Castle of the Wolf (35 page)

“Let her go at once,” Fenris snarled. Menace rolled off him in waves, and never had she seen such fury in his eyes. His features had tightened, his eyes narrowed, until he looked ready to rip Leopold’s throat out.

His brother only chuckled. His breath puffed against Cissy’s cheek, and she shuddered in disgust. Another chuckle, then his taunting voice: “Oh, no you don’t, big brother. You will stay where you are—or would you like to watch your wife’s brains sprayed all over the wall?” With the barrel of the pistol he caressed her ear, her temple. “I would be sorry to do it, of course, but—”

“Don’t you dare!” Fenris roared. Johann gripped his arm when he would have lunged forward.

“Leopold,” the Gräfin pleaded, tears streaming down her face. “Don’t do this. Let Celia go.”

“Oh, I will, Mother dear. I will. In time.” Abruptly, his tone changed. “Get me my horse,” he snapped. “And no tricks.”

Anna stared at him, stricken, her face turning even whiter than before.

“You bastard!” Fenris growled.

“Johann?” The Graf’s voice was devoid of intonation. “Go to the stables and bring Leopold’s horse.”

“Yes, Johann, do,” Leopold mocked. “And make it fast.”

The valet threw a worried glance at Cissy, then leaned forward to whisper something in Fenris’s ear before he hurried out of the room. For a moment, the silence was absolute.

The arm around Cissy’s middle tightened. “How cozy this is—is it not,
Liebchen
?” Leopold brushed his lips against her temple, laughed when she couldn’t suppress another shudder. “And now we will all follow dear Johann at a leisurely pace.” He continued to issue instructions and herded them out of the room, down the staircase and into the courtyard. “The perfect set-up for a family farewell.”

The wind whistled sharply around the nooks and crannies of the castle. The gargoyles stared at them with dead stone eyes. Cissy swallowed hard. The time that passed until Johann finally came back with the horse seemed endless.

“I will kill you for this,” Fenris forced out between gritted teeth.

“I don’t think so. Not while I am holding a loaded pistol against your wife’s head. And here’s trustworthy Johann. Well done, Johann, well done.” Leopold took a few steps forward and dragged Cissy with him. “It seems the time has come to say adieu. Shall we give them something to remember me by,
Liebchen
?” Before Cissy knew what was happening, he roughly forced her chin up and pressed a hard kiss onto her lips. With a laugh, he finally shoved her away and swung himself up into the saddle.

Cissy stumbled and would have fallen, but Fenris caught her in his arms. He enveloped her in a fierce hug. “Are you all right?” he whispered against her temple.

She nodded.

“Touching,” Leopold commented. “I would advise you not to send anybody after me.” His lips lifted into a feral smile. “This time I wouldn’t shoot into the air.” With a last glance at his family, he urged his horse on. “May you all rot in hell!” The next moment, he was out in the ward.

“Dear God,” the Graf muttered. “Dear God.”

Pressing her handkerchief tighter against her face, his wife hunched over, her pain so intense it nearly broke Cissy’s heart. She pressed her cheek against Fenris’s chest and closed her eyes. How she would have wanted to spare them this!

Cissy heaved a sigh.

She could only hope that Leopold had left their lives.

Forever.

Interlude

With stony eyes they watched as he rode down the ward, followed his progress.

Hatred coiled inside them, and a ripple of power whispered through the ancient walls of the castle.

And then…

…they
pounced
.

The horse whinnied shrilly in fear, but they did not want the horse. It raced out of the castle and disappeared into the forest.

Unperturbed, the trees hummed amongst themselves. After all, they had known the secret of Wolfenbach for centuries.

Chapter 24

Wearily, the family trudged back into the drawing room, where the Gräfin sank onto one of the settees, still crying silently.

“I am so sorry,” Cissy said softly.

The Graf shook his head. “Don’t be, my dear. Don’t be. I am only glad that he didn’t harm you. To imagine…” He rubbed his hand over his face before he went to sit down beside his wife. He took her in his arms. “My poor sweetheart. Who would have thought it?”

“Well…” Fenris grimaced wryly. “In one point Leo was right, though.” He shrugged. “I
did
ruin the family when I ran away to join the British army.”

