AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What then?” he asks, tilting his head.
I chew on my lips, not comprehending why I’d have the urge to divulge this. “The day you came to watch me burn the body. When you asked about the photographs.”
Wolfgang’s smile turns wide as if recalling a similar emotion attached to that day. “Is that so, Crèvecoeur?”
“Before it was ruined,” I reply with a minuscule laugh, referring to the troupe of actors and the Lottery reenactment.
He shakes his head, his chuckle sounding almost thoughtful. His hand squeezes my palm. His eyes slide upward, serious. “Watching you,” he starts, his voice dropping an octave. “I don’tthinkenjoyis quite the word I would use to explain how I felt that day.”
Gently pushing Sundae’s head off my lap, I order her to the foot of the bed. She follows my instructions with a small whine, curling herself beside Éclair.
I slip closer to Wolfgang. His free hand circles my hip, pulling me closer. “What then?” I ask, my long nail trailing down his stomach. “What word would you use?”
His palm slides up to my face, fingers raking through my hair as his thumb smooths over my cheek, a smile pulling at the corner of his lips. It almost looks like pride glinting deep in his irises. “Mesmerizing.”
The word is like warm honey down my throat, spreading into a tame fire inside my chest.
Again, the words escape, and I let them.
“It was my birthday that day.”
Surprise dances over Wolfgang’s face. “Was it?”
I nod.
His smile turns even balmier. “And you spent it with me?”
I nod again.
“My, my, my,” he says with mirth. He pulls me even closer, my head now resting on his bare chest as he leans into the pillows. “What a pleasant thought that is.”
I fall asleep in his arms, his hand caressing my hair, his heartbeat against my ear.
42
MERCY
Curled up on the leather couch in the library, I try to coax myself to pick up a book and read. Instead, I stare at the stained glass window, my thoughts one long trail of winding roads leading nowhere.
It’s the final day of Tithe Season. Gemini’s day. Typically, I’d visit him while he collects secrets like handfuls of dirt from his worshippers. Not today. The threat against us is still looming and so here I am, collecting my own kind of secrets in the form of my emotions running wild and amok.
Wolfgang and I have slept in the same bed for the past three days. For the last two nights, he came and slept in the ruler’s bedchamber with me. “Where I belong,”he said haughtily with a raised chin and pursed lips.
The dogs love him.
So I agreed.
It’s becoming too easy to have Wolfgang around. As if behind all that animosity there’s an effortlessness between us. I don’t think either of us expected it, but somehow it feels like it’s always been there. Waiting.
“There you are,” Wolfgang declares, and I jump at the sound of his voice.
He circles the couch to stand in front of me. His face is beaming, stance wide and hands tucked into his pockets. His suit is black today, a deep velour waistcoat, with a textured shirt underneath. A fleeting thought dances across my mind.
Iwonder if he chose black to match me.
It’s silly. And I barely pause to entertain it.
“What is it?” I say with joviality as I wait for him to reveal why he appears so bashful.
