He nodded. “I can make sure that gets brought to you after I get you in the tub.”
I let my fiancé fuss over me. Maybe I took a little too much pleasure in his fawning out of guilt, but the bath did do wonders to help relax my muscles. Taking a couple of pills for the pain, I collapsed into the bed after applying some of Fia’s cream. Luke promised to wake me up for dinner and left me to get some rest.
At first, I fell into a deep sleep. But odd visions disturbed my rest, and I found myself running around the castle grounds. Except, I wasn’t lost.
I knew every inch of the place, where each corridor led, how to open the secret passageways, and more. The whole place had been my playground since birth, and I loved every inch of stone. I ran around with careless abandon, giggling and crying out for my brother and his friend to find me.
A voice that sounded like Luke’s but different called my name. “Isabella!”
No, that wasn’t my name. And these weren’t my memories. I tossed and turned under the sheets, trying to claw my way out of the dream, but the power of it pulled me back under.
The scene changed, and I was no longer a child at play. I watched a handsome man speak with my father about fixing some of the spells that protected the castle. He negotiated well, unafraid to ask for what his services were worth. My father respected him and agreed. While the stranger was allowed on the castle grounds, I found ways to watch and spy on his every movement until the day he discovered me and turned into a fox right before my eyes.
The animal trotted over and let me pet its thick fur. Its tongue lolled out, and I laughed at the absurdity of it all. After a few brief moments, the fox disappeared and changed into the man again. He told me his name.
“Paolo Gasparotto,” he said in a deep voice I wanted to listen to again and again.
Strong love grew over a short amount of time, and I shared with him all who I was. Paolo did not care that he and I were not meant to be together. We could choose each other and not have to listen to others’ expectations of us.
I heard my brother yelling at me after I revealed my secret to him. His best friend glared at me like I had done something terrible. Neither of them supported me, and I realized that all I had in this world was my freedom to choose Paolo. I made plans.
My parents somehow learned about my love and have threatened me. My father did not like me ruining his plans to marry me off to some other noble. My mother refused to approve of me choosing a witch instead of a vampire. Their anger led them to sequester me in a tall tower in the middle of Perdaggia, isolating me from anyone until I gave up Paolo. They did not know the strength of my will or my feelings.
Despite my resolve, I cried every day that passed me by. And every time they checked, I refused to give in to their demands. A fight occurred. Words of anger. Fire blazed. Death came for me instead of love.
I bolted upright, panting and sweating from all the heat. Confused and disoriented, I patted the sheets to make sure none of them were actually ablaze. When I was little, if I dreamt of fire, it could set off my magic by accident. With relief, I found no smoldering holes in the expensive linens.
Everything I remembered felt like my own memory and yet not. Tugging on my own hair, I checked to make sure it was still red and not the dark brown from the dream. Popping out of the bed, I rushed over to the full-length mirror to make sure I was just plain old Ruby Mae, not a shadow of Luke’s sister.
My muscles no longer ached, but the ring on my finger tingled against my skin. I twisted it off and held it in my palm. It pulsed with the same type of heat that the token did against my chest.
Isabella still remained here in some form, reaching across time to give me a message. I just had to figure out what she wanted me to learn before anything…or anyone…got hurt. Especially me.
Chapter Fifteen
I debated whether or not to continue wearing Isabella’s ring. It clearly held some sort of connection to her. If I wanted to discover her secrets and the truth behind her death, the piece of jewelry was my best link to it all.
After splashing some cold water on my face to ensure I was truly no longer dreaming, I pulled on the chain of my necklace and pulled out the token.
“Granny, if you can hear me, I could really use your help right now,” I said, rubbing my thumb over the relief of the elephant.
The coin warmed a bit in response, but my ghostly great-grandmother did not appear. I almost gave up in despair, but another thought stopped me. Switching the token into my left hand, I let the ring touch the metal of the medallion.
“Come on, Granny Jo. I need someone on my side to help me out,” I begged.
The token vibrated a little in my hand, but even with the touch of the ring, I could not summon my great-grandmother. But I knew a place where I could. I wanted to go back to Isabella’s room to search anyway. See if I could find Paolo’s letters so that Fia could help me figure out the other side of the doomed couple’s written conversations.
I answered a light knock on the door and yanked on Fiametta’s arm to pull her inside.
“I came by to check on you.” She looked me up and down,
