Chapter 16

In all her life, Piper had not heard six words that made her blood freeze as did those six. Not even when she had met Raoul for the first time did her whole body seem to quiver with fear. Perhaps, Piper thought, it was because somehow she knew, underneath his snarling facade, there was something good in Raoul.

She doubted there was any goodness in the enchanter.

Her eyes drifted to Raoul whose head lay nestled in the crook of her arm. He lay still, deathly white even beneath the dark tan his natural coloring afforded him. He had not opened his eyes for a substantial length of time, and from the way his right leg twisted, she knew he had broken it again.

Anger made her bold—anger at this enchanter, this man who would so readily ruin others' lives. She lifted her chin to meet his gaze bravely.

"What is your proposition?"

The old man looked at her and smiled. Piper bit her lip but still kept her grey eyes steady on him. There was something in his smile that she did not trust.

"Do you really desire to know of it, my dear?" he asked, softly, so that shivers crept up Piper's spine.

Piper opened her mouth to answer in the affirmative, but someone replied before.

"No."

Raoul could hardly recognize his own voice, weak and hoarse as it was. His lips could just barely form the single word, but that was not attributed to his anemic state. It was because Piper was touching him ... holding him. The gentle softness of her fingertips on his arm sent a shy thrill through him that he had never before felt.

"No," he repeated, louder, trying to disguise his weakness.

Piper looked down at him. To his surprise, the faintest flicker of a sad smile brushed the corners of her mouth. Quietly, she reached up and placed her fingertips on his lips, willing him to be silent.

"Yes," she whispered. "I desire to know."

Helplessness surged through Raoul's body—coupled with the fire that burned where Piper had touched him—and helplessness brought with it fury at being in such a condition, unable to do anything but lie mute. His dark eyes spoke plainly of what he thought of that.

"What is your proposition?" Piper was speaking again, looking at the enchanter. Raoul saw the look of pleasure in the man's uncommon lavender eyes. It was pleasure brought from seeing lives ruined, and Raoul's loathing overflowed. He struggled to sit up, ignoring the pain that went shooting through his leg at even the slightest movement.

"You have no right to propose anything!" he said hotly. "You have ruined everything, you ; you have no right ..."

"And what does a beast have a right to?" the enchanter replied, joyful at the thought of argument, of wounds. "Happiness? Life? Love?"

Piper saw Raoul flush miserably but struggle to keep up all appearances of indifference, though it was obvious the enchanter's words had wounded him.

"Everyone has a right to be happy, to live, to love," Piper said, clearly.

"Even beasts?"

Piper's mouth tightened. "There are no beasts."

The enchanter sighed. "We have been through this before, and I grow tired of waiting. My proposition is this ..." But he paused here, regarding Piper carefully. "Would you like to see your family again?"

The question took Piper by surprise. She stared at the enchanter in bewilderment, as if trying to discern if he was telling the truth. Slowly, she spoke.

"Yes, I would like that very much."

"Very well."

And with a snap of his fingers, Jeanine, Veronica, and old Mr. Harris appeared in the Great Tower, as alive and real as the canvas across the room.

But there was one significant thing that also appeared with the three Harris family members: a great black wolf, from the shoulders almost as tall as Piper, was licking the blood that spilled from fresh wounds on their throats.

Piper shrank back, fear vivid in her eyes. All the remaining color had drained from Raoul's face as he stared, frozen, at the horrific scene before him; his fingers had strayed unconsciously to a faint scar at his throat.

"Your family, my dear," the enchanter said, the sweep of his arm encompassing the three motionless figures. "How well they look!" And then to Raoul: "This seems somewhat familiar, does it not?"

Raoul's eyes were riveted to the wolf; his hands were shaking uncontrollably. He seemed to see nothing, hear nothing, but the wolf. Piper looked at him and then gazed at her family, her grey eyes grieving silently. Without a word, she reached out and took Raoul's hand in hers.

"Your proposition, sir," she said evenly, a slight trembling betraying her dread.

The old man waved his hand and a chair appeared. He sat down and gazed comfortably at Piper.

"I must tell you that I admire you, my dear. It takes courage to live with a beast and sacrifice your life to his whims and fancies."

Raoul's icy hand tightened imperceptibly.

"There are not many in the world who have such courage, such passion for life. I have traveled to all corners of the globe, and all I have seen are those who are beasts. Even your family members are beasts, for they think of no one but themselves. Why, they even turned a poor old man out in the cold!"

The enchanter leaned forward, his eyes sparkling with a look Piper did not like.

"You make others happy, my dear. Even at your own expense. Why, you have even made your darling Raoul happy and I thought that would never happen." The enchanter's eyes suddenly hardened. "I cannot have a world with joy when I have worked so hard to make it joyless."

Raoul's hand was nearly crushing hers. Piper's mouth was dry and she could no longer hear anything but the beating of her heart and Raoul's rough, ragged breathing.

"I need blood, my dear. To make me happy. So my propostition is this: your life in exchange for your family's safety and Raoul's freedom from his curse."