Chapter Ten:
When daylight came, Phoebe went back to the library to return some of the books that she had already finished and taken notes of. Monty had ended up sleeping in, and Phoebe had left him and Sibella back at the house while she went to the library by herself.
While standing in line, she hummed to herself, trying to pass the time.
"Well, well, funny seeing you around here," remarked a man, and Phoebe immediately recognized the voice as Matthew's.
She turned around, and her face paled upon seeing him again but she managed to attempt a small smile to fake politeness.
"Hello, Matthew," she said softly.
"Hello, Phoebe. There's been an interesting development in what I was telling you and Monty about earlier," he told her.
"Oh?" she asked as she moved up in line, "What's happened?"
"She's vanished, she and her coffin are gone," Matthew said to her, looking at her as if to see her reaction.
Phoebe kept her face blank, giving him nothing to be suspicious of.
"Really? I wonder how in the world that happened," she remarked as she put her books on the counter and gave them to the librarian.
She then tried to make a quick exit for the door but Matthew followed her.
"Yes, yes, it's quite peculiar, isn't it?"
Phoebe swallowed hard, and nodded.
Matthew suddenly blocked her path to move forward as they exited the library.
"You should know that I've taken up investigating into the life of Sibella Hallward… and I've found out some very interesting facts."
Phoebe's face grew pale at that, "Oh?"
"Yes, you see, I've found out that you and your husband had a, shall we say, strange relationship with Mrs. Holland. You three have been said to have been very close."
Phoebe bit her lip.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she dismissed sharply.
"Oh, I think you do."
"Sibella was a very good friend to my husband and me."
"Some would say that she was too good of a friend…"
"That's ridiculous," rebutted the brunette.
Matthew smirked at her, and leaned in close to her ear, an action that made Phoebe's skin crawl.
"I know about what happened between you three."
Phoebe started to shake, attempting to keep her composure but she was freaking out.
"You have no proof, I deny all of your accusations," she declared as she moved past him back to the carriage.
"I know you're hiding something from me, and I'm going to find out what!" threatened Matthew.
Phoebe raced to the carriage, and went home, trying to calm herself as she made the journey back to Highhurst.
"Monty! Monty!" she called out as soon as she entered the castle, searching for her husband.
Monty climbed down the stairs at her distressed calls, looking like he had just woken up.
"Phoebe, what's wrong?" he asked her, taking her in his arms as he reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Matthew knows!" she cried, "Matthew knows about our relationship with Sibella, and he knows that we're hiding something from him. He cornered me in the library this morning, and told me that he knows, Monty, we have to do something," she said, trying to keep her voice quiet so that the servants didn't hear her.
Monty pulled her into the drawing room to finish the conversation.
"Isn't it obvious, my darling?" he asked her.
Phoebe looked at him, "What do you mean?"
"We have to kill Matthew," he stated.
Phoebe's face morphed into one of confusion.
"How?" she asked in a small voice.
"With his own weapons," answered Monty as he paced around the room, "I can't let him kill Sibella, I won't. Not if I have my way. Matthew will be the only one who dies when all of this ends," he promised.
Phoebe held him close, her chin resting on his shoulder.
"Are you sure that this is the only way?" she asked him softly as his arms wrapped around her waist.
"Yes, yes, I'm sure," he answered, "We need to protect Sibella before something else happens."
He pulled away before Phoebe could kiss him.
"I'm going to go work on a plan, I'll be in my office if you need me," he muttered, leaving Phoebe in the drawing room.
Phoebe sighed, and went to go finish reading her books in the library, worried about Monty.
When night fell, Sibella found Monty still in his office, tired and exhausted from trying to come up with a plan all day.
She walked into the room hesitantly. "I can come back later if you need to sleep," she told him, "I just wanted to see you."
"No, no, come on in, my darling," he beckoned her.
Sibella shut the door behind her, now dressed in the nightgown that they had left for her, the dark blue fabric highlighting her eyes.
