by Lola Gabriel
“Well, then at least let me give you some money to find a better place!” Lennox begged.
Gia shook her head stubbornly, even though she knew she should be jumping at the opportunity. She had lived in the Trenches this long already. Hopefully, a little while longer wouldn’t kill her.
“This is such a mess,” Lennox grumbled, shaking his head. “I shouldn’t be asking you to sacrifice so much to be with me. You can’t quit a good job that will give you the financial support you need! I’ll find another way to change the clause.”
“You’re not asking me to do this, I’m doing it for us,” Gia reassured him, even though it pained her to say so. Allegra had threatened vampires to get her that job. She had been trying this entire time to shape Gia into someone stronger, and here Gia was, throwing it all away for Lennox.
She knew that Lennox was her mate, no matter how impossible it seemed. She felt it right down to her very core. But she also knew that Allegra cared about her, that she wanted her to be self-reliant and to be able to take care of herself.
Lennox smiled sadly at her. “You look so unsure,” he sighed, softly caressing her cheek. “Maybe it’s better if you don’t quit your job. As I said, I don’t know if it would even matter in the long run.”
“No, no, I…” Gia trailed off, having no idea of what to say. The obvious solution was for her to accept Lennox’s offer, to tell him that she was moving into the palace, to allow him to take care of her. But she couldn’t bring herself to say those words. She had always relied on herself and herself only, and if she couldn’t even do that, if she had to depend entirely on someone else, then what was the point?
“It’s okay,” she said, wrapped a comforter around herself. She doubted there was much conviction in her voice. “I’ll figure it out, I prom—”
The sound of a door flying open in the front room startled them both.
“Who’s there?” Lennox growled, lunging to his feet. “This suite is occupied!”
Four faces appeared in the doorway of the bedroom, all of them leering at Gia and Lennox with glittering, malicious eyes. Gia gasped when she recognized them: they were Lennox’s brothers, all wearing equally cruel expressions on their faces. Chills ran down Gia’s body, and she wrapped the comforter tighter around herself.
“Hello, brother,” one of the men called, stalking through the door. “I would say you have a bit of a morality issue here, wouldn’t you?”
“Reef, take the others and get out of here! Have you no shame?” Lennox howled, advancing on him. Before he could take another step, he was flanked by his other three brothers.
“Ah, ah, ah,” another one said in a lilting tone. “Not so fast, Lenny. You’re in breach of your authority, sleeping with an employee. But you already knew that, didn’t you? Otherwise, you would be in your suite instead of hiding here.”
“Lennox!” Gia gasped. “Tell them I quit! I quit, I don’t work here anymore!”
One dark-haired brother cast her a sympathetic look, his blue eyes darting over her. “Come on, guys. Let the lady get dressed. Our fight isn’t with her.”
The other three begrudgingly agreed. That, however, didn’t stop them from grabbing Lennox and forcefully dragging him toward the door of the bedroom with them while Lennox struggled to free himself from their grasp.
“I didn’t do anything wrong!” he snarled. “You heard her! She doesn’t work for the palace!”
Reef turned back to look at Gia. His expression was pained, like he was sorry that she was witnessing this.
“When did you quit?” the blond prince asked her. Gia’s mouth parted, her eyes darting toward Lennox in panic. “Before you speak, fairy,” Reef continued, “let me remind you that the penalty for lying to a dragon is death.”
The comforter did nothing to alleviate the shudders coursing through Gia’s body.
“Leave her alone!” Lennox screamed. “She hasn’t done anything wrong!”
“Oh, we know it’s you who always screws it all up,” Reef agreed, turning back to his brother. “That’s why we’re glad your rule is finally over, Lennox.” He nodded at the other princes. “Come on. Let’s let the girl get dressed and leave with any dignity she can scrape off the floor.”
“No!” Gia cried. But the dragons were already out of the bedroom, leaving her to stare after them with tears streaking down her cheeks.
