Page 195 of Cursed Evermore

“What else did you do with Garrick?” Wolfe’s stare turned colder and flickers of his shadows curled about his arms.

“We just talked and drank.” And I was guessing I drank far too much. What I was experiencing was a dreadful hangover.

“Is that all you two did?” He looked me up and down with the scrutiny of a wild cat.

“Yes. That'sall. What do you think we were doing?”

Wolfe took a drag of his cigar and blew out a ring of smoke. “Not sure. That’s why I’m asking.” His voice dipped low as his gaze roamed over my breasts.

I was covered as best as possible, but he was looking at me as if I stood here naked.

I needed to find my dress, or something better than his sheet and shirt to preserve my dignity. I searched around the room but came up with nothing, just his things, which called to me to get a better look.

This was his room, one of the places that were off limits to me. Every time I went by the hallway that led up here, I wondered what I'd find inside. Now I was in here with him, looking for my clothes, so I could head out as quickly as possible.

“Have you seen my dress?” I looked back at him, feeling irritated that he was still watching me with that cool edge.

“No.”

He was acting strange, and I didn't like it. Something else must have happened. “You haven't seen my clothes at all?”

“Your guess to its whereabouts is as good as mine, Ziyka.”

I looked away from him, and my gaze settled on a bottle of wine on his desk. It was nearly finished, but something about it held my attention.

In a daze, I walked over to it, and the moment I touched it, a rush of memory flooded back to my mind.

Yes, I remembered drinking with Garrick, but what happened after...

Blessed Mother.

I'd lost my mind. I wasn't just talking to Garrick about Emabelle as I drank. I'd drowned my sorrows in several mugs of ale. Then I began casting spells Arielle had taught me on things in the house. They were supposed to be basic spells to help my magic, but I turned them into something else.

The pots and pans in the kitchen grew legs and ran away. I'd turned the chandeliers into swallows, and they flew around the room, then I conjured an army of frogs that came leaping through the door. I was out of control.

Garrick brought me up here, and that's when I really lost it. Somehow, I thought performing the few spells had transformed me into an all-powerful mage, and I set out to portal home.

I threw a bunch of words together in an attempt to create a spell, and out of my hands came smoke that turned the clothes on my body to ashes. Then the room was covered in blackness, and I was terrified a wraith was going to come after me.

That's when my drunken mind thought it would be a good idea to grab Wolfe's shirt and wrap myself in it. The safety of his scent wouldsomehowprotect me. When the smoke cleared, I found this bottle of wine in the cupboard. I thought it was the same as what I'd had downstairs, so I drank it.

The thing tasted like swamp water and dirt, but it gave me a mellow buzz that chilled me out.

At least it made me forget for a little while. Now every word I'd said to Wolfe suddenly replayed in my head, and fragments of last night swarmed around me, fitting together like pieces of a puzzle.

“You remember, don't you?” Wolfe's voice invaded my mind with certainty and quiet conviction.

I looked up at him and recalled him holding me, whispering gentle words, his hands tender instead of cruel.

The things I'd said. Gods, I told himeverything. As if I hadn't humiliated myself enough.

“I have to go.” Forget finding my dress; I no longer cared what I was wearing or how I looked coming out of his room wearing his shirt and sheet. I had to leave.Now.

I padded across the floor and rushed to the door. I opened it, but it snapped back shut. I opened it again, and the same thing happened, but this time, it locked from the outside. I realized straightaway that magic was at work. Wolfe's magic.

With my jaw clenched, I turned around, giving him a bewildered stare. “What are you doing?”

“You're not leaving the room dressed like that.”