She gripped the bench behind her. ‘Do not come any closer.’

Hodge drew a slow breath. ‘Must there always be a scene with you?’ He walked over to the stove and began stuffing it with sticks and small logs. Isabel watched in horror as the flames intensified.

‘Soon it will be much too hot in here,’ he said, ‘and you will exit willingly at my side instead of being dragged out of here like a dog.’

Her eyes never left the fire. ‘How did you get into Carmarthenshire?’

‘It was not easy, let me assure you. It has taken weeks of planning to breach that little border of yours, but we found a way through eventually.’ He continued to shove more wood into the fire despite it being so full that he was struggling to fit it. ‘I was fearful of what I would find upon arriving here. I was plagued by imaginings of you and Blackmane playing house together. You can imagine my relief when I found you here and him nowhere in sight.’

She swallowed, her mouth growing increasingly dry. ‘How long have you been here?’

‘In Llanelieu? Six days.’

Six days?

‘I have been observing and getting a feel of the place and your life here. It is no Hampstead Keep, but I see how much you enjoy working outside in the gardens. Though they are not as impressive as the gardens back home.’

The thought of him watching her for six days made her feel physically ill. ‘That is enough wood,’ she said when an ember fell from the stove and flitted across the floor.

He went to stamp the ember out. The problem was the wood was popping all over the place, sending more things flying than he could put out.

Sweat gathered on her brow and trickled down her back, partly due to the heat but mostly due to the fear. She needed to get out of the kitchen, out of the house.

Releasing the bench, she dashed for the door, but Hodge blocked her exit at the last second, and her body slammed into his. He reached up to steady her. ‘Where are you running off to? We leave together, remember? Calmly and willingly.’

She began to cry. ‘I cannot breathe.’

‘Shh.’ He stroked her hair in an attempt to soothe her, but it had the opposite effect. She pulled out of his hold and backed up to the bench again.

‘Why are you doing this?’ The words came out on a sob.

He looked around the smoke-filled kitchen. ‘It is better to face our fears together.’

The stove spat out a huge chunk of burning wood. It landed between Isabel and Hodge, and he made no effort to stamp it out this time. Isabel slid down to the ground, forced to watch it burn as she prayed the floor would not catch fire.