Protected by Stone (A Paranormal Romance Novel) (10 page)

Does he not wear a shirt under that?

He buttoned the front quickly, not looking my way. “Miss Blooms, what happened to you?”

“I'm not sure,” I sighed. Thinking about the hallway that never ended set my temples pounding. “I got lost, but not
normal
lost. No matter where I went, I kept running into this tiny little door.”

Now he was watching me. “A door?”

“Yeah, do you know what I'm talking about?”

Folding his collar, he strolled my way with his jaw set tight. “There are many doors here. I don't know if I've seen a 'small' one, exactly.”

Frowning in thought, I watched him approach. “It was like it was the only door. Is this stuff going to happen here a lot?”

“Tessa never ran into such troubles,” he said.

Folding my arms, I looked away briskly. “I know, I know. She was amazing, I get it.” He froze, like I'd said something hurtful. It was all I could do to change the subject. “I didn't know there was a garden in here.”

“Yes, it's a special gem.”

“You like it here, I take it?”

His response was instant. “It's my favorite room.” He appeared surprised by his own words.

Is that what a bashful Grault looks like?

Brushing past me, he headed out into the hall beyond. “Did you get everything done in town, Miss Blooms?”

I didn't want to be left alone. Instantly, I was at his heels. The hallway looked deceivingly normal, guilty only of being poorly lit. Tessa's lantern solved that. “Everything is official, yes.”

“And the groceries?”

“Right, those. I sort of lost them on the way here.”

Grault halted in front of me, making me pull up short. It was too easy to fall over my own tongue as I tried to explain. “I mean—uh—I put them down when everything was getting creepy around me, so I imagine they're somewhere deep in one of these...”

He stepped aside, giving me a good, clear view. The hallway we stood in was short, the familiar main entry just ahead. That on its own would have been shocking, but I could see what Grault wanted to show me.

There, sitting in a wet puddle on the floor a mere few feet away, were my plastic bags of thawing meat and other goodies.

Gaping openly, I jabbed my finger at the stuff. “How... but this place...”

Shaking his head at my display, he scooped up the bags and continued walking. “It doesn't matter. Let's hope none of this spoiled. I'll show you where the kitchen and larder are.”

My head was a mess. Suspending my views and beliefs to allow for the hand-waving assumption that the house was 'just' the kind of place where shrinking halls that went on forever could happen was... well.

It's giving me an awful migraine.

Dealing with the shadowy inside of the home was fraying my nerves to the brink. With the orange light swaying in front, he led me to the stairwells. From there, into a window lined hallway I'd never noticed before. It sat under the walkways above us, and as we passed through it, I caught glimpses through the glass of other parts of the building.

Is there... a courtyard out there?
The size of the house had felt generally 'big' to me. But seeing hints of it extending away into the dark night made me wonder just how large it all was. It had looked like a broken three-story from outside. Here, I felt I was touring the inside of an old mansion.

At the end of the hall, there were two paths. Grault didn't slow; he headed down to the left, so I followed. I was disoriented, made worse by my curiosity of the backyard. “Grault, what's behind the house?”

“I can show you later, if you like. It's mostly hills. Come, in here.”

Strangely dejected by his claim of boring hills, I hurried behind him.
Am I getting spoiled, expectant, about this place? To think that a big backyard in a pretty countryside could be disappointing. Who am I, suddenly?

Together, we entered a large dining room. It was obvious what it was, the long tables stretched from one side to the next. Somehow, seeing such an empty place, it felt sadder than any other room so far. If I hadn't met my odd guests already, I would never have thought anyone lived there at all. “Does no one use this? It's so big!”

“Would you sit and eat in the dark, in here, as it is?” he asked, his eyes flashing in the glow of my lantern.

Tightening my lips, I followed him through into another wide doorway. “No, you're right. I guess I—oh!” I should have expected it was coming, but even so, the kitchen surprised me.

Turning in a circle, lantern held high, I gazed over the dusty counters, the brick oven, the pots and pans dangling from hooks. Everything metal looked red in the light, everything else the color of dirty clouds.

