Chapter 21

He made his way back up the stairs again. For like the hundredth time. Bree thought she could just boss him around. She was probably getting a real trip about finally controlling him.

The way you used to control her?

He grimaced and shook his head at the words his conscience threw at him. "I never controlled her. I just told her when she was embarrassing. Like cutting her hair short. Or wearing clothes that weren't suitable. Something any husband would do."

He wondered again at just who he was talking to. Himself, sure, but…was it really his conscience? He didn't like thinking that it was his own thoughts biting away at him.

Picking up his pace, he found himself jogging through the castle, up several flights of stairs, and out of a door that put him at the very top of the structure. The wind didn't chill him, but it flapped the few flags that were stuck into the ramparts, and the sea birds flew on the sharp currents pulled off the ocean.

The sky was dark, but there was a whisper of sunrise to the east. Maybe an hour and the sky would be lit up. He did a slow turn. "This is not good."

He didn't see how Bree was going to get out of this. First, she had to get out of that cage, and sure, it looked like the skeleton was going to help her with that. But how was she going to survive the rest? Not possible. He knew it.

He worked his way back down to the main floor, and there he saw the woman who looked like Bree.

"She said it was a vampire, Richart. Find out who it was before tomorrow."

Richart bowed at the waist. "Of course, my lady. I will torture the likeliest suspects and find out who visited her."

"Excellent. I go to rest."

With a swish of her overdone skirts—really, who did she think she was? Bree's lookalike disappeared down another hall.

Richart locked eyes with Alan but said nothing.

Alan didn't know how far he could trust the vampire, but… "If you were to leave the fish woman's door unlocked…now would be a good time."

Richart's eyebrows shot up. "Interesting. And the evidence?"

Evidence that he had been the vampire to visit Bree. "Rings are hidden. Pulled free."

Richart nodded. "I must see Remy. He and I need to have a discussion. I should be able to have the discussion wrapped up in an hour, before I must rest as the sun rises."

Alan turned and left him there, because an hour was not long.

Making his way back to the dungeon, he paused before he stepped into the light.

"Do you think Alan will help?" the skeleton and sometimes man asked. "He's betrayed you before. And I don't mean his infidelities."

Bree's sigh was heavy and seemed to fill the room. "I'm hoping he's had a change of heart. I want to believe that somewhere inside of him, he did love me at one point. Maybe now that we're here, and I'm in mortal danger, that spark of love is still…there."

He clutched at his chest, her words snaking into him.

I never deserved her. I was never the right person for her. Those thoughts were bad enough, but there were worse ones. But I could have been, if I'd loved her the way she deserved.

The possibility that they could have been happy if not for his choices, if not for who he'd become…Again, he clutched at a heart that no longer beat.

He forced himself to step into the light. "Richart…will unlock your friend's door in an hour, before the sun rises. Which is also in an hour."

Robert gave a nod. "Then we'll practice the music between now and then. In one hour, we make a break for it."

Maybe there was more to that conversation, but Alan didn't stick around to hear it. Instead, he headed back up the stairs, through the main room and up to the room where he'd found the music sheets. Where there were more chests full of God only knew what.

The old ghost was waiting for him there.

"Having an existential crisis, are we?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Alan walked around the room, looking at things. Trying to see what else might be hidden in this place.

"Worried about her," said the old ghost. "As you should be. She has some hard decisions coming for her."

"She's trapped. They'll kill her before she gets away."

"Unlikely," replied the old ghost. "Very unlikely. They want her dead on a specific day. To make the magic work for them."

Alan frowned. "Magic. I never thought it was real."

"You don't think it's real even now, do you?" The old ghost gave a laugh. "You're a ghost, walking around?—"

"Paranormal isn't the same as magic," Alan pointed out. "Besides. This place is surrounded by water. We're on an island. A big island. How is she going to get away?"

"Maybe she doesn't need to get away. Do you know what the spell says? What it needs?"

Alan frowned. "The spell?"

"The one that is going to be performed on your lovely ex-wife. The one that's going to kill her."

Alan shook his head. "Why does that matter?"

"Maybe you still could help her," the old ghost said quietly. "Maybe you could still make a difference."

Alan snorted. "There's nothing more I can do. I'm only useful as an errand boy."

"I think…maybe there is. But if I'm right, would you do it? If I told you how to help."

Alan stared at the old ghost. "Who are you? How can you know all this…" He took a step back and the old ghost winked at him.

"I am someone who can help. I can't speak directly to your ex-wife. That is…forbidden. My own doing, unfortunately."

He found himself unable to look away. "You're the reason the vampire woman cleared out all the ghosts, aren't you?"

"Vesuvius. That's my name, and yes. She tried to clear me out. Because I know things that she doesn't want anyone else knowing."

Closing the distance between himself and the strange old man, he said, "Vesuvius, what could you possibly know that the vampire woman doesn't want you to tell anyone?"

"Just what I said to you. I know a way to fix the spell. I know a way…to save your ex-wife."

Before Alan could ask how the old ghost could possibly know such a thing, they were interrupted.

Remy burst into the room, anger flaring across his features. "Une malédiction sur toi! Who does Richart think he is playing with? I will show him!" He dug through the chest where the sheet music had been hidden. Faster and faster he dug through it, cursing louder and louder.

Vesuvius looked at Alan. "I think you should warn her. This one…this one could kill her now and steal her power. That's what he's learned to do. And if he's realized she has a way out…"

Alan spun and ran from the room, down the stairs, through walls, through doors, no longer caring that it made him feel less alive to do so.

He slid to a stop in the dungeon. "You have to go now! Remy found out the sheet music is missing, and…he wants to kill you, Bree. He wants to steal your power!"