Under other circumstances,I would have loved the library here, exploring the towering shelves of old books with their bewitching leathery smells, and the big windows.
One even had a comfortable window seat where you could look out over the whole grounds, even beyond the red and yellow hills to the farmland beyond.
Everything was beautiful and idyllic except this little spot of depravity.
I was restless, thumbing through my textbooks.
Who had put them up here for me?
Like I was planning tostay.
I tried to force myself to think like a scholar again.
Subject might be used to relying on his looks and athleticism to get his way.
Subject seemed to have little regard for ordinary conventions or tenets of morality. . .
It all seemed so dry and inadequate to Gabriel’s terrifying vitality.
Frustrated, I slammed the textbook shut and wrinkled my nose.
Was there a moldy book somewhere in here?
There was a strange scent coming from somewhere, like maybe there had been water damage or something.
Where could it be? It was definitely unpleasant.
I jumped almost a foot when the door scraped open with a long, spine-curdling squeal.
“Follow me, Dr. Lindeth,” Branby said, gesturing back into the depths of the manor.
My hands tightened on the shelf. I was not used to being ordered around.
“And if I refuse?”
“I have my instructions to bring you.”
“Does that mean drag me?” I asked dryly.
He did not answer, but his mouth suddenly split open in a grin, exposing sharp, unsettling teeth.
“All right,” I said sourly. “No need for that, you ghoul.”
The butler led me down the hallway, for a moment my sight so blinded by the darkness that I couldn’t see anything but the slick dark coattails in front of me, the folds of his neck melting into his collar.
I tried to calm down. Perhaps I could leave before Gabriel even got there.
“Here you go,” he said, indicating a green door.
“Do you have your phone on you?” I asked casually. “I have a call I’d like to make.”
His only response was to snort and gesture inside.
The study was dark, and I tried to catch my breath as I fumbled for the light.
My breathing was harsh and jagged, and I felt prickles of sweat break out on my neck.
Could I get out this window?