The brother who had told the others that their fight wasn’t with her returned, standing at the bedroom’s doorway.
“You didn’t do anything wrong, you know,” he assured her gently. “You’re not the first woman whose life Lennox has upset. But if it’s any consolation, you’ll likely be the last.”
Gia’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?” she asked. “What are you going to do to him?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “We’ve designed a place that will keep him for the rest of eternity, where he can’t do any more damage to anyone.”
The nameless brother walked away before Gia could ask him anything else, her heart hammering wildly in her chest. She was certain she was going to have a heart attack, naked and alone in the secret suite.
He’s gone again, she thought mournfully. How can we be meant to be together when he keeps being taken from me? I have to do something, anything! There must be a way to make this right!
But Gia knew that she was no match for four dragons determined to keep her and Lennox separated. She had found her mate, only to lose him forever. And it was all because of her.
14
They have been planning this forever, Lennox realized, pacing through the glass cage carefully constructed to keep him inside it. They have been waiting for me to do anything to cause my own undoing. This has been their plan for ages.
It had to be. There was no way that the prison in which he stood could have been made in a matter of days. His brothers had been plotting his demise for longer than Lennox could even begin to comprehend, and the dread was almost overwhelming, threatening to bring him to his knees.
How much anger and hatred did they hold against him to do such a thing? What were they going to do now? Were they just going to keep him locked up in a glass cage for eternity?
They had said little to him, forcing him through the doorway while he breathed fire and fought against them, having fully shifted. In the end, he was no match for all four of his brothers, and he forced himself to calm down and find a way to escape his prison.
But how could he calm down when all he could think about was Gia, who had been left trembling and terrified as he was hauled away from her?
Lennox’s fury grew with each passing hour. If they had done anything to her…
The door to the room opened, and Castor shuffled inside, carrying a tray of raw meat.
“Your Highness,” he announced, shifting his eyes downward. “I’ve brought you food.”
Lennox froze, staring at his driver as he approached the glass cage. “Castor, you have to let me out of here,” he said. “I’m the ruler of the Hollows! This is treason!”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness, I have my orders,” Castor said. His tone made Lennox doubt how sorry he actually was.
You haven’t always acted regally, he reminded himself as Castor leaned down to shove the tray through a slot. He was probably still bitter about his sisters. Even after all this time, Lennox still hadn’t apologized for it.
The metal tray clanked to the floor, and the lycan turned to hurry away.
“Castor!” Lennox called him. He froze in his tracks but kept his back to Lennox, as if he feared making eye contact.
“Yes, Your Highness?”
“Who’s in charge up there?” Lennox asked. “Is it Wilder?”
Castor slowly turned to face him. “I’m not entirely sure,” he confessed. “There seems to be some dispute over who is ruling the Hollows at the moment.”
Well, that can’t be good, Lennox thought, biting on his lower lip. If the rest of the Hollows saw how weak they were now, they would smell the blo
od in the water like sharks.
“Castor,” he said. “I need you to find Gia Cirone. I need you to bring her—”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” Castor interjected, “but you’re not allowed visitors.”
“This is bullshit!” Lennox roared. “They can’t do this! I won’t let them get away with it!”
“Eat, Your Highness,” Castor said, gesturing toward the metal tray on the floor. “You should keep your strength up.”
“Castor!” Lennox yelled pleadingly. “Can you at least find out what they did to her?”
Castor’s brow knit. “To whom?”
“Gia Cirone! Is she hurt? Did they lock her up too?”
Castor shook his head. “I don’t think so,” he answered. “Their issue was not with Miss Cirone.”
The relief that flooded through Lennox at Castor’s former response quickly changed into more dread at his latter answer.
“Castor,” he tried again, his tone plaintive. “I am not the enemy here. They are making a mistake.”
“It is not my place to dispute the brothers, Your Highness. Is there anything else?”
