49. Winnie

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

WINNIE

“ A rgh!” I throw up my arms as papers, canvases, wooden frames, and for some reason several tubes of glitter topple down on top of me. “Alaric, what is this?”

I stagger back as the avalanche of stuff fans across the floor. Broken pottery crunches under my feet. The itch of dust tickles my nostrils. Bile rises in my throat as I catch glimpses of half-finished paintings – my own likeness peering back at me from literally hundreds of dusty canvases.

I whip out my arm, thrusting the candelabra into the gloom, and I see that the entire secret room is stacked almost to the ceiling. Only a narrow gap leads through the centre, the path invisible in the gloom. I hear another whimper.

Isis is back there.

She’s buried under all this stuff. She’s suffocating. Bugs are crawling all over her.

The world spins. My skin prickles. I slap at the bugs crawling up my legs, tearing at my dress, trying to get them off me. It’s infected. I’m infected?—

Strong fingers wrap around my wrist. “You’re okay, Winnie.”

It’s Gideon. And he looks more serious than I’ve ever seen him. But his features are fading in my vision, blurring as I fight to stay in the moment. But I’m being dragged into my nightmares by the musty scent, the sound of piles creaking and rodents burrowing, the crinkle of things beneath my feet.

“What’s the matter with her?” Someone shakes me. “Hey, Winnie? What’s happening? You’ve gone white.”

I turn to Alaric. His jaw trembles as he stands shin-deep in broken art projects. The king of his mountain of stuff.

His treasure .

And I realise that I’ve uncovered the biggest lie of all.

He hasn’t got better. He hasn’t given up on his hoarding ways. He’s been hiding everything away in this room, hoping that I’d never find it, trying to manipulate me into believing this could work.

The Winnie Wins System is a complete failure.

I’m a complete failure.

I couldn’t stop my mum from ruining our home. I couldn’t stop Patrick from cheating.

I couldn’t even help Alaric.

He’s been lying to me all this time.

“Winnie, I can explain…” He sweeps his hand over the broken frames. “These were all for you. I was trying to?—”

My heart thrums in my ears, an ocean of trauma that sweeps away Alaric’s excuses. The stuff rushes up at me, and I grip Gideon’s arm, certain I’m going to pass out.

But the nausea recedes, and I remember why we’re here.

“Isis is in there, and he’s hurting her,” I hiss through gritted teeth. “Someone has to clean up.”

Gideon drops my arm and darts through the hole in front of me. Komal tries to haul me back but I duck under her and fling myself after him. I have to turn sideways to fit through the gap. Piles of stuff brush my skin, and the invisible bugs crawl all over me. I shut my eyes and urge myself forward.

It’s just rubbish. It can’t hurt you. It’s just stuff ? —

I feel my way through the horror, listening for Gideon’s footsteps and the horrific slurping sound that must be a vampire feeding. But it’s almost drowned out by the groaning of the piles and the crunch and scrape of papers beneath my feet.

During the worst years of her hoarding – the two years before I left – my mother’s house was like this.

The panic rises in my chest. My ears ring. I can’t hear the slurping anymore, just grunts and groans and scuffles, but I don’t know what’s real and what’s a memory.

But Isis is in there. I have to get to her. I can’t let the mess claim her, too.

“Winnie, it’s okay. Back up. I got her.” A dark shape lurches towards me. Rough hands pull me out of the dark tunnel so that Gideon can come out. He waddles sideways, sending more glitter raining down the gathered women as he lays Isis gently at their feet. Dora drops beside her, cradling her sister’s body in her arms.

I stagger back from my friend’s glassy eyes, the horror rising in my throat.

Is she…

“She’s alive,” Gideon breathes. “But a few more minutes and she wouldn’t be. She’s lost a lot of blood.”

“She’s still bleeding,” Maisie gasps, pointing to the dark stain on Isis’ neck.

“It will stop in a moment. I’ve licked the wound.”

Komal whacks him over the head with her tray. “How dare you?”

“Ow. I was helping . Vampire saliva closes a wound quickly.” Gideon rubs his head where Komal hit him. “I thought you knew all about vampires.”

“I didn’t know that your version of first aid was to go around licking things!”

“Where’s Baylor?” Alaric demands, his eyes so stormy that I’m afraid of what he might do.

“He’s still in there. He’s subdued, for now.”

Alaric plunges into the room. Gideon picks up Isis and carries her through to the sitting room. He sinks onto the sofa, holding Isis against his body, as he orders Maisie to find something sweet for her to eat.

I slump down beside her, knitting my fingers in hers. Isis’ eyelashes flutter, and she makes a gasping sound.

“I caught him,” she croaks out. “I knew it was him. Witch’s instinct…”

“You’re amazing, Isis. But you have to rest now. We’re going to get you something to eat.”

She claws at the camera hidden in the button on her shirt. “I got it all. He said that he wanted to taste me as he took my life.”

“Fuck, Isis.” Dora elbows me out of the way. “I can’t believe we agreed to this crazy plan. I could have lost you.”

I stagger back, letting Dora take care of her sister. Maisie runs in with a cup of Reginald’s hot chocolate, which she passes to Isis. The other book club members – except Arabella, who probably doesn’t know yet – crowd around. My stomach churns with shame.

I can’t believe I put them all in danger. And all because ? —

…all because I wanted to protect Alaric. I wanted to clean up everything for him so we could be together. But it was a lie.

I whirl around and stagger from the room.

“Winnie, wait—” Gideon calls, but no one comes after me as I fumble my way back to the hidden room. Alaric has dragged out Baylor’s limp body, and he’s handing her off to Callista’s Thralls. His eyes blaze as he sees me.

“Mina’s husband has already handed over Isis’ evidence to my mother. She’s preparing for the Mora, and they’ll bring him to the ballroom.” Alaric’s jaw works. “I’m so pleased we got to your friend in time.”

“No thanks to you.” I gesture to the avalanche of stuff strewn across the hallway. “What is this?”

“It’s me.”

He says it matter-of-factly as if he’s discussing the weather.

“But…I thought you were over this.” I toe a box in disbelief. “We did all that work cleaning your rooms. We got rid of all that stuff. I made you a system .”

“And you did a beautiful job. That’s why I hid these things here. I’ve been so overwhelmed by your presence, I needed an outlet. So I would sneak away and paint or sculpt or…” Alaric brushes glitter from my bare shoulder. His touch makes me shudder. “I wanted to give you a gift, but nothing was perfect, so I hid them away so I wouldn’t hurt you. But now you’ve agreed to stay here with me. You can help me clean this up. I won’t let anyone force you into becoming like me. And we’ll play your music and put things in boxes and everything will be perfect again.”

“No.” I shake my head. Tears stream down my cheeks. “It won’t.”

“Winnie—”

“We’re not meant to be together.” I struggle to get the words out through my sobs. “We’re too different. This is who you are, and I can’t live with it. And you can’t live with me as I am. We tried to make this work but our walls are just too high.”

“Love tears down walls, Winnie.” His voice chokes with emotion.

“Don’t you see? I can’t love this . I can’t be with someone who needs me to clean up their mess.” I turn away from him. I can’t bear him to see me cry. “We have to get back to the ball. We don’t want to keep the vampires waiting.”