Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Author: Leigh Bardugo
- Language: English
- Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 15 MB
- Price: Free
November
Alex approached Black Elm as if she were sidling up to a wild animal,
cautious in her walk up the long, curving driveway, careful not to show her
fear. How many times had she made this walk? But today was different. The
house appeared through the bare branches of the trees, as if it had been
waiting for her, as if it had heard her footsteps and anticipated her arrival. It
didn’t crouch like prey. It stood, two stories of gray stone and peaked roofs, a
wolf with paws planted and teeth bared. Black Elm had been tame once,
glossy and preening. But it had been left on its own too long.
The boarded-up windows on the second floor made it all so much worse,
a wound in the wolf’s side that, left untended, might turn it mad.
She slotted her key into the old back door and slipped into the kitchen. It
was chillier inside than out—they couldn’t afford to keep the place heated,
and there was no reason to.
But despite the cold and the mission she’d come
here to fulfill, the room still felt welcoming. Copper pans hung in neat rows
above the big vintage stove, bright and ready, eager to be used. The slate
floor was spotless, the counters wiped clean and set with a milk bottle full of
holly branches that Dawes had arranged just so. The kitchen was the most
functional room of Black Elm, alive with regular care, a tidy temple of light.
This was how Dawes dealt with all they’d done, with the thing lurking in the
ballroom.
Alex had a routine. Well, Dawes had a routine and Alex tried to follow it,
and it felt like a rock to cling to now as fear tried to drag her under. Unlock
the door, sort the mail and set it on the counter, fill Cosmo’s bowls with fresh
food and water.
They were usually empty, but today Cosmo had tipped the food on its
side, scattering the floor with fish-shaped pellets, as if in protest. Darlington’s
cat was mad at being left alone. Or frightened by not being quite so alone
anymore.
“Or maybe you’re just a picky little shit,” Alex muttered, cleaning up the
food. “I’ll pass your comments along to the chef.”
She didn’t like the sound of her voice, brittle in the quiet, but she made
herself finish slowly, methodically. She filled the water and food bowls,
tossed out the junk mail addressed to Daniel Arlington, and tucked a water
bill into her bag that she would take back to Il Bastone. Steps in a ritual,
performed with care, but they offered no protection.
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