Page 74 of A Vow of Shadows
My hands stilled. She didn’t intend the words to be hurtful, but they struck me like a fist to the gut. “You have always been free to return home if that is what you desire.”
I didn’t look at her as I spoke, but I sensed her ire anyway.
“That is not what I meant.” Impatience sharpened her tone, and she exhaled a slow, steady breath. “It is only that I left my family without saying goodbye, hoping that I would see them again. Now, I’m not so sure. I did not expect Death to learn of my presence in The Between. That I’ve been compromised puts everything else into perspective. He could find me, take me away, and my parents would be none the wiser.”
“The choice you made was one of desperation. No one can fault you for the path you chose when you thought there was nowhere else to go.”
I paused my task long enough to seek out her form in the darkness. She nodded, but her eyes remained distant, her mind likely forging a dozen other possible scenarios.
I knew the taste of regret. It was not something that could be easily washed away.
The shadows returned, and I waved her forth. “Go on, take your Midnight and Thunder or whatever you call them and take a bath.”
“Inky and Storm.” Her tone was serious, but a slip of a smile ghosted across her lips.
“Of course. How could I forget?”
“Be sure it doesn’t happen again,” she said, sauntering toward the entrance.
I took my time freeing the horses and returning everything to the stable. In the manor, I looked for anything amiss, furniture out of place, doors open that should be closed.
When I could avoid it no longer, I passed by the bathing chamber Katrin occupied. The door was shut, as expected.Though my mind conjured a million excuses to open it, I settled for pressing my ear to the wood.
The faint sound of lapping water could be heard within. Unbidden, my mind conjured an image of Katrin shoulder deep, every part of her yet unknown to me hidden beneath frothy suds.
I pushed the thought aside.
Even before our last conversation, I knew there was no future for us. The Between was a temporary escape for her, but it was my prison. If we were not cleaved apart by Death, we would be separated by life.
The doorknob gleamed in the candlelight, so close and yet utterly out of reach.
I shoved away, needing to put distance between myself and my dark thoughts.
Katrin’s voice echoed in my mind. For a moment, I thought I’d imagined her calling my name until I heard it again, clearer.
“I can hear you brooding out there.”
She couldn’t know I was there, unless…my eyes strayed to the shadows around me, and I cursed. Betrayed by my own creatures.
Still, I could leave. Leave and ignore every instinct, every ounce of my blood urging me forward.Walk away, my mind commanded, but each step only brought me closer to the bathroom door. My hand found the knob, though somehow I had enough sense to leave it only partially ajar.
Steam billowed out, scented with jasmine and rose. I breathed in the heady aroma and closed my eyes.
“You can’t possibly,” I replied dryly.
Her throaty chuckle caught me off guard. I went as taut as a bow string, hand clutching the door to keep from flinging it open.
“Was I wrong?” she asked. I could hear the smile in her voice.
“I didn’t mean to intrude.”
“And so you haven’t. I was just finishing anyway.”
Did I imagine the disappointment in her voice?
Water sloshed, and I pictured her rising from the bath like a siren, water dripping from every glorious curve. Were I a weaker man, I’d have pushed open the door and seen for myself. Her mark tormented me. I longed to see what parts of her were covered, longed to follow the dark trail with my hands, my tongue.
My own shadows shifted, sensing my restlessness.