AllFreeNovel
Share Us
WILLOW
Della leadsme down the iron stairs, and I can’t help noticing how sharp the rods connected to the railings are. I have the urge to touch one of them but fear I might injure myself if I do, and I don’t think Della is in the mood to stitch me up again.
I’d already given her a hassle when we went to this Juniper person’s room. Della sifted through the closet, trying to find something that might fit me while telling me that Juniper and I are about the same size. She finally settled on a black and white two-piece tweed outfit with a white blouse to wear beneath.
The outfit, though a bit stretchy around the waist, is tight and ridiculously itchy and I told her that, to which she said it was either this outfit or a dress. We debated about the dress and two piece and, finally fed up, Della said, “Trust me, it’s this or he’ll have you walking around half naked until the clothes you have on right now are clean.” I finally decided to let it go, and she smiled triumphantly as she led me behind a steel room divider for privacy.
Afterward, she brought me a gray liquid in a vase and told me to drink it. “It will heal your leg,” she said, and sure enough it did. I no longer feel pain or limp when I walk. The scar is still there, raw beneath the bandage, but I feel almost back to normal. Almost because I still have no idea where the hell I am.
When Della rounds a corner and enters the kitchen, she stops at the middle of the wooden counter and plucks something out of a bowl. “Here. Eat this,” she commands lightly.
I take the charcoal gray object from her, frowning. It’s odd shaped, with deep grooves, like a dog toy. “What is this?”
“Fruit, dear,” she says. “You eat it.”
“Yes, I know you eat fruit, but whatkindof fruit is this, exactly?”
“It’s a blackfruit. Fresh from the lake trees.”
“Blackfruit?” I blink twice at it before meeting her eyes and forcing a smile. “Thanks?” I raise it in the air. That’s the most she’ll get because I won’t be eating this random black fruit.
“Mr. Harlow is in his office.” Della points toward the foyer we came from when I first walked into the castle. “Go straight down and you’ll see it on the left. If you’ll excuse me, I must go to the village to pick up tonight’s dinner.”
Della pats my shoulder with a smile before walking out of the kitchen. She turns a corner and disappears, and I have a feeling I won’t be seeing Della again—well, I hope I don’t. Hopefully by the time she returns, I’ll be home again, in my bed.
Sighing, I clutch the mysterious blackfruit in hand and make my way through the foyer. As I do, I drop my gaze to my feet, at the pointed shoes with silver tips that remind me of the tip of a sword. The shoes are odd and a little too snug on my feet. There’s no way I’ll be able to walk in them for long. I’m better off going barefoot. “These are most certainly popular right now,” Della had said as she handed them to me. They most certainlyshouldn’tbe.
Papers rustle as I move closer to the office. As I step around the corner, I spot a bush of black and gasp. I leap backwards as the black bush wags and realize it’s that wolf again. It stands on all fours when I walk closer, eyes locked on me like I’m prey.
“He won’t bite unless I command him to,” a deep voice says. I shuffle to the right, and the man—this Harlow person—is sitting behind a desk, going through sheets of tan paper.
“He almost attacked me in the forest,” I counter.
“I intervened before he could.”
“Yeah, at the last second,” I mutter.
He drops the papers to snap his fingers. “Here.Now, Cerberus.” The wolf immediately walks around the desk, sitting on its hind legs beside his owner. He doesn’t take his eyes off me.
“Take a seat.” He gestures to the metal chairs on the opposite side of the desk. I swallow hard as I move forward carefully, pulling one of the chairs back and sitting.
“You should eat that,” he says. “Blackfruit is extremely rare and good for you.”
“I’ve never had one.”
He stares at me, carefully assessing me, then goes back to fingering through some of the papers.
“What do I call you?” I inquire.
His eyes flicker up to mine briefly before dropping again. “Caz.” He finally stops fiddling with the papers, giving me his full attention. “You said in the forest that youfellhere.” His hands fold on top of the desk. “What did you mean by that exactly?”
“I mean that I literallyfellinto that forest. I don’t know where I am, or how I got there, but it’s not my fault I ended up there.”
“What is the last thing you remember before falling?”
“Um…well, I was smoking on my bed.”
“Smoking?”
