Bound by Blood ch.5

FIVE

 

 

Evie stared at her speckled white ceiling and sniffled.  

Hatchet had ordered her to go to sleep after bringing her back to the correct floor but she couldn’t. Every time she tried to shut her eyes she saw her near death experience play out, over and over.  

Why did she go to the wrong floor? Why did she go towards the crying? Why didn’t she scream when he’d come towards her- or more importantly: 

Why was the feeling of dread still with her?  

She turned on her side and tried to get comfortable, but the forming bruise around her neck from September made that impossible. She sighed, pushing herself again onto her back, returning to look at the same ceiling. 

I wonder where Hatchet went. He’d left her at her bedroom door and told her to stay there until he came back. Before she’d been able to ask him where he was going he’d flashed. Gone. 

Evie wasn’t stupid. She’d seen the swirl of red in his eyes. The resolute look he’d had on his face. He was probably going to find September to kill him, just like he’d told August. Although Evie couldn’t stop the moment of hope that he’d succeed in exacting revenge on her behalf, she knew Hatchet had no right to go after him. Not after the way she’d disrespected September.  

Not for a human. 

Rules were enforced to the letter at the Lamia mansion. And by the rules September had every right to hurt her. Yet Hatchet didn’t care. 

Worry made her roll from one side to another. What if he gets in trouble because of me? 

August’s last remarks returned to her like a ghost’s whisper, and she grabbed her stomach. 

September has and always will be an impulsive idiot...but so are you. 

You have no idea who you are trusting so blindly. 

Evie didn’t know much about August but she’d heard from Hatchet he saw glimpses of the future. It would explain how he’d known September was going to get caught and why he’d stopped him from hitting her. If he’d seen that then maybe he also saw something about Hatchet. 

About her. 

Did he see something about me hurting Hatchet? Evie bit her lower lip and glanced at her door, her skin prickling all over. She willed Hatchet to come back. When he didn’t she sat up and swung her legs off the side of her bed. If Hatchet was after September she wouldn’t be able to find him. Not until he’d exacted his revenge. 

Evie’s bare feet hit the cool, hardwood floor. If Hatchet comes back and I’m not here he will be so mad at me. But she needed to know what August meant. She had to find him. Even if it would get her into more trouble. 

The thought of August’s icy stare made her pause. August terrified her. In a way that she couldn’t explain. There was something dark beneath his looks. Something that felt like she was always on the verge of walking into a nightmare even though he’d never physically harmed her. It wasn’t the same feeling she’d had with Lord Jain and September. The fear she felt with them was mixed with hate. 

She swallowed down the feeling and fought off her desire to stay in her room. It won’t be pleasant but I need to find August. When that wasn’t enough to make her slip on the flats resting next to her bed she added- before something bad happens to Hatchet. 

That was enough to convince her to leave. She put on her shoes and rushed to the door. 

Her plan was simple: Find August first. Then find Hatchet. 

That was her plan. 

She’d start at the library before going back to the second floor to see if he was in his room. Hopefully, he was in one of those two places and alone. 

Evie barely reached for her doorknob when it turned on its own. She held her breath as her door was flung open, and she jumped back, staring up into a young woman’s face. 

Lissa, Evie’s human caretaker of the week, looked at her and sneered. “What kind of companion are you?” she demanded angrily, crossing lavender-sleeved arms over her ample chest. 

Evie barely recovered her shock to ask shakily, “Lissa? W-what are you doing here?”

Lissa’s dark brown eyes narrowed to slits. “Why the prince picked a stupid kid like you is beyond me.” She uncrossed her arms and whipped her hand out, Evie not moving a muscle, even when Lissa grabbed her upper arm and ordered, “let’s go. He has been waiting.” 

Evie complied-not like she had a choice while being dragged-but asked breathlessly, “a-are you talking about Hatchet?” When Lissa merely shot a look of pure hatred over her shoulder at her, Evie continued, explaining, “I...I thought he told me to wait in my room for him-”

“Shut. Up.” 

Evie opened her mouth to argue but fell quiet when Lissa squeezed the same spot September had earlier, pain radiating down her arm. They left the basement floor and went up a flight of stairs in silence. Evie struggled to keep up with Lissa’s long legs, getting to the main corridor and heading down it towards the grand hall, her blood slicking to ice as she was rushed through the marble hall and towards another corridor, realizing too late where she was headed. 

“No...” 

She hadn’t been near this corridor since the choosing of Hatchet’s companion. The corridor where Hatchet’s father Lord November and his attendants resided. Lissa seemed unperturbed by the intimidating presence of the Nightrealm members who were higher in power, like Lord November Lamia, the ruler of the Lamia clan. Evie had only seen Hatchet’s father in passing but she recalled the utter terror his presence gave her. And she had envisioned death trailing close behind him. 

That same feeling was with her now, and she wanted to get away. She’s not taking me to Hatchet. He avoided this side of the mansion where his father and everyone who served him spent most of their days. The question then was: who was Lissa bringing her to? 

Lissa snapped at her for slowing them down. “Don’t think I won’t hit you right here and right now,” she warned, yanking Evie with a painful jerk closer to that door. 

“No,” began Evie in a panicked cry. “I...I need to go see Hatchet!” 

“I told you to shut up, you stupid kid!” 

“Let me go,” pleaded Evie as she pulled with all her might to escape Lissa’s tightening grip.

Lissa whipped around and raised her hand to strike. “I’ll kill you!” 

A door creaked open and a melodic voice interrupted. “That is enough, Lissa.” 

Lissa’s head spun to look at the owner of the voice. But Evie didn’t need to see the person at the end of the hallway to have her question confirmed. That voice haunted her nightmares after all. 

A slender hand beckoned them forward. Lissa gave a sigh of contentment. “Lord Jain...I brought her...as promised.” 

Jain chuckled and Evie trembled. “Good girl. You may go now,” he said with a dismissive wave to Lissa. Lissa did a gracious curtsy, her straight brown hair covering her face before righting herself, shooting Evie one last look before heading down the corridor towards the main hall, her white high heels clicking loudly on the marble floor.  

Evie didn’t move an inch despite every nerve in her body screaming to run. She was so scared she forgot to duck her head as a sign of respect. 

Why does Jain want to see me? She had the terrible feeling she was going to find out very soon. He stepped away from the door frame and gestured with a hand towards the office. “Come in.”

Her hands shook as she obeyed, walking slowly towards him when all she wanted to do was spin around and run. But she wouldn’t be able to take one step before Jain got to her. She flicked a terrified look at him when she passed by him, his smile the same as when he flashed that day in the great hall and corrected her. 

He followed her in and she winced when the door shut. She stopped moving and dropped her gaze, listening intently as he walked around, her stopping in front. He hummed, and she caught him clasping his hands behind his back. 

Evie felt his glinted eyes assess her coolly, beckoning her to look at him despite the rules. Despite being terrified.

She did. And she saw them gleam. 

“I think it is time we’ve had a little chat.”