I sat at the dining table and enjoyed the warmth of Marko’s room, convincing myself that Marko would set Robbie free from the dungeons, eventually. After a while I got up and paced the room, adrenaline still pumping through my veins.
I ran the nail-biting events through my head, and jumped when the doors to Marko’s room rattled open.
Marko entered and called back for the guards to lock the doors. He walked towards me, slowly, his face pale and his eyes intense.
‘Is everything okay?’ I asked him with a shaky breath.
His eyes held mine as he closed in, breathing hard.
‘Yes and no,’ he said, disappointment clouding his eyes. ‘I’ve just been to see Robbie.’ He swallowed hard. ‘He explained everything, Miranda.’
I stood there waiting for his rage to ignite, but instead he turned away.
‘I can’t believe I expected Robbie to perform such a task. I forced him to be your keeper, to spend every day with you, and then expected him not to be affected by you?’ He shook his head and pressed his fingertips to both his temples. ‘You must hate me. I’ve forced you here…making you marry me…’ He shook his head. ‘I can’t even bear to think about it. I’m a monster.’
His words should have had me agreeing, but I couldn’t.
‘I don’t hate you. Sylvia wanted this from the start, not you. Remember, you’re just like me in all this.’
‘No. I am the king. I should have overruled Sylvia’s decision.’
‘And increased Damir’s chances of taking over and endangering the lives of Marin’s citizens? You said yourself that Damir and his men were dangerous. I mean, he killed his own father—your father.’ The words flew from my lips before I could stop them—but they were true. Marko wasn’t the bad guy in this situation. He was the good guy. He cared about me, and it was clear to me now, from the fact that I wanted to slip my arms around him and never let him go, that I cared for him, too—a lot.
He shook his head. ‘Taking you was still wrong.’
I reached out and placed a hand on his arm, and he turned to face me.
‘Of course it was wrong. But what I’m trying to say is that I don’t blame you, and I definitely don’t hate you.’ I paused to take a breath. I needed courage to say what I was going to say next. The last time I’d confessed my feelings to a boy it had ended badly.
Marko frowned and drew his head back.
‘My feelings for you are far from hate—despite the circumstances. I think—I think I really like you.’ My palms grew damp.
He swallowed thickly and averted his eyes to the floor. ‘Don’t say that. You’ll only make me want to keep you here with me,’ he said, his breathing ragged. ‘What I should do is take you back home, before the compulsion takes hold.’
My hands found Marko’s, and he threaded his fingers through mine. His skin felt scorching hot. ‘You’re doing the right thing,’ I said breathlessly. ‘And I know you’ll set Robbie free, too.’
‘I don’t want to talk about Robbie,’ he whispered, his voice cut with emotion. He bent his head and drew me closer, letting go of my hands and gripping me by the waist. The way he was looking at me, with passion and sadness and rage burning in his silvery blue eyes, made me tremble inside.
‘How can you possibly have any measure of feelings for me, Miranda?’
I didn’t know the answer to his question. But I knew it was going to be hard to say goodbye.
‘It’s the face. It’s always been the face.’
He smiled softly and shook his head before he brought a hand to my face, stroking my cheek with his thumb.
‘Do you believe me now when I tell you I think you’re beautiful? And that I care for you, more deeply than I’ve cared for any other girl?’ he asked, his eyes boring into mine while his free hand travelled down to my lower back, pressing me until I was flush against him.
‘Yes,’ I whispered back, without hesitation. I was shocked by the speed of my answer. But it felt good and right.
He pressed his feverishly warm lips to my forehead, and my entire body trembled in response.
‘I don’t know if I can let you go just yet,’ he said, his hot breath tickling my hair.
‘I’m not sure I want to leave just yet, either,’ I said, my hands resting on Marko’s waist. Somewhere in the far recess of my mind an alarm was sounding, but my senses were too heightened to take notice. My time here with Marko was suddenly too short, and I wanted to make the most of it.
Marko tilted my face up and lowered his mouth to mine.
