Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 47894 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47894 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
“Truthfully, I do not. My parents own a bakery in town, but the rent is due to Mr. Corey each month, and he raised it to more than was possible. My mother believes he did that so I would be made to work off the difference here.”
So not only was he hurting me, Lorne, Corvus, the flora and fauna, but he was hurting people, families, in Osprey as well. “I’m so very sorry.”
She stepped in close and lowered her voice. “There were girls who came to work at the same time I did, who used to live in rooms on the fourth floor. They were said to be working off debts by being made into fallen women.”
It kept getting worse.
“Said to be?” I asked, having picked up on that. “Were?” I was repeating her words.
“When Mr. MacBain came, they were all returned to their families with funds. Now Mr. Corey has others that come here from the city. It is understood that it is now a brothel.”
Lorne was a knight; of course he’d saved all the damsels in distress.
“I have been asked…” She started to speak, then stopped, tears welling in her big sky-blue eyes. “I…Mr. Corey has been more and more insistent that I…”
I grabbed hold of her hands. “No. Tell him no. And never, ever, go anywhere in the house alone. I don’t care if it’s down the hall to the washroom in the middle of the night. You need to always have someone with you. Do you understand?”
“You are in earnest.”
“Yes, I am.”
“I will follow this mandate.”
“Good,” I said, letting go of her hands and rushing to the pantry. I pulled out a jar of cinnamon, poured some into my hand, then returned to her. I blew it over her, and she was delighted to watch as it encircled her, landing lightly, dusting her hair.
I needed something else, something that would protect her and magically irritate him, bother him enough not to want to be in her presence. She needed it on her person, and I was tempted to make her a small pentacle out of bread and make her carry it in her pocket. Of course I’d need to make a new one every time it broke, but—
Something fell to the left of me, breaking my concentration when it hit the floor. Slipping around the end of the table, I was stunned to see a small silver disk with a carving in the center. When I retrieved it, I was so pleased. The Algiz rune was etched there, bold, ready to serve, which was perfect. The fact that it was on a leather cord was astounding. Not because my family, working through my cottage, had not provided for others before, but because I hadn’t thought it possible. Not here in this tainted time.
“Thank you,” I said to the ether, as though I was back at home, in my cottage, speaking to my ancestors, or outside, walking the grounds, speaking to Corvus as I had since I was a child.
“Oh, do you smell lavender and verbena?” Constance asked me.
I certainly did and breathed in, inhaling it into my lungs. Underneath whatever this glamour was, a piece of Corvus was still mine. I was connected too deeply, and Giles would have to kill me to sever the bond.
Putting the cord with the talisman on it over her head, I held the rune in my hand until I felt it spark and awaken, ready to hear my intention. “Protect this child, be a shield from any who would do harm, and be always vigilant.”
Her eyes were wide as I leaned back.
So softly that I could barely hear her, she asked, “Are you a witch, then, Xander?”
“I am,” I replied honestly before thinking it through. Earlier I’d had a lesson on who not to trust, and here I was again, putting my faith in another person.
“And do you lie with the devil?”
I chuckled. If she only knew how much I despised demons. “There’s no devil in witchcraft. Wiccans believe in nature. Don’t you?”
She nodded slowly.
“Don’t take it off.”
“Oh, I will not,” she promised, crossing her heart before tucking the talisman under her shirt to keep it hidden from sight, which, unbeknownst to her, was also the right choice for protection magic.
“Go take Mrs. Brogan some biscuits on a plate with butter and honey, and tell her that the first few batches are ready to be served.”
“I will.”
“Do you know where Mr. MacBain’s rooms are?”
“Yes. His quarters are on the third floor. I can see his balcony when I walk the grounds.”
“I need to know precisely where they are.”
Once she explained, describing the hallway and the door, she was off, and I baked more biscuits and considered my plan.
I was going to get Giles Corey off Corvus, restore the timeline, and make certain he was not allowed to hurt anyone else. I just needed to figure out how to do that. It all started, for me, with reuniting with the man I loved. One step at a time was always the best plan.