AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Despair clung to me, dragged through me, beckoned me closer to the table. I took a step forward.
It would be easier to give up. To simply lay on the table and disappear into nothing. No more fighting, no more crying, no more pain.
She’s not here, Nora.
Mother’s voice again, strangely present. I closed my eyes, shutting out the table and the aether. Derrick’s hand was warm on my back, his thumb aligned with my spine, his fingers gently splayed so that I could feel each individual length pressing against my skin.
Concentrating on the feel of him, on the sound of his breath beside me, I began shutting out the despair, shoving it back toward the table where it belonged.
But there were other sensations in the room as well and I became aware of a small, hutch-like cabinet adjacent to the table. It had a glass front and inside were mason jars of different sizes, all containing bloated bits floating in opaque liquid. My stomach turned as I made out one jar of eyeballs sitting beside a jar crammed full of what appeared to be teeth.
I must have made another sound because Derrick moved, putting himself between me and the cabinet.
“All right, that’s enough,” he said, gently turning me back for the door.
Skin tingling, I let him guide us both out. My knees were suddenly water, and I had to lean on him as he slammed the heavy door closed. With a vicious yank, he turned the wheel, locking that horrible place behind us. And then he was in front of me, blue eyes scanning my face with so much concern it was like a physical blow.
“Nora?”
I leaned into his concern because it was far better than the terror in that room. His palm was warm on my face, fingers brushing hair from my temple.
“Talk to me, Nora. I can’t help if I don’t know what’s going on.”
But how could he understand? How could he possibly know the ocean of pain in that room?
I found my voice somewhere. “Your mother was never here.”
Relief flickered in his face, and he swallowed. “Good.”
“But Derrick, I don’t know where to start looking now.”
There was movement behind him, a familiar face flashing into view for a second and I blinked. Exquisite features, black hair, plump, pouting mouth that men would squabble over, but she disappeared behind Derrick’s back so quickly I almost couldn’t name her.
“Mariana?” I asked, too stunned to move.
Derrick stiffened and made to turn, but his movement jerked to a stop. I felt the change in his palm, the softness of his touch turning to something taut and rigid as his muscles locked into place. His nostrils flared, his jaw flexed and tensed, just as stuck as the rest of him.
Runestone.
Maker help me, he’d been cursed. But where?
My gut clenched and I swallowed, trying to imagine what spell I could use that might act as defense. And then Mariana stepped out from behind him, giving a throaty chuckle at Derrick’s stiff, unmoving form. She was dressed in sleek, dark pants and a flowy blouse that hid none of her curves, and she was holding a long dagger in one hand.
Realization struck. “You’re helping Delilah,” I whispered.
She ignored the comment to tap Derrick’s cheek with the point of her dagger. “You always were too handsome for your own good, little wolf.”
My fingers twitched and it took everything in me not to bat the dagger away from his face. Somehow, I doubted that would help anyone. I’d end up losing a finger or two. Or stabbed. I knew next to nothing about weaponry, but I imagined the shape of the dagger was made more for shoving into things than for slicing things. Its fine point slid over Derrick’s skin without drawing blood, moving down toward his throat, angling at his jugular.
His eyes were furious, focused on me because he couldn’t move to face the danger.
How had she cursed him? Where was the runestone?
Could he get out of it quickly? He’d said something about Constables being trained to escape a runestone, but the man had been horribly vague about it, and I had no idea how much time he might need.
Think, Nora!
If he needed time, maybe I could give it to him.
