Protected by Stone (A Paranormal Romance Novel) by Cynthia Brint Page A

My squeak was pathetic, followed quickly by a confused glare at what lay just outside my room.
    Recognizing the thick stack of papers, I bent down to grab them. Ah, right. My 'duties' or whatever. Grault was supposed to go over these with me, but we never got a chance.
    Recalling the tension of the night before set my neck on fire. I shouldn't have gotten so mad. I'm sure he didn't mean to make me feel like a failure. My tiny smile was sour. He should just have waited till I gave him a real reason, is all.
    Sighing, I flipped through the pages. The list was gigantic, a detailed explanation of everything I, apparently, needed to do. Did Tessa actually do all of this alone?
    Holding it under my arm, I shut my door and walked quietly down the hall. The morning chores listed coincided well with what I was interested in.
    Food, and hot water.
    Passing by the strung lights at the base of the stairs, I pondered the problem that had plagued me the most. Lights that work by magic. Or, lights that worked only for Tessa. Hmn.
    With only my thoughts for company, I considered how I would, or could, fix such a thing.
    I had no answer by the time I made it to the long hall of windows.
    Outside, through the glass, I was able to finally see the yard that the late hour had hidden before. It wasn't a pretty sight, it was as bad as the greenhouse.
    So many problems, so much work... I need to tackle one at a time if I hope to fix any of this.
    My heart was thumping, anxious at the realization of all the labor ahead of me.
    In the kitchen, I set the paperwork down on a counter. My nose brushed the page as I read it from top to bottom, then flipped to the next. Tessa made breakfast for everyone, every morning. But not just that... she made specific things...
    So much stuff, my goodness.
    Shaking my head, I pushed the papers away. There was no reason to work so hard, not that I could see. In normal hotels (though this was far from normal, admittedly) there was just a basic breakfast for the guests to eat.
    Turning, I headed into the larder. Grault had arranged everything I'd bought on the shelves, but the room was big enough that it still looked bare.
    Scooping butter and eggs into my arms, I shoved out of the chilly locker hurriedly. I'd done very little baking in my life, but I knew one recipe by heart. Pancakes were surely the easiest breakfast to make in bulk.
    The pantry attached to the kitchen was full of spices, containers without labels, but sugar was easy to spot. I also saw the bag of bagels and package of cookies I'd bought. They'd been shoved into a bottom corner, like Grault didn't know what to do with them.
    My first bottleneck was understanding the stove. It seemed Tessa didn't have a gas range. No, that would be too easy, I sighed mentally.
    Squatting down, I eyed the big metal thing thoughtfully. It had two doors, and inside one of them, I found some unburnt logs. You're joking. It actually burns wood. Hmn.
    Lifting my eyes, I followed the long tube that extended from the back of the stove, into the roof. And that's where the smoke goes. Alright.
    It seemed inefficient, but I was relieved it was something I could figure out. No magic here, wonderful. Nodding to myself, I looked around the kitchen for matches.
    The pantry saved me again.
    Sticking my head into the stove, I wondered if I just had to light the wood. Will that be enough?
    “Excuse me,” a familiar voice said behind me. I smashed the back of my head on the hard metal, my shout echoing in the stove. Old soot floated around and into my hair.
    Turning, I held the spot on my skull that I was certain would swell up. There, floating by me, was the yellow slug-thing from yesterday. “Oh!” I said stupidly, one eye still shut from the sharp pain spreading around.
    “I'm sorry,” he said insistently, still unsettling me with his lack of mouth. “I didn't mean to scare you, Miss Blooms!”
    Looking at my hand to check it was free of blood, I decided to stay on my knees a bit