Wolfsbane

by Nathalie Gray

  No way out of this one. She’d have to go to the lady and ask for her key, invent some story as to where her own key was. Scarlet decided against it right away. Stick to the truth as much as possible. Those made the best lies.

  After a quick trip to her room to wash up and change uniform, Scarlet went in search of the lady’s apartments. Finding them proved easy enough, though she’d never been there before. Fear twisting her insides, she knocked on the door, waited a while then knocked again. Like waiting to enter the lair of the beast.

  “Enter,” she heard the lady say.

  Scarlet did, pushing against the thickly carved door. A rosette of walnut and maple in the shape of a wolf’s head took a good portion of the upper panel. Rubies for eyes gleamed like fire when she passed it. It reminded her of her dream.

  Something snapped in place in Scarlet’s mind. Another piece of the puzzle. The problem was—she had no idea what the picture represented.

  “Lady Katrina, I’m sorry to pester you at such a time.”

  “You never pester me,” the lady replied as she came out from behind a three-paneled screen. A sleeveless silk robe of the darkest red crossed in front was tightly cinched at her waist with a cord. Yet she still wore those long black boots that came up mid-thigh.

  “It’s my key, Lady Katrina…” Stick to as much of the truth.

  A small smile lifted the corner of the lady’s exquisite mouth. She drew near, toyed with one of Scarlet’s curls. “Your key?”

  “It’s gone.” She stared at the floor, pulled her wits together. “I think someone took it.”

  “Oh my. Please take a seat and tell me about it.”

  Avoiding the penetrating gaze, Scarlet nervously followed the lady deeper into her apartments. She sat on the very corner of the chair the woman pointed at and crossed her sweaty hands over her lap. They made dark prints on her uniform. Scarlet hoped the lady wouldn’t notice.

  The place wasn’t as opulent as she would’ve expected. It was almost masculine. Deep colors, simple, though well-made furniture.

  “Have a drink,” the lady said, offering one of the already-poured glasses from the low table in front of her. She took the other one and sipped at it.

  Torn between fear for herself and horror at the cost of her failure, Scarlet tried her best to appear normal and took the offered glass. She only dipped her lips in it, not entirely sure she should even come in contact with the stuff. But what else could she do? She absolutely had to get her hands on that key, otherwise Fredrick would remain in his cell and she, well, she’d probably end up at the bottom of the moat. A shiver slithered up her spine.

  “And how was it?” the lady asked, a wide grin on her face.

  “It’s very good, my lady…”

  A glint Scarlet had never seen before appeared in the woman’s pale eyes. She shook her head. “No, no, I meant Fredrick. How was it with Fredrick?”

  A wave of dread flowed out from her chest to her entire being. Before she could formulate a denial, a tiny sting began at her lips. Across from her, the lady leaned back against her chair and let one of her long legs rest slightly to the side, revealing a sculpted thigh of the palest ivory.

  “The key, Lady Katrina?” Scarlet asked, struggling with the last word but knowing she had to pretend. For Fredrick’s sake, she had to push on. She coughed, tried to clear her throat. She noticed her hands shook. She put the glass down on the table where it clinked and broke. “I’m…sorry.”

  Everything started to spin. She put a hand to her head.

  “Your key, my dear, is here,” the lady said.

  “But if you want it back, you will have to earn it,” Lothar said from behind the screen. He was holding something in front of him. There, at the end of its short black cord, dangled her key.

  Horror made Scarlet leap to her feet. But she stumbled and collapsed on the chaise again.

  The lady rushed forward, reached out to steady Scarlet. “Careful, kleiner Apfel, we would not want you to injure yourself.”

  “You tricked me,” Scarlet managed to snarl, or she hoped she did. Conniving bastards, both of them. And she thought Lothar was the lying swine. The lady too. Not that it was a big surprise. Stupid girl. “You knew about what happened to him.”

  “Your judgment really was clouded, my dear,” Katrina said, shaking her head. “And here I thought you were a smart little thing. Of course, I knew about Fredrick’s ‘accidents’. I was there. Every time. And I enjoyed it too. But not as much as I’ll enjoy it tonight.”

