I folded my arms over my chest. “Well I do. And the sooner we get this whole curse thing started, the sooner I can get out of it, so let’s get going.”
He reached for my arms, his hands circling around my wrists and I panicked. I knew it was coming but to let another one of them chain me up again …
“Too late to run,” he whispered, not even noticing my full out attempts to pull my arms from his grasp.
I changed tactics and tried to shove him but he didn’t move and really, neither did I. He held my wrists still as if I weren’t twisting and jerking and pushing with all my might.
“Until my blood is satisfied,” he intoned and a familiar icy fire engulfed my wrists. He let me wrench them back but it was already done. Each wrist was sporting its own new bracelet almost identical to the ones I had been tricked into letting Jordan put on me. Instead of smooth, seamless bangles with smoke chains dripping from them they were braided, seamless bangles with smoke chains dripping from them.
My mouth gaped open and I tried to rein my emotions in as this horrible new jinn watched over my reactions. I closed my eyes and forced my fear and anger down.
I was chained—again.
Surprisingly he let me have the moment to myself and was still gazing at me with same dead expression when I was able to open my eyes again.
I fought my fear but embraced my anger. “So what now?” I asked.
He cocked his head. “Now I go to bed.”
My shoulders bunched in painful tightness. “Now you go to bed? Are you kidding me? This night is a freaking nightmare for me and it’s just regular, chain-a-girl-up night for you and you’re ready to hit the hay?”
His eyebrows gathered together at that. “I see she picked one with manners this time,” he said under his breath.
I snapped my fingers under his nose, having to reach up further than I had expected. “Excuse me, she didn’t choose me and if you want to talk about manners how about all the evil kidnapping you do? Don’t think I ever seen that in Miss Manners book of behaving well.”
“And she speaks like a lady,” he said, also under his breath.
My temper boiled over and I was so glad for it. “I’m not a lady,” I seethed, “I am pissed off. And I don’t exactly know what weird game you have going on here but, but you had better believe I am not here to play. You think you’re so big and scary? You’re not—I’ve seen bigger and scarier jinn than you. Think you’re going to keep my chained up like some pet? You’re not—I’ve already been in manacles like these and gotten out. This isn’t going to last long,” I promised.
He said nothing for several minutes, the expression on his face not changing from his creepy blank one as he slowly took in my face. Finally he mused, “Emma doesn’t usually bring me redheads.” Then he turned on his heel to leave me standing alone in the hallway.
“Wait,” I forced out.
He turned back around, a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
“Am I sleeping?”
His eyes changed back to dead disinterest. “This isn’t a dream.”
“I know that,” I said more sharply than I intended to. “I mean, am I asleep somewhere? Is my body out there in the forest somewhere? If I fall asleep here—”
He interrupted me with a shake of his head. “You aren’t dreaming. You are here, your body is here. And this is where you will stay.”
“Where exactly is here?” I asked. My shoulders where starting to tremble and again I hunched them painfully together to keep them still.
“You’re in my world now. Emma brought you through from yours.”
The gleam from the surrounding lights had almost left his shining hair before I remembered to ask, “Wait, what’s your name?”
“Luka,” came the response from the shadows.
And then I was alone in the cold room. My eyes traced the cold marble floors and walls and up the winding mahogany staircases. I wrapped my cardigan and jacket tighter around me, fighting the shaking that was soon going to bring me to my knees.
“Screw this,” I muttered with tears in my eyes. The only reason I had let Jordan bind me was to get my brother back. The only reason I had let this jerk bind me was to prevent him from doing it to Martha. And she was safe back at the farmhouse, which was where I was going. I backed towards the door, turning around only long enough to open it. No one came, no alarm sounded as I eased between the door and its frame and gently shut it again.
The storm was dying down but I wouldn’t have cared if it had been raging. With my shoes laced tight and my hat firmly over my ears, I took off down the path from the front door. Light melted into darkness sooner than I thought it would have but I kept running for the path in the forest.
I expected a shout of alarm or to be jerked back by my bracelets or an unnatural gust of wind to push me back. But I ran unfettered to the thin path in the trees. I didn’t pause as I passed into the woods and the trees shrouded me from any eyes looking out from the castle. My breath came hard and even, freezing in my chest. Pulling up the flap of my coat helped a little and I kept running. My feet slid in the snow a little, pulling at me knees painfully but I didn’t care. Around me the forest brightened just the tiniest bit and I pushed harder.
The pathway ahead shimmered and gave of the faintest glow. An excited gasp burst out of me and I surged forward. This had to be the veil or whatever between our worlds. I jumped through it and kept running on the other side. Trying to calculate how long it would take me to get back to the farmhouse was impossible so I just kept running, forcing one foot in front of another.
A sharp pain in my side where Clint had kicked my side was twisting and bunching but I ignored it, determined to be in the farmhouse before I stopped running. I had to slow down but kept moving.
My breath had turned to a deep, painful wheeze by the time the forest began to thin again and I could make out imperceptible light. With the last bit of energy I had I surged forward and burst from the forest onto … a perfectly manicured, if snowy, lawn. No upturned rows of dirt, no farmhouse.
