Snow Heart by Arvalee Knight Read Free Book Online Page A

Alric. He hated her smile, he hated her laughter, and most of all Alric hated her.
    Nieves shifted in her sleep, a layer of sweat upon her skin. Her eyebrows furrowed with pain—or perhaps a nightmare. Tickled with intrigue, Alric walked over to Nieves then softly sat down on the bed. He leaned his back against the wall, stretched his legs out, crossed at the ankles, and then folded his arms over his chest. He waited; he waited for her to scream out in pain or at least cry.
    Nieves moaned then muttered, “Look, it’s snowing.”
    Alric gave an aggravated glance. Snow, he thought with despise. He hated snow with all his heart and soul.
    A thin sliver of tears leaked from the corners of her relaxing eyes. Her face began to smooth and soften with release of the pain she had felt previously. “Erika, why did… you leave?” Nieves clenched the sheets within her tightening fists.
     
    †
    Boris had never felt that sick at his stomach in his entire lifetime. He stood there in the center of the room’s darkness, engulfed with shuddering fear. Returning home from work to this darkened room was not his ideal night. With Nieves gone, Boris was planning on directing his frustrations on Erika.
    “Alric needs to speak with you,” Wilhelm had said on Boris’s front porch at the sight of the lawyer’s arrival.
    Boris had no choice but to agree with Wilhelm and thus agree with Alric. Wilhelm had taken Boris to the main house, deserting him in an empty room completely filled with blackness as thick as ink. This room was quite familiar to Boris—it was the same room Alric utilized for his torturing.
    A shudder ran across Boris’s entire body.
    “What is it that you do to her?” asked Alric, hidden somewhere amongst the shadows. His voice echoed in every corner of the room. “When you abuse her,” Alric said with a wicked smile, “what do you do?”
    Boris felt relieved—pleased he wasn’t in trouble. “I threw her out the window one time,” Boris said, a little enthusiastic to share his “work” with another like him. Boris enjoyed the comfort of having Alric take a liking to him. It almost made him feel cherished.
    “Oh? How hurt was she?”
    Boris sneered with pride. “A broken leg, minor cuts and bruises. The doctors didn’t suspect a thing. They even labeled her as a suicidal.” Boris laughed manically.
    “In this house,” Alric said, stopping Boris’s laughter painfully dead in his throat. “I deal the punishments. I am the head of this family. Punishing or abusing someone should be brought to me. You had no right to deal abuse to the girl.
    “For such an action I have no other choice, Boris. You should have known better.” Alric’s icy cold breath tickled the back of Boris’s neck and raising his hair on end.
    Boris’s entire body stiffened at the touch of Alric’s gentle hands on his shoulders. “Sir?” he whispered.
    “Sleep well,” Alric replied. “Sleep deeply.”
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER 7
     
     
    Nieves sat up and took glances about the room. She knew immediately it was Alric’s room. Perhaps most likely because he was sitting on the floor, drinking at the short legged kontatsu table. She noticed the entire main house was based on oriental architecture.
    Nieves slid her feet over the edge of the bed. A heavy metal was clasped around her right ankle. She glanced at it then lifted the long chain to follow the oval links until they stopped at the bedpost where they were locked tightly.
    “Why am I chained to the bed?”
    Alric sipped his tea with tranquility and ignored Nieves. His eyes slid closed at the taste of sweetness in each sip.
    “Well!” Nieves shouted. She was so preoccupied with the chain and Alric’s smooth, careless expression that she didn’t notice her change of clothes. She was dressed in a white traditional yukata that flowed like moonlight over a valley.
    His lips moved into a smile as he set his empty cup down onto the table. “I would hate to have you