Pearl smirked as she remounted her horse, “You really are a clumsy girl, Rosa. You shouldn’t be riding if you don’t know how.”
“Come along, Pearl,” said Lily, her voice tense.
Rosa watched them leave, the pain in her leg bringing tears to her eyes. She propped her back against one of the stones and looked down at the blood seeping through her jeans. She bit back a cry of pain and zipped her coat up against the wind, hoping that Lily’s fear of Eli would be enough to save her.
***
“You stupid, stupid girl!” Lily exclaimed as they rode back into the parklands. “What has gotten into your head?”
“She was rude to us. I didn’t like her tone. You want to hurt Balthasar; this is how you weaken him!”
They gave their horses to the stable hands, and Lily gripped Pearl by the shoulders.
“You will go and tell Roger that she is out there and hurt right now,” she growled softly. Pearl pouted, and Lily fought the desire to strike her. Pearl pushed her hand away and walked into the stables. She watched Pearl talk animatedly for a moment with Roger and then re-joined her.
“I’m sorry, Lily. You know I’m impulsive and passionate. The girl annoys me,” Pearl said as she took Lily’s hand.
“Your games with Balthasar must stop. Leave the human alone. He doesn’t care enough about her and in any case, killing the woman he loves is not the way to undermine him. Trust me; it only makes him angrier and more resolute. I have seen him undone by the death of a woman and he will never let himself love like that again. He will never allow that weakness. The Wylts are important to Eli. That is why he shows her favor.”
“Oh my love,” Pearl said softly with a shake of her head, “you really know nothing about men, do you?”
Chapter Ten – The Wolves
Balthasar was readying himself for a ride when he heard a hesitant knocking on the lower doors. He hurried down the staircase and straightened the lapels of his coat before he opened the door with a smile. It was not the Wylt he had been hoping for.
“Cecily, is something the matter?”
“I’m so sorry for interrupting you, sir, but have you seen Rosa today?” she asked nervously, her hands twisting the hems of her long sleeves.
“She’s not in the cottage?”
“No, sir. I left her breakfast this morning, and I saw her taking Roger’s old horse out this afternoon, but I haven’t seen her since. I’m sorry, but I didn’t know who else to ask. I checked the stables, and Lily and Pearl’s horses were the only ones that came back in. I wouldn’t normally worry, but Roger said he had spotted wolves already this year and she hasn’t ridden a horse in a while.”
Balthasar felt a hot flush of rage that drowned out the unexpected panic. You know what Pearl is capable of but maybe Rosa is running because she is spooked.
“Don’t worry, Cecily. She has most likely misjudged the time, and she is still coming back from the lake,” he lied smoothly. “I will go and find her now. Everything will be fine, I promise.”
Balthasar stormed into the parlor where Pearl, Lily, and Saul were playing poker. “Where is she?” he demanded.
“Where is who, brother?” Saul asked as he inspected his cards and put some chips in the center of the table.
“What have you done with Rosa?”
Pearl raised an eyebrow. “I haven’t done anything with Rosa.” She lay down a straight flush and Saul swore. Lily paled as she looked at her progeny and that told him all he needed to know. Balthasar moved before she had a chance to intervene, knocking the table over in a spray of cards and wood. Pearl tried to run, but he grabbed her around the neck and held her tight.
“Where is she?”
“Let her go,” Lily hissed, her face turning feral. Pearl screamed as Balthasar punched through the side of her ribcage, gripping her pulsing heart, blood running down his hand in rivulets.
“I will not ask you again,” he whispered as he squeezed.
“She’s at…she’s at the ring. She came off her horse. I thought she would be back by now.” Pearl gasped as Balthasar removed his hand and tossed her bleeding and broken to Lily. His sister cursed him passionately in French as she fed Pearl her blood to try to heal the damage.
“If anything has happened to Rosa, I’ll be coming back to finish the job,” Balthasar promised. “I don’t care what she means to you, Lily. I’ve had enough of her games.”
