Chapter 3

With Lord Alexander’s sudden kiss lingering over my still-tingling lips, I bolted toward the servant’s stairs hidden behind the painting and almost hit Maud. She had a fear-stricken face, but her gaze softened a bit upon seeing me.

Was she waiting for me to return?

“Are you okay?” she asked, skittish.

Her eyes looked up and down to see if I was well. I also saw her glance at my back to see if someone was following me.

Was I okay? I wasn’t sure.

I grabbed her black sleeve, dragged her with me within the confines of the secret stairs, and let out a deep breath I was keeping inside until I was sure to be safe behind the closed door.

I held myself up with the unfinished wall and searched her face, hoping to decipher what she was thinking. Frankly, I only saw fear, so I sighed softly. She must have had a good reason to be acting this way. Had Lord Alexander kissed many maids this way? I couldn’t be the only one.

“Spill the beans, Maud. What’s gotten you so riled up suddenly?”

“I saw you go in t-there. T-the room. Usually, w-when people go near that r-room, they don’t come back,” she explained with a shaken voice. “Usually, when the young lord talks to maids, they disappear shortly after.”

“And you know this how? I mean, if no one leaves to tell the tale, what would make you say that?” I glared at her a bit.

I hoped that having a stern look might freak her out more, and she would be more likely to give me a suitable answer—not to mention possibly encourage her to keep her mouth shut if the head maid made inquiries.

Maud’s head tilted from side to side, hesitating, but finally said, “Do you recall your first roommate, Angela?”

I paused; I thought I remembered the girl but didn’t know her name. When I arrived at High Hill, I had maybe three roommates before they put me into a small room alone. Every time I changed roommates, the girl I was with never returned. I always assumed they placed me alone because I kept having night terrors, making me a lousy bunkmate.

I looked at Maud, and I could see her throat move like she had difficulties swallowing.

“She had blond hair,” Maud recalled, hoping to trigger my memory.

“Oh! Yeah, maybe. What about her?”

“Well, the young lord asked her to meet with him after she serviced his floor, but she never returned to the servants’ corner afterwards.”

Maud’s eyes were fuller now, and she paled a bit. “I had a-asked about her the following days, but the head maid and housekeeper said that s-she had repaid her indenture and was free to leave. I’ve always wondered what happened. If Angela had indeed repaid her debt to Duke Kestrel and was to be set free, she would have mentioned it to me. We were good friends!” she said with her eyes darting anxiously.

“And the last time a m-maid opened that door to clean inside, the lord grabbed her by her arm and dislocated her shoulder because of the force he used to prevent her from entering. Then two other girls went missing shortly after being taken to him.”

I raised my brow in surprise. Now, this was interesting—but frightening. What was Lord Alexander doing with those poor girls? I did feel metal and distinctly heard chains. The smell alone in that room would probably haunt my dreams for Faiths knew how long.

Maybe Lord Alexander was the sort of man who got off by torturing victims. He was the son of a very wealthy duke; this could be a possibility. I had heard that some noblemen had enough money to make even their most horrifying fantasies come true. What better way of wasting money than jerking off while looking at someone being whipped… or worse?

“Maud? Has he ever kissed a maid before? Made advances or demands that made workers feel uncomfortable?”

Maud’s eyes grew smaller in thought. “No. Not that I’ve heard of. He’s mostly quiet and ignored us. I would have heard it should he have made advances to a maid. It’s not the type of secrets they keep. Why? Did he…”

I shook my head and rested a hand on Maud’s shoulder. I wanted her to know that I was fine and that she was also safe. On the other hand, I wasn’t comfortable telling her what had happened. Surely, rumours would spread like wildfire, and I would find myself out of a job in no time. Indentured servitude was one thing, but finding suitable work outside would be worse. No. Hiding in plain sight was better.

Still, the entire event with Lord Alexander left a strange mark on me, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that something else was at work—something not of this world. But perhaps it was only in my mind.

Maud gave me a small, lopsided smile, and I concluded she was now feeling better.

“Come on, we better tell the head maid that the lord has cancelled his singles mingles party,” I snickered as I grabbed Maud and tried to make her laugh a bit.

“He’ll no longer be entertaining? Why?”

“I don’t know, but that’s the last thing he said to me before I left.”

I still took the stairs two at a time, wanting nothing more than to get the hell away from that room and the man within.

The hairs on my neck never settled back down until I was locked and tucked safely away in my room that night.