The Fractured Empire (The World Apart Series Book 1)

by Robin D. Mahle

  "Maybe I really wanted to know." I had said it to avoid talking about Xavier, but I was also curious why she never talked about her own past.

  "There's not much to know. I once had a family of four, and now it's two. The end." She knocked back the rest of her glass with a faraway look in her eyes.

  I wanted her smile back, or a blush, or anything other than the closed-off expression she wore now.

  "Okay, you don't want to talk about it. Let's talk about something else. Like how you deliberately withheld information on available sleeping options." I smirked, remembering how she had avoided my eyes earlier when she admitted to the fold-out beds. I was not disappointed.

  Her face flamed again, though she defiantly met my eyes. "I already explained that."

  "Ah, yes. You forgot. How could I not recall such an airtight explanation?" I teased.

  She grinned wryly. "Indeed. As for putting a lady on the spot like that?” She clicked her tongue. “And you call yourself a gentleman."

  That got an actual laugh from me. "I do no such thing."

  We both chuckled at that.

  "True." Her face fell a little. "And yet—" She stopped herself. "Never mind. I should get to bed."

  What was she going to say?

  “Wait,” I put my hand on her arm to keep her from getting up. She looked at me expectantly. I placed a hand in my pocket and fished out a bronze chain with a gear-covered heart. Her necklace.

  I had given it to Gunther for safekeeping and he had repaired the broken chain while he had it.

  “I should have given this back before. I’m sorry.” I held it out to her.

  Her eyes widened, and an emotion I couldn’t quite read tightened her features before she smoothed them back out.

  Why is she so dead set against being human?

  She took the locket, running her fingers over the gears and chain like she had done it a thousand times.

  “I can’t wear them both, though,” she said, bitterness in her tone. I had thought about that.

  “May I?” I asked, gesturing to the necklace.

  She nodded and let me take it. I gently pulled her hand up until I had access to her slim wrist and wound the chain several times around it before clasping the ends. My thumb lingered on her wrist for a moment, feeling her rapidly-beating pulse.

  We both looked at where my fingers rested on her and the makeshift bracelet, then her gaze traveled up to my face.

  “Thank you.” Her voice was quiet, her eyes intense.

  I studied her face, not sure what she wanted. Or what I wanted, for that matter. Addie looked away first.

  The moment, whatever it had been, ended.

  She stood up, then hesitated. "You don't have to stay up here, you know. I promise not to jump you in my sleep," she added with a wry grin.

  "I figured you wouldn't want my brothers to give us hell." That was only part of the reason. Though I did care about her reputation, I mostly just didn't trust myself in that bed with her.

  She actually snorted at my comment. "My good name was sullied long ago. Don't you worry your pretty little head about that. Anyway, it's up to you." She turned, and I watched her chestnut waves sway with her walk.

  Damn it… I followed her. She didn't turn back or acknowledge me, but her step seemed to have a bit more swagger.

  “It’s nice that you think I’m pretty.” I parroted her words from yesterday.

  She turned back to me and raised her eyebrows suggestively. I nearly fell down the stairs. She snickered softly before turning back around.

  This girl.

  My brothers were both snoring when we crept past them. She climbed into bed in what she was wearing.

  Interesting. I wouldn't have said she was comfortable around me before, but I saw how differently she treated the situation when my brothers were here.

  I got into my side of the bed. Tenuously, I held out my arm. We had both had a hell of a day, and I figured she could use the comfort as much as I could. She looked at the arm, then directly at me, then back at it. Dilemma shone from her huge brown eyes.

  With a sigh, she pressed herself against me. I had been afraid of controlling myself, but that felt ridiculous now. Having her here like this filled me with such calm, I never wanted to move.

  "Whatever," she said. "I'm not going to pretend you aren’t comfortable.”

  The moments passed in silence, but her breathing told me she was still awake. She took in a breath like she was going to say something, then stopped. There was another intake of breath. I waited, curious what she might reveal here in the dark.