***
Rosa huddled in her jacket, her good leg brought up to her chest in an effort to keep her body warm. The cold had numbed some of the pain, but her leg was still pulsing in her boot. She cried softly and helplessly as all the tension of the last weeks, and the shock of her injuries took over. She should never have followed Lily and Pearl. What did you think was going to happen?
Rosa hoped that someone would notice she was gone, but after days of hiding out, perhaps they wouldn’t even bother checking the cottage. Rosa looked up to see a flicker of light down by the water. In the darkness, it looked like a figure walking along the shoreline.
“Hey, I’m over here!” Rosa called, but the figure ignored her.
Maybe it’s a trick of the mist, or your broken leg is making you hallucinate. Absolutely and definitely not a ghost. There is no such thing as the Wylt’s witchy woo ability to see ghosts.
A howl went up in the distance, and her heart leaped to her throat. Rosa could wait until morning for someone to find her, but she couldn’t run from wolves. Crawling about in the dark, she searched through the grass for a rock or stick, anything to defend herself with. She found a rock the size of her fist and held onto it. Would they smell the blood?
Panic seized her as something moved through the trees. A set of yellow eyes fixed on her, quickly joined by two others. Rosa crawled until she had back against one of the stones. She gripped the rock tightly in her hand as their feral eyes started to move towards her. A low growl echoed through the grass and seemed to come at her from all sides.
A black wolf appeared on the other side of the circle. Its teeth flashed in the dim light as it snarled. Rosa had just enough time to raise her arm as the wolf leaped toward her. She screamed as its teeth ripped through her coat and into her arm. She tried to smash its head with the rock as it dragged her, her broken leg sending flashes of red light in front of her eyes. She raised her arm to hit at the wolf again when it was lifted off her and thrown into the woods. It hit the trees with a yelp, and it went sprawling amongst the leaf litter. The other two wolves pounced, but their attacker disappeared at the last moment. One of the wolves’ necks was snapped from behind and the other bolted before it suffered the same fate. Through her tears, Rosa saw her rescuer turn. Even in the dark, she knew that posture and the upturned collar of his great coat.
“What are you doing here?” she wept as he crouched down beside her.
“I couldn’t very well leave you here to die of exposure and be food for wolves now could I?” Balthasar asked as he touched her face lightly, “Who’d cook my breakfast tomorrow?”
“You are such a jerk,” Rosa half-laughed half -whimpered. “If I were feeling better I would give you such a kicking.”
“Don’t worry, you’re going to be okay, and then you can kick me as much as you like. May I?” he asked, and she nodded as he unzipped her boot and eased it off. She bit back a cry of pain as took the hem of her jeans leg and tore it to expose her broken leg. Before she could guess what he was about to do he bit into his wrist and held it out, so his blood dripped onto her open wound.
“What the hell are you doing!” she demanded as she tried to move her leg.
His spare hand went down on her like a vice. “Do not move, Rosamund Wylt, or it will heal crooked. I’m not going to hurt you. Trust me this once.” Rosa’s whole body stilled. The heat was spreading up her leg in a wave. “How bad is your arm?”
“I don’t know, everything hurts. It’s bleeding, but I don’t know how bad the bite is.”
“I will wait until I get you home before I hea
l it. I don’t want to be healing a wolf’s tooth in it by mistake. Your leg was protected by your jeans so it should heal quickly and cleanly.” With her good hand, she did her best to wipe away her tears. There was blood on her face from another scrape. “How is your leg feeling now?” he asked.
She tried to move it and winced. “It’s killing me but not as badly as a moment ago.”
“Good, it means I can shift you now.”
“I don’t think…” she tried to protest as he lifted her up as easily if she was a child.
“Please do not argue with me tonight, Rosa. I’ve had a very trying evening,” Balthasar said as he carried her into the forest.
He never calls you, Rosa, she realized dimly through the pain. Caesar was pawing the ground uneasily. Balthasar made a soft whistling noise, and the black stallion lowered himself to the ground. Still holding her tightly, he mounted Caesar who rose slowly back to his feet and began to walk.
