“You are quite brave.” A man’s voice jolted me from my misery. He spoke to the guard, and the guard bowed to him before leaving his post at my cell.
“Don’t bother coming in here unless you have water or you want to get punched in the fucking face.”
He snorted, pressing some buttons on a pad near the door. I had expected a giant ring of old, metal keys, not an electronic lock. When he lifted his eyes to mine, I recognized Troy’s icy blue glare immediately.
Who the fuck is this guy?
“I don’t see any water, so I guess it’s your face. You’ll have to come to me, though. Everything hurts too fucking much to move.”
“Logan.” He closed the cell door behind him. “Do not do this again.”
“Oh, I get it, you’re the enforcer. All mocking and cool, but then you whip out some pliers to pull out my molars.”
He narrowed his eyes, a small smile on his face. “I have no intention of removing your teeth. Sometimes, I wonder if your world is far more barbaric than mine.”
I rolled my eyes. “What, then?”
“I came here because I know that you suffer. While I cannot provide you water or medical attention, as it is against the king’s commands, I can at least provide you with information.” He moved, and I flattened myself painfully against the wall.
“That’s close enough.”
He stopped, lowering his voice. Everything about him looked like a younger version of Troy, from his height to his dark hair and cleft chin. Everything but his behavior. “Roam is alive. She is refusing food and drink, and her mind is… altered. But- she lives.”
“Altered? What the fuck does that mean?” Panic beat against my bruised chest.
“She will not speak. She is… still. I can arrange for you to speak to her, but when I do, you must convince her to stop fighting and allow the king his way. The longer she behaves like this, the faster he will lose interest. When he loses interest… her life is in jeopardy.”
“You want me to go in there and try to make her feel better?”
“I do not want anything. As I said, it is in your best interest that she cooperates.”
“What’s it to you?”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “My motives are not of your concern. I do, however, possess more than a shred of humanity, and it sickens me to see you both suffer as you do. You are both very young.”
I looked down, trying to figure out what this guy was up to. “Are you related to Troy? You look like him.”
“I am his son.”
Holy fucking plot twist. “Are you shitting me?”
“My name is Will. As I said, I’ll arrange for you to speak to Roam. Focus on the smallest amount of meaningful words that you can say to her. What will motivate her to fight for her life? Think. You have forty-eight hours.”
With that, he left the cell, locking the door behind him.
I drifted in and out of consciousness for the remainder of the time, my headache getting so bad that I wanted to bang my head against the wall. At one point, I woke in a sweat, thinking about Eva for the first time in the ten days since we got there. Did she make it through the inclined plane? Is Violet taking care of her?
How is she alive?
Hours turned into days; the pain grew so intense, I wondered if maybe I had internal bleeding. No one would care. I am dispensable here. When I stopped getting the urge to piss, I knew that I was severely dehydrated.
A woman’s crazed scream jolted me awake several times. I knew that it wasn’t Roam, but the tortured moaning made me wonder how many others were locked in the cells surrounding me.
I tried to move around as little as possible, concentrating on what I was going to say to Roam. Remind her of home, of her mom and dad… of West and Eva.
Footsteps interrupted my thoughts, and Will appeared again, this time with two other guards. “Take him to the queen. Allow him to speak to her.”
They chained me and dragged me when I couldn’t keep up with their pace; my mouth was so dry, I could barely form words or sounds. Up a stone stairwell and into a decorated hallway, they positioned me outside of a giant, wooden door. I was offered a cup of water, and I drank as much as I could before it was wrenched away from me.
The door was opened, and I was shoved forward.
Blinking, I wondered if I was truly awake, or inside of another nightmare.
Roam lay in a giant, black canopy bed. The carvings on the headboard made me think of horned demons and Exorcist movies. She almost disappeared into the pillows, her wilted, frail body staring, unblinking.
