High Society - Page 53

I was jogged from my morbid thoughts when Mary said something. “I’m sorry. Can you repeat that?”

“Tomorrow is the big dinner. What are you planning to wear, Miss Eve?” Mary asked, one brow quirked.

“I’ll find something.”

“It needs to be pretty. Something grand.”

“Because of Benjamin?” I asked.

Mary laughed. “No, not because of that old blowhard. Because you want to make Enoch drool over you.”

I smiled. “I could live with that.”

A lamb wandered over and settled drowsily between me and Mary. For the first time in ages, I sat in companionable silence and thought about nothing but the soft, white wool of the animal lying beside me.

* * *

Titus had been moved into the bedroom right next to mine, and I was staying in my clone’s former room. Enoch had a tub carried up for me and brought water from the well. He offered to heat it, but I refused his offer because I was hot. I decided the cool water would feel good on my skin. Little did I know that well water was located deep underground, and underground water was ice cold. He tried to warn me, but as usual, I didn’t listen.

Instead, I took a frigid, furiously fast bath and washed the smell of smoke from my hair. Once I was clean, I took a moment to check out 1776’s room. It was a nicely decorated space, bedecked in purples and golds. The dark wooden stain on the furniture glistened in the sunlight spilling in from the westward-facing window. Her wardrobe boasted a wide array of gowns, shoes, and accessories. Did Asa buy all this for her, or did she steal it? I continued snooping through her things, disappointed when I didn’t find anything interesting. I decided to knock on Titus’s room next door.

“Hey,” he answered, looking bleary eyed.

“I woke you up. I’m sorry.”

He scrubbed a hand down his face. “Don’t be. I shouldn’t have been sleeping.”

“Yes, you should have.” I should have been sleeping, too, but I didn’t want to. Whenever I slept, more memories came. I needed rest, but I didn’t want to see anything else. I didn’t want to know anymore. I hooked a thumb over my shoulder in invitation. “It’s dinner time.”

He sniffed the air. “Thank God. Give me two minutes.” He was wearing his tech suit, the top half pulled down to expose his bare chest.

I walked to the top of the steps and lingered, waiting for Titus. As I stood there waiting, I heard a whoosh and turned to see a blur heading toward me, followed by two small hands connecting soundly with my chest. I flew backward, which was a bad thing because the stairs were behind me. I landed at the bottom in a tumbled heap, my head cracking against the wall, and for a minute, I saw stars. Titus ran down the steps.

“Shit! Your arm.”

My arm? I looked down to see my left arm at an angle it should never be at.

“Your ulna and radius are broken,” Titus announced grimly. “I have to set them before they heal in this position.” Titus grabbed my lower arm.

Even though I couldn’t feel his hands on me, I knew this was about to hurt like hell. Gritting my teeth, I nodded, crying out when he jerked and shoved, manipulating my bones until they were in their proper places. My suit healed the rest of my body quickly, but the intense pain left me feeling nauseas.

“I’m gonna puke,” I warned. Without a second thought, Titus scooped me up and ran out the front door with me. We barely made it to the edge of the porch before I started retching, Titus grabbing my hair and holding it back from my face.

“Sorry,” I told him.

He chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. How did you fall?”

“Terah pushed me.”

Enoch came running from the stables on the other end of the property. “What’s the matter?” he asked.

“Your sister pushed her down the steps and she broke her damned arm. I just had to set the bones back in place, which tends to make a person queasy,” Titus explained, sarcasm and disgust lacing every word.

I wiped my mouth, panting through another bout of sickness. “Are you going to be okay?” Enoch asked softly.

I nodded and asked for a glass of water and a towel. My voice was as raw as my throat. He bought both immediately and then excused himself and raced back inside. There was a loud crash, followed by the sound of glass breaking. The combination of his and Terah’s mingled shouts poured down the steps and out the door. Eventually, Asa managed to break the siblings’ fight apart.

“You shouldn’t have told him,” I grimaced, knocking Titus’s hand away.