by TJ Bennett
“All right, then. Here we are,” I said, forcing my breathing to normal. I moved my hands down his back and sides, counting the ribs beneath the lean pad of muscles and firm flesh. I pressed my fingers to his chest and felt the strong heartbeat beneath. I stroked up and around the cords of his neck, between his twitching ears, and under his deadly jaw. All this he allowed, and, I suspected, enjoyed as any animal might enjoy the sensation of being touched.
“Do you have a name?”
He did not respond, his eyes half-shut, a rumbling sound akin to purring coming from deep in his chest. I do not know if I expected him to be able to talk, but I held a myth in my hands, and perhaps he might have capabilities I didn’t yet comprehend.
I kept speaking. Though my voice was not musical, I hoped it would, as the poet Congreve had once said, have the power to soothe his “savage breast.”
“I think you are a shamelessly sensual beast,” I babbled. “What about that for a name? ‘Beast,’ I mean. Perhaps that is what I should call you, at least until I can think of something better.”
A sound out in the corridor made us come to attention. His ears flattened against his head, his gray eyes narrowing to slits. My fear returned.
“It will be all right. Be at peace,” I murmured, afraid of how he might react to the noise. He twisted around to look at me, blinking once.
Someone tapped at the door.
“Mrs. Briton,” came Bill, the footman’s voice. “You’ve a visitor. He just managed to beat the fog before it came in. Mr. Jeffries isn’t about, and I’ve come to see if you are available.”
A deep growl issued from Beast’s throat, and I realized it was the same sound I had heard in the forest on my walk with Matthew.
I held my finger up to my lips and said, “Shh,” to him. The animal’s tension was palpable. “Who is it?” I called to Bill.
“It’s Mr. Howard, ma’am.” I heard the disapproval in his voice. “Should I send him away? It’s an odd time to be calling at the Hall.”
At the mention of Howard’s name, the creature growled, the fur around his neck rising.
“Mrs. Briton? What was that noise? Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” I called out, concerned about Beast’s reaction. “Give me a moment, please.”
He issued an eerie, spitting hiss, and the mist in the room seemed to thicken in response.
“Mrs. Briton!” The doorknob rattled. “Open the door.”
Instinct told me Beast could not be discovered in my room. My fear of him abruptly turned to fear for him. He could have attacked me at any time, and he hadn’t, and for some reason, my gratitude for his sparing me made me want to protect him in return. But I did not know if he might prove deadly to anyone who dared enter the room while he was here. “Go. Go.”
My sense of urgency must have communicated itself to him because, giving me only one backward glance, he bounded to the open window and jumped out in a sinuous arc.
I gaped.
I do not know what I had expected, but I suppose it had not been that. I imagined he would disappear magically in a puff of smoke, not quite so prosaically as leaping out the window of a room two stories above ground.
Dashing to the window, I leaned out, fully expecting to see Beast lying bleeding and broken below, but there was no sign of him. The mist that had accompanied him swirled like a funnel out the window, as though an unseen bellows sucked it all from the room at once. It rushed past me and the push of an unseen hand shoved against my chest, moving me away from the windowsill. The window slammed shut with a finality that could not be ignored.
Whatever the creature was, he did not wish for me to follow him.
I, however, did not intend to let him get away so easily. Thankful I had slept fully dressed, I picked up my skirts and ran to the door. After fumbling with the key, I flung it open, startling Bill as I barreled past him.
“Mrs. Briton, what’s wrong?”
“Can’t talk!” I ran down the corridor, determined to see where Beast might have fled. Who did he belong to? Where did he live? I do not know why, but knowing I might never see him again deeply troubled me.
“But what about Mr. Howard?” Bill called after me.
“Not now!”
I scrambled down the stairs and sped past the startled footman in the foyer before he could react. I only dimly heard Bill’s pounding tread behind me and a shout of warning about the fog. Leaping into the morning light, I hesitated when the fog immediately surrounded me.
