Chapter 28

Ezekiel didn’t speak another word to me for the rest of the journey to the carriage stables. Didn’t even look at me. When we drew up, his driver opened my door, and he kept his gaze averted.

“Um…thanks for saving me.”

He responded with silence.

“Will I see you for supper tonight?”

He sighed. “You will not. I have business to attend to.”

I should be relieved, so why the pang of disappointment? “Okay, see you.”

I climbed out, and the driver slammed the door and quickly got back in the car. The windows were tinted, but I could feel Ezekiel’s eyes on me as the car peeled away from the curb.

I took a breath and dialed Padma.

“You okay?” she asked.

“I’m good. He dropped me at the carriage stables. Hemlock should be waiting. You guys okay?”

“Back at the office.”

“Good. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

“Be safe.”

“You too.”

Hemlock was indeed waiting by our carriage. His gaze flicked over my shoulder, looking for the others, no doubt. Even though we’d arrived in separate carriages this morning, he probably expected us to turn up at the stables at the same time.

He shot me a questioning look.

“They’re still at the office.”

His icy gaze tripped over me and narrowed slightly. “What happened?”

“Long story. Where’s Ordell?”

“Busy. You’ll have to make do with me.”

“You say that as if it’s a bad thing.”

He snorted and hauled himself up into the driver’s seat. “Get in.”

I rounded the carriage and climbed up next to him.

He stared at me, confusion coloring his features. “What are you doing?”

“Don’t you want to hear about my day?” I attempted a smile but failed.

His gaze dropped to my mouth then flicked back up to meet my eyes. “It better be good.”

“Oh, believe me, it is.”

Hemlock vanished as soonas we got back, and Ordell was nowhere to be found. I was beginning to get a little fed up with everyone vanishing at nighttime, and as much as I was adept at keeping myself busy, the day that I’d had was the kind that required company in the evening. Back in the Fringe, I would have gone for drinks with some of the other operatives. Back at the chapter house, I would have hung out with my team around the kitchen table, probably with brownies made by Haiden…Were they having brownies now without me?

I could go bug Matthew, but that would be weird. At this stage, I was happy to hang out with the murderous Ezekiel, but he wasn’t here either.

I showered then pulled on leggings, a T-shirt, and my comfy fluffy socks and ate the supper left for me on my doorstep.

After the east wing incident last night, there was no way I was going exploring. Hemlock and Ordell would be back later. I’d bug them then. Crap, when had I become so needy?

This place was getting to me with its creepy vibe. At least Matthew had provided me with salt. I poured a line outside my door to block the threshold and dusted the windowsill and balcony too. Wait, what if I’d trapped a ghost in here with me by doing that?

Stop it! Just stop it woman. Get a grip.

I went to place my empty supper tray outside my room and jumped at the sight of the woman standing in the corridor. Her brown dress touched the ground, and the white apron tied over it had deep pockets. Her hair was tucked into a white cap, but what I could see of it was dark.

“Hello, miss. All done?” She glanced at the tray in my hand.

“Um…yeah…Who are you?”

“Me name’s Daisy, miss. I come with the house. Lemme tek that from ya.” She held her hands out for the tray.

I passed it to her, and she smiled. “Oh, good to see somebody with a healthy appetite.”

“I haven’t seen you here before…”

“Oh, I been busy, miss. It’s a big place. Cleaning teks a while. But there’ll be less to do now that we’ve lost a guest.”

“Huh? What guest?”

“The big man with the hair that’s not quite white.”

“Ordell? Wait…He left?”

Her eyes went round. “Leave? No…well, not of his own accord.”

“What do you mean?”

She chewed on her bottom lip. “I shouldn’t be talking ’bout this. Master won’t like it. Please, miss, forget I said anything.” She made to turn away.

“Wait! Please. Did Ezekiel do something to Ordell?”

She looked over her shoulder with a grimace. “Oh dear. Me and me big mouth.”

Panic gripped me by the throat. “Where is he? Tell me where he is or I’ll go straight to your master and ask him myself, and he’ll know you must have let something slip.”

She shook her head, clearly frightened. “No, please…I can’t tell you where he is.”

“Dammit, woman, I?—”

“I’ll have to show you.”

