Page 167 of Once Upon a Fable

It didn’t take long to grill the veggies, grateful that the old oven still worked. My mouth watered to taste something cooked. The last hot food I’d had were the french fries Kas had made for me in the basement.

The lights over the island suddenly flickered as I plated the charred eggplant and courgettes onto a bed of lettuce, blacking out completely as I turned off the oven.

Now what?

What’s happened?

Holding my breath, I glanced around the pitch-black kitchen. Had Kas done that? Had he freed his ankle and was currently stalking me? About to pounce out of the shadows and kill me?

“Kas?” I inched toward the knife block, doing my best to keep my heart calm. “If that’s you, can you turn the lights back on?”

No footsteps. No reply.

My pulse continued to climb as I pulled a knife free, adding an additional weapon to the one already hidden in my leggings pocket. Stepping through the darkness, I fumbled for the light-switch against the wall.

On, off, on, off.

Still black.

It’s probably the solar power.

In my exploration of this place, I’d found a bank of panels in a field behind the house. Angled for the sun, clean from dust and debris, they looked well maintained and efficient.

But no matter how efficient they were, they couldn’t create power if they had no UV, and the past few days had been gloomy and gray. Sun had barely made an appearance this morning—definitely not enough tocharge whatever batteries ran this place.

Crap.

Oh well, at least there’d been enough power to cook with. Lighting wasn’t necessary to eat with, and besides, I was so exhausted, I’d probably crash right after dinner anyway.

As long as Kas is restrained and I’m safe, of course.

My heart kicked. Would he hate me for staying away so long today or, in some part of his fractured mind, did he understand how hard this was for me?

Rubbing my temples, I tried to massage away my constant headache. My stomach rumbled, reminding me it wouldn’t just be me who was hungry.

Time to check on your patient, Gem.

Sighing heavily, I did my best to gather my courage and picked up the two plates. Every time I stepped into the library, I didn’t know if I’d find a monster or a miserable man who made me throb in so many indecent ways.

I was terrified of him.

Terrified of my reaction to him.

Bracing my spine, I marched through the darkness to find him.

CHAPTER NINE

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THE THING ABOUT SINS I hadn’t understood was...they couldn’t be washed away with soap and water. They couldn’t be scrubbed until they vanished or bleached until the scent of despair went away.

I knew.

I’d tried.

They were there until death or until the mind broke completely.

Sitting on my haunches, I looked down at my blistered hands.