With my arm wrapped around my aching ribs I limped forward, not believing what was in front of my eyes.
The girl, Emma, waited for me at the edge of the light from the decorative lamps. The cold, sad castle loomed behind her.
“Sorry,” she said apologetically. “Those bracelets act like—”
“Tethers,” I gasped. “Yeah, I know.”
“Everyone tries to run their first day here. You can run any direction you want but when you hit that shimmery wall, you’re just headed back the way you came.”
“Neat trick,” I muttered.
She ducked her head and made her way back to the castle. She didn’t even turn around to see if I was following. After all, what choice did I have?
Chapter Eleven
Emma made no mention of her previous zombie state. I followed her back inside and when she turned to shut the door behind me I could see her eyes were regular brown eyes instead of a blank white. She cowered as she led me up the left stairway and across the walkway. There was a large arched doorway on the second floor as well as the first and I followed her through it. As much as I wanted to punch her in the back of the head and try running again, I knew it wouldn’t help. And it almost seemed as if she felt bad, as if she were waiting for me to fly into a screaming rage. Little did she know I was reserving that for someone who really deserved it.
The castle she silently led me through was so pale and cold, so different from where Jordan lived. It felt so empty by comparison and I wished I were with him instead. I slapped the thought away, annoyed with myself. This was his fault.
She—Emma, I reminded myself—led me down another wide, echoing hallway and up more stairs.
The dark hallway finally led out into a brighter, massive room. It was a perfect square and we
were three stories up. Looking over the solid railing I saw armchairs and ottomans spread out over the floor of the great room. Looking up I saw great square skylights. It was lovely and I hated it.
“Here’s your room, miss,” Emma said, standing next to a giant oak door. I followed her in and wasn’t surprised to see a bedroom very much like the one I had had in Jordan’s fortress.
She folded back the bed covers and asked, “Is there anything else?”
I gaped. “Uh, yeah. How about you let me in on what happens next?”
She gave me a curious look. “Next you sleep. It’s the middle of the night.”
I couldn’t tell if she was joking or not but the way she fluffed my pillows and pulled a long linen nightgown out of the wardrobe I guessed she wasn’t.
“Uh, already got one,” I said, opening my coat and pointing.
Emma wrinkled her nose. “I’m sure this one is much … drier. I’ll be back in the morning to fit you for some dresses.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “What is it with you jinn and playing dress up with me?” I asked, my scowl seeming to become a permanent thing.
Her eyebrows arched and then quickly went back down and her face smoothed over. “I’m not jinn. And you didn’t bring any clothes with you, so …”
I inspected her more closely, moving closer to the dim candle light. Her face was round and her eyes a middling size. She had a slight widow’s peak and the dimple in her chin was just off center. “Are you human?” I finally asked.
“Yes.” Her face quivered just slightly. I couldn’t tell if she was lying or about to cry and she cut me off before I could ask. “You really should get some rest.”
I glanced around the room again, my eyes finally landing on the door. “That have a lock on it?”
She glanced over her shoulder. “No, why?”
“I’m not sleeping without a lock on my door.”
Emma glared. “I’m not sure what you’re insinuating, but I can assure you Luka is a gentleman.”
I barked out a short, harsh laugh. “Yep, I’m sure he’s great when he’s not busy having kidnapped women transported to his lair.”
She pressed her mouth into a thin line and left the room without saying a word. The flame of a candle wavered in her passing. Shadows bounced around the corners of the room, illuminating only the area with the bed. I ran across the room, slammed the door shut and leaped into bed.
Fear was finally getting its chance to take over and I could no longer deny that I was scared—really scared.
I didn’t know what this new jinn wanted and I already knew there was no getting out of the bracelets by myself. The aunt’s quick explanation of the curse ran over and over through my mind. If I wanted to get out this, I needed to solve the curse and in order to do that I needed to know more about it.
Asking Luka was out of the question, I wouldn’t believe anything he had to say. But maybe Emma could tell me something. With a sigh I settled back against the pillows and prepared for a sleepless night.
Instead I woke up in the general store. The lights were on and there were customers in the store for once. A woman perusing the beef jerky gasped at my sudden appearance then laughed. “Oh, it’s just you,” she said, turning back to the display.
I still couldn’t wrap my mind around it. Was Nightmare Town a real town somewhere with real people or a ghost town, like the aunt’s had said? I shuddered at that thought. That would mean everyone was a ghost.
Abe looked up from helping a customer with hunting books and gave me a curious look. I gave a smile and shrug and he mouthed, “I’ll find you later.”
I nodded and let myself out of the store and found it was still a sad, halfhearted winter outside. The cold didn’t touch me like it had before and I looked down to see a padded hunting jacket, complete with cameo and bright orange patches. Thank goodness I hadn’t arrived in a nightgown. I had read somewhere people could master their dreams to the point of determining what they wore in them but I had never been able to do that. Although, I guess I didn’t really have normal dreams.
