These Bitter Blooms by Emma Hamm

Author:Emma Hamm [Hamm, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-01-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

Moonlight played with the ends of her hair, and Browning let out a little grumble in her sling. They both didn’t want to be standing in the middle of Wildecliff during the nighttime. It had been hard enough finding the place, even with Alistair’s detailed instructions.

He’d given her every detail necessary to find her way through the city on her own. So detailed, in fact, that he had even mentioned certain colors of draperies inside of windows. Thea could imagine him walking this same path, counting his steps and noting every tiny thing she might see to make sure she safely got to his home.

But standing in front of the terrifying building made her want to turn right back around and retrace all those steps.

She’d thought this dark building was terrifying during the day, but it turned into its own beast during the night. The windows glared at her with bright yellow eyes. A churning noise echoed into the street from the belly of the home, likely from the kitchens, but her mind turned it into the growl of a beast. Waves of mist billowed away from the home as though the building had created its own weather phenomenon.

And yet, she had promised that she would try harder. Thea had promised to try again, if only because they could meet without the fear of running into his brothers or father.

She touched the tiny black line on her ring finger and whispered a prayer to the ancestors.

Browning held up a sprig of lavender, but she didn’t want to chew on it. She wanted to get through this without needing something or someone to help her. The house was terrifying, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t possible for her to do it on her own.

Sighing, she scrubbed a hand over her face and gently pushed the wart-covered hand back into the sling. “Stay hidden, Browning. I don’t want you getting hurt in there.”

He snuggled deeper into the sling as she opened the iron gate and walked up to the front door. All she had to do was knock. That was it. Alistair would be there on the other side, and he would make everything better.

They’d promised to marry each other, after all. They’d promised, and she wouldn’t go back on those words.

Swallowing hard, Thea struck her knuckles to the door once, and it swung open on its own. Did they not lock the door? As though they knew no one would dare enter the famed Orbweaver home without an invitation? And here she was. Standing there like an idiot without an address in her hand or anyone to announce her.

The interior of the home was worse than she’d imagined. The fog seemed to fill the house too. White mist reached up for her with bony hands, as though even the building wanted to shove her out. If it were like her own home, then she wouldn’t be surprised if the building could. Glimmering chandeliers hung from the ceiling, two of them leading to a giant stairwell that had seen better days.

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