She caught him looking at the nightgown and she glanced down at it.
"It's not really my color, but I appreciate it nonetheless," she told him.
"You look beautiful," stated Monty.
She gave him a smile and came towards him from behind, wrapping her arms around his neck, so that her hands were resting on his chest, her chin on his shoulder.
"What's wrong, Monty?" she asked quietly, "You look exhausted and defeated."
"We think Matthew knows about us, about our relationship with each other, we think he knows that we're hiding you, and I've just been trying to come up with a plan to get him off our tracks."
"You should get some sleep," she advised him, looking at him.
He shook his head.
"No, I want to spend time with you," he insisted.
She sighed, and pulled away from him, now moving towards the side of his desk, and leaning against it, her arms crossed.
He looked up at her from his chair.
"You really should get some-"but she didn't get to finish her sentence for Monty stood up and kissed her, his hands cupping her face.
The blonde moaned as their lips pressed together and before she knew it, Monty had scooped her up in his arms and had now sat back down, with Sibella sitting across his lap.
His hands ran through her hair gently as his lips moved from her mouth to the crook of her neck.
She closed her eyes in bliss as his hands slid up inch by inch on her thighs, shifting the fabric of the nightgown up as his hands moved.
His lips against hers prevented her from protesting, but she summoned up all of the self-restraint she had as Monty's fingers grazed her hips, and pulled away.
"Monty, we can't," she managed in between gasps.
"We can," he murmured in her ear.
He kissed her again on the mouth, one hand in her hair, grasping it fiercely, the other hand slipped underneath her skirt.
Sibella then took over, her lips kissing at his throat while his hands touched at her skin.
She managed to stay focused on kissing him, and not on the rushing flow of blood that she could feel underneath his skin, flowing through his veins until Monty moans out her name.
"Sibella…."
As soon as her name left his lips, her eyes snapped open in a sudden urge of bloodthirstiness.
Her mouth parted, exposing her fangs, ready to plunge into his throat, when she got a hold of herself and pushed Monty away, and backed herself up into the desk, her chest heaving at the close encounter.
Monty looked at her shocked, obviously unaware of what could have happened in those few seconds.
"I'm sorry," she got out, her hands trembling in fear, "I'm sorry, did I hurt you?"
He shook his head.
"I told you we can't," she emphasized, "I almost bit you."
"It doesn't matter, it was great while it lasted," he said to her softly, giving her a warm smile, "Sibella it's alright, I'm okay."
She laughed bitterly and looked down at her feet.
"I don't understand how you are so patient and so accepting of this, of me. Monty, I could have killed you and you're acting as if nothing happened!" she cried.
He got up from the chair, adjusting his pants and fixing his hair as he came over to her.
She flinched away from him, not wanting to hurt him again.
He cupped her cheek with one hand gently, as he moved her face to look at him.
She looked so incredibly guilty, he felt sorry for her. Her eyes were shining with regret and guilt, her lips trembling.
"I don't deserve you," she whispered in a broken voice.
He shook his head, "Yes, yes you do. You deserve both Phoebe and I."
"You two are too accepting, too kind… why are you so calm about this, about me being a vampire?"
She was near tears now.
"Because Phoebe and I love you, and we believe the best of you, and you know that you would never intentionally harm us."
She looked down at her feet, and he lifted her chin with his hand.
"We trust you, Sibella, we trust you and we love you."
He kissed her lips gently, she didn't fight him this time.
"Please believe us," he pleaded with her once he pulled away.
The blonde looked up at him and nodded. "Okay," she said softly, her eyes still shining with unshed tears.
"We love you and we trust you," he repeated to her.
She nodded her head, her confidence slowly coming back with those words.
"I love and trust you both too," she replied, and Monty smiled warmly at her.
He took her hand, "Let's go to bed, it's almost morning."
She nodded and followed him into her bedroom.