Chapter 5: What My Sister Left Behind
1348 Words
The storm rolled in before dawn, and a low growl of thunder shook the windows of Blackstone Estate, as if the sky itself was warning me to run.
But I wasn't running.
Not anymore.
Not after what happened in the greenhouse.
Not after the way Charles had touched me like he'd been waiting years for it
Not after the way my body betrayed me and wanted more.
I lay awake in the oversized bed he'd forced me into the night before, the sheets tangled around my legs, skin still tingling in places he'd barely touched. Everything in me should've felt ashamed. Violated. Angry.
But instead…
I felt claimed.
And that terrified me more than the man himself.
A sharp knock snapped me out of my spiraling thoughts.
“Enter,” I called, pulling the sheet up over my chest.
Margot stepped inside, her expression softer than usual, though her eyes still flicked over me like she was cataloging sins.
"Breakfast is ready, Miss Raven."
Miss Raven.
Not Hale.
Not the girl who fell asleep shaking in her sheets.
“Is Charles already downstairs?” I asked before I could stop myself.
Margot's mouth twitched. "The Master is always awake before sunrise."
The Master.
That title slid down my spine like cold water.
I swallowed. "I'll be down soon."
She nodded and left, shutting the door with a quiet click that felt far too final.
I should have been plotting an escape, planning a way out while Charles was distracted. But the promise he'd made echoed ruthlessly in my mind:
‘Run again, little raven, and I will hunt you properly.’
And the worst part?
I believed him.
And God help me… a small, twisted part of me wanted to know what "properly" meant.
Getting dressed felt like climbing into someone else's life. Margot had left a black satin dress draped across a chair, low backed, borderline indecent. It clung to me as though the fabric was designed to remember the shape of my body.
A message.
Definitely from him.
I barely recognized myself when I looked in the mirror shadows beneath my eyes, a flush along my throat, an aura of someone who had been touched by darkness. Someone marked.
Someone owned.
Thunder cracked overhead, and I felt my way down the long staircase, fingers grazing the railing. The house felt almost alive this morning-the old wood groaned, chandeliers swayed with no breeze, the air charged and waiting.
Like the house was holding its breath for what Charles would do to me next.
I entered the dining hall carefully.
He was waiting.
Charles Black sat at the head of the table, a monarch hewn from shadow and sin, his left hand propping up a steaming coffee mug as his other lay on the armrest, claiming time. The suit fitted him to perfection, dark charcoal that framed the breadth of his shoulders. His tie was loosed just enough to show the strong line of his throat.
And his eyes…
His eyes tracked every step I took, like he'd been starving for the sight of me.
"Hale." My name was wrapped in his voice like silk strangling a throat. "Sit."
Not a request.
A command.
I swallowed and obeyed, lowering myself into the seat to his right. Not across from him. Not far away.
Next to him.
Within reach.
A servant poured tea for me, and the instant we were alone again, Charles leaned in, the heat of him brushing my skin.
“You’re wearing the dress I left for you,” he murmured. “Good.”
Good.
As if he'd been waiting to see whether I'd obey.
As if I'd pleased him by acknowledging it.
“What would’ve happened if I hadn’t worn it?” I whispered.
His lips curled into something dark. “You already know.”
My thighs pressed together involuntarily, and his eyes dropped instantly, sharply, reading the motion, reading me.
“Look at you,” he said, voice low. “Already tense, and I haven’t even touched you this morning.”
Heat flooded my cheeks. “Charles”
He cut me off with a lazy tilt of his head. "Eat."
So I picked up my fork and tried to force down a few bites, pretending I didn't feel the weight of his gaze burning holes in the side of my face.
After a moment, he spoke again, the tone abruptly businesslike.
“I have been reviewing the files on your sister.
My breath stopped. "You found something?"
He didn’t reply immediately. He sipped his coffee instead, letting the silence stretch until my chest tightened.
Finally, he said, "I know who took her."
The room seemed to freeze around me. Outside, the thunder growled low, like even the sky sensed the shift.
My pulse spiked. "Tell me."
He leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers against the porcelain mug thoughtfully.
“I will. But first”
"Charles." My voice cracked. "Please."
Something in his gaze softened; in the next instant, the predator returned.
"You don't get answers for free, little raven." He set down his mug. "Everything has a cost."
Anger flared. “You think this is a game? My sister is”
“I know exactly what this is.” He stood, pulling his chair out and circling toward me. “And that's why you need to listen very carefully.”
I rose, too, not wanting him looming over me once more, but he caught my chin in his hand before I could take a full breath.
“This isn’t punishment,” he said. “It’s reality.”
His thumb stroked my cheek.
"The danger surrounding your sister will swallow you whole if you don't follow my lead."
“I'm not yours to command.”
"Not yet." He smiled. "But you will be.
I jerked back, heart hammering. "Tell me who took her."
"Hale." His voice softened, incredibly gentle. "You won't like the answer."
“Tell me anyway.”
Charles let his breath out slowly, as if preparing himself for something inevitable.
“It wasn't a k********g.
A chill shot down my spine. “What does that mean?”
“She wasn’t taken.” His eyes darkened. “She ran.”
I shook my head. “No no, she wouldn’t"
“She ran,” he repeated, “with a man named Kade Mercer.
Kade Mercer,
That name was like a slap, bringing back nightmares I had long buried.
My knees wobbled. Charles reached for me automatically, steadying me with a grip that was too firm, too possessive.
“He’s dangerous,” said Charles. “More dangerous than I am.”
"Impossible," I whispered.
A humourless smile ghosted across his lips. “I appreciate the compliment, but it's true.”
My mind was racing. "Why would she run with someone like him? That makes no sense."
“I know.” His grip tightened. “Which is why I’m taking you to the northern wing.”
My breath hitched. "Why?"
“Because,” Charles murmured, “your sister left something behind that she wanted you to find.”
A cold wave washed over me.
Something left behind.
Something hidden in this monstrous estate.
“What is it?” I asked.
"You'll know when you see it."
He slid his palm down my arm, lacing his fingers with mine in a way that was at once intimate and terrifying.
“And Hale?”
“What?”
"Stay close to me. No matter what happens. The northern wing is… different."
The lights flickered overhead.
A door far down the hallway slammed open of its own accord.
And I realized
Charles wasn't warning me about a man named Kade Mercer.
He was warning me about this house.
This ancient, haunted, breathing house.
And something in it had been waiting for me.
Just like Charles had.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
No.
But I nodded anyway.
He smirked slowly.
“Good girl.”
His hand tightened around mine as he led me toward the northern wing and into the heart of the darkness my sister had run from.
- Writer
