by KB Anne
Chapter Five
Starr
* * *
I lost, and I hated losing. I didn’t know exactly what I lost or what I committed to by signing the contract, but after the satisfied smiles on my grandparents’ faces, I knew I was in trouble.
To make the entire situation even more creepy, the ink was red.
I prayed to all that was holy and good that it wasn’t actual blood.
The promise of going to OneTruth every Sunday didn’t seem terrible. I didn’t plan on sticking around long enough to go to many services, and the promise of going to “court” with them didn’t seem troubling either because again, I didn’t plan on sticking around long enough to get there.
My grandmother’s insistence I receive Silver Fae etiquette lessons was troubling on a number of levels. I feared more and more parts of Starr would disappear. Afterall, no one on the Silverlain estate wanted her to exist, and there were few outside of this estate who would mourn her passing a second time. But then again, maybe I could learn about Silver Fae and use that knowledge to escape. There was always a bright side.
And the prospect of adrenaline pumping through my veins from exercise sent me scurrying downstairs in search of Willingsbee. I didn’t have one of those magical Lapis Lazuli bracelets to contact people like my grandparents, so I had to resort to an old school method of contact.
“Hello,” I called out.
“Hello,” Willingsbee said stepping out of a door near the main foyer.
His very presence brought feelings of warmth to me I haven’t felt since my imprisonment.
“Willingsbee, how are you today?”
He bowed before straightening again. “Very well, my lady. What can I get for you?”
Willingsbee knew if someone came looking for him, they wanted something. During my time here, I would change that. Willingsbee deserved kindness and respect, and perhaps a hug. I needed one of those too.
“My grandparents and I came to an understanding. I was told you could get me anything I needed.”
His hands lifted into prayer position in front of his chest. “That is correct. Make a list of size, brand, etc., and I will send out someone to get it for you.”
“My grandfather also told me I could use a room in the basement for a gym. Could I go pick a spot?”
His eyes widened. “The basement?”
The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. What was down in the lower basements that raised concern in both Willingsbee and my grandmother? It had to be something other than the tunnels. I planned to find out, but for now, I’d act like the perfect granddaughter. “The first floor of it.”
“Oh good,” he said relieved. Then he took in my appearance and the concern returned. “My lady, your lovely attire would get soiled in those dirty rooms. Let me select an area for the gym. I’ll have it ready in no time.”
His blue eyes sparkled with magic. There was something about them that were familiar to me. I blocked out most of my early childhood after Dad died, but Willingsbee must have left an impression on me.
“I appreciate your concern, Willingsbee, but I’d like to see the basement. I trust your judgement, but given the circumstances of my imprisonment, anything new is a welcomed diversion.”
His face winced. If he wasn’t aware of my situation, he was now, but as a long-time employee of my grandparents, I suspected he’d seen far worse. For all I knew, he could be a prisoner himself. Did an iron cross encumber his wings?
“Very well Jessalyn, right this way,” he said, gesturing for me to follow him.
A thrill ran through me. Sometimes compromise worked, especially if it got me closer to the tunnels. “Does anyone go into the basement?”
He glanced at me. He knew far more than he was telling me. “Rarely. It’s at least several stories. The house was built before the Civil War. Long before all the wars, Revolutionary and otherwise…”
He left his statement dangle, allowing me to read between the lines. What otherwise? As in Fae wars? Perhaps the one that made the Fae go underground and led my grandfather to create the Organization?
Willingsbee could prove a far better instructor than any Silver Fae etiquette expert.
“Were there other wars that my family took part in?”
He glanced at my guards before opening the basement door for me. “Jessalyn, the talk of wars should not be mentioned with so many young ears.”
Normally, I’d take offense to his suggestion that I was too young to discuss war, but he probably meant there were too many ears from Team Asshole. If I had a knife, I could take care of the extra ears pronto. I once had an aversion to violence, but now? Not so much.
“Have you explored the entire basement?”
“Me?” He pulled his hand to his chest. “No, I have no reason to. Are you sure your grandfather offered you a room in the basement?”
There was that hesitation again. What was in the lower levels that they didn’t want me to be close to?
“Quite sure. I guess there wasn’t any other space available.”
“I guess not,” he agreed. His tone suggested he didn’t believe it.
Why did my grandfather offer me space in the basement?
I followed Willingsbee down the elegant wood staircase that didn’t match his concerns for the wellbeing of my dress. After living in the northwestern corner of New York State, I’d been in my fair share of damp moldy basements filled with cobwebs and scampering mice. My gods, the tunnel staircase I escaped from was far worse than this one on its worst day. I still had the scar on my leg to prove it.
When we reached the foot of the stairs, I took in my surroundings. The wide plank pine floors were in stark contrast to the shiny mahogany floors of the rest of the house and the only “primitive” aspect of the basement. The ceilings were either finished sheetrock or plaster. No drop ceilings allowed on the Silverlain Estate.
The basement broke off into the different wings of the estate. Each wing had a doublewide door, but the enormous main section of the basement was wide open. It was at least several football fields, and if I wanted to, I could probably ask Willingsbee to include an indoor track, but running indoors wouldn’t help me. Outdoors was my best means of escape. I embraced my inner architect and imagined where I’d put a gym.
