“Hello, Rhapsody.”
It was Emily who finally broke the silence, and Rhapsody, after a moment’s hesitation, decided to close the door before speaking. If there was laundry to be aired, then it must always be kept privately.
“You must be surprised to see me,” Emily remarked as she perched herself on the writing desk and crossed her legs.
“I am not, actually.”
Emily’s eyes narrowed.
“I know who you are.”
“Then I suppose there is nothing else to be said, is there?” When Emily’s lips stretched into a smile, it was then Rhapsody saw the other girl’s fangs.
Emily was a vampire?
Then…Emily was not her Master’s other heartkeeper?
“My sincere apologies, Emily. It appears I was mistaken. I thought you were someone else.”
“Very funny,” Emily sneered. “Also, nothing you’re going to say will make a difference.” The other girl jumped to her feet, and as Emily moved towards her, Rhapsody moved to the other side until they started circling each other like dancers about to take the floor…or fencers about to duel to the death.
“I saw you with that enforcer this afternoon, do you know?”
“Is that why you wish to kill me?”
She came to a halt by the dresser, and Emily halted in her steps as well.
“That was another reason for me to kill you,” Emily clarified, “but what signed your death sentence was being the Marquis of Sangre’s pet. Sooner or later, he’d find my scent on you, start questioning where it’s from…and that would’ve been it.” Emily saw Rhapsody uncapping a bottle of perfume. “What are you doing?”
Rhapsody sprayed it at the other girl.
“What the—-” Emily stared at her incredulously. “Are you mad? Or do you think perfume kills—-what the fuck?”
Because this time, Rhapsody had tossed the contents out of an ink bottle at the other girl’s face.
“You are mad,” the other girl screeched.
Rhapsody backed away but only so she could reach for the bottle of lotion in her dresser and uncap it. She took aim at Emily’s face and squeezed hard. The cream squirted out and landed on the other girl’s cheek, but this time it only had the other girl shaking her head.
“Oh, just go on with it,” Emily dismissed irritably with a wave of her hand. “You have obviously gone mad, and it amuses me to see what else you would try to save yourself.”
That much was true, Rhapsody thought. She had no one else to rely on but herself. She had no blood bond that would link her to the marquis, and if she were to scream for Lord William’s help, the shapeshifter would surely come to her rescue…but not before Emily had already killed her.
Thank goodness then, Rhapsody thought, there appeared to be an advantage of Emily underestimating her because she was Not Normal.
Emily raised a brow when she saw Rhapsody reach for the paper knife. “You plan to kill me with that?”
“I plan to cut your cheek,” Rhapsody found herself uttering a small lie for the first time, “to make you appear unattractive.”
“A petty desire before dying,” Emily mused. “It makes sense, even though I wouldn’t have expected it from you.”
“Did you also kill Mr. Walker?”
“Is this your way of delaying the inevitable? Or do you really think anyone would come to your rescue fast enough before I can kill you? It’s not possible, you know.”
“I know it’s not possible.”
“And your heartbeat tells me you’re not lying.”
“Yes.” She saw how this made Emily even more complacent and her gratitude grew. Thank goodness she was Not Normal!
“Fine, then,” Emily said airily. “I shall answer all your questions before I kill you. Yes, I killed Mr. Walker.”
“Why?”
“I needed a fake identity here, so I seduced Mr. Walker into forging my papers for the school. After that, I made sure he would remain permanently useful by making it seem as if a human had killed him.”
“So that when other people went missing,” Rhapsody decuded, “the authorities would be looking for a human suspect.”
Emily laughed. “Clever, was it not?”
“It was,” Rhapsody agreed. Rather cold-bloodedly cruel, too, but that was another story.
“Any other questions before I kill you?”
“May I cut your face first?” Rhapsody asked politely.
Emily rolled her eyes. “You truly are as odd as they say you are. Or maybe just mad and out of your mind with fear.” She crooked her finger at Rhapsody. “Come then.” She turned her head sideways to offer her cheek. “Go ahead and take your best—-”
Rhapsody swung her arm up without warning and made a deep, straight cut at the other girl’s cheek.
Chapter Sixteen
Mr. Whyte frantically waved his arms in the air as soon as he saw the Marquis of Sangre striding past the school gates. “Milord, a moment!” He ran to the marquis, and unused as he was to physical exertion, was panting by the time he reached the nobleman.
“I had just come back from town,” Mr. Whyte wheezed. My assistant…”