Unconventional

Or it could be breaking into the keep right now.

I’d locked the front door. I knew I did. Yet the more I thought about it, the less sure I was.

Should I run down and check it?

FUCK that.

Peering out the window one last time, I ran to my bedroom door and bolted it shut. It was something I’d never done under ordinary circumstances, as evidenced by how hard it was to move the rusty bolt.

But these weren’t ordinary circumstances.

I sat there five whole minutes, then ten. Waiting. Listening intently, for any sounds of movement on any of the floors below.

But nothing.

Finally I crawled into bed, safe in the knowledge that if I did fall asleep, I was a pretty light sleeper. If anything moved, anywhere out in the hallway, I would know it well before it got to my door.

I kept the fireplace poker in bed with me just in case, though.

Seventeen

JULIAN

“Sleep with me tonight.”

Her arms were crossed, her hair swept back into a tight ponytail. The way she said it, I couldn’t tell if it were a statement or a request.

“Why? What’s going on?”

“I saw someone last night,” she said. “Here. At the castle. Out in the field.”

She pointed, and I followed her arm. What she was saying was troubling.

“Who was it?”

“I don’t know,” said Madison. “They were far enough away that I couldn’t really tell. But they were moving really weird. Like… shifting, or something.”

“Are you sure it was a person?”

Her pretty-little eyebrows knit together, creating a crease right between her eyes. They were still blonde, but darker in color than the rest of her hair.

“Could it have been an animal?” I pressed.

She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Well did it have two legs or four?”

Madison’s expression appeared even more perplexed now. She looked down for a moment before answering.

“For some reason… I think it had three.”

I slid my trowel into my belt and wiped the sweat from my eyes. It was already hot, and it was still very early.

“Maybe it was a wounded deer,” I guessed. “You said it was moving strangely.”

“Yes. But still…”

Her words trailed off, allowing me to get a good view of her. She was stunning. As beautiful today as she was every day, although her eyes seemed a little heavy from lack of sleep.