I saw what I was sure was an old stove on one side. On the opposite wall was a large, rounded tank, sitting like a boat that had been run aground. It reminded me
slightly
of the stove, but I didn't know what it was. “This is so big! How did Tessa do it all, run all of this? Surely not on her own.”

Grault tugged open a thick door in the corner. Beyond it, the room was jet black. “She did everything, yes. Tessa used her magic for it all.”

“Right, magic,” I said quietly.
I don't like how that's the answer for everything.
“I should tell you something.”

He called out to me from behind the open door. It sounded like he was in a well. “What's that, Miss Blooms?”

I leaned around the corner to see a set of stairs. They led down into a large cellar, the walls lined with shelves. From the ceiling, grisly hooks dangled.
Ah, this must be the larder.
“Well, I was never much of a cook at the best of times. I'm getting a gut feeling you're expecting me to be like my grandmother, to do everything she did with no help?”

He emptied the grocery bags on the shelves, arranging everything carefully. “That's correct.”

“Yeah. I thought so.” Sighing loudly, I rubbed my arms. The larder was uncomfortably chilly, I could see my breath even in the low light. “I'm not Tessa. I don't know any magic, and I'm not confident I can make anything but toast. I might need some help with all of this.”

He ducked under a hook, a chicken in one wide hand. “Miss Blooms, I'm not sure what you expect me to say. You're going to need to learn how to care for this place, its guests. How you do that is up to you.”

How I do that is up to me...

“Anyway,” he murmured, eyeing the stock of the larder with frustration, “why did you buy so little? Was my list not clear?”

“Oh, uh. Grault, you didn't expect I would bring back that much food, did you?” The look on his face told me he did. “You sent me on an impossible task!”

“Not impossible at all.” He rubbed his scalp,  considering me thoughtfully. “I'm sure you could have found a way.”

He wasn't making me any more confident in my new role. Turning, I pushed out of the room, wanting to escape both him and the cold. In the process, I banged my knee on the top step. “Ah! Dammit!”

Grault appeared by my side, and though he looked concerned, I twisted away. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” I grumbled, rubbing my leg gingerly. “Just these dumb broken lights. I'm sick of them.”
I hate it, but how do I fix it? How do I fix any of this? I'm not Tessa, I don't even know if I can be.

He reached down for my leg. I sidestepped, not meeting his eyes. To his credit, he didn't comment on my petulant move. “Maybe you should start your duties tomorrow, Miss Blooms. It is getting late tonight, things can wait a bit longer.”

“Fine,” I said to the ceiling, gripping the lantern's handle tight. “Show me where I'm staying in this mess of a house.”

It wasn't far. I spent the entire time glaring at the floor, focusing just on Grault's shoes.

If he'd asked me why I was upset, I wasn't sure I'd have an answer. The sourness in me came from a fearful place.

Why did I decide to do this? Why does it have to be my responsibility?

I'm not a caretaker, he should have realized that when he saw my apartment.

And I'm not...

I'm not a witch.

I'm not magic.

“Here,” he said, gesturing up a staircase in the circular room. “It's up here.”

I lifted my head, focusing on the railing above. “Isn't that where all the tenants are?”

“Of course,” he said flatly. He wouldn't look at me. I saw only the hard side of his face. “Now, follow me, Miss Blooms.”

The wood creaked under our steps. I thought I would have felt more nervous, ascending into a place full of the weird beings I'd seen that morning. Instead, everything felt mulled, blocked out by my smoldering bitterness.

Lined with rich green carpet, the upstairs was a giant, railed circle of hallways. Grault led me down the one directly opposite the stairs. Passing the other doors, the silence weighed on me more than anything.

How can such a big place, full of so many... so many tenants, be so quiet?

“Here,” he said, pausing outside a room that looked the same as all the others. Nudging it open, I moved the lantern around to gauge the inside. It did, in fact, remind me of a hotel room.

A single bed sat in the middle, the blankets dull yellow in the dark. I wondered when they'd last been washed, but decided not to dwell on it.
Who am I to judge? I don't know when I washed my blankets last, either.

