Page 96 of Nightshade

“Sure.” Once I’d cleaned the wound, I placed a fresh, clean linen across it, then wrapped his torso with a long strip of torn fabric that Remy had taken the liberty of shredding from a bedsheet. After a few loops around his waist, I secured it with a knot. “You’ll want to check this in a couple days just, to make sure it’s not infected.”

“Sure, sure.”

At that, I pushed to my feet, and as I turned to wash the blood and antiseptic from my hands, I felt a grip of my arm. The unexpected and unwelcomed touch had my muscles tense and stiff, and perhaps sensing my unease, he released me.

“I just wanted to say thanks. For this.”

“It’s no problem. Really.”

“Well, no one’s ever tended my wounds before.”

“It was no big deal.”

Gaze trailing over me, he smiled. “I want to do something for you.”

Sensing the implication in his leering stare, I busied myself by straightening up the linens tossed around the wash basin on the tabletop and cleared my throat. “Uh, really. Your thanks is plenty.” Keeping my back to him, I dipped my hands into the basin of water, and frowned at the way the blood dissipated, the moment my skin was submerged. Where there should’ve been a cloudy pink hue to the water, the liquid remained clear. Only white curls of steam rose up from its surface.

“Thanks is a mere pittance of gratitude,” Remy went on, interrupting my stare. “Tell me what I can do for you, princess. I’m more than happy to oblige.”

As I reached for a linen beside me, I rolled my eyes and huffed. A thought struck me, and I turned around to face him, catching his eyes flicker from where he must’ve been staring at my ass. “There is something you can do, as a matter of fact.”

His brows winged up. “Really?”

“Really.” Once my hands had dried, I tossed the linen aside and took hold of my locket, opening it for the picture inside. “This is my father, Augustus. I’m trying to figure out what happened to him. Have you seen him?”

He rose from the chair he’d been sitting on and held the locket in his palm, his height made apparent by his closeness. “Nah. I haven’t seen him.”

With a sigh, I slid the locket free and nodded. “I figured.”

“Tell you what, princess, I’ll ask around. Augustus is his name?”

“Augustus Ravenshaw, yes.”

“If he’s here? I’ll find him. Any chance you’re offering a reward?”

Scowling up at him, I took a step back. “Yes. My undying and sincere gratitude.”

Hands held up, he chuckled. “Just asking.”

* * *

A thrum of nervous energy pulsed through me, as I stood before the thick, wooden door, fist poised to knock.

“Come in,” the deep voice said from the other side, before my knuckles so much as touched the panel.

I opened the door to an exceptionally large office, with rich ebony wood that darkened the room. Tall bookshelves made up the wall behind where Van Croix sat at his desk, filled with books. A window between the shelves overlooked the cliff and the endless horizon beyond. On another wall hung an engraved plaque that read Blackwater Cathedral, established in 1675.

Van Croix’s eye scanned over me, as I approached and took a seat across from him. Hands fidgeting in my lap, I felt like I was back in high school, called in to the principal’s office.

Didn’t help that he carried a naturally intimidating aura in his sharp, black suit and eye patch.

“I found nothing,” he said before I could ask. “No creature. No caretaker. Only what I guessed to be Remy’s blood.”

“Look, Mister Van Croix, I’m not lying--”

“Explanations are unnecessary, Miss Ravenshaw. I believe you.” Even casually leaning back in his chair, the man radiated the kind of power that electrified the space between us. “You mentioned earlier that you saw this creature before. Where, exactly?”

“The Misty Forest, or whatever you call it.”