  “My sisters ashes are in this locket. It’s all I have left of her.” Her voice broke a little at the end.

  Remorse stabbed me in my gut for taking it to begin with, and I tightened my hold on her. A moment passed where the only sounds were Addie’s carefully-regulated breathing and the tinkling of the chain wrapped around her wrist as it moved up and down on my chest in time with my own breathing.

  “Today was a hard day,” I said, offering up a small piece of myself as well. “I mean, you had to go back to your home island and have well-meaning old ladies hug you, then we got attacked and someone died. But it did start off with some pretty amazing hot chocolate, so I guess you win some, you lose some.”

  Addie laughed softly, the reaction I had been hoping for. There was no evidence of the tears I suspected had been in her eyes moments before.

  “Good night, Clark."

  I smiled, liking the sound of my name on her lips much more than I should have. "Good night, Addie."

  The Heiress

  "Can we talk later, Adelaide?" Perry whispered across the table of the tedious palace gala we had both been forced to attend.

  "Sure. About what?" I asked.

  He looked around to ensure no one was watching. "About the other night," he said like it should have been obvious.

  I was nonplussed. "If you want, but I'm not sure what there is to say."

  "Are you angry?"

  "Of course not. It was my idea." I was telling the truth. I wasn't angry. I wasn't necessarily happy, either, but that was my problem, not his.

  He dropped the matter until I met him in my rooms at the palace later that night. He crossed over to me and tentatively put a hand against my cheek. I didn't step away, but I didn't step into it either.

  "I wasn't asking for a relationship right now, Perry. I was only concerned that if it was to be in our future, we should have all the information going forward," I said.

  He dropped his hand abruptly, and I couldn't read the expression that crossed his features.

  "Of course. Well, I do hope you'll be able to make an informed decision from here." He left in somewhat of a huff.

  My brow furrowed. I felt like I was handling this the way every man would want a woman to. Why was he irritated?

  The next morning, I decided we should have breakfast together like old times to ease the tension. I sneaked down the passageway that led to his rooms to wake him up only to find he was not the sole occupant of his bed. The buxom nude form sleeping half on top of him was a little too familiar, so I crept back down to my room. I had no claims on him, so why were my hands trembling with anger right now?

  It didn't matter. I dressed quickly and grabbed my purse before I could be forced into having breakfast with the prince and Sophie Benedict.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Adelaide

  Clark was gone before I woke up. Even knowing he and I were no more than two ships passing in the night, I had taken comfort in his solid presence last night. But now, with Central only hours away, reality was setting in.

  Even if there had been a small, stupid part of myself that wondered if we could have been something more when this was all over, I saw now how ridiculous that was. I knew guys like Clark. Cocky, witty, gorgeous, and rarely looking for long-term relationships. If they were, it was with the sweet, innocent girls, like they thought they could absorb some of that purity by osmosis. I scoffed.
I couldn’t be further from those girls if I tried.

  I wasn't so naive as to think he wanted more from me because of one incident and a couple nights in bed.

  In the extremely unlikely event that he did want something more, how was that supposed to work? I didn't know now if I could go through with marrying Perry. The idea, which had felt like my only lifeline, suffocated me more than ever now that I had gotten a small taste of freedom.

  I laughed to myself. To think that being stuck in a necklace and running for my life was more freedom, more liveliness than I'd had in years. I realized now why the name Addie had popped out only a few short days ago. I had wanted someone to think of me that way, to acknowledge a part of myself I could scarcely remember. Who better than perfect strangers I would never have to see again.

  Except now the thought of never seeing them again, these bantering boys with their haunted pasts, didn't fill me with relief at all. No matter, though. As my father was fond of saying, it is what it is. And this was my life.

  However claustrophobic the idea of marrying the prince made me, I wasn't sure I had any other real options. It's not like I can just go off adventuring with the brothers forever, sailing from island to island, eventually reaching the Ever Falls and who knows where else.