“Something to say?”
“Only that you’re missing your true calling as a horse trainer,” Rosa said, her voice uneasy. She was starting to tremble and couldn’t stop.
“Easy now, you’re going into shock,” he said tucking the sides of his coat around her. “Everything is going to be okay. I have you.”
The coat enclosed her tightly in his warmth, and the smell of his aftershave surrounded her in a pocket of comfort. She fought the urge to put her arms around him. She felt weak for being so relieved that he was there.
“I’m sorry,” she said against his collarbone.
“You have nothing to be sorry about. None of this is of your doing.”
They rode in silence until they got back to the cottage. Roger ran from the stables to meet them as Balthasar lifted her down.
“Tell Cecily that Rosa is home safely. She is shaken up but resting,” Balthasar said calmly. “She is not to be disturbed tonight.”
“Of course, Mr. Vane,” the stable master replied before heading across the grounds.
“Thank you, I doubt I could’ve handled Cecily’s fussing tonight,” Rosa said as she tested her foot. “I’m sure I can walk from here.” He placed a strong arm around her to take the weight off her foot and helped her through the house and into the kitchen. Sitting her down at the table he took off his jacket and rolled up his shirtsleeves.
“We need to heal that arm of yours,” he said as he put the hot water jug onto boil and found a glass bowl in the cupboards.
“How long did you live in here?” Rosa asked as he moved about finding antiseptic and sterile cloths.
“It was about a month before the attic was ready. I wanted to build another house on the grounds, but Eli made me compromise. He likes to have his children readily accessible.”
“He seems to like everyone readily accessible,” Rosa said as she took off her filthy coat. Her arm was a bloody mess. “I can’t remember the last time I had a night this screwed up. Not the worst date I’ve had by a long shot.”
Balthasar didn’t smile as he placed a clean towel under her arm and using the hot water started to clean away the blood and dirt.
“You seem remarkably good at this,” she commented, trying to make conversation as he worked methodically.
“I’ve seen many wars,” he replied evenly. “You tend to pick up things when you are surrounded by the wounded. If someone decides to shoot you next time, give me a call. I’m an excellent bullet wound stitcher.”
“I’ll keep that in mind if I can’t find the duct tape and pliers myself.”
“You act like no one has ever helped you before.”
“I think I had a teacher give me a Band-Aid once, but that is about the extent of it. You don’t really have to worry about wolf attacks in London.”
“In some areas you do,” he answered vaguely. “Looks like there is no extra dirt or foreign bodies in there.”
“God, my whole body feels foreign right now,” said as she watched him put his wrist to his mouth and hesitate.
“You can look away if it disturbs you,” Balthasar said gently. “I won’t be offended.”
“To be honest, your magical heal all blood is the least disturbing thing I find about you,” said Rosa before she could think. Really nice, Rosa. He’s never going to ride to your rescue again. Who does that anyway? Her mind babbled as his blood dripped hot onto her arm. She bent down to watch the bite marks close over. “That’s amazing.”
“Your leg will be sore for a few days so be careful with it. There was muscle damage, and bones can be tricky.” He took another cloth and wiped the cut on her head. He smiled unexpectedly, “You look like a wild, bloody savage.”
“I probably smell like one too.”
“Well, you can’t wrestle with wolves and not expect to come out smelling like one.” Balthasar put the cloth down and sat back in his chair. His face was back to being a stern mask of high cheekbones and dark eyes. “Please, tell me what happened.”
“Not much to say really. Pearl got pushy, I got snappy, she hissed, I went down and then she couldn’t cross the faerie ring,” Rosa answered trying to keep the nervous hitch out of her voice. “Why were you able to cross it?”
“Pearl is not of royal blood even though she was turned by Lily. The Seelie put wards up on their portals to make sure that none but the fae can cross over into their lands. I can move into the rings on this plane, but I can’t cross through,” he explained straightforwardly. “What was she getting pushy about?”
“You actually,” Rosa felt the first burn of a blush up her neck. “They wanted to know if there were any bodies in your attic.”