Her eyes were no longer spring-time green, now more the color of dying grass. Her face was bruised, and fingertip-sized dark spots lined her neck. Once thick enough to tangle my fingers in, her hair spread across the pillow in limp, dull sections.
“Cam.” I tried to clear my throat. With sunken eyes, her cheek bones stuck out like jagged stones. “Please eat. Don’t do this to me, or to West… or Eva. You’ll hold her again, I promise you,” I managed, pleading.
She looked through me, as though I was not even there. Finally, she turned her face away.
“You are brave,” I insisted, coughing and tasting blood. “Your dad was a hero… and so was your mom… you owe them more than that,” I tried, feeling lightheaded from standing for so long.
When she remained unmoving, I felt the guards pulling me toward the door. “Don’t lose yourself, Roam,” I choked, finally allowing them to shove me away.
Later that evening, I lifted my eyes to the cell door. Troy walked in, flanked by two guards.
I lowered my eyes to the floor.
“It is time for you to accept who you are, Logan. Roam has submitted to me.”
Focused on a single link in the metal chain on my foot, I swallowed back burning puke.
He moved toward the center of the cell. “Long ago, when Roam- Mina- came to this kingdom, I loved her. I adored her. I’ll admit that to you, brother, so you can understand that I have no intention of killing her.”
I forced words through my dry throat as I raised my eyes to his. “But you plan to kill the baby. Eva.”
He cringed, squatting to my level as I sat on the cot. “It is best if you think of her not as a baby, but rather as a product of a curse. A means to end my world, and millions of innocent people, not only in my kingdom, but in every part of my world. You’ve told me of your plans to fight in your military, and of the group you fight- the Taliban…” His eyes bored into me. “All people of that country are not evil. There are only certain ones who bring devastation and cause wars. It is they- and their followers- that must be destroyed.”
I scoffed. “Are you comparing Bin Laden to a newborn baby?”
“In my world, she is the devil. Just allowing her to live will send my kingdom into flames.”
“But you did allow her to live. You let her go.”
He rolled back on his heels, smiling gently. “Yes, I did. For Roam. As you can see, I am not a monster. I will allow her to live for as long as possible, hunting her down only when absolutely necessary. Only when there is no other choice.”
“Or when you’re bored with Roam.”
He leaned in, and I stiffened at his proximity. “That will not happen.”
Exhaling slowly, I finally shifted my eyes to his. “So should I make myself comfortable down here, or are you going to kill me?”
After a moment, he laughed, shaking his head. “Brother, I have no plans to kill you, either. Your public attack on my life only proved how strong willed and heroic you are. I have, in turn, pardoned you, and you will rejoin my army.”
“You trust me enough to give me weapons and put me in your army.” I smirked, despite the pain in my jaw. “Sounds like you’re setting me up for failure.”
He leaned even closer.
“Imagine what I will do to your pretty Violet… if you ever challenge me again.”
Spit sprayed over my cheek at his ferocious whisper. I froze, panic constricting m
y ability to breathe.
Violet. How could I think she was safe?
Troy leaned back and laughed again, standing before me. “Excellent. Complete fealty. Welcome, brother. Guards, see that he has proper medical attention and his needs are met. Logan, I’ll speak with you when you’re stronger.”
He turned and swept from the cell.
Chapter Ten
Three months later
“Roam is… enchanting.”
Will leaned backed in the oversized couch, nodding politely at the serving girl as she handed him a mug of beer. I watched Troy’s eyes follow her around the room; the girl couldn’t have been more than sixteen or seventeen.
“She’s spirited,” Troy acknowledged, teeth flashing in a scumbag grin. “Brother, has she always been so… clever?”
Brother. I drew my thumb over the handle of the silver mug, staring into its foamy contents. This is like some kind of endless fraternity hazing.
Kill him and him, fuck her and her, and you’re in.
I looked down, trying to block out the last skanky whore he sent to my chambers the night before. At least that one was over eighteen. “Clever? Roam has always been smart. Even when we were kids, she made it a point to learn about everything.”
