The Captain of the Manor Read Online Free PDF Page B

no possible way he could dare ask Aiden to do what the priestess said. Why would a young gorgeous man wish to move into the manor and stay with him? He was over 300 years old. How long could he even have if this scheme to end the curse worked?
    "Damn you, priestess, why do you enter my life? Why must you continue to torture me and my heart? I resigned myself to this position in life. I'm secured in who I am and why I do to survive year after year. Why now? Why him?" Edmund called out.
    Never expecting an answer, the erotic ancient spices of the magic flowed around him. Where there were no candles, tall pillars appeared and flamed high. A fireplace roared to life in the empty hearth.
    Spinning around, Edmund saw the voodoo priestess walk through a wall, dressed in her traditional attire. She became more solid in appearance. Her skin was a beautiful copper brown of mixed heritage. Her eyes were dark and ageless, but filled with knowledge and power.
    "Do you not wish to return to mortal man and retain your soul? Is this not what you dream from the night you were cursed to regain your life? I watch you these many long years, Captain Edmund Carslyle. I was verra angry at the death of my beloved Bartolomeo and cursed you with all my might."
    "Aye, you did but I wasn't the cause of his death," Edmund said.
    "You ordered the attack and plunder of his ship. You were the cause, the order was yours. There was no other to rescind the order," she said, pointing her finger at him.
    Edmund held up his hands, knowing he would never win against the priestess. "What do you me to do with this cursed life?"
    "See the error of your ways and open your empty heart. The dalliances of young men meant nothing to you. You saw them as a means to an end. Lives weren't involved. Hearts were left to themselves to break and reform. You had no care other than your own."
    Why would he bother to care for others when they knew he didn't exist beyond the manor? There was nothing he could do to change his circumstances.
    "This young man opened your heart the moment you saw him, wanted him, and yearned for him. Deep in the hole where I took your soul. He is to you what my Bartolomeo was to me."
    "Do not harm him, Priestess. He has done nothing wrong but appear upon my doorstep."
    "Which you let him enter and stay without payment."
    "He was left alone after I tossed out his boss. What could I do?"
    "Close the door upon him."
    "Nay, I couldn't leave him outside."
    "Your heart wanted him."
    "My cock wanted him."
    The priestess shook her head. "Look deeper, Captain Edmund Carslyle. You will find the answers you seek."
    "What about Aiden?"
    "He will live."
    "Beyond All Hallows' Eve?"
    "My promise. My curse will not harm him."
    "And me?"
    "Choose well. Die or live."
    "For how long?"
    "For you to decide," she said and disappeared along with the flames and scents.
    "Some damn answer," Edmund said to the empty room and paced the room.

Chapter 8
    Searching throughout the manor and asking various employees where Edmund was hiding and getting nowhere, Aiden stomped back into his room. He yanked off his sweater and tossed it across the room in a fit. Dropping in a chair with a plop, he huffed out a breath and leaned his head back, contemplating staring at the ceiling.
    His laptop beeped several times, alerting him to either messages or emails.
    Grumbling, knowing none of it would be good news, he shoved up and walked to the table. Bracing one hand on the wooden surface, he used his free hand to move across the pad, click, and enter the programs. He plopped hard in a chair when he saw an email about one of the several job apps he sent in over the last few days. Clicking it open, he fixed his glasses, and shoved a hand through his hair, grasping the back of his neck.
    It was good.
    It was damn good.
    They wanted him to call to interview him.
    Bad news. The opening was in Boston, not back home in Orlando, Florida, or even here by the manor.
    "Boston? Snow?" Aiden shook his head.