Seared With Scars by C.J. Archer

Author:C.J. Archer [Archer, C.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
Published: 2014-09-22T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

I tried to tell myself that my logic was flawed, the notion absurd. Samuel was a good man.

Yet the logic wasn't flawed and the notion not absurd at all. He was not the same man he had been mere weeks ago. He had changed almost beyond recognition since he saw my memories. The new Samuel Gladstone was troubled to the point of madness, and a madman was capable of acting on dark emotions. The question remained whether he was capable of murdering his own father.

I did not go downstairs for the rest of the day, even when I saw Samuel and Tommy return from my window. Nor when Sylvia came to see why I hid away.

I told her I didn't feel up to joining the rest of the household for dinner. She accepted my excuse of a headache without question.

Samuel did not.

I opened the door to his knock, thinking it was the maid come to collect my dinner tray. I fell back a step upon seeing him standing there in shirt and trousers, his tie askew and his eyes as dark as night. The light from the small gas lamp on the wall behind him burnished his hair and outlined him with a devilish glow.

"Are you all right?" he asked. "Sylvia said you were unwell."

"I have a headache."

"Can I get you anything?"

"No, thank you." I went to shut the door, but he put his hand out to stop it.

"I want to talk to you," he said.

I waited, even though my heart hammered out a warning in my chest. Even though every piece of me wanted to shut the door and lock it.

It was a long time before he spoke again. He seemed to be warring with himself, or choosing his words carefully. "You're avoiding me," he eventually said. It wasn't a question. This man knew me so well it was frightening.

I shook my head rapidly. "I have a headache."

He frowned. "Something's wrong. You've changed since I went out."

Be calm, Charity, don't let him see your fear. Don't let him know what you're thinking. "Have I?"

"You've not even asked if we managed to procure any more food for the demon."

Everything inside me tightened, preparing to spring back out of the way if necessary. "Did you?"

"Only two lambs. Not enough to satisfy it for long. We'll visit another farm tomorrow and buy more, even if the animals aren't diseased." He ran his hand through his hair, messing it up. "I don't know how long a few sheep will satisfy it, but it seems like the best choice until it can be killed."

I waited, hoping he would mention the amulet and how he'd found it somewhere by chance. But he didn't. He let me continue to think our only chances of defeating the demon lay in Jack's knife.

Part of me wanted to confront him, but that part was easily drowned out by the terrified girl inside, screaming silently in fear.

He leaned against the doorframe and looked past me into my room. Then he suddenly straightened.

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