by Sonya Clark
When this was over with Pete was going to have a lot of explaining to do, privacy about his past be damned. Whatever hang up he had about Sideways and whatever happened before he came to Bradbury-it was time for Pete to get over it.
***
Eve edged closer to Sanngrid, shivering in the cold. The guards had turned to watch their queen, confident no one posed a threat. She whispered, “We need to do something.”
“There’s too damn many of them. He was told to come alone but I should have gone to Chet. I should have gotten us more backup.”
“No one knows?”
Sanngrid answered with a barely perceptible shake of her head.
Pete said something to the Bone Queen, voice pitched too low for Eve to hear. The queen heard it loud and clear and didn’t like it. She screamed, making a motion with one hand, the fingers spread out like claws. Pete cried out as matching cuts opened up on his cheek, blood pouring down his face.
Eve gasped. The scenes downloaded from the manacles still fresh in her mind, the sensations still sending shock waves through her, and now this. She’d had enough. She checked to make sure no guards were watching her then slipped her hand to the small of her back.
“You will pay, Leoben!” The queen shook with rage. “You will pay and pay and pay. You took many of my favorite courtiers from me. You left me sliced open like a pig for dinner. I showed you mercy. And you repaid me with such acts.”
“You don’t know the meaning of the word mercy.”
She scurried close to him, waving him down so they were at eye level. “I let you keep your intestines on the inside. That was mercy.” She slashed his other cheek with her nails, this time physically.
Eve reached under her sweater.
“I no longer have mercy in me.” The queen swiped a knuckle across Pete’s bloody face, licking the blood from her skin. “You took all the mercy right out of me.” She held out her hand. A guard placed a short double-edged blade in it. “Cut it right out of me, you did. Think I’ll see what I can cut out of you.”
She made short work of removing his armor, then dragged the knife down his front. It split both his shirt and his skin. Smoke curled from the wound. His face red, body shaking, Pete struggled not to scream but lost. There’s something on the knife, Eve thought. Poison or acid or something.
Eve glanced at Agnar, half expecting him to put a stop to this. He stood looking impassive, even bored. It didn’t seem possible those two men could be brothers. How could Agnar stand there and let his sibling be tortured? How could he stand to see Pete in pain? But he didn’t think of his brother as Pete. It made no sense that that might make a difference. Pete and Leoben were one and the same. No matter what he called himself, Pete was still Agnar’s brother.
But Agnar didn’t seem inclined to still want to be Pete’s brother. Eve gripped the butt of the gun, hoping her aim and cold iron bullets could do what needed to be done.
The Bone Queen grabbed Pete’s chin, one nail cutting his lip. “I will know the shape of your heart, Leoben. I will play a rhythm with your ribs and make a toy of your spine.” She raised the knife.
Eve raised the gun. She pushed everything else away, tunneling her concentration into a line between the barrel of the gun and the Bone Queen’s head. She’d get one shot. If they were lucky if would create enough confusion that they could escape. And if they weren’t lucky, well, the guards might still kill them but their queen would be dead too.
Something shifted inside Eve, deep in the place where her psychometry-her magic-came from. She welcomed the faint tendril of power and wrapped it around her own intention. Then she squeezed the trigger.
At first Eve thought she’d missed. The Bone Queen froze, holding the knife a bare two inches from Pete’s chest. Then the bullet exploded out of the other side of her skull, splattering blood on the snow. Her body crumpled and Pete was released from her hold, falling to the ground.
Not a sound could be heard. All eyes turned to Eve. “Oh shit.”
Chapter 15
One guard rushed forward and knelt at the queen’s prone form. He inspected the body carefully then raised his head to address the rest of the warriors. “The queen is dead,” he shouted.
A swell of noise rolled through the crowd. Pete pulled himself up from where he’d fallen in the snow and made his way to Eve. Sanngrid flanked her other side. Eve kept the gun aimed, ready to shoot any Sidhe who made a wrong move until she was out of bullets. She’d had enough of this crap. Kidnapped, her hair sawed off, psychically tortured, seeing her friends get hurt-yes, Eve had definitely had enough of this crap.
The guard approached slowly, dark eyes boring into Eve. She leveled the gun at his head. He was tall like the rest but more muscular, with broad shoulders under heavy armor. Long vivid green hung in a braid down his back. Elegant pointed ears framed a chiseled face that was a mask of stone. He carried a large sword in one hand and wore a crossbow strapped to his back.
He stopped two feet from the end of the gun barrel. “The queen is dead,” he repeated, loud enough for all to hear. He raised his sword in the air, straight up, then bellowed, “All hail the new Queen of Bone!” He lowered the sword and dropped to one knee in front of Eve, head lowered, eyes on the ground.
She faltered. What the hell did that mean? Pete swore under his breath and she could have sworn she heard Sanngrid chuckle.
The big Sidhe raised his head and met her eyes. “I pledge my loyalty to you, Highness. I devote myself to you as your champion.”
Eve lowered the gun, flabbergasted. “What?”
Pete said, “It’s Sidhe custom. You kill a monarch, you take their place.” He sounded flat and vaguely sick.
“What? That’s crazy. That makes no sense. They should be trying to kill me.”
The champion guy stood. “What he says is truth. You have conquered the former queen. That makes you our queen now. And I swear you will be obeyed.” The threat was clear in his last statement though he didn’t bother to look out over the rest of the guards.
