28. Scarlett

CHAPTER 28

SCARLETT

Four days later…

Julie's reflection blinks at me as she holds up a tray of tonics. She can't believe that I want to make amends with Edward.

I can't either, but after yesterday, I feel like an idiot.

"Are you really going to forgive him, Lady Scarlett?" she asks, her wide brown eyes a fixture I'm so used to on her face that I imagine they'll just stay that way from now on. "I watched you lie there, helpless, for days." The tears twinkling in her eyes touch me in ways I would never have expected.

Somehow, I've made a friend, even in a place like the Rinhold residence.

Sighing, I turn and select one of the blasted tonics. I had better get used to them, because this is the way of a family in the Magic Sector.

And soon, I'll be in the Immortal Sector. The stakes will be even higher, and expectations will be as high as the clouds.

"He explained everything," I say, knowing I don't really need to convince Julie, but it would help if I reiterated it for myself. After watching Edward make underhanded deals with various families in a gambling scheme, I imagined he didn't care about me at all. He hadn't come to visit me, but he had a reason for that.

"Did he?" Beatrix asks from the doorway. She's scowling, which is also a permanent fixture I imagine I should get used to. "The young master is no fool, my lady. He could talk his way out of a beheading in the middle of an execution just by charming the poor soul holding the axe."

"That might be so," I agree as I pop open the cork on the tonic I've selected. The aroma of peaches makes me relax. I'm not sure why it's my favorite lately. "But there is evidence I have to consider. My mother came to visit me just two days ago, and she is doing well." Better than I've seen in years—maybe ever. "That's why he did what he did," I say, more to myself than to anyone else. Edward had waited until after I had seen my mother to explain everything. It made it hard to be mad at him, so I see now why he'd waited.

The explanation, though, still boggled my mind.

He had a gambling scheme going, one that was rigged. He has a monster ally in the city, one who seems to know which Offering will make a strong match and which won't. Edward didn't tell me what he had on the monster, but I knew it must be something good.

Because Edward knew the best matches already before the night had even begun. That monster had given him his foresight and allowed Edward to make risky bets, ones that had earned him a lot of money.

Enough to buy my trust? I wonder as my dress changes color and form, courtesy of my peach-flavored tonic. I'm about to see Edward for lunch, but I'm feeling rather lethargic.

There's a pit inside my stomach that only seems to grow. I hunger for something I can't have. Something dark, depraved.

Something dangerous.

Sniffing, I grab another one of the tonics.

The one that keeps me awake.

I haven't slept in four days, and I don't intend to sleep tonight. Sleep is something I can't face, not until I'm satisfied that I won't encounter figments in my dreams.

Yet, my treacherous body yearns for what it can't have. The sensation of being poked full of holes until I want to scream makes me woozy, and I waver on my feet.

Beatrix scowls again as she steadies me. I know she doesn't approve, but she doesn't chastise me. Instead, she seems resigned.

Footsteps at the door make me glance up with a practiced smile.

"I was just finishing up, Edwa—" I begin, only to cut myself off when I see Duchess Rinhold, not my future husband.

And she seems furious. A pinch in her brow makes her look older, despite her plentiful use of anti-aging tonics. Her curls fray around her head as if she's been grasping at them.

A staff of cloaked figures stand around her, making my spine go stiff. Whatever she has in mind, it can't be good.

Her lips twist into a snarl when I try to smile at her. It's an odd reaction, and I certainly don't expect the foul word that drips from her mouth.

"Whore."

My eyes fling open wide. "Duchess Rinhold," I begin, not sure what to say against such an accusation. "If you presume I've been unfaithful, I assure you?—"

"I know ," she says, dipping her chin with finality as if I should know what that means.

"Know what?" I ask.

She sighs as if I'm being ridiculous. "Did you think there wouldn't be any evidence?"

"Evidence?" I parrot.

She actually growls at me. "Edward's courtship mark is gone!"

My jaw drops open.

Why would it disappear?

Unless…

"Check her," the Duchess says with a snap of her finger.

The blood drains from my face when I realize who the cloaked figures are. Reflective metal glints on their chest as they move, betraying stethoscopes hiding underneath the fabric. They're not servants.

They're medical doctors. All of them male, based on their physiques.

Check her.

What are they going to check?

I already know the horrible answer. "Beatrix!" I scream when a rough hand grabs my wrist and yanks me to the floor.

The Duchess rolls her eyes as Beatrix looks like she's going to break her jaw if she clenches it any harder. "She can't help you. Stay still for the examination, girl. It'll be easier for everyone without hysterics."

I'll show you hysterics, you ? —

Another man is on top of me, and all I can hear is the sound of my enraged screams paired with the tearing of fabric.

Riiiip.

What's left of my dress is yanked off of my chest, leaving me exposed as I try to use my teeth. I'm rewarded with a male's grunt as I snag a finger and chomp down until I taste blood.

They want to treat me like an animal? I'll behave like one.

It's unnecessary to completely strip me for the examination, but Duchess Rinhold has chosen to make this some sort of humiliation. My jaw is wrenched open by a strong grip, freeing the trapped finger, as the work is continued.

"Where is Edward!" I scream.

The Duchess straightens as another man grabs my knees, but I lock them closed.

No.

They can't.

Julie finally unlatches from her rooted position, and the tray of tonics shatters onto the floor. She screams as she rushes one of the men, but they easily pull her aside. Beatrix is crying as they drag both women out of the room.