His mother lifted her tear-stained face. “Fenris Ferdinand, don’t you dare talk such utter nonsense!” Despite her tears, her voice rang strong and clear. “It was only right that somebody tried to stop that mad little Frenchman! My dear boy, don’t you know how proud we are of you?”

Her husband cleared his throat and nodded.

Fenris stared at his parents. And while his brother’s vile tirades against him had never effected any show of emotion, he now visibly paled. He licked his lips. “But I didn’t just lose you your privileges. I lost you your other son.”

“Don’t be foolish,” the Gräfin said sharply. She wiped her nose. “Leopold managed to do that quite on his own.”

“Oh.” For once, Fenris seemed at a genuine loss for words. He shifted his weight. “Well…” He awkwardly lifted his shoulders.

“My dear boy.” His mother stood and went to him. She smiled a little as she did, tears swimming in her eyes. She rubbed his cheek, and then she reached up to draw his head down so she could press a kiss to his forehead.

Cissy ducked her head and averted her gaze. The exchange between mother and son seemed too intimate for her to witness. She heard them murmur among themselves, and then more loudly: “I think we should retire,” Fenris said, the tiredness in his voice unmistakable. “The doctor might have been right about the bedrest after all. And Celia…” He turned his head to look at her.

Cissy’s heart ached for him. Weariness had etched deep lines in his face, and he was pale beneath his tan. Yet, when their gazes met, his expression softened.

“Celia should rest, too.”

“Oh yes, she should.” The Gräfin looked at her intently. “What an ordeal this must have been for you, my dear. You are sure you are all right?”

Cissy nodded. “I am perfectly fine,” she reassured her.

Fenris raised a brow. “Will you help me upstairs?”

“Yes. Yes, of course.” She was with him in an instant, slipping her arm around his waist. His warmth seeped through her clothes, and she could feel the play of his muscles when he lifted his arm to settle it over her shoulders. She found the solid weight of it deeply reassuring.

The Gräfin gave them a trembling smile. “God bless you, my children.” She kissed Cissy’s cheek. “I know you will take good care of him,” she murmured.

Cissy and Fenris left the room, and Fenris’s breath fanned her temple. His movements were stiff and lacking their usual fluidity, but it was enough to finally have him alone at her side.

On the stairs his steps faltered, and he bowed his head. His fingers gripped the banister so tightly his knucklebones pressed white against the skin. Cissy stood beside him and studied his profile. She rubbed her hand slowly up and down his back in wordless comfort.

Finally he released his breath in a long sigh. “I didn’t know,” he said, without looking at her.

“Didn’t know what, my wolf?”

His turbulent green eyes met her gaze. “That he hated me quite that much.”

“I know.” She touched his shoulder.

A shudder ran through him. “My little brother…” His voice broke.

“Oh, my wolf.” Reaching up, she drew his head down into the curve of her neck, slipped her arms around his shoulders, and hugged him hard. “I am sorry,” she murmured, and stroked his hair. “I am so sorry, sweeting.” She kissed his temple.

He took a deep, shivery breath before he drew back to wipe his eyes. “And my parents… God.” He rubbed his hands over his face.

“It’s not your fault, Fenris.”

“One could most certainly argue with that.”

“You heard what they said.”

He snorted. “I did. And still…” A muscle jumped in his cheek as he locked his jaw. “All these years I thought… I thought…” His throat worked, and the sight of it wrenched her heart. Her arm slipped back around his waist to offer the comfort of her softness and warmth. For a moment, he leaned his forehead on the crown of her head. “I thought they secretly held it against me that I ran away,” he murmured, his voice muffled against her hair. “We never talked. I thought… I was sure they regarded it as dishonor.”

Her fingers squeezed firm flesh. “Because your brother spouted all that nonsense? Ah, how wrong you were.”

His body was warm and alive under her hands. Wonderfully alive. A reminder of how near she had come to losing him. How precious their time on earth was, and how short and fragile a human life.

Carpe diem.

Seize the day.

Cissy smiled a little. “Sometimes it helps to talk,” she whispered into his ear. “Don’t always be so eager to turn into a horrible demon wolf.”

A frown marred his forehead, and he lifted his face. “Demon wolf?”

“Fenris—the frightful wolf who is going to eat the sun.” She stroked his cheek, which was faintly shadowed with new stubble.

He looked at her blandly. “I’ve never had any intention to eat the sun.”

