Page 52 of Nightshade

Regardless of whether, or not, the rumors about Van Croix were true, this place was death. I could feel it in my bones, and yet, its tragically beautiful gloom touched a part of me I hadn’t felt since the days of running amuck in the church ruins. It sang an exquisite dirge to my heart that’d somehow grown more morose with age.

It reminded me of home.

“The cathedral is where he lives, then?” I asked, drinking in the captivating gloom of the building.

“Yes. As I mentioned, while many of the chapels remain, a number of rooms have been renovated to living quarters.”

Anya pulled into the half-circle drive, where I had a better view of the stone exterior with its two, roofed turrets and pointed spires. Flying buttresses at either side of the ribbed vaults that made up the entrance could hardly be seen with the thick vines climbing over its stony exterior. A rose window and stone carvings of what I guessed were archangels made for extraordinary detail when seen up close.

Darkly magnificent.

In the distance of the yard, something moved, and for a moment, I thought it was the creature from the woods bounding toward me.

Perhaps worse than that, three enormous, black dogs cut toward the carriage with the kind of determination that had my stomach twisting over on itself.

“And here we go …” Anya climbed out of the carriage, as the trio circled it, snarling and baring teeth that I imagined would’ve torn into me with little effort. “She’s with me! Go on now! Back to bed! Shoo!”

Her batting at them failed to deter them much, though, and the larger of the three lurched toward the carriage on a bark.

I startled backward, nearly falling off the other side of it. Odd that the horse seemed completely unafraid of the dogs, not so much as flinching in response to all that vicious barking. As if it knew they were after me, instead.

“Enough of that! Cerberus, I won’t tell you again.”

The dog made one more swipe of its teeth toward me, before Anya swatted him on the backside. “Go back to bed, or I’ll fetch your master, and then you’ll be sorry! Fenrir! Nero! You get back at once!”

It wasn’t until she pulled out what looked to be a whistle tucked into her collar and set it to her lips that the dogs snapped to attention. Not a single sound reached my ears, so it must’ve been an unusual dog whistle, because even the ones I was familiar with let out a scratchy hissing noise when blown. She puffed her cheeks and blew again.

Tucking their tails and whining, the dogs turned away, the closest one casting one more snarl toward me.

“Silly mongrels. Don’t even realize their master isn’t home. He’s out tonight, which means we need to hurry and get you settled before he returns.”

“Will he feed me to the dogs, if he finds me?” While nothing more than a joke on my part, the fact that Anya merely cleared her throat in response and pulled a bag from the front seat of the carriage had my stomach knotting up again. A reminder that this place wasn’t home. The people here could’ve been anything, and it was best to keep my guard up. “You’re certain it’s no trouble letting me stay?”

“No, no. So long as you stay out of sight, you have nothing to worry about. You can leave by morning, and no one will be the wiser.”

“Mister Van Croix, what you’ve told me, he isn’t …”

Brow quirked, she wore a question in her expression. “A bad man? He’s no saint, and certainly doesn’t fit into the categories of black and white. But he isn’t the worst you’ll find here.”

The place sounded like a playground for criminals, which probably made sense, if a bunch of fallen angels had free reign. Although, it didn’t sound like they were the winged creatures I’d been made to believe.

Making one more scan for the dogs, I hopped off the carriage, while Anya rounded the back of it and swung the door open. At the sound of grunting and her arms flailing in struggle, I padded toward her to help. On the floor of the carriage, a filthy man lay hog-tied, his body covered in bruises and patches of caked-on grime. Taking hold of his hair, she guided him out of the carriage with the kind of strength I wouldn’t have guessed for a woman her age.

“What is this? What are you doing to him?”

“He’s a criminal, thief, and murderer. He’s also fresh meat for the dogs.”

“You …. You’re not feeding him to the dogs, are you?”

“Heavens, no. Just a figure of speech, dear. He’s their new caretaker. Now, if they decide they don’t particularly care for their caretaker, that’s certainly another matter, but I wouldn’t intentionally cut him up and serve him on a platter. I’ve far more scruples than that.”

The man moaned and wriggled on the ground, as if trying to get away.

“Now, you hush, or I’ll have Cerberus drag you back to those kennels himself. The village intended to burn you alive, young man. As an example to all. Think about that for a moment. What you did to that poor girl was inexcusable.”

The man stilled on the ground, brows crimping in a frown.

“Yes, and Master Van Croix essentially spared you. So, unless you’d like to go back to the dingy cage where I found you, I suggest you behave. Are we clear?”