He kissed me tenderly at first, then with more urgency. A small gasp escaped my lips. My fingers travelled up and over the lean, hard muscles of his chest and found their way up the back of his warm neck to stroke his thick, dark hair. I could taste the blood on his lips, from when he’d bitten himself earlier, and I drew back to rain several soft kisses against his lower lip.
Marko moaned softly, pressing into me, his hands sliding up my back to tangle in my hair as we both edged closer to the bed.
Just as we fell against the mattress, a loud bang at the door interrupted us.
Marko ignored it and continued to kiss me his lips moving over mine almost desperately, as though he thought I’d disappear any minute.
The banging continued, only louder this time, and Marko jerked his head up as I drew away from him. I felt slightly dizzy, as though waking from a dream.
Marko eased himself to his feet and straightened his shirt. He smiled softly at me before striding to the door.
‘What is it?’ he shouted.
‘Robbie has escaped the dungeons,’ a frantic male voice shouted.
‘Open the door,’ Marko ordered and, after a fumbling with the locks, the doors swung open.
‘What happened, Jonathon?’
The tall, red-haired guard, who had an even redder face, wiped his forearm across his shiny forehead before he spoke.
‘He escaped. None of the guards wanted to hurt him, because he was still bleeding from the shark fight, so they let him go. He said something about killing Damir so that she…’ he paused and flicked a glance my way, ‘would be free. We’ve searched the castle grounds. We have reason to believe he’s escaped into the city and is headed for the underworld. The prisoner, Ryan, also escaped.’
Aiden…
Marko swore so loudly it echoed down the hallway. I scrambled up from the bed and ran to the door.
Marko watched me with faraway eyes. ‘It’s suicide.’ He shook his head and looked at Jonathon. ‘Summon all the royal guards. Leave enough men to protect the castle.’
‘Miranda,’ he said, his eyes wide with concern. ‘Stay here until I come for you or until I send someone.’
I nodded and he sighed, before stepping back to check his boot daggers and hurry out the door.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
MY HEAD POUNDED as I wandered around the room in shock. Robbie had escaped the dungeons. Half an hour ago I would’ve been happy for him, but after Marko’s words I couldn’t shake the cold fear snaking down my spine.
And Aiden…What did this mean? Had he escaped with Robbie? Or as well as Robbie?
I heard shouts and orders being barked somewhere in the distance and the loud stomp of boots clicking against the stone floors.
Putting my ear to the door, I listened, my breath held, until I could hear no more.
After several minutes of torturous silence, I cried out when the locks rattled. I waited for the door to open; but, oddly enough, it didn’t.
‘Marko?’ I called. ‘Hello?’
No answer.
With my weight resting against the heavy door, I gripped the handle and turned it. The door scraped open enough for me to slip out into the corridor. Not a soul was about.
‘Hello?’ I called again, my voice bouncing around the empty corridor. I kept my hand on the door handle just in case I needed to make a hasty retreat.
Two arms shot out from nowhere and wrapped around me like a vice. I screamed.
&
nbsp; ‘Please stop screaming. I’ll let you go!’ a gentle voice spluttered in my ear.
I stopped and, after the strong arms released me, turned around to face Henrietta’s brother.
‘I’m Jordon,’ he said, his huge chest heaving with breath. ‘Sorry to have scared you. I left my post for a moment to check on a noise, and now William’s gone. He was guarding this door with me.’
William
A cold shiver trickled to my toes.
‘Someone unlocked these doors, but when I checked no-one was there.’
Jordon shook his head. ‘He was the only one with the keys. I’ll have to alert Marko. He’s not going to like this at all.’ He stared at me. ‘I can’t lock you in the room without the keys…’
‘What if you take me to the kitchen? I haven’t eaten in the past twenty-four hours, and I’m sure I’ll be safe there with the ladies.’
‘Done,’ he said, before hurrying me through the castle corridors.
The steam from the kitchen washed over me like a warm bath and I shivered, thawing, while I looked around for Kris, Pat or Anne. I passed through the long row of ovens and around the corner, but found the small wooden table bare. I called out their names and, when I heard no reply, turned to leave.
