Chapter 32

ChapterThirty-Two

Thea stood alone in the middle of the kitchen and tried not to jump every time the stove rattled. She was a grown woman now, damn it, and she should be able to wait for the housekeeper to come back. She’d survived far worse than a kitchen like this.

Still, Thea suddenly was a little girl again. Standing in the doorway and watching this kitchen run like clockwork while she feared what brewed inside the rattling monstrosities. At least now she could see they were just stoves. And the haunted feeling of this house came from the people within it, not the house itself.

Still, it was hard not to compare any building to the one she’d grown up in. Houses seemed to have their own personalities, spelled or not.

Thea sprinkled chamomile tea into her cup, then added a generous fistful of her own lavender, lemon balm, and valerian for good measure. She needed all the steadying herbs she could get.

Browning let out a loud croak, so she pulled him out of the sling and popped him onto the table. He appeared to know right where to go. The toad maneuvered himself over to a stool, hopped onto the floor, and headed for one of the many shelves close to the floor.

There used to be more maids here if she remembered correctly. When she’d first come to visit, it had seemed like all the staff moved in an intricate dance. They never bumped into each other, even though there was a teeming swell of people all moving about their daily jobs.

No one stood in the kitchen with her. And that struck Thea as rather odd.

She sipped at her tea and read over all the bottles and balms on the shelves until the housekeeper came back. Nora looked a little disheveled, as one might after dealing with Balthazar. Thea could only imagine what the old man had said to the poor woman.

“I assume the master has been placated?” she asked, taking another sip of the boiling liquid.

Nora’s wide eyes met hers before she snapped herself out of whatever state she’d found herself. “Ah. The master is easy. Sorry, my dear, I forgot what we were talking about.”

Their master was easy? She’d never heard someone call Balthazar that before. “Expectations.”

“Right. As you can see, we’re a little short staffed.” A few frizzy strands had popped out of Nora’s braided hair. “There are many young people who would work here, but with all the changes, I’m afraid we haven’t been able to keep people on. There are two other maids, one lives here, but her mother is ill, so she’s away. The other lives with her children and comes during the day to help with cooking. Of course, we still have three butlers, and they all live down here with us.”

It was all rather a lot to keep track of, but Thea supposed it would come naturally with practice. “And where will I be staying? I assume the maids’ quarters are around here somewhere.”

Yet again, Nora appeared to flounder. The other woman struggled for words in a surprising turn of events.

Thea had thought that was a rather simple question. They’d known she was coming, and that surely meant there was a place for her to stay.

She arched an eyebrow and waited until the other woman found her voice.

“Uh, right. Well. I’m afraid the maid’s quarters are currently undergoing some construction, so there’s another room we’ve prepared for you in the meantime.” Nora gestured toward the kitchen door. “If you’ll follow me, I’m happy to show you to the room you’ll be staying in.”

Why did that sound like a lie?

Thea wasn’t talented at scenting out a lie. Not like her mother. Máthair knew a lie even before someone thought to say it. But that didn’t sound truthful to her in the slightest.

“I thought you said one of the maids stays in those quarters?”

“She does.” Nora paused in the doorway and straightened her shoulders. “But since she’s helping her mother, we thought this was the perfect chance to make a few changes. It shouldn’t take too long, but you should feel free to make yourself at home in the bedroom provided. Follow me, dear.”

Thea looked from the cup in her hand to the bag on the floor. She’d have to set down her calming tea, and that made her nervous.

That was until Nora shouted, “Leave the bag! That’s what the butlers are for. You’ll hurt yourself carrying that thing up and down the stairs.”

Stairs? Oh, no. That wouldn’t do. She didn’t want to be any closer to Alistair than she needed to be. The further away from him, the better, considering she hadn’t the faintest idea how either of them would react to seeing each other again after all this time.

“Browning,” she hissed. “Come with us.”

The toad looked up from his perusing of what appeared to be a selection of jams and then waved her on without him. The toad wouldn’t even be of help.