  The pang of longing at that sarcastic thought took me by surprise. Even with surly Xav, that future sounded better than the one I had waiting for me back at Central.

  Voices pulled me from my disjointed thoughts.

  "Not a distraction, huh?" That was the grouchy baritone of my least favorite of the brothers.

  "Not as distracting as my scheming brother has been," Clark replied.

  I guess that forgiveness talk hadn't really hit home last night. Then again, Xav did make it difficult to not want to punch him.

  "Oh, good. I was hoping we could all start arguing less than five minutes into the morning." That was Gunther.

  I smiled at his uncharacteristic disgruntled tone. Yes, I was going to miss them. I took that as my cue to emerge.

  I met all three boys' eyes in turn, refusing to let any heat creep onto my face, and smiled.

  "Who wants coffee?" I asked.

  Three voices were quick to cut in and offer to make it in my stead. But they weren't arguing, so that was something. The rest of the morning and early afternoon passed in much the same way, bouts of arguing with moments of peace, while we painstakingly plotted our next steps.

  We docked the boat at the Royal Dock. Without heading back to the palace, we had no way of letting Perry know we were back. Fortunately, it was private enough here that as long as I wrapped up a little and the boys called a taxicab, we didn't have to worry too much. This was by far the easiest part of our plan.

  I was grateful for their help, but still not sure why they were bothering. Xavier didn't seem to be too clear on that, either, but he had been overruled by both Clark and Gunther.

  "Because it's the right thing to do," Gunther had said. "Did you never listen to any of Father's teachings?" He had shaken his head and turned away, so he missed the look of shame on Xav's face, and odder still, guilt on Clark's. In the end, we had come up with a plan everyone agreed to, reluctantly or not.

  We pulled up to the Redshaw Hotel. Xavier got out first, an imperious expression gracing his darkly handsome features. Gunther followed a step behind, and then Clark and me. I turned my head into Clark's chest as we passed the doorman into the main lobby, hiding my face.

  "Checking in, Sirs and Madame?" the doorman asked.

  Fortunately, we had raided some clothes the prince had left and finagled them to fit Xavier, so he looked every inch the pompous Islander Prince he was playing when he nodded, not so much as glancing in the doorman's direction.

  Never having seen him display much personality, I was unsure Xav could pull this off, but Clark assured me of their extensive training. I wondered, not for the first time, who their father had been to impart so much knowledge. He must have been truly impressive.

  Xavier walked to the front desk. Before they could speak a word, he demanded to know why his car had not shown up at port as it was ordered. The confusion on their faces was almost comical. Xav continued to rant for a moment, drawing the eyes of the entire room, while Gunther put on a façade of placating him.

  "Please, my lord. I'm sure they will fix this at once." He looked down as he spoke, the epitome of a groveling servant to a haughty lord.

  "Then where is my room? Why are we not being shown to it? Has someone left to get my bags? This is unacceptable. I was told this was the premiere hotel in all of Central. Is this not true?" Xavier boomed.

  I would have laughed if I weren't so nervous about mine and Clark's role in this. While everyone in the room looked at Xavier and the staff tried desperately to figure out what was going on, Clark and I slipped off to the elevator.

  "Fifth floor," Clark told the lift operator. As soon as the doors closed, Clark put the poor unsuspecting man in a choke hold until he passed out and cranked the lift to the top floor. I knelt down for a pulse.

  Clark rolled his eyes. "I know what I'm doing. He'll be fine in a few minutes."

  "Of course, oh mighty and perfect warrior. Do excuse me for being concerned about another human being."

  "Well, excuse me for not recognizing that emotion coming from you."

  I risked punching him in the stomach. It was amazing how he could make me feel so safe last night and so uncharacteristically violent the rest of the time. He didn't bother to catch my hand but raised a single cocky eyebrow when it connected.

  "Did you hurt your hand?"

