Chapter 8: Not for Headaches

I lowered the cup before it touched my lip.

"I'm not thirsty," I said.

"Nonsense, darling. It's only tea."

"Then drink it with me."

I held it out.

Honoria's smile stayed exactly where it was.

"I don't take tea in the morning."

"You've never taken it," I said. "Not once. I've been drinking it for a year, and I have never seen you pour one for yourself."

"I have a delicate stomach."

"That's funny. So do I."

I set the cup on the table with a click.

The surface shivered and went still.

"I stopped getting your tray in August," I told her. "I slept better. I woke up clear for the first time since the wedding."

"Did you?" she said, softly.

"I thought it was the country air."

"The Winter Court is very bracing."

"I wasn't at the Winter Court. I was at Hollin Hall, drinking nothing." I took a breath. "Funny what happens in ten weeks without it."

Honoria put the kettle back on the stove.

She did it slowly and carefully, and she did not turn around.

For a second I thought I had said too much, and my heart hammered so hard I felt it in my teeth.

Merrick was standing at the top of the cellar stairs, a shape in the shadow.

I gave him the smallest shake of my head.

Honoria turned.

Her face had not changed.

She came across the kitchen, and I did not step back, because stepping back would have told her something.

"My poor girl," she said. "You're shaking."

Keep reading free with an account. Start Vampires Can't Have Children, So I Left Carrying the King's Triplets from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.