The floor was a glossy river of mahogany and thick, colorful rugs were laid in several sitting areas complete with deep chairs, low tables and several desks. It was beautiful and the first warm area I had seen in the whole place. It smelled like old books and polished wood and the heat from the sun spilling through the windows warmed me to my core.
There was no one else in the room and I took my time walking past the books, trailing my fingers over the spines. Most were unrecognizable to me but a few stood out as books I had heard of or read in school.
Curious, I selected several that were in English and seemed to be about the jinn. Perhaps the evil old jinn’s library held the secret to my freedom. I settled into a soft leather chair in a beam of warm sunshine and selected the first book. The only thing I was missing was a cold drink and an ice pack for my elbow.
The book I had picked was beautiful, bound in soft leather with hand painted pictures decorating each page. However, the swirling, lavish writing was almost impossible to read. I thumbed through, taking in the pictures of coastal scenes, imposing mountains, skies filled with red and gold tinged clouds. I rested my head back against the chair and kept skimming through the books. The sunlight on my face was delicious and I turned my face and closed my eyes for just a second.
The gonging of a bell boomed throughout the castle and I flew out of the chair. The books slid from my lap and landed on my foot. Disoriented and tired, I hopped around on one foot while trying to get my bearings. I was still in the library but it was dark and my stomach was growling. Slowly I put together that I must have fallen asleep … and I hadn’t dreamed. Why hadn’t I dreamed? Panic started to slowly come over me. If I couldn’t dream I didn’t have access to anyone who could help me.
“Wait,” I whispered to myself, feeling totally crazy. “I dreamed last night, it’s okay.”
“Bixby?” came a frantic cry.
I crouched down behind a chair before recognizing Emma’s voice. “Bixby, are you in here?”
I straightened up with pink cheeks. “Um, yeah.”
She darted in through the library doors. “There you are! I’ve been looking for you for an hour! What were you doing?”
“I fell asleep,” I said.
“Oh. Well come on, it’s time for dinner, you’re late again.”
I rolled my eyes. Like I cared what Luka thought about my tardiness. Besides, I was almost always late everywhere I went.
I let Emma rush me back to the dining hall. She stopped me outside the wide door way and fixed my hair with little pats and jerked my dress straight. “Good luck,” she whispered before shoving me into the room.
Luka sat at the table as he had for breakfast. If he was annoyed by my being late it didn’t show—nothing showed on his blank face.
The waiters, however, did look annoyed. Three of them were lined up against one wall, holding covered platters.
I took my seat silently, refusing to even look at Luka. The waiters sprang into action, uncovering platters and serving up some kind of meat and vegetables in sauce. Luka waited to speak until they were out of the room.
“It doesn’t bother me if you are late to meals but it does bother my staff. They have a strict schedule they adhere to in order to perform all their duties. You being late means them being finished late and it cuts into their personal time.” He delivered his little speech with no more feeling that if he was explaining how to gut a fish.
I slowly rolled my eyes towards him and found him looking back with disinterest. “I couldn’t care—”
“Before you make another rude retort, please just consider that my staff members have families and personal responsibilities they need to see to. However much you may wish to annoy or inconvenience me, please do not take it out my staff.”
I actually felt a little pang of guilt and looked away from Luka. Another waiter stepped in with a bottle of wine and poured Luka a tiny amount that he sniffed, swirled around and sipped. At his nod, the waiter filled his glass and bent towards me to fill mine.
“Sorry I was late,” I whispered.
He flashed me a sympathetic smile but didn’t say anything.
Of all horrifying things, I felt tears begin to well up in my eyes. Not only was I a prisoner again, I was getting chastised by the guy who had done it, sort of, and also managed to ruin a bunch of other people’s day.
“Believe it or not, I understand how you feel,” Luka said while I fought back my tears. “And I hate it as much as you do. So how about we call a truce?”
I nodded. He raised his glass and waited for me to raise mine. When I didn’t the little spark of hopefulness in his eyes burned out.
“I want a truce,” I said quickly, wiping my nose on a napkin that probably cost more than everything in my kitchen back home. “It’s just that I really hate wine. Don’t you guys have Diet Coke?”
A little smile teased at the corners of his mouth and it made him so handsome. “Your wish is my command,” he joked, and pulled an icy cold can from behind the wine bottle.
I jumped a little in my chair. “Was that there the whole time?” I asked, knowing it couldn’t have been. The waiter had set the bottle down only moments ago.
Luka scoffed. “Of course not, that drink is vile.”
I couldn’t help but smile at that. “It probably does taste that way to you. The kind with lime in it is better, you should try that kind.”
He tapped the rim of can and changed it to the lime version. “No thank you, it’s all yours.”
For the first time in weeks my shoulders relaxed just a little and my pain in my back eased up just a bit. I picked up my can of soda and waited for him to pick up his disgusting glass of wine. “Truce,” I said.
“Truce,” he agreed.
My stomach growled loudly and I clapped a hand over it. Luka’s mouth twitched into a ghost of a smile again and piled my plate high with food.
