Winter Fire [ Book 1 ] ✔

Chapter Thirty Three

A little less than an hour later, Claire found herself climbing the narrow wooden staircase that lead up to Alek's attic haven. She had bathed and changed into a warm, practical dress of dark blue wool and had even gone to the kitchen to procure herself something to eat.

Upon Ms. Avery's insistence, Claire had left with a plate piled high with cold ham, cheese, fruit and some bread, most of it consumed by the time she reached the top of the landing.

"Alek?" She called out, tapping lightly on the door with her knuckles.

"Come in, Claire," Alek called out and Claire used her shoulder to guide the door open enough that she could slip into the room.

She was startled by how messy the room looked, considering its naturally disheveled state. Alek stood amidst stacks of books and papers he has pulled off the bookshelves lining the walls.

"Doing some spring cleaning?" Claire asked, amazed at how much had been crammed in such small spaces.

"Looking for something," Alek replied, his voice slightly muffled. "I know it's here-- ahah!"

Alek emerged from behind the mess with a thin black book in his hands.

"Oh good, you're eating," he said, stealing a grape from her plate.

"Ms. Avery was very insistent that I take it all," she said.

"She's a hard working, wonderful woman," Alek said, "she never had any children of her own so she has always treated me and Arabella as family. I keep encouraging her to retire, but she refuses. She seems to think the house will come crashing down if she isn't here to tend to it."

Claire quirked a brow. "Who knows, maybe it would," she teased.

Alek smirked but said nothing. Instead he moved to sit on the green chaise and patted the space beside him. Claire moved to join him, balancing the plate on her lap and watching as Alek began to flip through the book.

He stopped about midway through and showed her a page filled with faded black and white images.

"This is Sonja," he said, pointing to a picture in the bottom corner. It was of the same girl she had seen in the drawing earlier. In the photograph, the girl was pointing at something out of frame, smiling brightly, clearly amused by whatever she was seeing.

"She went to school with Draz and I. We were all very close, but Sonja... she was special," Alek continued and Claire saw a hint of a blush creeping up his neck. "She was so full of life and energy, so eager to push the boundaries, to go places no one else dared. It was what attracted us to her in the first place."

Claire was quiet, her eyes moving from the picture to Alek's face. His expression was distant, as though he had gone to some far off place where Claire was unable to follow.

"Draz was smitten with her from the start," Alek said with a faint smirk. "He's never been subtle about those sorts of things and would fall in love with a girl if she showed the smallest amount of interest. Sonja was the sort of girl who was used to having boys following her around like lost puppies. I was too focused on my studies to think about girls and romance. Looking back I'm certain that's why she paid attention to me at all. It bothered her that she wasn't the center of my world."

He closed the book and set it aside, then he took the plate and set it aside as well. "Come on," he said, holding out his hand towards her.

She took it and followed Alek towards the back of the room where a large, round window let moonlight filter in from the sky above. Climbing along the back wall were a set of wrought iron stairs that Claire hadn't noticed before.