I had a moment of dizzying sensation, as though the ground swayed beneath my feet, but then everything steadied. Orienting myself to where the creature might have gone when he’d run away, I turned left and went around the house, investigating the area beneath where my window would be. The fog drifted around me as I made my way along, following impressions on the soil that might be paw prints. I dithered only a moment before deciding to pursue the tracks in a northeasterly direction away from the house.
The smell of the sea grew stronger as I made my way. The creature must be headed toward Alexander’s Bay. A stitch grew in my side as I hurried along, and pressing my hand against it, I tried to relieve the ache. There had been no time to secure any outerwear, and though I shivered from the cold, I was determined to catch up with him.
Could he have come from the caverns Matthew had told me were beneath Alexander Hall? It would be an ideal place for such a creature to hide, and he might fish for his meals in the inlet.
The fog around me thickened until I could see very little in front of me as I stumbled along. Icy tendrils of cold pricked at my skin. With a sickening lurch, I realized I was lost. The creature was somewhere nearby—I could feel a presence, sense someone watching me.
The stupidity of what I had done struck me all at once. There was no mistaking the creature for tame. I did not know his intent. Perhaps it hunted me even now, and yet I pursued it blindly, convinced that I could not let it escape. Still, I did not turn back.
“Beast?” I listened, for what I do not know. “Beast?”
A noise—a pebble shifting over the ground, a twig cracking.
I walked toward the sound, thinking it might be him. A black shape materialized out of the fog to my right, leaping in front of me and knocking me down. I skidded, astonished to find myself sliding downhill through a tangle of brambles. My skirts rode up and the brambles scratched my legs through my stockings. I cried out in pain. Finally, my heels dug into the soft ground and stopped my descent.
The creature approached me cautiously, watching me with its intelligent gray eyes, sniffing me as though checking on my welfare.
Groaning and sore, I looked up at him. “What did you do that for?”
Feeling betrayed, having somehow convinced myself the creature would not harm me, I tugged my skirts down, brushing off some of the mud. My shoes, made of the softest kid leather, were ruined.
He gazed at me, then stared just beyond where I had landed. I followed his glance. The fog shifted, and I saw an outcropping of rock. My heart seemed to slow, the pulse pounding in my ears. I crawled the few feet between me and the outcrop to investigate while the creature shifted in agitation, trying to block my way.
“I am all right. Be at peace,” I murmured to him, and reaching the outcrop, carefully peered over the side.
My stomach lurched. If I had kept walking in that direction, I would have stepped off a cliff and fallen to the sharp rocks awaiting me in the bay several hundred feet below.
By flinging himself in front of me, Beast had saved my life.
I would not doubt him again.
I carefully backed away from the cliff’s edge.
My hand reached out tentatively, and he allowed my touch once more. “Thank you,” I whispered. The warmth of his sleek pelt penetrated my chill, and the deep rumble of his breathing calmed me, but I felt his restlessness in the shift of muscles beneath my hand. He seemed watchful, on edge, his eyes flicking over the landscape beyond us, his tail twitching back
and forth.
I stood. “I must go back to Alexander Hall. I do not know the way. Can you show me?”
He sat on his haunches, his head at that regal angle he had displayed earlier in my room.
“No? I shall have to find my own way back, then. Perhaps you will accompany me, at least, so that I do not fall in a hole or step off another cliff. I cannot help thinking you might be my guardian angel.”
He did not move. I dusted myself off once more and set out in the opposite direction of the cliff, wondering if he would follow. My left ankle was sore, so I limped a little as I walked, picking my way carefully along, the territory gradually growing more familiar. After several minutes, I heard the sound of stealthy feet padding behind me.
I did not turn around.
We walked this way for a while, during which time I tried to resist the sensation of prey being stalked by a predator. I hoped Beast was keeping watch instead, even if it was only out of a sense of ownership.
He was my beast. He had come to me, and now he had saved my life.
In some ways, he reminded me of Gerard.
I stopped.
Gerard…and the creature.
