS ON THE TAURUS PLAYLIST
1. “Lovely” by Billie Eilish, Khalid
2. “Turns You into Stone” by Fleurie
3. “Kingdom Fall” by Claire Wyndham
4. “To Be Torn” by Kyla La Grange
5. “Edge of the World” by Within Temptation
6. “Kiss Me a Thousand Times” by RAIGN
7. “Hide and Seek” by Claire Guerreso
8. “All the King’s Horses” by Karmina
9. “All I Need” by Within Temptation