Over in the far corner, there were several windows. It was close to the east wing and several floors below Grandfather’s study. If my geographic bearings were correct, the tunnel were nearby.
I walked over to the windows and stood on my tiptoes to peek outside. A few inches of sunlight greeted me. The windows weren’t large enough that I could climb through, but at least natural daylight entered the space. I made no sign that I was looking for a door or wall that might border the tunnels—my guards, especially Sami, would tell Treadwell.
“Willingsbee, I’d love my gym over here.”
“Are you sure you wouldn’t like it closer to the stairs? I don’t want to worry about you.”
Again it struck me as strange that Willingsbee worried about me in this finished space that was far nicer than most people’s homes. What wasn’t he telling me?
“I’ll be fine, and unfortunately, I won’t be alone.”
Sami smiled at me, Thomas crossed his arms, Jude stared, and Jovie shifted from foot to foot.
“Oh right, well, give me a list and the workers will get right to work.”
I hooked my arm in his as we returned to the stairs. “Why is it that no one comes down? It’s nice.”
“Much of the staff are superstitious.”
When he didn’t elaborate, I figured he needed a push. Plus the whole waiting-for-an-answer wasn’t my thing. “And?”
Barely above a whisper, he said, “It’s silly really, but they believe the estate has ghosts.”
“Ghosts,” I murmur. “Why is that?”
The energy of my guards pressed around me, trying to hear what we were talking about, but our conversation wouldn’t elicit any concern. Nothing to report back to Tr
eadwell.
“Well, you know how rumors start. One person hears a noise and all of a sudden it turns into a ghost story.”
I knew all about ghost stories. I also knew about the estate’s intricate tunnel system. “When did the stories begin?”
“From very beginning. Most of the staff are descendants of the first servants. We can go for years without so much as a squeak, but then out of nowhere, strange noises will be heard mainly in the lower levels of the basement but also throughout the east wing of the house. One maid believes that…” My guards edged closer. Willingsbee stiffened. “Oh, it’s silly, and not the story for a princess.”
I could rip out the throats of each of my guards. Team Asshole lived up to their name again. I cast a vicious glare at them. Only Jude and Jovie backed away. Sami saw it as a challenge, and Thomas didn’t react to most things.
“I’m too old for nightmares Willingsbee. I want to hear the stories.”
He winked at me like an indulgent grandfather might look at his grandchild. Not that I knew from personal experience, but it seemed something a caring grandparent would do. “Your father loved stories. He would follow me around the house begging me to tell him them.”
“You knew my father?”
Willingsbee patted my back, not lingering on the iron cross, but he felt it. “Oh my dear Jessalyn, he was like a son to me. I’ve worked for the Silverlain’s my entire life. I was born in the servant’s quarters. My mother was a cook, and my father was the butler. This estate is as much a part of my history as it is yours.”
My history was not connected to this place, at least none of the good parts of it, but I liked Willingsbee far too much to disagree.
“Will you tell me some stories?”
He held his hand up to the side of his mouth, as if telling me a secret. “I will make you a deal. You go upstairs and prepare a shopping list for me. Give it to me before dinner, and then after your meal with your grandparents, come find me. I will spin tales for you like I did for your father. Deal?”
“Deal,” I said as we split apart at the base of the stairs to the second floor. “Thank you for your time.”
He swept into a bow before standing again. “It is my pleasure. It’s been far too quiet around here for far too long.”
I smiled at him before turning to climb the stairs to my room. Willingsbee shone like a beacon in the darkness for me.
Jude walked up alongside me. “Well, he’s a crazy old man.”
Anger flashed through me. “Crazy? He’s not crazy.”
“Ghosts? Are you kidding me? There are no such things as ghosts.”
Jude and I disagreed on many things—including what it meant to be loyal to someone. I should have let our conversation drop, but sometimes the words that came out of his mouth pissed me off, and I couldn’t let it go. I couldn’t let him think he was right.
“You know that for certain?”
He set his jaw. “Yes.”
“Did you know there were Silver Fae before you met me?”
He rolled his eyes. “Of course, I knew about Silver Fae. It’s my destiny to protect them. To protect you.”
It was the first he’d ever mentioned anything about destiny. I stopped at the top of the stairs and turned to him. “Your destiny? What are you?”
He cleared his throat and looked away.
Thomas stepped between us. “That’s enough talking. Let’s go.”
My Fae nature flickered. I straightened. “I won’t be told what to do by you.”
“Self-entitled princess,” Sami hissed under her breath.
I spun around on my heel to face her. “And you better watch your mouth or I will become your worst nightmare.”
She winked at me. “I thought what I did with that luscious piece of wolf flesh was your worst nightmare.”
Tears pricked at my eyes from the mention of Christian. I wouldn’t let her win. I couldn’t, but the dam was cracking. I stormed off to my room leaving my guards to rush after me. I wasn’t about to fall apart in front of Sami or any other member of Team Asshole. It wasn’t my destiny to protect them.
The iron cross twitched on my back. I wish I knew what my destiny was.