Gray eyes like winter. Dark visages. And Gerard was never to be found in the daytime, while the creature…I did not know. Matthew indicated so few people had seen it that it was more legend than reality, but I wondered at what time of day those sightings had occurred.
I glanced back at Beast stalking warily behind me.
Foolishness.
Shaking my head, I continued on. Of course, it was foolishness. A man could not become a beast, nor a beast a man. Such things only happened in fairy tales.
I stopped again.
Ynys Nos was a fairy tale. All it needed was an evil sorcerer to make it complete. Perhaps Gerard had been enchanted in some way; perhaps the island was under a curse, and that is what caused the disaster in the first place. Perhaps…
Perhaps I was letting my imagination run away with me. Beast was unusual, of that I was certain, as was Ynys Nos. And Gerard. But that did not make him an enchanted changeling. He had told me he knew little of the beast, and the creature was not under his control. In fact, he seemed to fear it. Certainly, if they were one and the same, that would not be the case.
I had no way to answer my question, and eventually Alexander Hall came into view. The sun had finally burned off the fog, and my chills abated.
I turned to speak to Beast, only to discover he was no longer with me. I had not heard him go. I stood with my hands on my hips, piqued, wondering when he had abandoned my company. It was probably for the best—I did not know the sort of reception he might have from those at the Hall if he followed me in. For all I knew, they might meet him with torches and pitchforks like the angry villagers in a Gothic novel.
I decided to avoid the front entrance and the inevitable questions that would ensue at the ruined condition of my clothing, and so I limped my way around the side of the manor to the garden entrance to sneak inside. As I passed through the garden gate, I smelled again the sweet autumn clematis, and the scent memory brought back Gerard’s sensual kisses. I wondered in amazement at all that had transpired since then. Wrapped in my recollections, I did not see Roger Howard until he was nearly upon me.
“Oh!” I yelped the word when he loomed over me unexpectedly. Startled, I took a step back.
He reached out, gripping my forearm in an apparent attempt to steady me, but did not release me when it would have been appropriate to do so. The smell of liquor permeated the air between us. Though he was steady on his feet, it was obvious he had had more than a little to drink.
“Here, now. It’s only me. Not to worry.” His speculative gaze moved over me, his green eyes intent. “Where have you been, I wonder? You look all mussed and drowsy, as though you’ve been up to no good.” He gestured toward the gate and winked. “Got a randy buck out there? Maybe the vicar? I hear he’s got a hankering for you.”
I pulled my arm from his grasp. “What a singular notion. And how interesting that you feel you may speak to me with such familiarity. If you will excuse me.”
I tried to sidestep him, but he moved to block me. “Why did you refuse to see me today?”
I arched one eyebrow in disdain. “Because I have no interest in furthering our acquaintance, Mr. Howard. Now kindly step aside.”
“What’s the matter?” His words slurred a little. “Think you’re too good for me?”
I lifted my chin. I felt a chill of trepidation, but I would not let him see it. “Actually, yes.”
“Ho ho. A bit high in the instep, considering.” He glanced at the immaculate grounds and the imposing edifice of the palatial mansion behind me, then down at my hand, rather pointedly. “No ring on your finger, yet you’ve got yourself a nice situation here. Takes some skill to start at the top.” Flexing his shoulders, he gave me a knowing look. “Tell you what. When you get bored with your toffs, look me up. Might not be able to provide such fancy digs as this, but I’ll do right enough by you.”
“I beg your pardon,” I said, incensed at his vulgarity. “You are not a gentleman.”
He leered. “And you’re no lady. We’re of a piece, you and I. I’ll show you a better time than any gentleman would. And I can afford to feed your appetites. All of them.”
My fingers itched to slap the smug look off his face, but I would not reduce myself to his level. “I will assume you are too drunk to know better, so I will advise you to be careful how you speak to your betters. I do not think your master would like it at all.”
He grabbed my wrist in a hard grip and I gasped.
