A Beautiful Torment

40. Avarice

"Turn!" Halldis' voice rose. "No, to the left. Left, girl! Left!"

I let out a huff of frustration and pivoted on the spot, my hair billowing slightly around my shoulders as I spun to face her. Her face was pinched, like she'd been sucking on a lemon, and I could tell that she was itching to slap me – but her she held herself perfectly rigid, her hands laced tightly behind her back.

I smothered a smile; she might not have been allowed to physically abuse me anymore, but that didn't mean she couldn't find other ways to punish me for my "insolence". It wasn't just about my bloodline or my status as a Familiar anymore – after her first night at Belmont House, I had a feeling that the woman had declared war on me.

My memory flew back to the night of her first dinner in the house, almost a week ago. She had arrived soon after Wyatt and me, taking the seat next to Nikolas. When she noticed me sitting at the table, she had wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"So they're just letting common slaves dine with their betters now, are they?" she'd inquired, her voice thick with disgust.

My eyes had flown to Wyatt as his fingers tightened around his knife and fork. If looks could have killed, Halldis probably would have been dead ten times over.

For the rest of the meal, Nikolas and Wyatt appeared to be having a silent conversation; the weeks of mind control training had had an adverse effect on both of them, and they'd both become incredibly comfortable speaking telepathically in a similar way to Wyatt and me. When I'd glanced at Wyatt questioningly, he'd just shaken his head at me.

- Don't worry about it, he'd told me, telepathically.

When I had arrived in the informal dining room the following afternoon, prepared for another round of torture with Halldis, the woman had looked like she'd just come out of a warzone. Her hair was crazier than normal and there was a haunted look in her eyes that hadn't been there the night before.

It didn't take me long to figure out what had happened; Nikolas and Wyatt had obviously tag-teamed her with their new routine of emotional torture. Usually, I strongly disapproved of the errands they ran for Draper, but I couldn't help but feel grateful for them now. Wyatt had come through for me – and I was protected.

"You spin left," Halldis reiterated, a sliver of frustration colouring her voice. "Not right. Your partner spins right, always. It is the way of the Paume."

"I got it," I said, gritting my teeth. "Spin left, slide right."

"Step right," Halldis snapped.

I glared at her. The movement felt more like a slide – I had to stretch my foot further than normal, and my heel automatically fell into a slide toward the end of the step.

A knock sounded on the door before our argument could escalate. My stomach clenched in relief and I took a step backwards, slowly inching away from Halldis. I hated dancing with her as my partner – I always felt like the second I left the room, she ran to the nearest bathroom to wash her hands. It was so much more fun to dance with Sophia – who, it turned out, was a very proficient dancer. Any of my curious questions about her dancing abilities had been met her with stony silence, as expected, but she had still offered to help me practice. I would have been woefully behind if it hadn't been for her.

Halldis raised her fingers slightly, snapping her thumb against her middle finger.

The door swung open and I flinched.

She's a magic-user, I realized. Was she a demon like Draper or something else? I didn't know much about the other races – I spent most of my time researching Familiars and demons – but I knew she couldn't be one of the lupi or a vampire, now. I honestly doubted she was an angel, either.