  "I hate you." I had hurt it, a little, but I would sooner die than rub the pain out in front of him.

  "So you say. Let's go and make it quick. We'll only have minutes before someone misses the lift or its operator." The elevator ride had ended, and we were at the hallway to my penthouse.

  I fished my keys out of the small handbag I had miraculously kept with me since the museum. I tried to turn the key as soundlessly as I could with shaking hands, conscious that there might be staff inside. Clark's steady hand covered mine.

  I turned to shoot him a grateful look, but his face was closer than I expected it to be. My breath hitched in my throat, and I turned forward, hoping he hadn’t heard.

  Together, we managed to get the door open with minimal noise. Although one of the perks of living in the hotel was that we no longer needed live-in staff, I wasn't sure of their exact cleaning or maintenance schedules.

  We seemed to be in luck. I opened the door, and no one gasped or yelled. Out of habit, I pulled my scarf and sunglasses off and tossed them on the bench in the entryway. Then, I headed right to my father's office, pushing the heavy oak door in after I turned the key.

  It hadn't occurred to me that he would be here. Whatever was going on, whether he was involved or distraught at my absence, I could count on him to be in his main office. Still, I felt a crushing weight at seeing his practical leather chair empty.

  Should I have tried harder to reach him directly? To trust him? He would never harm me, but none of this situation makes sense.

  For the first time in as long as I could remember, I wished he was here. I wished I could curl up in his lap and pretend to fall asleep so he carried me to bed, and that all of the distance between us could melt away. I wished so many things, not one of them within my reach.

  "Addie?" Clark's voice startled me.

  I must have been still for too long. I walked around my father's desk, deliberately not looking at his chair again, and used another of my keys to open his desk drawer. I was the only other person in the world with a spare key for emergencies. I retrieved his key ring and locked the drawer again. We exited the office, and I locked that behind us.

  I led the way across the spacious flat that would never feel like home, back in the direction of my room. We crossed the front door again just as the knob began to turn.

  Merde!

  I pulled Clark into the nearest closet
. It was pitch dark, but I knew linens surrounded us, along with a few boxes we had never bothered to unpack. There was just enough room for us to both stand. My face was close enough to his chest that I could hear the rapid beating of his heart, and my mind took me back to a time when it was beating that way for a different reason. His breath mingling with my own didn't help.

  I prayed whoever had come in wasn't here for any major cleaning, not that the place had looked like it needed it.

  Had Father been home at all since I had gone missing? Is he worried? Footsteps passed us, walking toward my room. I heard the familiar groan of my bedroom door opening. It was probably just a dry-cleaning delivery then. They should be in and out. I let out a sigh of relief a moment too soon.

  Soft paws scratched at the door to the closet, followed by much louder meows. Shensi must have come out of my room and realized I was in here. I tried to quietly shush her, hoping she could hear what the deliverer could not, but that proved to be a mistake. She meowed louder.

  "Can I put that thing in a choke hold, too?" Clark whispered against my ear.

  Though the action sent shivers down my spine, my voice was stern when I whispered back. "You touch my cat and you die."

  Soundless laughter rumbled through his chest. I stepped on his foot, and his shoulders shook harder. For someone supposedly so highly trained, he wasn't doing a great job of keeping it together right now. Fortunately, most of the staff was afraid of Shensi due to her propensity to bite everyone who wasn’t me or Nell.

  This person seemed to be no exception. Despite her continued meows, the footsteps hurried past, and the door clicked open and shut again. We waited another moment to be safe, then opened the closet door.

  Shensi rushed in, twirling herself around my legs and nearly tripping me. Clark reached for her to move her out of the way, but she bit him. Now it was my turn to laugh. I picked up the giant white ball of fur, crooning to her what a good kitty she was while Clark babied his barely injured finger. Her purring form was the only thing in this house I had missed. I was reluctant to set her down even to look through the book, but I knew we were running out of time. We were probably out of time already.