  Scarlet wanted to stand but couldn’t put pressure on her legs without them buckling. Fear and horror and self-disgust tightened her throat. She’d escaped Werner only to fall into worse hands.

  “Think of poor Fredrick, all alone in his tower, with no one to bring him food,” Lady Katrina said, a wide smile spreading on her face.

  “I hear starvation is the worst of deaths,” Lothar went on.

  “Why?” Scarlet wanted to demand, but only managing to croak the word.

  A shrug lifted the lady’s square shoulders. “People do nasty things to one another. Some do it for greed, others lust. I do it for both.”

  When Lothar approached and leaned over her, his loose hair trickled down on either side of his handsome, detestable face. Scarlet wanted to push him away but what they’d given her must have dulled her brain and her body for she could barely lift a hand. She snarled a curse when he bent down and kissed her. His tongue felt pointy and rough on her lips. Sounds became muffled then the lights dimmed. Fear choked Scarlet. A visceral, familiar fear.

  An image of the milkmaid, bound and clearly drunk danced in her fogging mind.

  What had she done?

  Chapter Nine

  Fredrick sat up in his bed, staring at the ceiling. Her smell still floated around him in thin swirls. Sometimes he’d catch one and inhale deeply. Then it’d be gone. Just like her.

  How long had it been since he’d lain with a woman, a real woman? He couldn’t even remember. His member felt heavy, comfortably so. Fredrick allowed himself a small grin. And she hadn’t tiptoed the entire time.

  She’d pick his lock. He knew she would. The stubborn little thing wouldn’t listen, which caused a deep tear in his heart. On the one side, he wanted her gone from Innsbruck where danger lurked around every corner. But there was a small, shameful part of him that hoped she’d come back as she’d said.

  Excitement tightened his chest. Control yourself, he chanted in his head. There were a lot of “ifs” and “maybes” in the whole thing. If Scarlet decided to help him, if she could find the things she needed, maybe she could free him. If she could do it without his cousin’s knowledge, then maybe he’d have a chance to “surprise” them.

  He relished the thought of finally wrapping his hands around her neck.

  But for now, he had to be patient. And wait.

  It must have been around midnight outside, though he couldn’t see the sky. He missed it so much. During the day, through the narrow windows, he could spot only a tiny section of it because of the thick rafters jutting out of the masonry above. If he stood a certain way, he could look down into the courtyard, as he’d done the day Scarlet had arrived. Her coppery hair had been the brightest thing he’d seen in a while.

  Someone opened the door to the tower. The air shifted around him. Was it her already? Shameful hope flared in his chest at the thought of Scarlet coming back for him, even if he’d told her to leave, even if she should already be gone. Noise accompanied the entrance. More than one pair of feet climbed the steps. Not Scarlet then. His heart sank. Yet at the same time, he reminded himself, how much better it was this way, that Scarlet would be safer if she never came back at all. Fredrick crossed his arms and stared at the door. This was highly unusual for Cousin to come torment him at this time of the night. She usually was much too busy for him.

  The door opened and in came Cousin, looking as though she’d just been crowned queen. Then Lothar followed. Fredrick jumped to his feet with the
force of a broken bowline.

  The man had Scarlet in his arms. She was giggling and moaning, her head lolling left and right. An iron fist squeezed Fredrick’s throat. Scarlet wasn’t the type of woman who giggled.

  Not trusting his voice, he came to the end of his chain and stared hard at his cousin. He could tell she was gauging his reaction. If he showed the tiniest uneasiness, the faintest weakness, she’d smell it with the accuracy of a predator. So he kept his face stoic, his eyes cold. But inside, he was boiling.

  “I bring you a gift,” she said. A silk robe barely done in front left little to his imagination. She held the cane in her hand.

  “I want nothing from you,” he snapped.

  Lothar deposited Scarlet’s feet on the floor where she stumbled groggily, her eyes glazed and vacant. She searched the room with her gaze then settled on Fredrick. A flash of recognition passed over her confused expression but was gone the next moment. A blade sliced Fredrick’s heart. She leaned against the wall for support.