The smell of strong spirits wafted over me as he leaned in. “So, will you go running to the master, then? I’d think twice, unless you plan to tell him who you’ve been stepping out with when he’s not around. For I know a woman who’s been tumbled when I see one. Maybe the master would like to hear about that, too.”
“Let me loose, you stupid man.”
His smile turned ugly as he pulled me closer. “I have plans, and I know things,” he whispered harshly. “Everyone has secrets, and you’ve got the look about you. The look that says you’re hiding something. Mark my words, there’s money to be made in secrets, and I’m offering you a chance to get on my good side. Best you hook your wagon to a man that’s going somewhere—or risk getting run over.”
I shot him an incredulous look. “Are you trying to blackmail me?” I drew myself up and glowered at him; to continue struggling in an undignified manner would only fan his desire to subdue me. “You are a pig. I do not tolerate boars of any kind. Release me, or you may find you have more to fear from me than from your master.”
Color mottled his cheeks as his gaze swept over me again. Then, oddly, a slow smile spread across his face. “You’re a hot little bitch, aren’t you? That’ll make it all the more enjoyable when I tame you.”
Panic spiked in me as I looked into his eyes, which were hard with the knowledge of what he was capable of. I saw in their depths a man beyond society’s rules, making him a truly dangerous person.
My heart pounded as I sought desperately for a means of escaping him. Just then, Bill’s voice rang out from the door set in the garden wall. “Mrs. Briton, is that you out there?”
Relief flooded through me. “Yes, Bill! Would you please come here?” I doubted even Howard had the nerve to harm me with a witness present.
Like the coward he so obviously was, Howard released me and backed away. “Oh, we’re not through yet, love,” he said, his voice low. “Mark my words.” With a hard smile, he turned and sauntered off just as Bill found me.
The young footman frowned at Howard’s retreating back, then at my torn and filthy skirt.
“Here, now, what’s this? He didn’t hurt you, did he, Mrs. Briton?”
I shuddered. “No. I took a spill earlier. I’m fine; I just need to change. But I admit I am grateful to see you. That man is…unpleasant. I do not think he should be allowed back on the estate.
”
Bill ushered me inside. “Don’t know what he was doing here in the first place. He wasn’t part of the search. I sent him on his way right after the fog cleared. And I feel it is my duty to ask you what that was all about, ma’am.”
“Actually, Bill, it is none of your concern.” I had no intention of being questioned by the footmen, even one as kind as Bill.
He reddened. “Begging your pardon, ma’am, but I’ll have to report your absence to the master. You understand.”
I crossed my arms, staring at him with a gimlet eye. “Am I a prisoner here? Am I not to be allowed to come and go as I please? Were those your master’s instructions?”
Bill cleared his throat and scuffed a toe along the carpet. “He has a keen interest in keeping you safe and gave us clear direction about that. Naturally, we were scared witless when you didn’t come back right away. The footman in the foyer said you just disappeared into the fog like that.” He snapped his fingers.
My resentment softened. “I had no wish to cause alarm. I was investigating something and could not stop to declare my intent. However, if there is a next time, I assure you I will do so.” I made for the servants’ staircase as I talked. It would take me to my rooms quicker than the main stairway. “Still, all this commotion for an hour’s walk is a bit much, wouldn’t you say?”
Bill gave me a quizzical look.
“Yes, ma’am, but it’s nearly four o’clock. You’ve been gone all day.”
I stopped dead in my tracks.
Four o’clock?
Surely no more than an hour had passed since I’d followed Beast out of Alexander Hall and onto the cliffs this morning. My heart started a slow heavy beat, the blood rushing in my ears.
“Are you certain? Of the time, that is?”
“Yes, ma’am. Are you hungry? Mrs. Jones can serve tea now, if you like.”
I exhaled slowly. I did not give a fig about the tea. Somehow, I had lost several hours between the time I’d left Alexander Hall and the time I returned, but it seemed for everyone else time had passed normally—as much as it ever did on Ynys Nos.
