Chapter 5 Chapter 5
Vvian’s POV
Lavender and fresh linen and a distant, disturbing memory of coppery blood hit my nostrils as I regained consciousness.
I turned this way and that way before opening my eyes. The sunlight from the window hit my gaze first before my eyes took in my environment.
I jolted upright, the silk sheets over me slithering off my shoulders. The light filtering in through the window was too crisp.
Too clean.
The kind of light that only existed before the invention of smog.
My chest tightened as realization dawned on me.
I was still here, trapped in the eighteenth century.
I blinked and pinched my skin, just to be sure I wasn’t dreaming. It was real.
I was still back in time.
The nightmare of the day before hit hard; the empty space in the ballroom where the mirror had been, the crash of the Ming vase, the snarling monster that almost killed me yesterday, the most horrifying intervention of the wolf, and Adrian’s transformation all came rushing back.
It was absurd.
It was impossible.
I looked at my arm, and there, the bruise on my lower arm when I staggered and fell reminded me that everything was real.
I drew in a sharp breath.
I have to find that mirror. It was my only way back. I have to make it back in time for the Victorian masquerade ball.
Folklore about time travel and how the timing differs in different ages made my chest tighten. Would I be able to make it just in time for the event?
Elena. She needs me. I need to get to her.
The mirror, my thoughts repeated. I must find it.
A small swish snapped me back to reality.
I turned to the side to see a maid, dressed in black and white regency uniform, just like I recognize from the movies.
But this time, it was real.
She walked through the door, appearing at the side of the bed in an instant.
“Oh, you are awake, Miss,” the maid chirped, a look of relief washing through her freckled face. “His Grace was very nearly beside himself when you collapsed.”
I remembered. I had fainted at the shock after Adrian reprimanded me. The whole thing was too much for me to bear that I passed out.
“Miss…” She snapped me back to attention. “Are you okay?”
I nodded, trying to look as normal as possible.
“His Grace has ordered a tray of chocolate and biscuits for your recovery. He has also requested the pleasure of your company in the library once you have… sorted yourself. May I go ahead and prepare your bath?” The maid gave me a pointed look.
I needed answers, and the library was surely some way to get some, even if it meant spending time in Adrian’s company.
“Uh… sure,” I said.
The maid’s face crumpled in a puzzle, and then it hit me again. She didn’t get me.
“I mean, go ahead.”
She smiled a little, and headed out through another door.
When I got ready, fully dressed in a silk dress with an absurdly large skirt, I was led by the maid to the library.
The room was larger than my entire apartment. Floor-to-ceiling shelves of gold-embossed books and tomes reached high into the vaulted ceiling.
I glanced around, taking in the few people who examined some books. At a desk on the far end of the room sat an old man, engrossed in whatever he was perusing.
The maid led me to the roaring fireplace, where Adrian stood, hands clasped behind his back, listening to a guard.
This time, he was wearing a dark green frock coat, looking every inch the composed nobleman.
I failed to believe that this was the man who had transformed to a wolf the night before.
As we approached, he and the guard turned, and a grimace took over his face.
“You look pale, Miss Vivian. A poor night’s sleep, no doubt, due to the… excessive activity of the day before, I presume?”
“Excessive activity?” My voice echoed louder than normal for the library. “That’s one way to describe the… chaos of last night.”
The guard blinked, and I quickly spat out the title. “Your Grace.”
With a wave, Adrian dismissed the guard and the maid, leaving us alone.
“We are speaking of propriety, Miss Vivian.” Adrian took a step closer to me, his voice dropping. “You were discovered wandering the house in the deepest dark. It’s a miracle that you only destroyed a vase and not my entire reputation.”
“Your reputation?” I blinked, bewildered. “You were a wolf. I saw you. You killed a monster.”
He leaned closer. “There are things in this world, Miss Vivian, that one does not speak of. To do so is to invite insanity. You are a guest. A very… peculiar guest. My concern is that you do not cause further commotion. My staff is already talking.”
“Talking about what?” I asked defensively.
“They talk of your strange clothes, your stranger speech, and the tale of you being a witch,” he replied, a flicker of something I assumed was amusement in his eyes. “They say that perhaps… you might be a changeling, or worse, a French spy.”
I drew in a breath. They were already talking, and I need to leave here as fast as possible, before I complicate matters.
“If you must know,” I started. “I’m looking for a mirror. The mirror I told you about.”
His face was a mask of polite indifference as he hesitated.
“I assume you mean the large one that was recently removed from the grand hall?” He said.
“Yes! Where the… Where is it?”
“It was damaged,” he replied smoothly, picking up a silver paperweight from the desk nearby and turning it over in his hand. “The frame was cracked. I have sent it away to be restored. It is currently beyond your reach, I’m afraid. You must exercise some patience.”
My heart sank. My only way home was beyond reach. What in the world? I averted my gaze from him, my head spinning.