At least they won't have to see this.

"Edward will hate you for this!" I bellow as the male fights with my legs that I refuse to open.

I'm going to kill them.

"Trust me, I already hate her," my betrothed's voice says from the doorway.

My strength wavers when I see him. His face is expressionless, but his eyes seem sad.

Yet, he does nothing. He stands there in the doorway with his hands folded and watches . I want to beg him to take off his gloves and show me his palm so I can see for myself.

He was wearing gloves yesterday, too.

Gloves are currently out of fashion, but now both Edward and his mother are wearing them. And Edward has been wearing them for days.

He knew.

My mouth bobs open in disbelief. "Why explain everything, why regain my trust, if you were just going to let her do this?" I ask. I need a reason for this sort of betrayal.

His jaw flexes. "She saw my hand, Scarlett. I'll fix this. Just don't fight her, please."

I've never heard Edward beg, but he seems to be begging me now to cooperate.

I could never accept this!

"Get on with it," Duchess Rinhold snaps at one of the men.

Hot, angry tears stream down my face when the last of my dignity is ripped away, and a single finger pushes inside of me.

"I've never been with a man," I weakly protest.

That might be true.

But…

I've been with a monster.

Figment-Cain's tongue had been real enough that I'm not sure what the result of this so-called examination will be.

"She is spoiled," the male working his finger around confirms, then pulls it out and wipes it on the tattered remnants of my dress. He dares to cast me a pitied look before his dark eyes drop.

I should be shocked by the verdict.

But I'm not.

My dream… it was real.

Duchess Rinhold whirls on her son, and her hand flies out so fast that I don't even see it strike his face. His always perfect hair flings over his forehead, and blood bursts in a pop of red over his chin. "Spoiled," she repeats to him like an accusation. "Do you know what this means?"

The male who had been probing me has the decency to hand me a blanket, and I wrap it around myself as I glare daggers at him. Adrenaline is pumping too hard for me to fight. It's over. My humiliation is sealed.

Edward palms his jaw, then drags his thumb over his bloodied lip. He dares to glance at me with those stormy blue eyes that I used to think were so deep and soulful.

Edward Rinhold has no soul.

"What if I was the one who spoiled her, Mother?" he asks, not looking away from me. "I couldn't wait. I took what I wanted. She's mine anyway."

I go still. I know he's lying, but no sign of a mask appears on his face.

There's no crack. No hint of his deception bleeding the truth underneath a disguise like I would normally see with anyone else.

I can't see his truth.

Edward… has the perfect mask.

I don't know how, but Earl Rinhold has prepared for everything. He must have known about my ability to see people for who they really are, just like he knew the name of my village.

It's Cain's blood, I realize as my fingers twist around the blanket.

Cain's blood is his mask.

My tongue goes dry as I wonder what that might mean and all of the implications.

Especially given the nature of my dreams.

Duchess Rinhold clicks her tongue as she fusses with her gloves, one of them now stained with her son's blood. "Then you are a fool, Edward. You couldn't wait until the courtship ended? Now you might have cost us everything. If word of this gets out, Cain himself could void the contract. You could die ."

My eyes widen. If Edward had actually violated the contract, perhaps that was true.

But he wasn't the one who had taken my virginity.

Figment-Cain had.

What if… that hadn't been a figment at all?

The mark just above my navel throbs with a distinct reminder of how much I enjoyed Figment-Cain's company. My marks hadn't disappeared. Only Edward's.

Because I'm still bound by blood to my potential mate, only it's not Edward who I'm destined for now.

But the other two figments… who are they?

They'd saved me when I had been dying. Now, I wonder how real that whole experience had been.

Why had I been dying?

More questions than answers flutter about in my head as Edward and his mother come to a conclusion about my fate.

"We speed up the timeline," Edward says, the finality in his tone making me wrench back to reality. His eyes seem to have gone dark as he glances at me again. "We make it a public ceremony. No one will question the legitimacy of our union if we marry in the old tradition style."

Old tradition?

I have no clue what that means, but the numbness in his gaze only tells me that there's something wicked hiding beneath Edward's perfect mask.

I can't trust him.

I should never have trusted him in the first place.

What have I done?

"No one can see her until then," the Duchess declares, then snaps her fingers. "Throw her in the dungeon. She can rot in there and think about the misfortune she's cast on this family while arrangements are made."

"What?" I screech as hands haul me to my feet.

I'm biting again, thrashing like a wild animal, and my blanket is ripped from me. I'm making a scene, but damn if I'm going to go quietly.

Darkness engulfs me faster than I'd like, and I'm thrown into what can only be described as a cell.

The floor is wet.

The air is rancid.

And my breath rushes out of me as my back slams into the wall, and the door creaks closed, leaving me in utter darkness.

I hadn't taken the anti-sleep tonic for today.

Which is a good thing, but I'm going to have to calm myself enough to fall asleep.

You better be real, my figments, I think as I shiver and curl into a corner. I don't know how I'm going to sleep like this, but I'll eventually pass out.

I pray it won't take long.

Although, when I start praying to Cain, it feels like he can't hear me.

He hadn't been there the night of Monsters Night.

And he's not here for me now.

I try not to let the darkness crush all my hopes.

There were two others, I remind myself.

Sabre. Cage.

I allow myself to remember their names from the fogginess of my dream. Resting my head against the walll, I close my eyes.

And I wait for sleep to find me.