Lennox could see Castor was eager to be on his way, so he sighed in defeat. “Yes. I’m sorry I didn’t do right by your sisters. I know I haven’t always been the best creature, but I never intentionally hurt anyone. I hope you and your family can forgive me.”
Castor’s mouth fell open in surprise, though no sound came out of it.
“You can go,” Lennox mumbled. It was clear to see that pleading with Castor would get him nowhere. At least he had said what he had wanted to.
His driver disappeared, leaving Lennox to rest his massive head against the cool, indestructible glass, his huge body falling back into his mortal form as he slowly resigned to his fate.
I’ll never see Gia again, he thought. Everything will go back to the way it was before I was granted my wish. Wilder will become the same tyrant he always was, and it will all have been for nothing. Why did I ever agree to the wish?
His wish.
Lennox raised his head, feeling the hairs on his arms standing on edge. Mira had told him that she had foreseen the outcome of granting him his wish. She had known this would happen. And not only that—she had sought Lennox out in New Orleans. Had Wilder sent her? No, that didn’t make any sense. But then why had she offered Lennox a wish? Had it been to execute some petty revenge, or had it been something even worse?
Lennox recalled a time, eons ago, when the inhabitants of the Hollows had tried an uprising against him and his brothers. It hadn’t succeeded, of course, but it had started in such a seemingly simple manner: an unrest in the palace, a struggle for power amongst the dragons.
Lennox started furiously pounding on the walls of his glass cage.
“Wilder! Reef! Keppler! Owen!” he screamed as loudly as he could. “Someone! Anyone!”
His pleas were met with an echoing silence that chilled him down to his fire-eaten core.
He couldn’t remember when he had fallen asleep. At least his dreams were merciful, allowing him to see Gia one more time.
“Lennox?” Gia tenderly reached out to him, her heart-shaped face shining with worry and innocence as she pressed her hands against the glass. “Lennox, can you hear me?”
“I hear you,” Lennox mumbled, smiling at her. “I love you, Gia. I’ll find a way for us to be together again, I promise.”
“Lennox,” she called him again, glancing nervously over her shoulder. “Lennox, wake up!”
Castor came into the room, grabbing her arm. “We can’t stay long! If we’re caught here—”
“Please!” she cried, wrenching her arm away. The desperation in her voice sounded too real to be a dream. With a startled, choked-off gasp, Lennox suddenly realized that he was not dreaming. Gia was really standing on the other side of his cage.
“Gia!” he yelled, leaping to his feet. “How—how did you find me?”
Gia glanced at Castor, who was glancing around the room, his expression panicked.
“Castor brought me down here,” she told him. Lennox moved to press his own palms to her impressions on the glass. “Lennox, something is happening. I can feel it.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “You have to tell my brothers to get over themselves and work together, because another uprising is brewing while they fight.”
Gia’s blue eyes widened. Next to her, Castor gasped.
“What?” she choked. “How do you know?”
“It’s too long a story to explain right now!” Lennox said. “You need to find a pixie named Mira and bring her to the palace. I think she’s playing a major role in what’s happening.”
“Mira?” Gia whispered. “Ginger-haired pixie, black eyes?”
“You… you know her?” Lennox growled. “What did she promise you? Please tell me you didn’t accept any wishes from her!”
“No,” Gia answered, shaking her head. “No, I didn’t.”
“Are you sure that’s what this is?” Castor interrupted. “The last uprising left so many dead. It took centuries to recover from—”
“We’re wasting time discussing this!” Lennox snapped. “You need to make my brothers listen! Find Mira and bring her to me under their guard. If she reverses the wish she granted me, this can all be avoided.”
Gia studied his face uncomprehendingly. “What wish did she grant you?”
“Gia, it has nothing to do with how I feel about you,” he assured her. “Now we must act quickly. Castor, you deal with my brothers. Gia, you find Mira.”
For a moment, all Gia and Castor did was stare at him dumbly, like they weren’t sure Lennox should be taken seriously. He didn’t blame them. He probably sounded like a madman trying to redeem himself, but he knew he was right. Wilder was much too formidable to overthrow when he was in the throne, and Mira had found a weaker target to attack.
