Chapter 14 New Dresses - Adele's POV
My face turned a bright shade of pink as I thought about my earlier thoughts. I had wondered what it would feel like to have him against my bare flesh. No wonder he was acting the way he was.
I would be too if I had heard someone thinking of me like that. Our eyes met again, his face blank as he stared at me with wide eyes.
“Fine, I’ll try this on just to be sure,” I said, snatching up the first one and heading to the bedroom.
As the door closed behind me, I breathed out a sigh. “Are they always like this? Is this what I have to look forward to for the rest of my life?”
“Of course we are, sweetheart,” a man’s voice cooed on the other side of the shut door. “You’ll get used to it.”
I tried to remember which one the voice belonged to, but my mind was drawing a blank. It wasn’t Tyler, Arwen, Craven, or even Brantley. Those I remembered clearly.
“I think I scared her,” the man whispered.
“Well, it would scare me too if I had a man standing on the other side of the door when I was changing,” Tyler snapped. “Move away from the door, Dom.”
I rolled my eyes. So, that was Dom. He had spoken before, but this didn’t sound like him.
I looked down at the dress in my arms and realized I should get started. This one was a deep blue. As I slipped it over my head, it fell on the floor, covering me completely. I turned toward the mirror in the corner of the room, admiring how it looked on me. It hugged every curve, covered everything appropriately, and I didn’t feel like I stood out as much.
But deep down, I felt out of place with something this nice. I finally looked at my face, noticing the dark circles under my eyes.
With a grim smile, I checked the dress once more, then headed back to the living room before I could talk myself out of it. The door slowly creaked as I pulled it open, and then I found them. They were all standing up, waiting for me to come back.
“I’m ready,” I whispered.
Darren was the first to come up to me, studying the dress as he motioned for me to twirl. “That deep blue is beautiful on you, but I wonder what you’d look like in the yellow one?”
“Yellow one?” I asked, then my gaze caught on one in the designer’s arms. “Yellow wouldn’t be my color. It clashes with my red hair too much. So does orange and red, but I think most of the dresses will work, since there seems to be an assortment of colors.” My eyes caught on the dresses again, quickly filing away what colors Craven had ordered. There were…so many and it looked like the pile had grown since I went to the bedroom to put this one on. “Wait, how many did Craven order?”
“Fifteen,” Tyler admitted, shaking his head.
I looked at Craven, my eyes widening. “Why fifteen? Why would I need that many? And how did you get them made so fast?”
I glanced at the one who made them and he only shrugged. It looked like I wouldn’t get much of a response there.
I thought back to the clothes I had back home. All of them were basically like the one I had on. At least, the ones I had for summer. Winter ones had a little wool, because fates forbidden we died before doing our duties to the coven. But they were all dull.
“Stop that,” Craven said, his voice sharp. “Stop thinking about them and what they made you do. This is now and you are allowed to wear whatever your heart desires. If you want to wear rainbow patterns or something with sparkles, then you can. You name it, it can be done.”
I sighed, wondering if it would always be this way. “Thank you,” I mumbled.
“So, all the dresses are made the same size, so you don’t have to put another one on,” Darren said softly. “She’ll take them.”
“Good,” the man said, leaving the clothes on the nearest couch. “With that said, thank you and I will leave. It looks like you all are about to be busy.”
He left before I could ask him what he meant.
“Busy? What are we doing?”
“Are you ready to go?” Darren asked, his voice low.
I looked down at my feet, realizing they were bare, and I had nothing to wear. But then my gaze dragged across the floor to their feet. All of them weren’t wearing shoes. The embarrassment faded as I realized most of theirs were dirtier than mine.
“You all don’t wear shoes?”
Craven chuckled. Tyler held his back. A few of the others just stared.
Darren was the only one watching me. “No, Rose. We don’t. Why would we when this is what nature intended? Everyone in the village runs around barefoot. The only time shoes are worn is when hunting through the woods.”
“This has to be a dream.”
Five of them headed for the door, while Craven hung back. “I’ll be here when you all get back,” he whispered as I started toward the door with them. “I’ll take a nap.”
I strolled toward the door, watching their every move, but then my eyes met Craven’s again. He was staring intently at me, his eyes barely moving from my face. I wasn’t sure if he was fascinated or wanted to kill me. It made me nervous, but I remembered what they said.
I was precious to them.
He just grinned, so I took it that was my answer.
Darren ushered me out the door along with the others. I broke eye contact with Craven and stepped into the light. As soon as I adjusted to the bright sun streaming overhead, I could see people out in the dirt streets. No one had on shoes, which made me feel even better.
It was just as they said.
But out here, it was so much better. Pink and purple leaves adorned the nearest tree. There were some trees with bright green leaves behind that and surrounding the entire village. In the distance, past the houses and shops, there was a forest full of various shades of leaves. I didn’t know what to think. All the trees around the coven’s lands were a dark shade of green. None were this vibrant and colorful.
Then my eyes darted to the left, taking in some of the shops and houses. They were fancier than what we had and appeared to be better made. Shacks didn’t seem to exist here. Then I saw a few that had trunks like trees and leaves with a door in the middle of the trunk at the bottom.
“Are houses made of actual trees here? Like not just made from lumber, but made into them?” When I turned, I looked back and noticed the outside of the house. It wasn’t just any ordinary house, but was inside a tree.
Though I had stepped out earlier, I was in too much shock to even realize what it was. Now, it wa clear.
Darren grinned while the others nodded. “We live in the largest tree that is seen by all. Mostly, you can thank Craven for it. Since he is like a king, he gets the best spot.”
My eyes locked with his, and I noticed a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. I smiled, but quickly turned around to keep looking at the village. “Is yours the most secluded, too? It seems like we are the only ones with a yard and plenty of trees.”
“This is nothing. There are some houses a little further into the woods that are more secluded than ours, but no one builds outside the boundary line surrounding the village. That’s why in some places it looks more cramped than others. It’s safer together.”
I took my first step onto the cobbled path and followed right behind them as they passed me. The smell of something sweet filled the air, making me turn my head to the right to get a better idea of what I was smelling. “That smells wonderful.”
“Oh, that’s our bakery. Sheila makes the best cookies. She’s a witch like you.”
I recognized the name, but I didn’t know her. “When did she arrive on the Isle?”
Dom turned and looked at me over his shoulder, his cheeky smile being the first thing I noticed. “She arrived twenty years ago, so probably before you were born or thought of.”
“I’m older than twenty, thank you, but I wasn’t that old. Her name sounds familiar.”
Tyler started toward the bakery, but Dom grabbed him. “We’ll take her to meet Sheila after she has seen all the village. Right now, she’s probably knee-deep in dough and trying to get everything ready. Going now would only end in our doom.”
“Why’s that?” I asked, following them.
“Oh, she’s always looking for help,” Tyler said with a laugh. “Once she gets you, there is no escape until she decides to let you go.”