Wild Spirit: Blood Moon: Book Five in the Wild Spirit Series by Victoria Wren

Author:Victoria Wren [Wren, Victoria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Victoria Wren
Published: 2023-08-31T04:00:00+00:00

“I can’t stay long,” Win said. Louisa mounted the steps, kicking off her muddy boots as they trudged through the back door. “Jack will come looking for me.”

“You can eat, can't you?” Louisa said. “Eliza is making a broth.”

Eliza? Win braced herself mentally as she stepped inside her own hallway. Her eyes wandered every nook and cranny, detailing every knot in the wood floor. It even smelled the same, like home, like bread and cooking. Her palms prickled. If she closed her eyes, she swore she could imagine her father’s footsteps. Win's pulse spiked at the thought of him. Breathing through it, she followed Louisa into the kitchen, where a large pot bubbled with something hot and steamy.

Win cast an eye around, wondering where the servants were. Louisa kicked out a chair and nodded at her to sit. Win slunk into the seat. “Are you alone here?”

Louisa bustled around her, coming back and stripping off the ruined, soaked shawl around Win’s shoulders and dumping it over a grate by the fire. Shivering, Win didn't mind as in an almost maternal way, she unclipped the hooks of her skirt, let it fall, and then wrapped a woolen blanket around her. “Sit,” she ordered, and Win did as she was told, uncurling her toes by the fire. They were pink and throbbed painfully.

Louisa took a ceramic bowl and ladled a thick broth into it, dumping it unceremoniously in front of Win. She stuffed some bread into her mouth, talking and chewing at the same time. “Eliza is in the parlor…sewing. Someone around here has to act like a lady.”

“But…” Win looked around. “Don’t you have maids?”

Louisa laughed with her mouth full. “I think you’re confusing us with the Hickorys of old. When we got cursed we had to let many of them leave. That’s how rumors spread. Vivienne was seventeen when she changed….I wasn’t far after. When Vivy died…well, we weren’t the most popular employers in town. Most left, some we let go.”

“Where is your father…your mother?”

Louisa’s eyes darkened, glowering in a way that made her think of Rowan. “Ma died last winter, not long after Mary. Father went after Vivy. His heart gave out.”

Win gaped at her. “So you’re alone….but when I saw you in town….”

Louisa grinned, slurping the broth off a spoon. “Oh, you mean the fine clothes? I kept a couple of gowns to keep up appearances. I live in the hope of some rich man sweeping in and marrying Eliza. I swan into town, show my face and smile like the lady they think I am. I don’t think anyone would want to marry me—I’m too far gone.”

The truth burned on Win’s lips. How she wanted to tell her that one day a giant, eccentric bear of a man would arrive on American soil and fall hopelessly in love with her. Wolfric adored this woman and he never got over her. Even thinking of Wolfric made the phoenix mark on her chest sting, and she decided she’d made the right choice coming.

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