Free Defiance at Werewolf Keep (Werewolf Keep Trilogy) by Nhys Glover Page A

happy ever after. Was it also possible that being beautiful could lead to disappointment and pain? Did cads use such women, break their hearts and then cast them aside? For the first time in her life, Lily was glad she had been plain and sickly so as not to attract the attention of such men.
    ‘Come, let me show you the cells in which you will be spending three nights a month,’ Phil said with a little laugh, to change the subject and the mood. Reluctantly, Lily followed the redhead back to the kitchen and then down the hall to the cellar door.
    Lighting a lamp, Phil led the way down a flight of steep stone stairs that were uneven and slippery. ‘Hold the railing or you might slip. I have nearly done so on several occasions.’
    At the bottom of the stairs, the shadowy enclosed space pressed down on her. In the wall closest the the stairs was a huge metal furnace, cold, dark and ominous.
    ‘That will be lit well before you come down here, so the caverns are all warmed through. You will not need it when in wolf form, but while you are still human and naked, you will feel the cold.’ The idea of going into a cell, taking off her clothes in front of the other women and waiting for the change, was something that filled her with fear. She had never been naked in her life. The idea that women she barely knew would see her skinny, pale body , and she would see theirs, was horrifying.
    With growing trepidation, she followed Phil down one of the three tunnels that led off from the bottom of the stairs. The dark, dank tunnels gave way to caverns carved out of solid rock. Here, barred cells sat in long rows, stark and empty in the shadowed lamplight. Only the marble floor and the white painted walls gave any semblance of comfort to the dire surroundings.
    ‘I know it looks bleak. And I will not lie to you. It does lack comfort. Unfortunately, with the wolves being the way they are, no bedding or floor covers would last the night with them. But it is only a few minutes at dusk and dawn where you will be worried by that. You will be fine after you have been through it once or twice.’
    Lily stared at the heavy iron bars that separated each cell from the other and from the narrow corridor that linked them. In each door , a heavy lock was welded. In each lock sat a key. With sinking heart, Lily imagined what it would feel like to have Phil turn that key on her, locking her in to one of those cold, barren cells.
    Fighting down the panic that began to claw its way to the surface, she resolutely dismissed the upcoming event from her mind. It didn’t help to focus on something she couldn’t change. Better to focus on what her new life had to offer. And there was a great deal that pleased and inspired her in that new life.
    ‘The library is an amazing place. I have never seen so many books all in one place.’
    Phil looked momentarily shocked by the change of subject, but she accepted it willingly enough. ‘Yes, my father loved books. It was he who started the collection, and as more people with different interests joined him, he enlarged it to accommodate them. Have you found the wonderful selection of fiction? I must admit I have a weakness of Charles Dickens’ works. I know he is considered low brow, being serialised in newspapers, but he has a way of capturing people and places like no other.’
    Lily smiled and nodded enthusiastically. ‘I loved Bleak House ! And I was part way through Great Expectation when I was attacked. Did you hear that Mr Dickens was almost killed in that Staplehurst train accident a few months ago? His was the only first class carriage to remain on the track. They say he was very brave and did much to help the other injured passengers. He almost lost his latest manuscript, too . Our Mutual Friend, I think it’s called. What a tragedy it would have been to have lost that manuscript, or even worse, Mr Dickens himself.’ Lily knew she was prattling as they hurried down the tunnel, but she needed to focus