But just as I walked back past the ovens, a door slammed from somewhere in the far corner. I followed the sound to find Dina the cook, Pat and Thelma entering the kitchens through a large wooden door.
‘Miranda,’ Pat rushed forward with a hand over her forehead as if she was about to faint. ‘We’ve just got back from the Colosseum. I nearly keeled over when I saw all that blood.’ She gasped. ‘I can’t believe he killed those sharks. It’s meant to be; that boy is meant to live.’
‘What you doing here?’ asked Dina, her eyes and lips all thin lines.
‘Are you hungry?’ asked Pat, rubbing my back in a motherly fashion, but I shook my head, though my belly was empty. If I ate anything now I’d probably throw it up, my stomach was so knotted
‘Jordon, the guard, brought me here to keep me safe.’
‘Safe?’ boomed a male voice from behind me.
We all turned to see William striding into the kitchen. The silver in his hair glinted under the kitchen lights. He was a lot older than the other guards, and looked ten times meaner.
‘Nowhere is safe, my dear. Not for you, or for any of Marko’s people.’
I stepped back and bumped into Dina, who shoved me forward.
‘Why did you unlock my door?’ I asked.
‘Enough talking; you’re coming with me, to meet Marko’s brother.’
‘What?’ I stumbled back, my tailbone hitting the edge of the long kitchen bench. Pain radiated through me, but I ignored it and ran, knocking pots and pans behind me in the process. I saw the wooden door, the one the ladies had come in from, and made a beeline for it, but instead crashed into Dina.
‘William, I’ve got her,’ she shouted, pinning me to the floor with her full body weight.
‘Dina?’ cried Pat. I could hear the incredulousness in her voice. ‘Run Anne—get help, quick!’ Anne scurried out the main kitchen door.
William kicked the pots and pans I’d thrown aside as he made his way across the kitchen, but just as he lunged forward to scoop me from the ground Pat appeared from behind and brought a heavy frying pan smashing down against his head.
He howled and turned around, and I screamed and pushed at Dina with all my might as William rose and shoved Pat hard—so hard that she fell and hit her head against the nearby metal oven.
‘Pat!’ I yelled, as I yanked down hard on Dina’s short, greasy hair.
‘Run, Miranda,’ Pat said, breathlessly, her eyes unfocused, her bun unravelled. ‘That door leads to the city—run now, love.’
William brought his fist against Pat’s skull with a sickening crack, and her eyes widened slightly before her head lolled to the side at a grotesque angle.
I screamed.
Dina loosened her hold on me and stared at Pat’s body and then at William. ‘You didn’t have to kill her.’
I took the moment to shove Dina away and scramble for the wooden door. Slamming it shut behind me, I ran as fast as I had ever done, through a dim tunnel, tears streaming down my face for Pat.
Heavy footsteps thundered behind me, and I kept going, tripping and skidding along loose stones until I reached a metal door.
I opened it and burst into the centre of the city, where I was suddenly surrounded by hoards of people. Luckily they were all busy dancing and singing, most with cups of sloshing wine in their hands—still celebrating Robbie’s victory over the sharks—because it allowed me to weave through them and lose William. With my head down, I crossed streets and bridges hurriedly, moving in a straight line away from the castle, heading directly for the Underworld, where I knew Marko would be searching for Robbie.
The streets turned darker, and became less crowded. Several wandering people called out to me but none said the name Miranda, and I assumed that they were simply drunken revellers enjoying the comical sight of a girl frantically running through the streets. Then, as I rounded a bend, a group in their twenties stopped me, shouting and chatting, their voices jovial and slurred.
‘Robbie killed the sharks. He should be the real king,’ one of the boys said in a sloppy voice, raising his goblet haphazardly in the air.
‘And he’s beautiful,’ a girl with long brown hair said dreamily, before studying my face with scrutiny. I began to push past them, but she grabbed my dress. ‘Hey, who are you?’ she asked.
