Warped (Maurissa Guibord)

inches from her own. She could feel the warmth of his breath, could smell his skin. She felt herself drawn closer to him. So this is what it's like to know what you want , thought Tessa as she raised her lips.
    But Will's eyes narrowed as he looked down at her. "Enough," he said. "Now tell me the truth."

Chapter 27

Tessa blinked. Tried to regain her footing. Wait. No, she was standing up.
    "The truth?" she whispered.
    "Yes, mistress." Will was so close, his warm breath was a caress on her mouth. "Tell me the truth. I can stand this deception no longer."
    "Tell you what?" Tessa said, mystified. She was still very conscious of his height, his nearness, but something had changed. His strong, aristocratic features might have been carved from marble. His eyes were cold. Wary.
    "You will make me declare it, I suppose." Will released his hold on her waist and walked away. He turned abruptly. "You were there. It was you."
    "What do you mean? What are you talking about?"
    "You were the maid in the wood when I--" He broke off, staring at her. "When Gray Lily captured me. How can you tell me it wasn't you? Your eyes, your face." He came closer. "Even your hair." With a brooding look he took a soft coil of it and rubbed it between his fingers.
    At once Tessa thought of his outburst at the waterfront. He had told her then that she resembled someone he knew. But she felt as if he wasn't seeing her; he was looking through her, to the past. She trembled as he swept his hand away. "It all began with you," he went on. "I saw you wander into the northern woods and followed you."
    She opened her mouth to reply, to state the obvious. It wasn't her. It couldn't have been her. But his words sidetracked her.
    "You followed me?" she repeated softly. "Why?"
    Will hesitated. "I don't know. I couldn't help myself. It sounds idiotic to you, doesn't it? But even now, knowing what I do about you, I cannot seem to stop. I want to ..." He took a step closer still. She'd been wrong--his eyes weren't cold, they were like warm honey. Tessa found her concentration slipping. She could forget everything looking into his eyes. But something he'd said--
    She put a hand to his chest. And straight-armed him back.
    "What do you mean?" she demanded. "What is it you know about me?"
    Will frowned. "Why do you pretend? You recognized me the first moment you saw me. Admit it."
    "Yes," she said, without thinking. She had recognized him. Or at least, she thought she had. But only from the resemblance of his eyes to the unicorn's. And from her dreams or visions, whatever they were.
    "You recognized me because you were there, " Will said angrily. "Admit what we both know, Tessa. You were there in the wood to trap me."
    Every muscle in Will's lean frame seemed taut with a barely controlled energy. His voice shook and he sounded breathless as he spoke: "I was drawn to you, mistress. I laid myself at your feet. And even bloody and filthy as I was, you cradled my head. Caressed me." His lips twisted into a sneer. "And then you watched as the witch shackled me with iron. And cast me into Hell. Or rather, wove me there."
    "No," Tessa whispered, backing away. An ugly image leapt to her mind: a picture in a book of a heartless, stupid girl. A virgin in his haunts . She shook her head in a stricken denial.
    Will was unmoved. "You watched as Gray Lily took the unicorn's life, my life ."
    In his eyes she saw the expression that had been puzzling her, and finally recognized it. It was accusation. He blamed her.
    Tessa rocked back another step, still shaking her head. "It's not true." But even as she said it, the violent, vivid images and sensations of her dreams swirled around her. The dank, rich smell of the woods. The sound of hoofbeats pounding the earth. The taste of fear.
    Only dreams , she told herself. They were only dreams .
    "I do not know the reasons behind your actions," Will went on, relentless, advancing on her step by step. "Why you released me from the tapestry. Or why you communicate with Gray Lily and the Norn. Do they have some hold over you? Is that what makes you do their bidding?"
    "I'm not doing anyone's bidding, " Tessa snapped, her own temper finally rising. She was grateful for it. It held back the sharp, hot tears pricking at her eyes as she stopped short and held her ground to face him. "I told you already. It was an accident. A stupid piece of thread. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I would never do anything to hurt anyone. Especially not--"