Chapter 19: This Was Heat

Maeve

Dinner with the Alpha and Luna of Greenbriar was a spectacular affair. The dining hall had been returned to its formal glory with the long wooden table returned to its rightful place and set with our finest china. The cook had outdone herself tonight; our usual roast meat and potatoes was replaced by an extravagant array of game meats and side dishes, large bowls of exotic fruits and bottles upon bottles of vintage wine.

Ernest was back to his usual self, too. His dry monologue nearly put our guests into a stupor as they gulped their wine. Alpha Julian seemed pleased by the conversation, though, nodding his head and actively listening as Ernest drawled on.

Opaline was nearly overcome by boredom, and I was thankful when she announced she would retire to her room for the night, giving me the freedom to take my leave instead of entertaining her in my seldom used sitting room after dinner.

But then I found myself with several hours of free time before, well, whatever Aaron was planning on doing to me.

I went up to my room and changed out of the evening gown I had worn to dinner, choosing a comfortable, silken nightgown and a matching robe. The fabric felt weightless and luxurious against my skin as I slipped into it. In Winter Forest, I was almost always decked out in thick flannel pajamas no matter the time of year. Our house was heated solely by two wood stoves that we always failed to stoke throughout the night. Dad liked the chore of chopping wood and the accomplishment of heating the house by hand himself, even though a servant could have done it for him, but his simplistic desires caused the rest of us grief and chilly toes by morning.

I looked at myself in the mirror, admiring the new freckles on the bridge of my nose. The sunburn had faded and left a soft pink glow in its wake. I was feeling confident, feeling ready. When Aaron came in, I wouldn’t shy away, I told myself. I’d do what I needed to do, and maybe even enjoy myself.

But an hour passed, then another. I laid sprawled out on the bed looking at the ceiling as the clock chimed ten times, signaling the hour. Nothing. No sound from his room, no footsteps in the hallway.

I rolled out of bed and turned off the light as I left my room, my bare feet soundless as I walked down the stairs and toward the library. There was still life in the castle at this hour. Servants were busy tidying up from the day, and the kitchen was noisy and filled with the sound of running water and clanging dishware.

But the library was quiet, shrouded in soft, inky darkness. Moonbeams fell in long shafts across the rugs on the library’s lower level, dust floating in their wakes. I didn’t even bother lighting a candle as I reached the ladder leading to the upper loft and climbed up to the second story, smiling as I laid eyes upon my favorite place in the entire castle.

The loft was cozy, yet spacious, a corner of it lined with cushions and low-lying chaise lounges. It was large enough to house five rows of bookshelves; however, the space between them was totally shadowed by darkness. No one came up here but me, it seemed. I could leave a book open in the nest of cushions and no one would come and close it or put it away. It was my place, my haven.

I hadn’t been reading long before I heard the library door open and shut and a light move through the dark below me. Someone cleared their throat as they set a candle on a table, then cursed under their breath as something fell and bounced across the carpet.copy right hot novel pub