Chapter 6: Stonewater Hall

Stonewater Hall sits on a black rock above the river, with a staircase wide enough for a cart.

We came up it at dusk, the five of us in a line.

Dad walked first, then Mum with her arm through mine, then Emmett, and behind us the young warrior and his two friends in borrowed coats.

Candles burned in every window.

Vampire guards in long grey coats stood on every landing, and they watched us climb without a sound.

"Don't let them see you're nervous," Emmett murmured.

"I'm not nervous."

"Your hand is crushing Mum's arm."

I loosened my grip.

"Sorry," I said.

"It's fine," Mum said. "I'm a wolf. We heal."

Halfway up, the heel of my shoe caught on the edge of a stone step.

I was four months along, carrying low and big, and my balance had been going for weeks.

I pitched sideways.

A hand closed around my elbow and set me upright before I'd finished falling.

It was a large hand, warm, with black ink running up the back of it and under a rolled cuff.

I looked up.

He was a head taller than me, with black hair and dark eyes, and he wore a dark shirt open at the collar.

More ink curved up his forearm and over his shoulder and disappeared under the cloth.

He wasn't smiling.

He was looking at my face as if he was searching it for something.

"Lady Rooke," he said. His voice was low and very quiet. "Mind the stairs."

"Thank you."

"Dorian Wray." He didn't let go of my elbow. "You're the host's guest tonight. The hall is yours."

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