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“Thor. The Norse god?”
“He’s not a god. He’s just a big blond Norwegian-ish guy.”
“Who else is there?”
“Well, there’s Bryn. Unfortunately.”
“You don’t like Bryn?”
“His family owns the manor, and he thinks he’s our leader. He’s not. He breaks rules.”
Cosmos sounds deeply offended by that, and that surprises me.
“You don’t seem like the sort of person to be upset by rule breaking.”
“Some rules can be broken. Others mean something. He’s a demon-summoning bastard.”
“Why are we going to stay somewhere where the man who owns it is someone you hate? Sounds like he’s your anti-pancake.”
“Anti-pancake,” he laughs. “Yeah. He’s an anti-pancake, alright.”
We drive a few more miles before he elaborates again.
“It’s called Direview Manor,” he says. “And it’s a nice place. Or it could be. You’ll find it interesting.”
“I need my job,” I tell him. “I have responsibilities. They’re not going to fire me for missing today, but they will fire me if I run off to an English Manor without notice. My mom depends on me to pay for her care. I can’t afford to be unemployed.”
“I know. I’m going to make sure she’s taken care of. I have money, unlike the poor boys at Direview. You don’t have to work anymore. And you don’t have to worry about providing for your mother. I’m going to look after my family.”
His family. We met six hours ago, at most. And he’s prepared to pay for my mother’s home and let me retire into a life of alleged luxury.
“Why… why are you doing this? I mean, I think you’re crazy, but you can’t be this functional and crazy unless you have a very specific illness, and I’m not picking up on any indicators of specific…”
“You’re my wife,” he says.
“Right, but you married me within twenty minutes of knowing me. There’s no way you could have fallen in love that quick. It’s not possible.”
“Yes. It is. I loved you the moment I saw you.”
He says it with such conviction I almost believe him, except I can’t believe him. Because that’s not how real feelings work. I’m just an idea to him. I’m a bag of special blood. Maybe he thinks he loves me, but that’s not possible. Nobody loves me that way. I’m not the sort of girl men fall in love with. I’m the sort of girl they ignore. I’m mousy, and pale, and yes, I am blonde, but that alone doesn’t get you far when you’re an unglamorous, angular, stiff, and sometimes even unpleasantly logical woman who points out the flaws in jokes rather than laughs at them.
I know I need to get away from him. Whatever is waiting for me in England it’s not solid enough to bet my mother’s life on. She needs round-the-clock care, and the facility is not understanding about missed bills.
He knows about that too. Must have been in the dossier. Those creeps had a very detailed dossier. Seems like a waste to compile all that information just to stab someone, but what do I know.
“You might be the sort to fall in love right away and marry someone and take care of their mom, but I’m not that… impulsive.” I’m proud of myself for finding the right word.
“I know,” he says. “I don’t expect anything from you besides your obedience.”
“What?”
“Your love won’t come easy. Everything will take time. The only thing I can’t compromise on or give you more time for, is doing as you’re told when it comes to your safety.”
He almost sounds reasonable. Except, of course, he also sounds overbearing and intense. Because that’s who he is.
“When we get to Direview, you’re going to start learning how to defend yourself. You’re not going to be able to stop an attacker, necessarily, but you can at least avoid being stabbed for slightly longer than the last two times. You’re a sitting duck for Fleisch. You need to learn to move.”
“I was asleep when the first man came.”
“And you’re not going to be caught sleeping again, because I’ll be with you.”
There’s some comfort in that. Having a big, strong, maniac of a man beside me always, looking after me. Keeping me from being hurt. Loving me, even if it’s for weird and delusional reasons. My logical side, the strongest side of me, makes me think that this is not the absolute worst of circumstances a girl could find herself in. Maybe… maybe it wouldn’t hurt to give him a chance.
Then I remember the blood, and what he was doing to the man who tried to stab me. Cosmos is not a harmless eccentric. He’s a harmful eccentric. A really dangerous one. And that’s where the logical part of me steps in again, telling me in no uncertain terms that I cannot let him take me to this Direview Manor. I just have to wait for a good opportunity to escape.