“What kind of meat is this?” I asked, suddenly wary.
“Lamb and with it is butternut squash. It’s very good, although it would be better with a proper glass of wine.”
I ignored him and dug in. The meat was tender and juicy and the squash was almost sweet. I couldn’t place the seasoning but it was delicious. There was so much on my plate I couldn’t eat it all and finally pushed it away. I sat back in my chair with a little sigh and glanced up to see Luka looking at me.
“What?” I asked, quickly wiping my mouth.
He shook his head. “It’s just been a while since I had a willing dinner companion.”
“I guess most of the girls hate you?”
“They hate me or they’re just scared. Some of them spend the whole time hiding in the castle or out in the woods and I never see them again after I put on the bracelets.”
“That’s stupid. They should be in here trying to figure out a way to get out of this.”
He shook his head slowly. “Plenty of girls have tried that. None of them ever did. They come and they go, one after another, year after year.”
“That must be awkward for you,” I guessed.
He cocked his head. “Not awkward, just sad.”
I twisted the napkin in my lap. “Sad for them or sad for you?”
His eyes had a shine to them. “Both.”
My mouth gaped open at his sudden show of emotions and I felt terrible for making him tear up. “I’m sorry—”
“It’s fine,” he said quickly and stood from the table. “Thank you for dining with me, it was the most pleasant meal I’ve had in a very long time.” I watched him rush out the door and struggled with my own emotions.
Emma came to take me back to my bedroom and I followed her silently. She combed out my hair and helped me out of the dress. I could see her watching me warily from the corner of my eye but she didn’t say anythin
g until she opened the door to leave.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
I looked up from my folded hands. “Yes. No. I don’t know. I don’t what to think.”
“Don’t hate Luka,” she begged. “This isn’t his fault.”
“I know and I don’t hate him. I actually feel kind of bad from him.” I flopped back down on the bed with a groan. “I don’t know what I feel or what to think. He’s supposed to be the bad guy and I’m supposed to hate him. But I don’t hate him and I don’t hate Jordan or David either. But everyone else does and if I go back to Nightmare Town tonight, I don’t know what to say to them …”
Emma put a warm hand on my shoulder. “Maybe you won’t dream tonight,” she said.
“Maybe,” I agreed reluctantly. But I hadn’t dreamed while I slept in the library.
“Good night,” she said.
“Good night,” I echoed.
I watched the candle burn down to nothing and then extinguish before finally falling asleep.
Chapter Fourteen
The sun was peeking between the curtains when I opened my eyes again. Sleep tried to pull me back under but there was something important I needed to be thinking about. I shot straight up in bed, remembering the events of the last few days. Jordan, the aunts, Luka, the curse. And for the only the second time in years, I had slept without dreaming.
I was scared and oddly refreshed. Emma found me sitting up wide eyed in bed.
“Are you feeling better this morning?” she asked as she rushed off into the bathroom.
I could only nod and follow her. She was filling the tub but only to halfway.
She laughed at my pout. “I’m not washing your hair now, I’m going to do it tonight and wrap up all the curls and it will be so pretty in the morning!”
I rolled my eyes and climbed into the tub. “You are having way too much fun with this. You need a life-size doll.”
Emma peeked over her shoulder. “Most of the girls won’t let me help them,” she said quietly. Another point for Bixby the Oblivious, Trampler of Feelings.
“Sorry,” I said. “Luka said something similar last night. That must suck having everyone run from you.”
She gave a weak shrug. “It’s okay, it just gets lonely.”
Awkwardly I tried to the subject. “So what do you guys do to fill the time?”
“Fill the time?” she repeated, handing me a towel. I pouted again and she pointed at the clock. Right. I was working on being polite.
“Different things,” Emma finally answered when she was satisfied I wouldn’t try to jump back into the warm water. “The other, um, servants, have their particular jobs and they don’t really like it when I try to help. But the cook lets me help with desserts a lot and she also lets me help take care of the garden. Otherwise mending the clothes, or reading.”
I pretended to stifle a yawn and she threw a pair of wool leggings at me. “Sorry, that sounds boring.”
“Well, I apologize,” she sniffed. “And what did you do that was so fascinating?”
“Oh, you know. School, housework, cooking, watching out for Grandma. Oh, and I used to swim.”
Emma arched her eyebrows. “Sounds fascinating.” She tossed a long skirt at me.
I laughed. “Well, when I put it like that … You know what is fascinating, though? How all these dang clothes are supposed to go on and together?”
“It’s not that difficult,” Emma teased. She grabbed a few more articles of clothing I assumed I would have to wear for the day. Where was the magic dresser full of jeans and hoodies? “Some of the clothing you girls arrive in is appalling by the way. Would you really go out in the clothes you had on when you came here?”
I had to think back and burst out laughing. “Uh no, not a chance. That was a nightgown and cardigan my cousin had made. I had them on because I had no other pajamas.”