  Cousin went to Scarlet, ran a finger over the other woman’s lips. “Such a pretty kleiner Apfel you are.”

  Scarlet beamed, nuzzling her head on the taller woman’s shoulder.

  “We shall play a game, yes?” Katrina asked.

  Scarlet nodded.

  Fredrick’s heart sank to the bottom of his feet.

  While she encircled Scarlet’s shoulders with an arm, his cousin motioned to Lothar. Displaying incredible strength, the man grabbed the “visitor” side of the heavy table and effortlessly dragged it farther away until Fredrick couldn’t reach it any longer. The physician’s thick shoulders strained the fabric of his exquisitely tailored silk tunic and reminded Fredrick that should things go wrong, he’d do well to dispatch him first. And keep Cousin for last.

  “As much as I admire your imagination, Cousin, I’m bored and tired. Why don’t you—”

  “Shut up, before I do it for you,” snarled Lothar. Usually wearing a smug expression, Lothar looked extremely displeased. Fredrick would’ve wanted very much to know what had caused his displeasure, just so he could taunt the man into making a mistake. Like coming too near.

  Cousin tut-tutted. “There, there. No need for this. It is such an exciting moment, we do not want to spoil it with you two acting like peasants. Do we, little one?” she added for Scarlet’s benefit.

  A shake of her copper head was her only coherent answer.

  “There, Scarlet, lie down right here,” Cousin said, guiding the stumbling young woman to the table Lothar had moved.

  Fredrick kept an impassive front while Scarlet laid on the table with her legs dangling over the edge, and he had to physically wrestle his mouth from twisting in disgust when his cousin menacingly circled the table.

  “Do you like this, Scarlet?” she asked, her hand going to the other woman’s chin and gently tracing the curve of her neck.

  Scarlet’s head lolled side to side.

  “Oh, but you will. Lothar is very skilled.”

  Fredrick balled fists at his side. If he had doubts as to what was going to happen, he didn’t anymore. “Why do you do this?” he asked, knowing he sounded…defeated.

  One of her perfectly trimmed eyebrows arched. “Because it will bring us all pleasure.” To add weight to her words, she expertly undid Scarlet’s bodice with her free hand and left the gray fabric wide open over the pale chest. “And do not think she will not enjoy it. She will. Eventually.”

  Bending down, his cousin kissed Scarlet on the mouth, and Fredrick hissed a silent curse when the younger woman tried futilely to bat the offending touch away.

  Behind them, Lothar unbuttoned his tunic before draping it on the rim of the bathtub. Beneath his long, loose hair, his chest swelled thick with muscles.

  “Undress her,” his cousin said to Lothar.

  Deliberately slow, the man stood at the end of the table, between Scarlet’s knees, and slid her closer so he could untie the rest of her garment.

  A shiver raced up Fredrick’s back. The man was gentle so far. But Fredrick had tasted Lothar’s attention too many times to be fooled. He was a brute, a sadistic monster. And he was standing between Scarlet’s knees while Fredrick impotently watched.

  But he could stop it all, couldn’t he? All he had to do was tell Cousin what she wanted to hear. Yet could he do this, endanger the fate of so many for a single one? His people would lose everything. And he’d forfeit his life and that of Scarlet’s as well, no doubt about it.

  Fredrick threw a murderous glare at Lothar who seemed to enjoy it very much for he gave a sharp little tug on Scarlet’s dress. The sound of tearing jolted Fredrick’s raw nerves.

  “There’s no need for that,” Fredrick said, fighting with each breath to keep his anger hidden.

  When Scarlet lay completely naked, except for worn stockings, Katrina bent over and flicked her tongue at an erect nipple.

  Fredrick kept telling himself that as long as they didn’t hurt Scarlet, he could take their game, as though such detail would make the whole thing more tolerable. How he despised himself right then. And how he hated Katrina. Fredrick realized with shock he’d just referred to his cousin by name. She’d already scored a hit without her knowing.

  Lothar stood immobile between Scarlet’s knees, his arms crossed over his chest. His impressive member strained his jade green trousers, yet he looked in complete control of himself, occasionally looking at Fredrick.

