Forged in Stone - Alyssa Rose Ivy Page 0,47
you going?” Ainsley froze.
“Home. It’s not far from here.”
“Wait. Can’t you stay here too? In the castle?”
“Absolutely. James can stay in the room next to yours.” Charlotte gave me her trademark don’t argue with me look. She didn’t need to. I wanted to remain close to Ainsley.
“Got a bandage wrap, Liam?”
“Yeah, walk with me. Let’s let Charlotte get Ainsley settled.”
I nodded.
“Can you stop in before you go to sleep?” Ainsley asked quietly.
“Of course.” I’d have agreed to anything in that moment.
17
AINSLEY
I was in a castle. I was in a giant medieval style fairytale castle, and I wasn’t dreaming. I gave up on that idea when I twisted my ankle. The pain was all too real.
I’d thanked Charlotte about a thousand times when she showed me up the sweeping staircase and down the hall to an absolutely beautiful bedroom. A huge wood bed was situated in the center of the room, but it didn’t take up even half the space. A roaring fire was set up in a stone fireplace.
“This is one of the modernized rooms.” Charlotte grinned. “My mom had installed one modern bathroom. When I became Essence I had another three changed.”
“Oh wow. I hadn’t thought about that.” At least I’d be able to use a normal bathroom.
“There are lots of things I love about Energo, but the lack of modern plumbing isn’t one of them.” She nodded toward a closed door. “It’s right through there.”
“Ok, thanks.”
“I think we’re close in size.” Charlotte opened the door to a large armoire that housed some formal dresses. “These should fit you.”
“Thanks so much. I have my bag too.” Someone had dropped it off in the hallway.
“I know you have your own clothes, but if you don’t mind, it would be better if you blended in.”
“I don’t mind, but are you sure you are okay with me borrowing your stuff?”
“Absolutely. Any friend of James’ is a friend of mine.”
“You really care about him.” I watched her face for any sign of her hiding things. She seemed so genuine, and I wanted to believe her words were real.
“I do.”
“Is it because he’s your Guardian?” Somehow her answer mattered. If she trusted him, then my trust seemed more rational.
“No.” She shook her head. “It’s because he’s proven himself to be a great friend. I can’t imagine life without him, and I wouldn’t be alive if he hadn’t saved me.” She wiped away a tear.
“Are you okay?”
“Sorry. Pregnancy hormones. I was thinking about a time when I thought I had lost him.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what to say, so I took a moment to respond. “I take it he gets himself into dangerous situations a lot?”
“Yes, that time he’d been protecting me.”
“Oh wow.” It wasn’t hard to imagine James as the hero. He’d already saved me.
“Yeah. He takes his job seriously.”
“He seems down on himself though.”
“James?” She asked with surprise.
“Yeah, underneath his confident shell.”
She nodded. “It’s because of his dad. He’s convinced he has to prove himself, but what he doesn’t seem to accept is he’s already proven himself. He’s a good guy.”
“I don’t know what to believe.”
“But you like him?” She sat down on the end of my bed.
“I do, but I shouldn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Where do I start?”
She laughed. “Anywhere you want.”
“I barely know him. He’s from a different world. He kind of kidnapped me.”
“You will get to know him. You are in that different world now, but is it really all that different? And he didn’t kidnap you to hurt you. He brought you here to protect you.”
“Does he like me?” The words were out without thinking. I knew there was something brewing between us, but I couldn’t avoid some doubts that he was this way with other girls too.
“Like you? That’s the understatement of the century. Or more than a century. He’s crazy about you.”
“Will I get home?”
“Eventually? Yes. Tomorrow? No.”
“That’s honest.”
“I try to be. I know what it’s like to feel out of your element. I was terrified my first night here. Not only was I in a new place, but I found out that everything I thought I knew about my family, and in some ways myself, was a lie.”
“Yeah, I don’t have those other things, but I know what you mean.”
“You will get home, and we’ll get to the bottom of this. You are officially under our protection now, so no one will hurt you.”
“Thank you.”
“For?”
“Being so nice to me.”
“You are a guest in my home, and a friend of James’.” She smiled. “But I’ll let you sleep.”
“With all the