“Some of the girls come in beautiful clothes,” Emma said wistfully.
I stopped fighting with the confusing top for a moment. “So, we don’t all come from Michigan, do we? I mean, I’m pretty sure that would have made the news, all the girls that disappear.”
Emma helped me into the top and secured the wraps around my waist. “No, Miriam was an ancestor from hundreds of years ago. Her line has spread almost all over the world.”
My voice dropped to a whisper. “So how many girls do you think … over time?”
“I lost count a long time ago,” Emma said, ducking her head. “There! That’s much better, see?”
She twirled me around to look in the mirror. A deep green skirt swirled from my waist to ankles. The cream sweater I had struggled with made a shallow V bellow my collar bones and wrapped around my waist. My hair was pulled back into a low ponytail with little curls pulled out to frame my face. I looked beautiful and nothing like myself.
“You’re good at this,” I admitted. “I wish I could take you back to my world, you would make a killing as a personal stylist.”
She gave me a crooked half grin. “I don’t know what that means. It better have been a compliment.”
“It is. And I had better not be late to breakfast again.”
She led me back down to the dining hall and I stopped for a moment to collect myself before I entered. We had declared our truce but I still didn’t know exactly what that meant. We played nice until it was time for me to go? And where exactly would I be going when this whole thing was over? For the first time it occurred to me maybe I wouldn’t just be sent home to my world.
A polite cough interrupted my thoughts and I hurried in. Luka sat at the table, his eyes waiting for me to enter through the doorway. When I caught them he smiled and my breath caught in my throat. He was potently good looking when he smiled.
“Good morning,” he murmured as I took my seat.
“Morning,” I mumbled, not looking up.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Mm hmm,” I managed. Why did I have to turn all red faced and bumbling around hot guys? Thank God I had gotten over that with Jordan.
At that thought my cheeks flushed a deeper red.
Luka touched his hand to mine and I jumped. “Are you feeling all right? You’re all flushed.”
I cleared my throat and forced my embarrassing thoughts down. “I’m fine, just um, yes, I slept well.”
He chuckled and I couldn’t help but glance up. “So not really a ‘morning person,’ right? Is that how you say it?”
Relieved, I smiled back. “Right, I’m not really a morning person.”
He served us both out of the dishes the servants held and I scrambled to find a topic of conversation that I wouldn’t blumber through like an idiot.
“Are you getting on well with Emma?” he asked before I could come up with something.
“Yes!” I cried, delighted to be talking, or thinking, about anything besides how handsome and surprisingly nice he was. Or about Jordan. “She’s great, she’s told me a lot about things here.”
“Emma’s been here almost as long I’ve been. I’m glad you’re getting along. I worry about her sometimes, I think she’s lonely.”
I pulled an asparagus out of my omelet and chewed the tip. “I think you’re right. It’s got to be kind of lonely here. And it’s not like really has anything to do when she’s not … you know.”
His mouth twisted at that. “Yes, I know.”
I tried to steer the conversation back to even ground. “So what do you do around here?”
He shrugged. “Everything, nothing, whatever I want.”
“That sounds … unstructured?” I wilted a little. What a stupid comment.
“It has it perks,” he said. “For instance, today I get to check on an old friend.”
“Oh,” I said, trying not to frown. I
had been hoping to spend the day with him trying to figure a way out of the curse.
Luka picked up on my disappointment and smiled that smile again. “I’ve been wanting to speak to the head gardener about his plans for next spring but I haven’t seen him in a few days. I thought I would hike out to his cabin.” Luka hesitated. “It isn’t very far if you’d like to come?”
I fought down a cheesy grin. “I would love to. But, uh, do you have any more weather appropriate gear?” I asked, gesturing to my dress.
“I don’t, but I’m guessing you do.”
“Well, yeah, but not with me.”
He leaned forward and grabbed my hand again. “That’s okay. Close your eyes and think about it. Think of the color and details. Think about your boots and hat, think about what keeps you warmest.”
I felt a little foolish but played along anyway. In my mind I pictured my dusky blue snow pants with matching jacket. I thought about how ecstatic I had been when I found them on a clearance rack. They were warm, thin and easy to move in.
Something brushed my hand and I cracked my eyes open. Neatly folded on the table were the snow pants and jacket. “That’s amazing!” I said, swooping them up. My beat-up boots were underneath and my hat and mittens were in the pockets. “How did you do that?”
Luka swiped his hand through the air and his cheeks looked to be the faintest pink. “That was nothing, like a parlor trick.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, I thought it was neat.”
His eyes flickered. “I’m glad. I so rarely have anyone to show off for anymore.”
My chest tightened at that. “So when can we go?”
The land behind the palace was gorgeous. Smooth, snowy acres gently rolled down to the edge of the woods and very far off I could see a glint that had to be Lake Michigan. With my scarf pulled up around my mouth the frosty air couldn’t steal my breath and I matched Luka stride for stride as we made our way to the gardener’s cabin.
Winter's Dream (The Hemlock Bay Series) Page 12