“Good.” She rose on tiptoe and pressed a kiss onto his jaw. “Because I wouldn’t let you.” She let her breath tickle his ear and got the rumble of a chuckle in response. His arms closed around her and caught her against him, and it was then that she knew that the beast had indeed been redeemed, and everything would be fine for them.

“Come,” he whispered to her. “Come with me.”

Together they went upstairs, and while they walked the curving stairs and twisting hallways, a feeling of deep peace filled Cissy.

Fenris stopped only once: at the old grandfather clock with the enchanted princess. He pressed a kiss on the crown of Cissy’s head before he stepped away from her. His hand on the latch of the glass door, he half-turned to Cissy, as if inviting her to share a secret. Silent and unmoving, the Fairy Princess observed them from above.

Suddenly, Fenris lifted the latch and opened the door. When his long finger touched the hand of the clock, Cissy knew what he would do, and all at once her heart was beating hard and fast against her ribs.

She watched how he turned the hand, turned and turned, until the clock struck twelve. Below, the screen slid aside to reveal the industrious dwarves, hacking at the stone down in their mines.
Click-clack, click-clack, click-clack.
Up on the face of the clock, the Roman eight turned inward, opening the window for the King of Dwarves, who looked yearningly toward his beloved above.

After the last stroke had sounded, the sweet little melody began. To the tinkling of the music, the sheep transformed into the Fairy Princess—

—and Fenris stopped the clock.

Cocking his head to one side, he shot a shy glance at Cissy, a hint of red darkening his cheeks. “Today they shall be happy,” he said softly, and her heart opened wide to draw him in and never let him go. “Because sometimes fairy tales do come true.”

Arm in arm they went to his room, but when Cissy wanted to step back upon reaching the door, he pulled her inside and slid the bolt closed.

“Fenris!” she protested.

“Hm?” With short, efficient movements, he opened the lacings of his shirt and pulled it over his head, wincing a little. Sunlight flooded the room and played over the muscles of his chest and arms, shimmered on the fine hairs of his chest and on the lovely whorl around his navel. A bolt of desire contracted Cissy’s stomach, and her heart almost jumped right out of her chest.

“What are you doing?” she whispered breathlessly.

With a thud, he sat down on the bed and pulled the boot off his foot. “What does it look like?” He glanced up, his eyes glittering hotly.

She swallowed hard. “The doctor said you need quiet and rest.”

The grin he gave her was decidedly roguish. “Oh, but I intend to be quiet. It is you who makes all that noise.” His voice dropped to a sensual purr. “All those little moans and groans and…”

Cissy felt a blush burning on her face, yet at the same time his deep, husky voice and the wicked words made another heat rise in her body. A pulse started in the secret place between her legs, which he had kissed and licked and…

Cissy sighed. Her body seemed to melt.

“Yes, exactly,” Fenris murmured throatily. “These little pants and sighs, and that beautiful scream when you finally come and clamp down on me.”

Cissy bit her lip to prevent herself from whimpering at the erotic memories he evoked. “You…you need rest. The doctor said…” His hot gaze devoured her, and her nipples tightened in response, rubbing painfully against the restraints of her stays.

“I need
you
,” her husband rasped. “I need to feel you in my arms, to know that you’re real. That you’re well.”

With an effort, Cissy concentrated on the instructions they had been given. “The doctor said you shouldn’t be doing anything strenuous.”

“Strenuous?” One raven-black brow shot up. “So I will just lie back, like this.” He sank against the pillows. The muscles in his stomach rippled delightfully. “And you will do all the work.”

Entranced, Cissy stepped nearer. “Me?”

“Oh, yes. Surely there must be something about this in your cards? What about the five of clubs? The eight of spades? The—”

“The ace of hearts.” The first card she had looked at on her campaign to seduce her husband. She took another step toward him, charmed and aroused in equal measure.

“Ahh. How fitting.” One corner of his mouth twitched, while his gaze roved over her face. “Then, will you come? To ease my pain.” With the back of his hand he stroked lightly over the bulge in his trousers. “You cannot want me to remain in pain?”

“No,” she breathed.

Their eyes met, clung.

He held out his hand. “Then come,” he said, his voice sure and strong. “Come, Celia von Wolfenbach. Cissy, my Cissy.” And he gave her one of his rare full smiles, which lit up his face and would forever capture her heart.