“I’m not so foolish to store my bodies where others are likely to find them. That piece of trash is rude even for the Gwaed Gam. I should’ve pulled her heart out years ago.”
“Be careful of her,” Rosa said as she touched his hand. “There is something going on between her and Lily. There is a purpose to her mischief. She’s not going after me because she thinks it’s funny. There’s tension between them. I don’t know if Lily is very happy with her at the moment. Pearl is trying to undermine you, and she’s going after me because she foolishly thinks you like me.” He looked down at her hand over his, and she quickly moved it away.
“I do like you, and so does Eli. He won’t take this attack on you lightly,” Balthasar said getting to his feet. “I’ll talk to him about it, and rest assured, Pearl will not be coming near you again.” He turned to go, and guilt got the better of her.
“Wait, Balthasar,” she said standing up slowly, “there is something I need to tell you, and you will probably get mad at me again, but if I don’t tell you now, you will just get angrier later.”
He frowned. “Go on.”
“I was looking for some Wylt photos and general stuff in the attic, and I found a box of your things. I didn’t know it was your things exactly. I thought it was just someone from your family forever ago,” she said focusing on the buttons of his coat, so she didn’t have to look at his face. “I found a lot of letters and I-I read them. But I swear I didn’t know that it was you! I’m so sorry.”
Balthasar was so quiet that she looked up at his face, ready for anger or a cold rebuke. Instead, the stern mask was gone, and underneath was broken with memory. He cleared his throat before saying steadily, “It’s all right, Rosa. You were not to know. I had left them here because I couldn’t get rid of them, but I couldn’t look at them. The letters, Jane…it was a long time ago.”
“I am so sorry,” she repeated, her voice hitching.
“I know. It’s not your fault I left the letters up there.”
“No, I mean about…about losing Jane. She seemed really amazing. A real firecracker.”
“She was. You would have liked her. She used to enjoy yelling at me too.”
“So, are we good?” Rosa asked slowly. She really didn’t want to fight with him anymore.
“We are,” he smiled and Rosa relaxed fractionally. “May I ask a favor? Can you keep the letters here until I can figu
re out what to do with them?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you,” he smiled. “Now I suggest you get some sleep so that you can heal properly.”
Rosa followed him to the door, her leg protesting. He cast his eye over her living room covered with research, and the clothes rack with her lingerie drying on it. Great, now he’s seen your knickers, nice one, Rosa. Don’t forget you are also covered in blood and smell like wolves. He grinned sideways at her and her heart gave an unexpected flip.
“Maybe we need to send one of the servants to help you clean up?” he teased.
“I like to think of it as a creative chaos,” she replied. “I have been doing a lot of research and reading lately. Thank you again for coming after me tonight. If there is anything I can ever do to repay you, please let me know.”
Balthasar tapped his chin thoughtfully, “You could always model for a painting.”
“Oh, of course! I’ve always wanted to be painted like one of Ruben’s women,” she said, lifting her arm behind her head in a mocking pose. He looked her over as if his artistic eye was scaling her up, before nodding sharply.
“Excellent, then we agree,” Balthasar said as he opened the door.
“Wait…what?”
“Good night, Miss Wylt.”
“You can’t just…disappear,” Rosa said, looking around her doorway but Balthasar Vane had already vanished into the night.
Chapter Eleven – The Threat
By the time Balthasar made it back upstairs, Pearl was fully healed, Lily stroking her fair cropped hair. Saul was smoking and looking out of sorts.
“Did you find her, brother?” he asked as Balthasar tried to check his rage.
“I did. Right when Rosa was about to get her throat torn out by wolves I might add,” he walked slowly into the room, his fists balled tightly. Lily gave him a warning hiss. Pearl had the look of the broken, melancholy flower that undid his sister every time.
“Rosa could have died, Lily. She is the last of the Wylts. Do you not know what losing her would do to Eli? All because that piece of trash is jealous of her,” Balthasar snarled.
Wylt: Book One The Blood Lake Chronicles Page 12