Someone shoved their face into my hair and inhaled, and at that moment I broke free from the girl’s grip. With my head down, I ran further down the street, shaking my head when I heard one of the boys from the group yell out after me, ‘You smell nice, Running Girl.’
Fear moved through me as I went deeper into the darkness, where the streets were not as lit up and shuffling noises from blackened corners made me jump. I slowed my pace and travelled in the shadows so that I wasn’t out in the open.
What am I doing here? I asked myself.
I should have stayed with the crowds outside the castle. Surely William wouldn’t have harmed me in front of them all. I turned back around to run in the direction I had come from, but two men blocked my path. They seemed to have come from out of nowhere. I hadn’t even heard them approach.
One was small and thick, and the other tall and wiry. I saw that both, when they moved closer, were leering at me.
‘Miranda,’ one of them said with an accent, rolling the r.
‘I’m not Miranda,’ I said, moving backwards. The two men exchanged glances.
‘Robbie has sent us to get you. To take you to him,’ the tall one said, and when he grinned I saw a row of rotten black teeth.
‘Robbie?’ I said. ‘Where is he?’
The men swapped another glance, ‘We’ll take you to him, Miss,’ they said in unison, and shuffled towards me.
I backed away. ‘No—go get him. Bring him to me. Robbie would come to me; he wouldn’t send strangers,’ I said, sensing something bad in the pit of my stomach.
The men sneered at me, and I was certain then that Robbie had had no part in this.
I ducked, spun and then ran as fast as I could back in the direction from which I’d come. The two men were hot on my heels, panting behind me, but I had the glory of youth on my side and kept a decent lead. I kept it up for at least ten minutes, before bumping into the same group of drunken guys and girls from earlier. I shouted with frustration for them to get out of my way.
‘Hey, Running Girl,’ the boy said. ‘What’s your hurry?’ he pulled me back. ‘Have a drink with us. Celebrate!’
I yanked at the boy’s collar, demonstrating my seriousness.
‘I’m in danger, you idiot, let me pass.’ But he shook his head, his eyes blurry from too much to drink. He pulled me closer to him and looked at me carefully. ‘There’s something familiar about you.’
‘Come out with us.’ T
he girls from the group pried me out of the boy’s arms and draped their own arms around me.
‘Hey, I know who she is. She’s the new girl. Marko’s girl! The king’s girl!’ one of the girls shouted. The others squealed.
I wriggled from their grasp and shouted at them. ‘Let me go, I’m in danger. I need to pass!’ But they giggled stupidly and pulled me into some sort of happy dance.
Then, after only a few seconds of this, they stopped suddenly and the girls backed away from me, peering over my shoulder with fright. The boys followed suit.
Rough hands gripped my shoulders and pulled me off my feet.
‘Hey! Let Running Girl go,’ shouted the drunken boy, before collapsing into hysterical laughter.
‘Stop it,’ I shouted at the two men who held me down against the icy-cold floor while I kicked and scratched at their faces. I glanced around, pleading with my eyes for help. On the street corner, a grey-haired man wearing a black hat sat writing in a small notebook, in the soft glow of a light-crystal street lamp.
‘Help me!’ I called out to him.
A sudden blow to the back of my head made me cry out, and then I felt light-headed.
The last thing I saw were the girls’ screaming faces and the grey-haired man rushing towards me, his piercing grey-blue eyes wide and full of fear for me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
I WOKE UP with a dull throb at the back of my head. I was sitting in a hard, wooden chair. Drool ran down my chin. I wanted to wipe it away but my hands were tied behind my back.
Where was I? What happened to the old guy and the others? Had they been hurt?
Scanning the room, I saw art. Lots of it, including paintings, some of mermaids similar to the ones in my room back in the castle, but these were different. These mermaids had dark, hollow eyes, and their bodies were more voluptuous—bad-ass mermaids. The other paintings were all of a woman with long, golden hair and vivid-green eyes. She was depicted in various ways, but her body was covered in blood in each painting. She looked a little bit like Sylvia. I cringed and took a deep breath to calm myself.
Captivate Page 21