Chapter Six
Di
* * *
I wanted to wring Christian’s neck. Unfortunately, he was running around in the woods outside Starr’s grandparents’ estate as a wolf. Yep, a freaking wolf so even if I could catch him, my conscience probably wouldn’t allow me to wrap my fingers around an innocent animal’s neck and squeeze the breath out of him. Not kill, mind you. Just threaten. And perhaps, punish. But it was the man that frustrated me not the wolf although technically they were one and the same.
I studied the remnants of Starr’s team, Ben, Coda, Frank, and me, along with our recent addition, Rebecca. The five of us huddled around a chiminea in Ben’s backyard. To an outsider, it would look like five friends hanging out. We were friends, but with Starr missing and Christian wolfing it, we were on high alert. “What are we going to do with him?”
I fanned my fingers in front of the opening. The tiny scraps of heat barely warmed my fingertips. After Christian’s threat to go inside the tunnels on his own, an icy dread had swept into every nerve of my body. A roaring bonfire wouldn’t rid me of the fear swirling inside of me.
My only consolation was that after considerable persuasion and threats of bodily harm, he finally agreed to wait for us. He refused to leave the woods when we tried to pick him up, but at least he wasn’t going into the tunnels by himself.
Ben added another log to the chiminea—not that it did much good at generating more heat. I longed for a proper fire in a real firepit under much different circumstances with the same company plus Starr and Christian. I planned to make sure that became a reality.
“Di, Christian can be a stubborn ass when he sets his mind on something and his is set on staying close to Starr. No amount of pleading on our side will convince him to leave Starr. He already feels like he abandoned her once. He won’t that happen again.”
I believed Ben, but there had to be a loophole. There was always a loophole. “Even if it means risking his life to catch a glimpse of Starr?”
Coda nodded with far too much enthusiasm for my liking. A swift punch to the jaw ought to knock off that crap. My hand curled into a tight fist on its own. I stared at my white knuckles in surprise, before shaking my hand out and running it up and down my leg instead. I was really trying to curb my random acts of violence.
“Di, Ben’s right. Christian isn’t going anywhere, and if he does, it’s because he’s going into the tunnels.”
Rebecca studied the dancing flames. “Do you really think he would go in after he swore he wouldn’t?”
“I do,” Coda and Ben answered together. They sounded like the freaking glee club.
Her deep brown eyes fell on Ben.
He swallowed. His cheeks brightened, and it had nothing to do with the heat from the fire that we already established was a joke. He cleared his throat. “Christian isn’t thinking straight. He feels terrible that he betrayed Starr, and he will do whatever it takes to make it right.”
“He can’t take back what he did,” Frank snapped.
Ben, Coda, and I shared a long look. We’d been trying for days to convince Frank that Christian was roofied and therefore not responsible for his actions, but there was nothing we could say or do to stop him from projecting his worries about Starr onto Christian. He was just as stubborn as Christian in many respects.
“Christian will spend his life making it up to her,” Coda said.
Frank grunted. “Knowing Starr, it’ll take a lifetime of him trying to even consider accepting him. She trusts a person completely, but when that trust is broken, she’s done.”
Ben straightened. “But she loves Christian.”
Frank crossed his arms. “She did. I don’t know anymore.”
Coda shook his head. “She loves him still. I’ve never seen love like that between two peop
le our age. They’re soulmates. She’s hurt, but she’ll forgive him. Their love is not the type to get cast away.”
I leaned over and thumped him on the shoulder. “When did you become such a romantic?”
He smiled at me. “I’ve always been. Just waiting for that special someone to come along.”
Frank’s hand rested on my back. His touch pushed more warmth in me than flames ever could. I wasn’t naïve enough to believe that we shared anything remotely similar to what Christian and Starr did, but—and I can’t believe that I let my mind even go there, Frank could be my someone special.
I shook my head. Our blossoming relationship had nothing to do with the current conversation. “Well, if Christian’s going into the tunnels, so am I.”
Frank glared at me. “No, you’re not. It’s too dangerous.”
I might want to fling my arms around him and start kissing him at least half the time we’re together (though I had controlled myself so far), but I wouldn’t let my feelings for him deter me from helping Christian.
“You went into the tunnels.”
“I know,” he growled. “That’s why you’re not. I’ll go. She’s my best friend.”
Testosterone blustered around him, as he flexed his muscles not in a display of strength but out of anger and protectiveness. It paled compared to the fierce desire to save my friend rising in me.
“She’s my best friend too, and you’re not going anywhere with your bullet wound.”
Someday I’d get my hands on that bitch Sami, and I would wring her neck for shooting Frank. She wanted to kill Starr, but Frank in a typical act of heroics dove in front of his best friend and got shot instead. When I took her out, I’d be ridding the world of an evil monster. Score one for the heroes.
He huffed and puffed but even if he was the big, bad wolf, it wouldn’t blow me down.
Coda raised his hand. “I’ll go. I need some excitement.”
“I’ll go too,” Ben added.
Frank shook his head. “No offense Ben, but you’re too big. I almost got stuck. We better leave it to Coda to go with Christian.”