Lennox couldn’t believe he had allowed his ego to interfere with his common sense. But there was still time to make things right, and he was determined to put an end to this before it began.
“Please,” he begged them. “You can look at me funny later. You need to do what I’m telling you before a civil war breaks out and the Hollows suffer.”
To his relief, Castor nodded his head and headed out of the room. Gia stayed behind.
“Are you sure about this, Lennox?” she asked him.
“Gia,” he said. “If we catch them in time, you and I will never have to worry about being together again,” he vowed. “I made a grave mistake accepting that wish from Mira, but it can be undone. You need to hurry!”
She nodded and reluctantly turned away, leaving him to pace the room again, his pulse racing.
He hoped his brothers would listen to reason, because if they did not get over themselves and unite, they would lose control of the kingdom they had worked so hard to maintain.
And it would all be Lennox’s fault.
15
“I need to find Mira.”
Allegra gasped and whirled at the sound of Gia’s voice, her hand over her heart.
“Gia! You scared me,” she laughed nervously. “What are you doing here?”
“I need to find Mira. Now.” There was a flatness in her own tone that Gia didn’t recognize. Allegra must’ve heard it, too, because she stared closely at Gia.
“Are you all right?”
“Tell me where to find Mira,” Gia said, her tone growing aggravated. “It’s important.”
Allegra’s eyes narrowed. “Gia, what’s going on?”
“You tell me,” Gia answered. “Was I somehow part of this plan? Is that why you befriended me?” Allegra’s face paled, and Gia saw a shadow of worry cross her eyes before she had a chance to hide it.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Allegra insisted. “Why don’t you come and sit down?” She gestured at a nearby stool close to the display counter.
“You really do think I’m gullible and stupid, don’t you?” Gia hissed, folding her arms
defiantly. “Is that why you picked me to be a pawn in your plan? All that talk about me sticking up for myself and being stronger… I bet you and Mira had a good laugh at my expense.”
“Gia, I don’t know—”
“Stop it!” she screamed, her voice ricocheting through the boutique like gunfire. “I’m onto you, Allegra! I know why you and Mira met in secret! I know about the uprising!”
This time, Allegra couldn’t hide her shock. She stepped back from Gia, and when she spoke, her voice was barely a whisper. “Who told you? Do the dragons know?”
Pain and betrayal surged through Gia like a hot knife.
“Where is Mira?” she demanded through clenched teeth. “I need to know where she is so she can stop this before it’s too late.”
Allegra moved around the side of the counter, her arms extended as if she wanted to embrace Gia. Gia was having none of it.
“Don’t touch me!” she spat. “Don’t pretend to be my friend! Do you have any idea what you’ve done? You’ve trapped an innocent man and caused a war in your own home, and for what? What benefit could this be to you?”
“Gia, you don’t understand,” Allegra said softly. “You weren’t around when the dragons were different, when we all lived in fear every day. We know what they’re capable of, and some of us worry that they will fall back into their old ways.”
“Some of you like Mira?” Gia scowled. “Where is she? She needs to undo what she’s done.”
Allegra shook her head sadly. “I don’t know where she is, Gia. I swear I don’t!”
Like she would tell her even if she did know. It was clear where Allegra’s loyalties lay, and they weren’t with Gia.
The fairy scoffed and spun away, her heart swollen with disappointment. She had trusted Allegra so much, and that had been a mistake she was decided not to repeat. If Gia survived the upcoming war, she would never let her guard down again.
“Gia, wait!” Allegra begged. “I really don’t know where she is! When word got out that Lennox had been dethroned, the attack plan went into action. Without a ruler in the palace, no decisions can be made. The dragons have always harbored a sick brotherly rivalry amongst themselves, one that blinds them to anything else going on around them. It’s their weakness: the envy of one another.”