“The solar energy, the benefits… perhaps we have been without the sun for so long, we have lost our ability to consider it more than warmth and light.” Will raised his mug, tipping his head back to finish the last of the beer (which tasted like a shitty version of Budweiser) and standing. “Goodnight, Father. Uncle.” He bowed once, and Troy waved his hand in dismissal.
The servant girl returned, this time with a red-haired friend, and Troy gestured to the girl with red curls. “You’ll see to my brother this evening,” he ordered the terrified teenager, and she bowed slowly, turning to me.
“No.” I tried not to cringe, her fiery red hair immediately drawing my mind to the baby that Roam was missing so much. “I’m just going to bed. But thanks.”
Troy focused on me, finally waving that goddamn hand in the air again to shoo away the girls. “Before you go, I’d like to tell you about the beginning. About my Roamina.”
I froze, gripping the steel mug even tighter.
“You’ve done everything I’ve asked of you, brother, and have shown your loyalty. It is time you learn of your origin.”
“Okay,” I said, hesitating before sitting back against the chair.
Troy’s cold blue eyes were unfocused, probably due to the equivalent of the case of beer he’d downed in only a few hours. “I was your age when our first meeting was arranged. So young.” He sat back, licking his lips once before staring up at the ceiling. “She was even more beautiful than she is now, if you can imagine that. Bewitching.” He sighed, lowering his eyes back to me. “She was different. Not at all coy; openly showing her enthusiasm for our marriage. On the second night of her visit to this castle, I met with her in the gardens. The sun had warmed the air all day, and in the perfect, humid weather she wore only a long, white nightgown.”
“I’d never seen anything so… perfect. Those eyes, like jewels I had yet to possess, reflected the moon as she allowed me to kiss her.”
He stopped talking for a minute, and I waited for his slurring words to begin again. “She didn’t want to leave. She wanted to stay and marry me, right then and there. I loved her from the moment she set those captivating eyes on me.”
His eyes clouded as he stared down at his mug. “She was to return in one month’s time to become my wife. We wrote to each other,” he added eagerly, bursting to his feet and moving to the cabinet in his private chambers. After turning a combination, he reached in to remove a windowed shadowbox. “I destroyed all letters but one in my anger. This is all the remains.” He handled the box as though it were a newborn baby, carefully placing it in my arms.
I stared down at the old parchment paper, the pretty, cursive handwriting easy to read.
I almost dropped the box when my eyes scanned her signature. The ‘R’ of Roamina was looped in the same way that Roam made her own cursive Rs.
My mind jumped to Mrs. Wood’s third grade classroom. “Roam, please don’t drag your R down past the bottom line like that. Stop at the line and connect right to the O.”
“But that’s my signature. Signatures are supposed to be original.”
The letters were blotted with ink here and there, and as I read her words, my mouth fell open.
Troy, my love,
The fall was fast, the impact sudden.
Since the night in the garden, I have lost myself in your eyes and have yet to return. I do not wish to continue this life without you. With each breath, your name is left on my lips, as is the memory of your kiss.
Our kingdoms shall unite in peace, and our children shall carry the legacy of our love throughout lifetimes.
Wait for me, my love. I long for the moment that you shall hold me in your arms.
Your everlasting and faithful servant,
Roamina
The air around me grew thin, and I found it hard to breathe.
She really loved him. Holy fucking shit. How?
“She returned to me… a completely different person.” He set the box to its place in the cabinet, meeting my eyes. “Cold. Unfeeling. Disgusted by my presence. Just sixteen years old, but centuries of vengeance in her eyes.” He shook his head once. “She hurt me deeply.”
