“It will have to.” Celeste walked to the bed and slipped out of the robe.
Astrid laid the dress on the bed and hastily worked to unbutton the tiny buttons that ran up the side and back. She held the dress out, and Celeste stepped into thick satin skirts. Without corset, petticoats or stockings, she was dressed almost as scandalously as in the robe she had discarded moments before.
Astrid buttoned the back up. It was a simple dress, but lovely. “Where did you find this?”
“The brothers bought the dress for me, but I never found an occasion to wear it.” She smiled, and her eyes danced with fondness.
“I shall take good care of it.”
“Please, don’t worry yourself.” Astrid turned from the bed toward the window. “Do you wish me to send this letter off, Your Grace?”
“Please, call me Celeste. The title does not suit me.” If being called Your Grace meant you went daft in the attic, she would ensure others called her by her Christian name too. “The letter is useless, as I am headed to London.”
“Very well. Oh! Your handwriting in the middle looks similar to Madoc’s. Oh dear.” Astrid held out the parchment to her. “Pardon, I should not have…”
Celeste grasped the paper:
Dearest Grandmum,
I am well, Hudson and Jordan are with me, and we wish you to accompany us for an adventure. Please have three extra dresses packed for me, and bring your favorite books to read. I am so looking forward to reading them to you.
Pardon the intrusion to your letter, Celeste. This is Madoc. I would never have invaded your privacy this way if it was not of an urgent matter. I am more sorry for the news I need to convey. After Ferrous left for the Isle, the police found your grandmum brutally attacked. On her body, they found several long black and white hairs. They are now mounting a manhunt to search for and find Jordan. No matter how desperate you are to return to England and your grandmum, you cannot allow Jordan to leave the Isle. I will bring your grandmum to you. Again, please excuse the rude and impersonal way I had to inform you.
Oh, and pack your warm shawl. See you soon, Grandmum.
With much love,
Celeste
Chapter Eight
“Everything is set in motion.” The black voice inside Hudson echoed through his pores.
“Will I have all I wish for by nightfall?” Hudson had bitten a Zir. He could not take much more of this uncontrollable dark urge to obtain his goal. All his dignity and status were naught when he acted worse than a savage dog. He shoved his fingers through his hair. Shook his head and did it again.
“All will be seen to.” The voice slid over his shoulder, and he spun about to see an empty room. He was worse than mad.
The door opened, and Ferrous slipped in. “Your Grace.”
Hudson stared at him. Was he that daft as to come back in this room with him?
“There was another presence in the room before,” Ferrous said, glancing around the room. “Do you wish to tell me who is here with you?”
A cackle burst from deep in his chest. “Another presence? You truly have gone mad and I had always thought you the sane one of you four.”
Ferrous walked toward him. His eyes narrowed. “Prove me wrong, Hudson.”
“Never will I bow to your orders.”
“And Celeste? How is she an instrument to your jest?”
His jest. He rolled his eyes. Amazing that only yesterday he had considered the four of them his friends. Or had he only wanted to be like them? “Celeste is none of your concern.”
“She is all of our concern. She is the first of our mates.” Ferrous walked closer to him. “You were aware of that before we had the knowledge. Were you not?”
Had he been? He shook his head. No… No, but why had he wed her? Surely the match had been the means to his goal. His mind was consumed by dark fog. He couldn’t navigate to that answer if it was in him. Sweat pierced his brow. How could he not know? This was the worst effect of the wine that Havanis had given him. Nevertheless, if he had known she was a Zir mate, achieving his promised goal of immortality was all that mattered.
He would never lose another loved one.
He would never die, and anyone that he loved, he would make immortal too.
A satisfied smile curved his lip. Breath puffed against his face, pulling his thoughts back to the room he now stood in.
“Who or what did you make a deal with?” Ferrous was so close to him that the smell of the tea he had recently drunk stifled Hudson’s nostrils. “I know you did, so refusing to answer is beyond the pale.”
He would never disclose that information, and Ferrous knew that. He narrowed his eyes. “Think what you will.”
Ferrous caught his wrist. “Then you won’t mind.” He swiftly bent down, and pain sliced though Hudson’s forearm as Ferrous’s sharp fangs dug into his skin. Hudson jerked his hand back swiftly, but Ferrous already had his blood in his mouth.