On the middle of the mattress, I spotted my backpack. I thought Grault must have brought it there after I'd left it sitting in the entrance.

He leaned on the door frame, speaking over my head. “There's a bath in the corner. Unfortunately, without the furnace running in the kitchen, there's no hot water.”

So that's what that big metal thing was.

“There are also no toiletries—”

“I bought some,” I said quickly, jingling my purse where I'd stuffed my own private purchases.

Grault closed his mouth, meeting my eyes a scant second. Then, he showed me his back.

“Wait,” I blurted, not catching myself in time.
What am I doing?
The big man halted, hands resting in fists by his hips. He didn't respond, I knew he was waiting for me to make the effort. “Where's your room? In case I... need something.”

The shift of his chin was subtle. “You don't need to know that.”

“Why are you being so close-lipped?” The edge of my tongue was a razor. “You went from assuring me you'd answer my questions, to not telling me anything again!”

“It's an answer you don't need. Goodnight, Miss Blooms.”

So cold, he's being so cold.
“What is it, what did I do?”

He held his position, then walked down the hall. “Good
night
, Miss Blooms.”

The door banged loudly, swinging shut with the brisk strength of my anger. It wasn't my most mature moment.

Sitting heavily on the bed, I set the lantern by my ankle. My forehead fell into my hands.
Dammit. Dammit dammit. What's wrong with him?

What's wrong with me?

Lying back, springs rustling, I spread my arms like I was making a snow angel. The lantern, partially blocked by the blankets, cast funny shapes on the flat surface above me.

Everything ached. Some had to be from the exertion, my trip to the house, into town. The rest from my panicked run in the halls, fleeing that tiny door.
My head hurts, the backs of my eyes. Like I've been screaming for hours.
I suspected it was from frustration.

Rolling onto my side, I let my eyelashes brush my skin. The backs of my lids had a funny orange and purple light show from straining in the darkness.
I think I disappointed Grault. But how could I not? He apparently expected me to come here, to be some amazing magical replacement for Tessa. To take care of everything, and I'm just...

I'm none of that.

Why am I here?

Twisting on the blanket, I buried my face in the stiff pillows. They smelled like dust and dying flowers.
That's the real question, isn't it? Why did I agree to do this? Was it just for the money?

A thought hit me, making me reach for my backpack. It didn't take much time to find what I was looking for.

In my hands, Tessa's letter felt fragile.

With the flickering orange lantern helping me, I unfolded it and read the words.

It's because of this. A scribbled note from someone I never met.
My mind filled with the image of the painting downstairs.
Someone who looked so much like me.

Someone everyone here expects me to be.

And someone my mother wanted me to avoid.

It was a big jumble, I had no answers to any of it. Was it possible for me to become like my grandmother?

Did I even want to?

With my arm across my eyes, blackness seeping into my vision, my ability to think weakened. So much had happened, and in such a short time.

But I knew one thing for certain

If I want to get more answers, I'm going to need to get them from Grault.
Thinking of his hard frown, his serious dark eyes, made my lungs struggle. Especially when I recalled how he'd looked, sitting so peacefully in that overgrown garden.

He'd promised me answers.
I thought so much about getting information about Tessa, this house, the weird creepy guests...

But not about him.

I'd been conversing with him so casually, but knew almost nothing about the man. What was his relation to Tessa, what was his job here?

Another mystery in the pile. Something else to focus on.

But for now...

For now I needed to sleep.

––––––––

M
y dream was strange.

First, I
knew
it was a dream. That wasn't common for me. Normally, I didn't recall my dreams at all. When they occurred, I never felt very aware.

Now, thrashing in water, blinded by blurry vision, I was very aware. I had the distant realization that I was drowning, coldness turning my limbs numb and useless.

My world was green and black, falling further as I sank.
Weird. I don't know when I went swimming last.

From above, I heard a noise. I didn't know it, didn't recognize the source. But somehow... somehow it filled me with relief.