Page 62 of When Roses Burn

I closed my eyes as, outside, a wolf howled.

CHAPTER FORTY

Briar

Thanks to the curse, I had no idea what time it was when the door opened the next morning and Bertie entered. I was awake when she arrived, sitting in the chair with the book in my lap, though I couldn’t recall what it was about. The tiny creature had been sitting on my lap, but he disappeared under the bed when the lock clicked.

Most of my attention was focused on Wildwood and the dragon that occasionally soared out of the mountains and across the land. The creature was so massive it blocked what little sun penetrated the gray sky whenever it soared beneath it.

I didn’t see anyone else out there and had no idea if they were awake or still in bed. “Good morning,” Bertie said brusquely. “I see you’re up and dressed without any help.”

“I’m twenty-seven years old and capable of dressing myself.”

“Still a baby,” she chided.

“And how old are you?”

“I’m seventeen hundred and thirty-five… give or take a year or ten.”

My eyes widened at this revelation. “You’ve seen so much.”

“Some of it I’d like to forget.”

“I understand that,” I muttered.

“It’s time to get up and moving. Knox wants you downstairs for breakfast.”

I bristled over him not only assuming I’d do what he commanded, but he didn’t bother to order me himself. After last night, I’d assumed he’d avoid me; I should have known better. He believed I had answers that I didn’t have.

“And if I say no?” I asked.

She glanced at me as she flitted around the room, fluffing pillows, straightening a bed I’d already made, and fiddling with the drapes. The fluttering of her wings grated on my nerves.

I’d gotten almost no sleep after Knox left last night. I was a prisoner in this castle, humiliated, sexually frustrated, and plain tired of everything and everyone. I didn’t want to go anywhere… even if I was starving.

“That’s up to you,” Bertie said. “But if I were you, I wouldn’t make him come for me, because he will.”

I scowled as I fiddled with the book’s pages. The rustling of them drew Bertie’s attention, and she floated over to look down at the tome.

“Do you like to read?” she inquired.

“I love it!”

“You should ask Knox to take you to the library then.”

My irritation vanished as her words piqued my curiosity. “Are there a lot of books?”

“Thousands. It’s a magical place.”

I looked down at the book on my lap and then out the window as I pondered her words. I’d much prefer to tell Knox no, but the temptation of a library had me rethinking that plan of action… and I suspected she knew it.

“We should go,” Bertie said.

I bit my bottom lip as I studied the book. With a sigh, I closed it and set it on the table before rising.

I’d donned a pair of loose-fitting brown pants and a yellow shirt this morning with a pair of fluffy yellow socks so warm and cozy, I’d take them with me when I fled. And I was going to get away from here; I’d decided that much over the course of my very long night.

I had no idea how I’d get away or where I’d go, but I refused to go from my mother’s prison to Knox’s. And I wasn’t going to stay with someone who considered me a liar and believed I’d betrayed him in the worst way possible.