The silence in the room unnerved me. I was fully aware of the severity of his outbursts, and waited for him to start throwing shit. Instead, his eyes watered. “In every other lifetime, she looked nothing like my Mina. The French girl, the Spanish girl, the Moroccan… you helped me kill them all. But this time…” he exhaled with a laugh, “when I first saw her, in that pool… killing her, exacting revenge on the same face that has haunted my dreams for centuries, was my greatest vindication. When she lived, I knew then that she was different. There was a reason she looked so much like my Mina… and when she offered herself in exchange for the baby, I finally knew that reason.”
Carefully, I cleared my throat. “So she… cheated on you?”
He leaned forward, his face falling. I froze, waiting.
“I welcomed you into my kingdom. As my brother. As second to the throne. You repaid me by fucking my queen.”
And now we’re moving on to batshit crazy again. I swallowed the gigantic knot in my throat. “The other me. This me also got screwed over, remember?”
His cheeks twitched for a moment before the grin returned to his face. “Yes. Our common enemy.” He sat back, and I relaxed- a little. “West will pay for what he’s done to both of us.”
I remembered the look on her face, in the Russian hotel, when I finally asked her if she was screwing West. Her inability to lie, combined with her innate kindness, left her standing there crying, unable to form words.
When she had all but admitted being with West, I’d actually felt like crying for about ten seconds before the anger flooded in.
“So she wrote you these love letters, and then showed up for the wedding and acted like she hated you?”
“I blamed myself. What could I have done to change her? I tried to shower her with gifts, with tokens of my love, and she accepted them all with that same cunning smile.” He slammed the mug down on the table, a cue for the servant girl to come rushing in to refill it. When she did, Troy caught her around the waist, dragging her into his lap. “When I knew that it was his bastard growing inside her, like a cancer, I put her to death. I sentenced you all to death. But Asher managed to save him… and both of your souls.”
“He sounds like a powerful wizard.” I looked down as he began shoving his hands in the servant’s dress. Pig.
“I don’t even want you,” he said to the girl as he shoved her off of his lap, and she fell to the floor, scurrying away. Tipping his head back in staccato, villainous laughter, he shook his head. “I only want Roam. I burn for her. And after our recent journey, she has finally come back to me. It is my nam
e she calls in the night… and when I’m buried deep inside of her…”
I stopped listening, trying to imagine that it was anyone else in the whole fucking universe that he describing, and not my best friend.
“...pleasure that she gives me.”
I nodded, desperate to change the subject. Maybe he’s just drunk enough to answer my questions. “What was my name? Back then?”
He spit the name across his lips. “Leo.”
Leo? “And I just… showed up, claiming to be your half-brother and you accepted me?”
“I had no family. I longed for family.”
Kinda sad. I wanted to punch myself in the face for feeling a little sorry for him. Not him now; him in the past. I should know more than anyone there is a difference. “And I just turned around and… slept with your wife?”
He narrowed his eyes. “You plotted with her. To turn my entire army against me. My first knight… my closest friend… was West.”
They were friends? I can’t wait to tell West this. Hey, guess who had an ancient bromance? “And then she left me… and moved on to West.”
“She was heavy with his child by summer. The three of you were to die for your sins.”
My smart-ass mouth took over. “Four.”
His eyes snapped open. “Four?”
“Her baby. Her baby with West. The reason all this shit is still happening. You could have just moved the fuck on, dude.”
His face reddened in fury. “I did not cast this spell. I have a responsibility to this world, to my people, to save them from an old magician’s curse. My hours are numbered; I near the end of my existence. I am immortal only in your world, not here. I return here and age, every day. This is the longest that I have spent here, in Icepond, since the curse. Each precious moment here, I am closer to dying. She remains seventeen; my mortal body is nearing forty.”
Forty? I knew he was older than West, but… “So you have to stay… in my world… to not age.”
“I have collectively spent twenty-two years in Icepond since the curse. I have spread those twenty-two years over the time that has passed here, since the curse. That means spending very little time with my people- or with my son and daughter.”
Rush (Roam Series, Book Four) Page 8