Chained: Reckless Desires (Dragon's Heart Book 1) by Jacqueline Sweet Page B

he’s been like this awhile. Not always, but years. It got worse when his father disappeared. But it isn’t stress that makes Winterborn act like that.”
    “Then what is it? Illness? Brain damage?” Bella had eaten three scones and she was eyeing a fourth. Getting in shape had really been part of her post-firing plan, but Chloe’s cooking made it damn hard.
    “I thought it was obvious,” Chloe said, her eyes focusing on something just above Bella’s shoulder. “He’s cursed.”
    “What do you mean cursed ?”
    Chloe shrugged. “I only know what the spirits tell me, and they scatter when Winterborn shows up. But they say he’s cursed. That’s why he acts like that.”
    “What do you mean cursed ? Curses aren’t real.”
    “Yeah, right,” Chloe snorted. “And ghosts aren’t real either.”
    Bella was admittedly undecided on the ghost issue at that moment. Chloe was too accurate to be lying and she didn’t seem to playing some weird long con. “What can you tell me about the curse?”
    Chloe broke off a chunk of scone and picked it apart with her fingernails, popping tiny crumbs into her mouth as she spoke. “The ghosts, they don’t like talking about it. They’re terrified of the old man. If I say his name, they all vanish. But a few of them told me, when I pressed.”
    Bella leaned forward. Chloe leaned forward until their foreheads were nearly touching.
    “They say that the old man got seriously pissed off at Dorian one day—though I don’t know why—and the old man hired a witch to curse his son.”
    “Why would he do that?”
    “Because he was a monster. Literally.”
    Bella shook her head. “What’s the curse do? Assuming I believe in curses, that is.”
    Chloe held up the last scone and ripped it in two. “It split him, or locked away part of him. It was supposed to be temporary, the ghosts say. A lesson, to teach him to respect his father’s power. But then his father died in that fire, and the curse has been growing stronger. He’s all out of balance and if the curse isn’t lifted, he’s going to explode.”
    Bella stared at Chloe, waiting for her to break into laughter or wink and say just kidding . But she didn’t. The girl was serious. “Look, I know you don’t believe me. I wouldn’t believe me either, it’s cool. But, like, don’t get attached to him. The boy ain’t long for this world.”

Chapter 5
    H aving her own bedroom made all the difference in the world. She didn’t worry if she was making too much noise for her father, or if he’d appear in her room all of a sudden on some pretext—usually grabbing a book off the shelf—all glowering and silent. No, the library was across the grounds from where she stayed now, with a giant hedge maze in between them. It was better that way. She didn’t know what he expected out of her, or how to get through to him. She’d tried talking to him and asking about his day, but the man just grunted or answered with as few syllables as possible. Frankenstein, indeed.
    Chloe gave Bella directions to the perfect bedroom. The closet was even already full of clothes that were her size. Chloe said that the former occupant passed them on to Bella with her blessing and that she’d been an artist in residence in the eighties.
    The walls had paintings on them of the Winterborns, but they were all pastels and jagged lines of blazing color with mixed media items pasted or glued on. One of the paintings showed the former Lord Winterborn, Octavian, standing before a great flame done in neon oranges. Shadows erupted from the man’s back like wings. Bella didn’t know what the deal was with the dragons—probably it was some old family sigil, like rampant lions or griffons playing patty-cake.
    The closet was absolutely overflowing with clothes. And yes, they were her size. Maybe Chloe really was psychic. With every day it was easier to believe. Or maybe she just knew from Agatha or Vincent or some other employee long gone where everything