I grabbed a jacket,shoved on my boots, and followed her into the castle corridors. She moved fast, gliding down the passages as if she was on wheels. I had to trot to keep up.

We took several flights of stairs and entered a part of the castle where the walls were more stone than plaster and the air had a natural bite that stung my skin.

“How much farther?”

“Not far now,” she said.

We were at ground level, deep in the center of the castle with no windows when she stopped at an iron reinforced door. She hauled it open, then plucked a candelabra from its nook in the wall and slipped inside.

More steps led deep into the dark, which was barely held at bay by the candle’s light.

I followed close at her heels. “Is this the basement?”

“Oh no, miss. It’s much more than that.”

“Not the dungeons. I’ve been in those.”

She snorted, the sound almost derisive. “Have you now?”

“Excuse me?” My scalp tightened, and for the first time since she’d shown up on my doorstep, the thought that she might not be who she seemed occurred to me.

What did they say about the rising…about ghosts? Shit, was I following a ghost?

I dug in my heels. “I think I’m done. I’m going back.”

She stopped a few steps below me. “As you wish, miss. But I kept my word. I was willing to show you where Master has your friend shackled so?—”

“Shackled?” This made no sense. “Why would Ezekiel do this?”

“Master doesn’t like to share his things.” She glanced over her shoulder, her eyes dark and knowing.

Had Ezekiel seen how close Ordell and I were? Was this why he’d taken him and put him down here?

“He’s just through the doors down here.” She hurried away, taking the circle of light with her. I could go back or follow. If there was a chance that Ordell was really down here, then I had to follow.

But what if this was a trick? A trap. What if she was a ghost?

Even if she was, I needed to pretend I didn’t suspect. Go along with her plan, if indeed this was a plan.

The floor here was flagstones pressed into earth, and a door made of thick bars cut us off from a moonlit tunnel beyond where a shadowy shape hunched on the ground. I caught glints of metal and the gleam of silver-blond hair.

“Ordell!” I grasped the bars and pushed, but they refused to budge.

“The bolt…” Daisy pointed at the deadbolt that held the door closed.

I pulled it back and hurried toward Ordell. He lay on his side, unconscious. A thick chain was bolted to the wall, the other end attached to his ankle.

“Ordell?” I brushed his hair back off his face, sweeping the silken locks over his shoulder. My fingers grazed metal.

A collar. What the fuck?

Ezekiel had him collared and shackled? Fucking hell. I had to get him out. “Daisy, where’s the key?”

“The wall.” She pointed to a hook on my side of the barred entrance. A large brass key hung on it.

I grabbed it and unlocked Ordell’s ankle.

He groaned, beginning to wake.

“Daisy, you need to help me get him up.” I reached for the collar, feeling for the keyhole. There…I inserted and twisted and was rewarded with a click. The surface of the collar lit up with strange symbols before falling dull.

What the?—

Ordell’s eyes snapped open, but they weren’t his regular ocean blue; they were flecked with gold, the pupils horizontal slits.

My pulse quickened. “Ordell?”

He blinked and focused on me. “Orina…” He reached up to caress my cheek, his expression soft for a moment, but then his brow furrowed, and his gaze flicked to his surroundings. “No…no, what are you doing here?”

He grabbed at the collar on his neck, but it fell off with a clink. “Oh God. Oh no. Orina, you have to go. Go now.”

“What? But I?—”

“Argh!” He doubled over, his body contorting in pain.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” I reached for him, but he shoved me away.

“Get out!” He lifted his face—his misshapen face with an elongated jaw and ridged cheekbones, eyes large and slanted. “Go!” The command tailed off into a growl.

I fell back on my ass, then scrambled for the door, survival instinct kicking in. The scrape of the bolt sent ice down my spine.

“Daisy, open the fucking door.” I shook the bars.

She smiled, thin and wicked. “Do you see now? Do you see?” She vanished.

Ordell let out an unhuman roar accompanied by the crack and snap of bone. I turned slowly, heart thrumming in my throat.

Ordell’s spine curved, his arms elongating with painful cracks and pops. He screamed and bellowed, eyes rolling.

“Orina…Run!”

I broke away from the entrance and ran down the tunnel, into the moonlight and out into the night.