Page 76 of Nightshade

“Maybe. But he seems to think that’s where these … whatever they are, are coming from. Crossing over to escape something.”

“An Earth-borne creature seems unlikely.”

Lips tight, Remy nodded. “I agree. I’ll do as you asked and sweep the surrounding woods.”

“Keep me advised. At the very least, I trust that whatever these creatures might be, they’re as defenseless against celestial steel as the rest of us.”

“Let’s pray they are.”

24

Lustina

Lustina gathered the weeds she’d pulled from the gardens into the wicker basket for adding to the compost behind the cathedral. The nettles left her fingers tingling, their prickly surface adding misery to her toil. She pushed to her feet and felt a tight grip of her arm.

Startled, she turned to find the baron urging her to follow him.

Panic gurgled inside of her as she shook her head, attempting to wrench her arm away. “I cannot, My Lord. If they find me with you--”

“Then, come now. They are meeting with my father at the moment.”

She glanced around the grounds of the monastery, the unease in her stomach only growing as she allowed him to drag her toward the undercroft. “Please understand, it is not that I wish to ignore you. I cannot risk …” Just inside the stone walls of the undercroft, the baron whirled her around to face him and seized her lips with a kiss that sent a warm calm through her.

“Tell me what they did to punish you.”

“That was weeks ago. It does not matter.”

“It does matter. I have thought about it every day since. It is all I see.” He gnashed his jaw, fingers curled and digging into her arms. “I want to kill them for laying a hand on you.”

“No. Such a thing would bring you unimaginable misfortune. Do not say such things, My Lord.”

“Jericho. You are to call me Jericho.” His grip softened, and he leaned in to kiss behind her ear. “Turn for me. I want to see your lashings.”

“Please. I am not troubled by them now. They have all healed.”

Unwilling to let it go, he pressed at her shoulders to turn her around.

“Please.” She pushed at his arm, taking a step back. “My Lord--Jericho--forgive me for saying so, but your insistence on seeing them leaves me to wonder if such a thing might bring you more amusement than concern.”

Something she’d have surmised as hurt flickered across his face. Eyes on her, he unclasped the buckles across his brigandine vest and peeled the garment from over his shoulders. Waves of distress pummeled her heart as she stared back at all the many scars that marred the baron’s body. Scars of all shapes, sizes, and stages of healing. Tears filled her eyes, imagining the hours of pain it must’ve taken for such markings to be left.

She reached out to touch them, but hesitated. “Who did this to you?”

“Come. I want to show you something.” Without giving her an opportunity to protest, he led her through the corridor of the undercroft toward one of the forbidden rooms.

Curiosity battled the fear inside of her. Bishop Venable had warned her a number of times to stay away from the rooms there, but particularly the one with the symbol etched into the door’s thick wood. The one she’d come to recognize as the Pentacrux. The same sign branded into her flesh.

Still grasping her hand, the baron pushed open the door, setting off a nervous tickle in her stomach. The nervous tickle turned to dread, the moment the room came into view. She stared in horror at the chains with cuffs that hung from the ceiling. The cross-shaped surface that held leather restraints. The variety of tools, the likes of which she’d never seen before, hanging from the walls.

A room equipped for the most horrific torture.

“What is this, My Lord?”

He finally released her and slowly crossed the room toward one of many thickly-braided whips attached to the wall, which he pulled one down, running his fingers through it. “My penance for being born. They refer to them as experiments. You asked where my scars came from?”

“Surely, they would not torment a noble man such as yourself.”

“Their punishment does not discriminate between noblemen and peasants. It is only what they perceive as good and evil that matters.”