  “Where should we start?” Katrina asked, tapping her chin with the butt of the cane. Her face brightened. “I know, with me.” She laughed. “Let me demonstrate what Lothar will do to your charming partner in crime.”

  His face must have registered something for she laughed at Fredrick. “Of course I knew. I knew all along she would try. Although I was wondering if she would do it for the challenge of her trade or out of pity for you. Which is it?”

  Fredrick closed his heart to her poisonous words. If only I could break free of this, he thought as he looked down at his foot. Through his bangs, he glanced up at his cousin while she lay down on the table by Scarlet’s side. A bead of sweat snaked down his spine and lost itself in the fabric of his tunic.

  With a peek his way, Katrina rested her head on the table and parted her knees so Lothar could stand between them. Roughly grabbing her by the crook of the hips, he pulled her closer to him while he crouched down.

  “First, he will use his tongue,” Katrina said as she closed her eyes and allowed her lover full access of her flesh.

  He did not need telling twice. With a snarl he dove in, raising her hips off the table in his ardor. The sound of Lothar’s mouth and tongue against Katrina’s sex made Fredrick curl his lip, and when she arched her back and hissed, he squeezed his eyes shut.

  “Oh no, cousin,” Katrina snapped, staring at Fredrick despite the obvious wave of pleasure hitting her. “You will look or else I will let Lothar have her right now whichever way he wants.”

  As though she knew someone spoke of her, Scarlet mumbled incoherently and nearly rolled off the table. Only Lothar’s quick reflex kept her in place as he grabbed her knee and pinned it down with his hand.

  Perhaps it was the way Lothar’s fingers dug in the pale skin or how Scarlet, despite her state, managed to recognize the fiend’s touch and tried to evade it, but something stirred in Fredrick, detached itself from his heart. Like a plaster cast crackling off something that it had hidden from view, protected from touch, for a very long time. He felt lighter, younger than he’d ever felt. And he felt angrier. In all his long life, he’d never known such deep-seated rage. And when he stalked at the end of his chain, his hands curling inward into trembling fists, he could swear Katrina looked alarmed. Lothar stood.

  “Keep your hands off her.”

  The air seemed to congeal around the room. One of the candles sputtered and died.

  Lothar smacked Scarlet’s thigh. “Or…?”

  “Or I’ll rip your throat out,” Fredrick growled through his teeth. A subtle shift in
the air heralded the change—a change he couldn’t afford right then. He needed to stay lucid. He wouldn’t be able to help if he changed. Not that he could do much if he didn’t.

  “You’ll rip my throat out, will you?” The physician took a threatening step toward Fredrick. His muscled neck corded.

  “Enough!” Katrina snapped, giving her lover a sharp crack on the arm with the cane. “She is not for you yet.”

  He didn’t even look back. Both men stared at each other for a long time before Lothar finally retreated. An ugly smile pulled his lips to one side.

  “Yet,” he said.

  Fredrick cursed. “Take my chain off, and I’ll show you what I have for you.”

  “You men are so brutish. Come, Lothar, let us continue our demonstration before Fredrick forgets who is next and where his motivation lies.”

  She chuckled when Lothar brusquely flipped her on her stomach, legs dangling down on either side of him. Stretching her cheeks with his thumbs, he resumed his gorging with renewed zeal, and soon, Katrina was fisting the cane and pointing her feet.

  “And after his tongue,” she said through clenched teeth, “Lothar will use his cock to fill Scarlet’s delightful sheath.” She humphed when her lover put her words into action. “Mmm. You know exactly how that feels, do you not, Fredrick?”

  Lothar’s shoulders and pectorals strained when he grabbed the woman’s hips and pounded into her, which caused a rippling effect in his unbound hair. The table scraped the floor.

  While the pair went at it, Fredrick stared at Scarlet, hoping she was too stupefied with drugs to notice what went on. Or to hear Katrina’s warning.

  Wet sounds accompanied Lothar’s furious assault while Katrina moaned his name, her hair spilling over her face and brushing the table.

  “But maybe Lothar will want to sink into her other sheath. I am sure it has been visited before. You should meet the man for whom she used to work. Sordid even by my standards. I did her an immense favor.”