Chapter 15 Chapter 15
Chapter 15 Chapter 15
Vivian
The silver tissue silk gown didn’t just shimmer. It hissed against the marble floors as I descended the grand staircase like a warning.
The mask, as expected clung to my cheekbones like a frozen cobweb.
It obscured my modern anxieties and left my eyes exposed to the room’s predatory heat.
As Bess had stated, all eyes were on me as I descended, and it took so much not to walk carefree and head high like I would do in the future.
Adrian’s warning flashed in my mind and the tutorials of the regency tutor took charge, guiding my every move.
The ballroom was a mix of velvet, lace, and candle smoke. The ton moved with a rehearsed fluidity beneath the mask, a sea of predators and peacocks.
There was a strange electric hum in the air too. It felt like a sensation of being watched by something more that just eyes.
“You look as though you’ve stepped out of a dream, Miss Vivian. Or perhaps, a very beautiful nightmare.”
The voice echoed like silk sliding over a blade, and I managed not to flinch.
Turning around, a man dressed entirely in midnight black stood before me, his mask a simple, terrifying, and smooth visage of obsidian.
He didn’t bow, neither did he take my hand. He merely inclined his head, his presence possessing a gravity that rivaled Adrian’s.
“I don’t believe we’ve met,” I said, my voice steady despite the chill in the room.
“Baron Edmund Blackwell,” he murmured. “A dear, devoted friend of His Grace. I have been travelling, but I find that while I was away, Adrian had acquired a most… unusual treasure.”
He took a step closer, and the scent of ozone and burnt sage hit me beneath his expensive cologne, reminding me of the old woman in the woods.
I wanted to pay attention to it, but I decided to ignore it. His eyes, dark and unsettling intelligent seemed to look through my mask and skin, into the very core of my history.
“An unusual treasure for an unusual Duke,” I said, tilting my head. “Though, I was not quite aware I was an acquisition, Baron.”
Edmund’s lips twisted slowly with deception. “In this world, Miss Vivian, everything is an acquisition. Especially, things that do not belong to the time in which they reside.”
My heart raced. What does this man know?
Before I could process more of what he meant, a splash of emerald silk cut through the crowd, heading toward us.
Her beauty was undeniable, but sharpened by a cold, calculated elegance.
Her mask, a fan of green peacock feathers that made her eyes look like glittering emeralds, added to the calculated elegance.
“Edmund, you are monopolizing the guest of the hour,” she said, voice echoing like a tinkling bell that didn’t quite ring true.
Then she turned to me, her eyes raking my gown with a possessiveness that made my skin crawl. “You must be the cousin, Vivian. Lady Cordelia Hawthorne, pleased to make your acquaintance.”
“Lady Cordelia,” I gave a shallow curtsy. “Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
She smiled. “I have heard so much about your… unique origins.”
Of course. What was I expecting?
“I trust the rumors have been quite entertaining,” I replied with the same energy.
“Oh, they have been a positive feast,” Cordelia replied, her smile failing to reach her eyes.
“Though, I find it curious and slightly unusual… if I may put, that Adrian never mentioned a colonial branch of the family.”
“Oh?” I tilted my head, pretending to be surprised.
“Yes. Adrian is usually particular about his bloodline. But then, men are often distracted by a pretty face and a… novel accent” She gave me a creepy once-over.
When I didn’t reply, she took a step closer, her heavy tuberose perfume clashing with the Baron’s ozone.
“Do enjoy the ball, Vivian. But remember, the ton… it is like a garden. We admire the exotic blooms, but we only keep the ones that can that can survive the winter. I suspect you will find our climate quite… inhospitable.”
I suppressed a groan. The push wasn’t just coming from Adrian. The world he inhibited had followed suit.
I could feel the weight of their scrutiny. Edmund’s gaze was quiet and predatory, and Cordelia’s was a sharp, social malice.
Where the hell was Adrian, I thought.
The music in the room changed, and I seized the opportunity.
“If you’ll excuse me,” I said, heart pounding. “I believe I promised this dance to His Grace.”
I fled into the crowd, mind reeling. Edmund knew I didn’t belong. That was scary. But Cordelia? Cordelia thought I was in her way. That was scarier.
When I found Adrian, he was standing by the arched windows, the moonlight catching the silver thread of his waistcoat. When he saw me, his expression softened.
“You are trembling,” he said as he took my hand.
“Your friends are… intense,” I hushed, glancing into the crowd.
“They are not friends,” Adrian said. “They are obligations. But let’s keep our… focus on you tonight.”
He led me to the floor as the orchestra began to play a slow, haunting waltz. We moved, and the world around us seemed to blur.
“Adrian,” I murmured. “Why did you move the mirror? If you truly want me to be safe, why keep me from my only way home?”
“The mirror is a lie,” he pulled me closer to him, his breath hot against my ear. “It promises a return, but it demands a soul. I cannot lose you to the void.”
“But I don’t belong here,” I argued. My body betrayed me, leaning into him.
“If you stay, you will be a Duchess,” he muttered. “The woman who tamed the beast.”
For a moment, I let myself believe him. Then, I saw it.
A shadow, moving at the edge of the hedge maze. There was a woman in a red hood, standing perfectly still in the moonlight.
I pulled away from Adrian. “I… I need air. The heat is too much.”
“Vivian—” he blinked, his eyes flashing silver.
“Just a moment,” I was already backing away. “I’ll return, I promise.”
Outside, I ran towards the woman in the red hood, but as she turned, I saw that her face was a blank, wooden mask.
“The secret,” she hissed, her voice sounding like the hiss of a thousand whispers. “The secret for the mirror, historian. Give us the truth of your world, or perish in ours.”