Clutching the tiny teacup, she took the saucer with her to have something to do with her hands as she meandered up the dark stairwell. Everything in this house lacked light, and that broke her heart. A building like this deserved to be flooded with sunbeams.

The stairs were covered with a fine layer of dust as though no one cleaned the servants’ quarters at all. Then they stepped into the entrance of the home, and she looked around, expecting to see all the terrifying pieces of art and skulls that had startled her so many years ago.

The Orbweaver Manor was empty. No rugs. No artwork. Just a few lingering pieces of furniture with white sheets laid over them.

“What’s all this?” she asked, walking over to one of the covered pieces and dragging her finger over the pale dust.

“Ah, the master has been selling many of the old pieces of furniture. He says it reminds him of times he has no interest in recalling.” Nora cleared her throat and then held out her arm toward the stairwell. “You’ll be staying on the second floor.”

“Why?” That was where Alistair’s room had been, and she was certain it would be the easiest place for him to find her. Besides, hadn’t there only been the boys’ rooms up there?

Thea watched Nora climb the stairs and then looked behind them. There was a second door next to the one they’d just left. Mist erupted from underneath the door, and she swore a sound came from underneath it. Like the breath of a person hiding out of reach.

“Thea?” Nora’s voice broke through the strange noise, and it disappeared. “Keep up, please. I don’t have all day to show you around.”

She wrenched her gaze away from the strange door and forced herself to follow Nora up the stairwell. At the top, she took another sip of the tea that was taking the edge off of her nerves. “Is, um... Are the master’s sons in?”

Nora gave her a strange look. “The master has no children.”

What?

As her mind struggled to catch up with what Nora had said, she was forced to trail after the other woman while trying to piece together her thoughts. If the master had no children, then that meant Balthazar no longer lived in this house. Or maybe he’d died if the world was lucky.

Then whose house was this? Cassius? She’d only heard nightmares about that man, so it made little sense that Nora would call him easy.

Thea almost walked right into Nora’s back as the other woman stopped in front of a very familiar door. “This will be your room while you’re here. I think you’ll find it satisfactory, but if you need anything else, please don’t hesitate to ask me.”

Her jaw dropped open. “But this is... This is...”

Was that a smile? She thought Nora hid a grin before she started walking away. “The boys will bring your bag up later, unless you need something now?”

“No, I think I’ll be all right.”

“Good. Get a bath, dear. It looks like you fell into a mud puddle. I know better than to ask questions about that, especially since you came over on the ferry service. But I imagine it would be nice for you to be clean before dinner.”

Nora started back down the stairs, and Thea frantically sipped at her cup of tea. She needed whatever anxiety-healing properties the plants could give her, or she felt like she might explode.

This wasn’t just a room. It was his room.

Alistair’s bedroom had been the only room in the house that hadn’t made her feel like her skin would peel off at any minute. But how was it that this room was the only one available for her to sleep in?

She eyed the other two doors, both suspiciously locked from the outside. What had happened in this house? Ten years was a long time for many things to break. And yet, she still felt that inner throb of evil that never left this home.

Placing her hand on the door, she shoved it open. She half expected to see him there. Sitting on the edge of his bed, looking for all the world like he’d given up on life itself. Nothing was the same inside these walls either. The bed was smaller and covered with a plain green coverlet. There was a modest wardrobe in the corner and a desk in front of the window. But nothing was even faintly familiar.

She walked into the middle of the room and popped her fists onto her hips. So many questions. And she’d gotten no answers so far other than she’d need to do two jobs while she was here. At the very least, she could help her family. This time, she would not give up so easily.

“You don’t scare me,” she said, her voice sharp and hard in the empty room. “You can’t run me off this time.”

The house let out a creaking moan as it shifted on its foundations.

“Grumpy,” she muttered as she walked over to the door that she assumed was a closet. “And here I was thinking you were more terrifying than the last time I walked these halls. I think you’ve gotten old. And tired.”

