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ChapterOne
Istood on the back porch of the mansion, taking a moment to admire the view of the mountain rising behind the town. The wisps of fog were already starting to burn off in the early morning light. Here on the island, it was hard to believe winter had already started. The season bore few similarities with the winters back home in Tarin.
It was hard not to enjoy the natural beauty and unfamiliar surroundings of the manor house, but I couldn’t shake a sense of lingering guilt for taking the time to notice such things when I still hadn’t resolved matters on the island—or even in the manor itself.
The servants should have been at the front of my mind, but I couldn’t help my rogue thoughts drifting to Nik. He had moved into the manor house in the wake of the disaster, but I still barely saw him.
I wished I could take back everything about that day. If only I had found a way to show Nik I was still alive. If only I hadn’t seen him in that room full of bodies and leaped to the worst possible conclusion without even asking a single question. If Nik had truly responded with uncontrolled violence, I could have been proud of myself for having the courage to push him away. But how could I have believed him capable of something so terrible, even for a moment? Why hadn’t it occurred to me that his sword might be drawn because he had been desperately fighting for his own survival against the true attacker? Or that he might be crouched over Augustine desperately checking for signs of life?
Nik had been understanding of my mistake, of course—too understanding. His excuses for me only heightened my sense of guilt. And that guilt stabbed at me again every time the scene in the party room sprang back into my mind. I knew what had really happened now, so why was it so hard to shake that one horrible image of Nik?
My guilt was making me avoid Nik, but I was eaten up by the question of why he was avoiding me. I couldn’t blame him after my lack of trust, but contradictorily, I also couldn’t help being hurt. Our relationship had become a giant mess, and it was all my fault.
“Delphine!” The call came from inside the house, drawing me from both the beautiful scene and my dark thoughts. I sighed. My true responsibilities were waiting.
Ida stepped onto the porch, her expression lightening when she caught sight of me.
“I’m sorry,” I said, forestalling her query. “I still haven’t worked out what to do about the servants.”
The Constantines had rotated new help in and out of the mansion on a regular basis since they couldn’t risk anyone getting too close to them and seeing the truth behind their veil of mesmerizations. But the latest group had only started work recently and had all been contracted for at least two months. We no longer needed the services of so many, but they had been promised two months of work, and I couldn’t take that away from them. And I certainly couldn’t end their contracts early when I hadn’t worked out how to pay their wage yet. I was relying on the extra time remaining in their service to find the necessary coin.
The Constantines might have manipulated and exploited the townsfolk—using their skill at mesmerization to lord over them—but they had always paid their bills in a prompt manner. Few things could cut through empty charm as quickly as unpaid gold. So I knew they must have had a stash of coin in the house somewhere, but I didn’t have the least idea where. Exhaustive searching had failed to uncover it, and I found myself frequently wishing for Costas. I couldn’t blame him for fleeing the murder of his entire family, but I could really have used one person who knew how the administration of the island functioned.
“It isn’t the servants.” Ida shook her head, and a sense of foreboding settled over me. “My hosts are ill.”
“Oh!” I brightened. “They need a healer? Did you bring them with you?” I couldn’t help feeling a sense of excitement at being presented with a straightforward opportunity to use my healing power—a welcome alternative to managing the complicated vacuum left by the deaths of the entire Constantine family.
“They’re not here.” Ida’s expression remained grave, and a rising tide of concern began to fill me.
I had suggested Ida relocate to the manor multiple times, but she had been steadfast in refusing, saying she felt more comfortable with the family who had billeted her on our arrival. If they were all too sick to travel, she must be greatly worried.
But perhaps they had remained at home for a different reason.
“Are they afraid of the manor?” I dropped my voice to a whisper. “After what happened here?” I barely managed to stop myself glancing toward the full-length windows that led to the scene of the massacre.
“No, it’s not that. They’re too sick to walk this far.”
“It’s that bad?” I winced, my hopes dashed. “You should have come to me sooner! Or did it come on very suddenly?” My mind whirled, running through various possible maladies that might fit with a sudden onset of illness.
“As to that.” She cleared her throat, looking uncomfortable. “They didn’t want me to come at first. And it seemed mild enough that I thought…” She frowned. “Clearly I should have insisted on coming sooner.”
“How long have they been sick?” I asked, alarmed. “And how many are ill?”
“All of them.” Ida grimaced. “Their youngest only started showing symptoms last night. I think they would have let me come sooner if he’d been sick from the beginning since they all dote on him so much.”
“All of them?” I stared at her. It had to be something highly contagious. “Let’s not waste any time!”
As we hurried through the house, I considered searching out Nik and suggesting he accompany us but decided against it. He wasn’t a healer, so this was something I needed to handle.
I knew that wasn’t my only reason for not searching him out, but I let my mental excuse stand. I didn’t have time to consider the complicated dynamics of our relationship when people needed my help.
As we crossed the gardens that ringed the manor, a flash of movement pulled my eyes skyward. A small, feathered body was diving toward me. I stopped just long enough for Phoenix to land on my padded shoulder.
“Good hunting?” I murmured, and he preened, clearly satisfied with his morning’s effort.
A quiet yip made me search the surrounding gardens, my eyes finding a small orange body. Ember was trotting toward me after her own hunting excursion. I stooped and ran a hand down her back. She also looked satisfied, her eyes already growing heavy. She shook it off, though, gazing up at me with what looked suspiciously like a questioning air.
“Go inside and sleep,” I said softly. “Phoenix will keep me company.”
