Page 40 of Cursed (Blood Moon Pack #1)
A dele shows up after breakfast with the tailor and one of her seamstresses. Nori’s eyes widen at the sheer volume of clothing the three women are hauling into Ryland’s rooms. “Wow, Adele! Those are beautiful, but this is too much.”
“No, Nori; this is exactly enough,” Adele says, pushing in a rack of clothes. She looks at her brother and tells him, “Nori needs a couple of drawers and some closet space for all of these lovely outfits and shoes.”
Ryland watches in stunned silence. He hadn’t given much thought about what it would mean to have Nori living in his space.
His rooms have been a place of isolating solitude for so long.
Watching Adele roll in the racks of dresses and colorful, feminine fabrics, something utterly unfamiliar settles in his chest. Happiness.
For the first time in years, he is well and truly happy.
He turns to Nori, so grateful she’s here with him, and smiles. “Take as much space as she needs. Nori has a few things in that second dresser drawer over there, but you’re welcome to rearrange things however you see fit.”
“Come on, ladies,” Adele says cheerily. “Let’s load these into the closet.”
Nori’s emotions briefly overload Ryland’s senses—happy, surprised, nervous, and something like sad, but not quite.
Moving to stand directly in front of her, he places a hand on either side of her head, tilting her face up to look at him.
He gently kisses both cheeks, her nose, and finally, her mouth until he feels her calm and happy.
“This is a lot,” she whispers.
Adele yells from the closet, “I heard that! It’s way less than I have, Nori. Now get your ass in here and try on some of these beautiful new clothes! We need to make sure they fit.”
Ryland laughs. “I have some work to do. I am going to leave you women to do...whatever it is you are going to do.” He kisses Nori more thoroughly this time and smiles down at her. “You have fun trying on your new clothes. I’ll be back by dinner time. ”
“OK, Ryland, I’ll see you when you get back.” Nori grins up at him, amazed at the effect he has on her. She is totally relaxed and excited to see what’s in the closet.
As soon as he leaves, Adele opens the bottle of champagne she brought. Nori is a bit leery but agrees to have one glass. Having never tasted alcohol, she’s surprised by the bubbles, but she enjoys the warmth rolling through her chest as she takes her first couple of sips.
Nori puts on a fashion show while the other three women sit on the sofa, analyzing the fit of the new clothes and drinking their champagne.
She tries on a few dresses and casual outfits, admiring the soft fabrics. She hasn’t had proper clothes in years, much less clothes that actually fit her.
Adele and the seamstresses are delighted with the way the clothes look on Nori.
The colors Amara chose really complement Nori’s coloring.
Amara gets up at one point to check the lines of a pair of pants that Nori has on.
Nori waits patiently while the tailor tugs on the fabric and slides her fingers into the waistband.
Satisfied, Amara nods and sits back down on the sofa. “Those will definitely work for now.”
Nori returns to the closet to change into one more outfit but quickly walks back out with a pair of stilettos hanging from her fingers. She scoffs at Adele and says, “Thank you, but no way. ”
Adele frowns. “It was worth a shot. Hand them over.” Breelynn takes the shoes, and Adele says, “You’ll have to learn to wear them eventually, but for now, stick to the new tennis shoes, flats, and boots.”
Taking a sip from her glass, Adele holds up Nori’s leggings. “Now, Nori. Leggings have a time and place, either for exercise or loungewear, but definitely not for wandering around the castle. Go pick out a new outfit to wear today. And don’t forget the new underwear, for goodness’ sake!”
Nori smiles and trots back to the bedroom. From her new drawer, she takes out a black, lacy bra and panty set. Next, she heads to the closet and settles on a pair of black, fitted ankle pants with black flats, a white, long-sleeved, fitted knit shirt, and a fuzzy gray cardigan.
When she walks back into the sitting room, the three women applaud. Amara and Breelynn tell her how lovely she looks.
Adele’s face breaks out into a wide grin. “That outfit is great, Nori. You look very chic.” She looks at the other women and raises her glass. “Ladies, I think our work here is done!”
Amara clinks her glass with Adele. “This is the most fun I’ve had in a while.”
Breelynn smiles and nods. “We should do fashion shows with all our clients.”
“Definitely!” Amara exclaims .
Nori admires her outfit in a mirror and turns to the three ladies. “I can’t thank you all enough. These clothes are wonderful!”
Adele hugs her tightly. “We are having family dinner tonight to celebrate the fact that Zayne lived. I’ll see you and Ry at Zayne’s later.”
The three women gather their things and their empty clothing racks and file out of the doors. Nori hears them laughing on their way down the hall.
N ot quite ten minutes later, there’s a knock at the door. Nori runs to answer it. “Did you forget something?”
She opens the door, and instead of Adele, she sees a Guard standing there. “Oh! I thought you were Princess Drakemoor. Can I help you?”
“Good afternoon, Miss Valcrest. I am Guard Bergeron. Prince Drakemoor asked me to escort you to a late afternoon lunch in the solarium.”
Nori’s heart skips a beat. “Really? That sounds great! And where is the Prince?”
“He said to tell you he is finishing up some work and will meet you there shortly.” He pauses. “If you’ll follow me, please.”
Nori looks around the room for a moment to see if there’s anything she needs. “Sure. Lead the way.”
Nori follows the Guard down Ryland’s stairs and then another set of stairs, turning right to walk down a hallway. At some point, she notices she hasn’t been to this part of the castle before.
She’s trying to memorize the route when the Guard says, “If you’ll follow me down these stairs, please. The solarium is right outside the door at the bottom.”
“OK.”
Nori asks Aylin, “ What’s a solarium, exactly ?”
Aylin replies, “ I think it has to do with flowers, like a greenhouse or something. ”
Nori is halfway down the stairs when the Guard stops.
Surprised, she says, “Oh! I’m—"
The Guard plunges a needle into her neck and catches Nori as she falls unconscious.