She shoved this door open as well, albeit with a brief hesitation. The bravery that had spurred her into provoking the house didn’t stay with her while she explored the room. Sure, this was Alistair’s bedroom. That didn’t mean she didn’t have a spike of fear while staring into the darkness of the connecting room.

“What?” she whispered, sliding her hand along the wall until she felt the light switch. Because, of course, the Orbweaver Manor ran on electricity and light bulbs. Not candles like the rest of them.

The bulb overhead flickered to life, and Thea let out a little gasp as she looked over the quaint bathroom. Modern plumbing was a wonderful invention. She couldn’t stop staring at the giant clawfoot tub at the back of the room. It was deep, and the porcelain had chipped with age. But she could sit in that and soak for hours on end.

Maybe this job was worth it after all.

She opened up the medicine cabinet behind the mirror and peered through it. Nothing overly interesting, although there was an unmarked bottle with what looked like soap. Popping the top open, she sniffed it and suddenly was thrown back ten years.

Warm woods, mossy glens, a boy with a thousand freckles that she never got to count. He told her he feared she’d never love him because of where he came from, and she promised she’d love him every day of her life if he let her.

Tears pricked her eyes as she put the bottle back on the shelf. Thea tried to distract herself by running a bath. The pipes complained and clanked, but hot water came out of the faucets. She had trouble focusing until she stopped in front of the mirror again and stared into her own watery eyes. The steam eventually fogged up the mirror, and only then did she turn back to the water.

“Clean,” she muttered as though she were talking to someone else. “Getting clean is the first priority. Then the butlers will bring up a change of clothes for me.”

Thea unbuttoned her blouse and let her skirts drop to the floor. Her skin prickled with the strangeness of being naked in a house that wasn’t her own. She’d lived in the same house for such a long time. Being here, alone... It felt odd.

Her fingers danced over the edge of the mirror. Comfort lay just out of her reach. She didn’t have to give in to the urge but... but...

Tomorrow. She’d be stronger tomorrow after a good night’s sleep.

Thea took the soap off the shelf in the mirror and poured four drops into the steaming water. Then she turned off the faucet and got into the tub, where the heat of the water could ease the muscles in her back and thighs.

The room filled with the scent of him. And she hated how comforting that was, even after all these years.

She hissed as she sank underneath the heat. She must have bruises on her back or it wouldn’t hurt that badly. The damned men at the dock were the stuff of nightmares. If only she were like her sisters. She could have coaxed a plant to grow in their beds overnight and strangled them in their sleep.

She’d only just relaxed into the tub when the door creaked open. Thea froze, unsure of what to do. If a butler was coming in to ask her a question, she was indecent. And if the unknown master of the house had arrived to make his demands, then she now knew the real request of this job. But no one came through the door. It stayed slightly open, and the darkness peered back at her.

Eyes wide, breathing ragged, she watched the shadows as they seemed to move behind the door. Shadows with a life of their own. Shadows that shouldn’t move like that.

“Ribbit.” Browning shoved his way through the small opening and then kicked the door closed behind him. With a snort that echoed through the room, he hopped over to the tub.

Determination glowed in his eyes, and she knew all too well what the toad wanted.

“No,” she scolded, pointing a finger at him and flicking hot water. “Don’t even think about it.”

But when had her familiar ever listened to her? He rolled his eyes before he scrunched up his fat body and wiggled his back end.

“No. Browning!”

The toad launched himself up into the air in a graceful arc. He twisted mid-leap and landed in a gentle swan dive in the center of her tub. Unlike any other of his kind, Browning very much enjoyed the hot water. The moss on his back soaked up a lot of it, and she always swore he was brighter green after a hot bath.

She watched him paddle around a bit before he came to a halt at the opposite end of the tub, floating on his back and splashing water over his belly with his front legs.

“You’re the worst familiar I’ve ever met,” she grumbled. “If I get warts from this, I’m throwing you out the window.”

He let out a little hum of pleasure, ignoring his witch.

And in a way, she was happy he’d come in. At least she wasn’t alone in this cold, dark house.