The woods outside Abe’s store were silent and still and grey. I hated it. Remembering the last time I had been to Nightmare Town I kept my head up while I made my way back to my house.
At a little creak behind me I jumped around, sure it was Jordan following me again. A thin grey squirrel cocked its head at me before skittering up a tree but I was frozen with fear anyway. Jordan. What was going to happen when he saw the new bracelets on my arms?
I sprinted down the road to my house with my arms tucked in the jacket trying to hide the bracelets—not that he wouldn’t be able to see the smoky chains pouring out the sleeves and trailing behind me.
My house loomed ahead and I raced to it, churning through the frozen, shredded leaves littering the yard. I banged in the side door and slammed it shut behind me, grateful to be in my home again. But the lights were all off and the house was silent and I realized again that Lincoln wasn’t there. It felt like I was never going to find him again. First the aunts, then Luka …
I resolved to solve the curse, get back to the farm and run away, back to Hemlock Bay and find my brother. “Right,” I muttered to myself. “Just get out of a centuries old curse and run halfway across the state dressed like an Amish person, no problem.”
The house was cold and I wandered through it, wondering if there was a thermostat anywhere. I found nothing on the main level and while trying to find one on the second I ended up in an abandoned part of the house that felt much higher than two stories. A door at the end of a dark hallway had a bright line of light at the bottom and with a great deal of curiosity I opened it.
A little gasp escaped my lips and then a laugh. It was Lincoln’s treasure room, or at least that was what I had dubbed it. The door opened onto a small platform that overlooked the whole room. It took up an entire corner of the house and had floor to two-story-tall ceiling windows. It was also entirely crowded with junk.
Dream Lincoln insisted it was all important and kept everything displayed on tables or artfully arranged in corners or in display cases like the ones in Abe’s store. One case was entirely filled with costume jewelry, flashing hot pinks and teals in the harsh sunlight coming in through the windows. I made my way down the rickety stairs and passed several fake potted trees and a pyramid of antique tube televisions. Behind that was an entire living room set up from the forties, complete with a tea set and doilies. I couldn’t imagine real Lincoln ever doing anything like that and couldn’t imagine why dream Linc would.
I passed the bizarre displays and drifted over to one of the windows, taking in Lake Michigan. Watching the steely waves crash in on the beach, I didn’t realize how much I had missed it. How long I stood watching the waves I wasn’t sure but my spacing out was finally broken by a movement along the edge of the trees on the far side of the property.
With a better view from the north facing windows I could barely make out a figure. With my face pressed against the glass and my eyes squinted I could see that it was Lincoln. He was talking to someone who had on a sweatshirt with the hood pulled up and his back towards me.
“Linc,” I yelled through the window, banging on the glass. He didn’t even look up. “Linc!” I yelled louder, hitting the glass with both fists. He couldn’t hear me.
Determined to talk to my brother, even if it was only the dream version of him, I raced up the stairs and back down the dark hallway. As I ran it never got brighter and finally I realized I had my eyes closed. I opened them to find a wrought iron bed frame stretching above me, almost to the wood planed ceiling.
I groaned and sat up. For just a second I had forgotten about the new jinn and my new set of bracelets. A sharp knock at the door had me scrambling out of bed but Emma was letting herself in before I could find a proper weapon.
She gaped at me holding up the candle holder from last night. “What are you doing?” she asked.
I looked from her to my hand and back again. “I was going to throw this at you. Well, not you, I was going to throw it if it wasn’t you.”
Emma shook her head slowly. “You really don’t need a weapon here, or to be afraid. No one here would hurt you.”
I shrugged and tossed the candle holder onto the bed. “Sorry, I’ve already met some of these jinn and it didn’t exactly go the best for me.”
She cocked her head and looked me up and down. “You seem all right.”
“Yeah, well, they sort of let me go.”
“Then they can’t be all that bad,” she said and turned to the wardrobe, cutting off the conversation. “How about this?” she asked, pulling out a long dress.
“Whatever,” I said, not even looking up. “I’m used to being dressed like a giant doll.”
“Wonderful, then you won’t mind me doing your hair,” she said and sounded genuinely happy about it. Maybe if I complied she would give me some of the information I desperately needed.
Emma ushered me through a small door in the room and I stopped in my tracks, totally speechless. It was a bathroom, but not like any one I had ever seen. A huge claw foot tub sat in the middle of the cream tiled room, surrounded by vanities and mirrors and sinks all sparkling and glowing. A tiny portion of the room was walled off and when I opened the door I found what I had been hoping for, a small water closet.
When I came out Emma was already running the water for a bath and I had to ask her, “So you guys have running water but no electricity?”
Emma shrugged. “That’s how Luka prefers it,” she said, piling fluffy towels onto a bench next to the tub.
It was the most amazing bath I had ever taken. The tub was large enough I could submerge my entire body in its sudsy warmth. Emma poured something in the water that smelled like chamomile and I rested against the wall of the tub with my eyes closed. It was a little awkward having her in the room but I had suffered worse things over the last few years.
Winter's Dream (The Hemlock Bay Series) Page 10