WALL MEN: A Haunted House (The Wall Men 1)

He doesn’t respond, meaning the discussion is over.

I’m wounded beyond words. Why would he break me like this? No explanation. No chance to fix things. He’s just…slamming the door on me.

“Fuck you.” I slap him hard.

He covers the sting with his palm. “Better yet, go to your boyfriend. He’ll fuck you. But don’t come here again.”

Speechless, I watch him walk into his cottage, and I hear him lock the door.

I start to cry, feeling my wounds open wide. I march up to the main house, into Grandma Rain’s study, where I find her on her couch with a book in her hand.

“You will get over him,” she says, not bothering to look up.

“Why did you do that? You had no right to interfere.”

“Lake, you are a Norfolk.” She removes her glasses and sets the book in her lap. “And someday, you will learn how important that is. But for now, it is my job to keep you safe. Mine and Bard’s.”

“I’m a grown woman. I don’t need anyone to keep me safe.”

“Perhaps not, but protecting you is still our job, and Bard cannot do that if he is dead.”

I can’t believe her sometimes. “Seriously? Did you just threaten to kill Bard? We’re consenting adults! Wow, Grandma. Just…wow!”

“You are nineteen. He is forty-one and much too old for you.”

What’s it matter? “Don’t go all pious on me when I see you getting off on those fucking telenovelas every night. Those women are what? Like twenty? And all the men are grandpas?” It’s the only thing she watches now that she finally got a TV after all these years. “You’re a hypocrite.”

She smiles in that certain way that tells me she’s ready to throw down the hammer. This time, I don’t care.

“I love him, Grandma. I’ve loved him since I knew what love was. Why would you stand in the way of that?”

She gives me a sympathetic look, as if I’m some pathetic ignorant creature. “Because vows broken have serious consequences.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Present Day.

The strange pale woman takes me to the “water closet.” Unlike the one at the giants’ keep, this is clean and reminds me of something I might find in a medieval royal castle. I suppose because it is, though I’m unsure if this is really a castle. I haven’t seen more than the dungeon and a few rooms. Benicio says he’ll give me the tour after I’ve cleaned up, rested, and eaten.

How kind. Except, given what I’ve learned about this world, his hospitality makes me suspicious.

Why the one-eighty? Dungeon to guest of honor. I don’t trust the guy, even if he’s beautiful.

I inspect the troughlike stone sink along the wall and the sunken stone tub in the middle of the room. A dish with brown, oval-shaped soaps is set out on the floor by the tub.

I pick up one and sniff. Smells like dirt or clay. Monster soap. They like being clean but smelling dirty?

I turn a metal key on the wall like the woman showed me, and steaming hot water pours from tiny holes in the stone ceiling, collecting in the tub. What is it about the water coming from ceilings around here?

I’m not sure if I’m supposed to shower or soak, but the woman instructed me to thoroughly remove my offensive “human stink,” as she called it, for supper with the king.

Is it that humans smell bad in general to their kind or that I smell bad after all the stress and sweating?

Both. Probably both. I take a whiff of my pit. Yep. That’s ripe. Maybe I’m the monster.

I remove my sweats, snow boots, and giant shirt and step into the tub, under the waterfall. The hot water feels good on my aching muscles. I still haven’t recovered from my trip here.

What the hell happened to me anyway? I have so many questions, including if Alwar really brought me here to fight to the death on his behalf.

Benicio said this “Blood Battle” was how my mother died. Her “day of glory,” he called it. And did my father really die trying to stop her? I don’t know whom to believe—Grandma, the giants, or Benicio. One thing is for sure; everyone has been lying to me.

Even Bard…

My heart sinks. Out of all the people who’ve lied to my face, his lies hurt the most even if he made it clear over the years that he owes me nothing, and I made a point to punish him for the night he broke my heart.

I admit, I acted immaturely towards Bard for a long while. I’d strut around in the summertime in the shortest shorts possible. I’d leave my long dark hair down and play with it during dinner, trying to draw his attention. When that didn’t work, I’d sunbathe topless in the garden when I knew he’d be out there working. I wanted him to look at me and know what he’d lost. I even brought Dave home a few times and once let Bard “accidentally” find us making out in the barn. Like I said, it was not the right way to handle things, but I give myself a pass. I was young, stupid, and in love with an older man who’d rejected me.