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Fox repeated her name and pointed at the panthers. “Deal with this situation.”
After he’d issued the order, he looked back at Sunny expectantly, as if watching her reaction.
Imelda seemed frozen to the spot. Was she afraid of the big cats? Sunny couldn’t blame her. She would have been too if she hadn’t known they were her creatures, restored to life by her magic and her magic alone.
Fox raised his hand and a surge of energy emitted from it, directed at Imelda’s back. She staggered forward and began to wail and scream, her hands lifting to her face as she stared at the creatures in horror.
Sunny was already in a state of panic when she realized the woman wasn’t afraid of the creatures—she was afraid of doing Fox’s bidding, but couldn’t do otherwise. Sunny looked on in horror when she realized what was happening.
Imelda had picked up the carving knife from the hostess trolley as she passed. It was raised in her hand. She moved forward, directed by the force of energy emitted from Fox’s palm.
Horrified, Sunny reacted, meaning to stop it.
Fox glared across the table at her, tearing Sunny’s emotions apart. Her strength left her.
Imelda plunged the knife into the beautiful creature’s neck, slaughtering it there and then, right in front of Sunny’s eyes. Unwillingly, and with superhuman strength, the servant had destroyed this special creature.
Devastated, Sunny realized her mistake. She wasn’t prepared for Fox’s reaction. She should’ve known he’d smite her efforts if they didn’t suit him. His tutorship would mean complete dominion, not negotiable. Would it even be possible to trick him? The very real prospect of failure loomed large in Sunny’s consciousness.
Meanwhile, the second panther growled and made ready to pounce onto the table. Sunny braced herself, withdrawing her former magic, reluctantly returning the creature to its previous form in order to prevent it a second grizzly and painful death, watching in dismay as the creature dissolved into a hide on the floor.
Fox reached for his champagne glass, watching Sunny with a calculating expression. Panicking, she struggled to remove herself from the cruelty he represented. All she could do was pretend it was a game.
She clapped her hands together in faux glee in order to break the moment, in order to distract him. But all she could think was: would he undo everything she tried to do? She wasn’t working hard enough, she told herself. She had to hide her magical efforts, distract him from her intentions, be as devious as him.
She hadn’t thought it through, that was the problem.
The servant woman Imelda was kneeling on the floor, wailing and crying over the panther she’d killed.
Sunny tried to reach out to comfort her, but Fox shifted the hand through which he’d been directing the woman, and Imelda collapsed to the floor and dissolved away, as if she’d never been there.
“I didn’t mean to cause an...issue.” Sunny tried to keep her tone light. An awkward silence followed. She gave an exaggerated sigh. “Okay, you’re right, I was showing off.”
Fox shrugged. “Any preference for dessert?”
“Whatever you choose.” She wasn’t challenging him again, not just yet, not until she’d gathered herself and mentally drawn up a new game plan.
Moments later, she stared in horror as Imelda once more walked into the room, pushing her hostess trolley.
The body on the floor had gone.
Sunny looked at the woman, her heart aching. Whoever Imelda was, she was trapped in an endless cycle of servitude to a cruel and heartless monster.
And so will I be, Sunny realized, if I don’t sort this out quickly.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Celeste crammed herself into Willow’s yellow Mini as soon as she got the call from Aveline.
“We should have gone with them,” Willow chastised from the driver’s seat.
“Just drive!” Celeste stared at the road ahead, and didn’t tell Willow off when she squandered a bit of magic on speed.
Moments later they climbed out of the car at Hollingswell Hall.
Outside the entrance, Aveline, Eben and Rowena were all trying to talk down an irate Cullen.
Cullen roared aloud and turned away from the three of them. When he caught sight of Celeste and Willow, he stomped over to them. “Gone!” he bellowed. “With him.”