Eve did. Most wore unreadable expressions but none seemed inclined to chop her head off. That was good. Right? Agnar laughed. She glared at him, tempted to shoot at him just to shut him up.
The champion returned to the Bone Queen’s body and removed her crown. He brought it to Eve, raising it as if to place it on her head. There were flecks of blood and other…stuff…she was going to go with snow and not think about it further. “You are not putting that on me.” She took a step back.
“She’s not required to wear the crown, or even set foot in the damn castle for that matter,” said Pete. “You can pledge and devote all you want but there’s no law or custom that says she has to do anything but be queen in name only.”
The Sidhe warrior looked from Eve to Pete. He was silent for a long moment, thoughts racing across his face. In a voice pitched for only them to hear he said, “I understand. Please allow me to speak to you in private.” He directed the request at Eve.
She nodded. “Can we go back in the cave where it’s at least a little warmer?”
Pete said, “You don’t have to do this. We can leave right now.”
“You and Sanngrid both need some first aid and I want to get this cleared up. I have no desire to be their queen so let me talk to him and figure out how to get out of this.”
“There is no getting out of this! You don’t understand.”
“Then you can explain it to me.” She glanced at the champion. “You both can. In the cave, in front of the fire. I’m freezing.”
The champion said, “I will tell the others to make temporary camp. Do you wish for the other mortals to be kept prisoner?”
“Let them go,” Pete said.
Eve stared, unbelieving. “After what he did?”
“I’ll deal with Agnar in time, don’t you worry about that.” He pulled his shirt closed as best he could and went to retrieve his armor.
The champion looked to Eve for his final orders. “Fine,” she said. �
�Let them go. I’ll meet you in the cave.”
He bowed his head. “Yes, Highness.” He hurried off to do whatever. Eve stared at his back. This could not be happening. She’d meant to help them escape, not get herself trapped in something possibly worse. Whatever Sidhe custom there was for abdicating a throne, she would gladly follow.
Sanngrid and Pete were halfway to the cave, leaving her behind. Great. More crap, and she really didn’t understand this. Pete had seemed almost angry with her. She’d had no idea what shooting the Bone Queen would lead to, he had to know that. Stopping the queen from hurting Pete had been Eve’s primary thought. Now he wouldn’t even meet her eyes.
Eve trudged through the snow, followed closely by the champion. She really needed to find out his name and quit thinking of him that way. By the time they reached the interior of the cave Pete had already brought the fire back to life. The champion put himself to work moving bodies out of the way, sending any living down to the camp for aid. He seemed unconcerned about seeing his compatriots dead, or at least he hid it well. Finished with the gruesome task, he took a pack from his gear and handed it to Eve. “There are healing herbs and such in here. It will be safe for them, I swear it.”
His formal demeanor was starting to wear on her but she took the pack and thanked him. Sanngrid sat on the floor. Pete stood in front of the fire, staring. Eve pursed her lips and went to Sanngrid first.
Sanngrid offered her a wan smile and let her tend the wound in her arm. Eve addressed the champion as she worked. “What’s your name?”
He froze. “My name?”
“Yes, your name. I can’t very well call you hey you, can I?”
He opened his mouth, closed it, then spoke. “The former queen addressed me as you there.” He spoke with an almost painful dignity, as if he’d worked hard to hold on to it.
Eve shook her head. “I’d rather call you by name if that’s all right.”
He took a step closer. “Kieran. My name is Kieran.”
“How long have you been the queen’s champion?” She wanted to know if he’d been around when Pete was held captive. She’d seen no sign of recognition between the two but it would be nice to know for sure.
“Not long. You understand time can move differently here?”
She nodded. “And you don’t want to kill me even though I killed your old queen?”
“Highness.”
“Eve,” she interrupted. “I’d rather you call me by my name, please.”
“That would not be appropriate.”
Pete finally spoke, though he still kept his back to them. “Call her Miss Kane.”
Kieran looked to her once again for the final say-so. She nodded. “Miss Kane, may I speak freely? With total honesty?”
“I wish you would.”
“The late queen was not…she had many disturbing proclivities.”
Pete issued a harsh laugh. “She liked to torture people. She liked to make them bleed, toss them in a corner and forget them, and then later torture them some more. Went a little beyond disturbing, I’d say.”
Kieran paled. “That is the truth. Her appetites were…unhealthy. She attracted courtiers with similar appetites. Miss Kane, it might not be safe for you to claim the castle until those members of the court are…dealt with.”
Eve considered this for a moment. She had no wish to visit that castle. “How do I go about abdicating the throne?”
“You don’t,” Pete said. He turned to face her. The old Pete was back, harsh, closed off, and holding himself at arm’s reach from everyone. Further than that, even. “Custom dictates monarchies pass through inheritance or death. There is no abdicating.”
She looked to Kieran for confirmation, seeing it in his face. He said, “There are those who would kill you rather than wait to see what sort of monarch you would be. Because of their loyalty to the late queen, and because you are human. You cannot abdicate but until the situation at the castle is stabilized it’s not safe for you there. Or anywhere on this side.”
Pete said, “And are you the one to do this stabilizing?” The challenge was clear in his voice and his body language. He was looking for a fight.
This time Kieran didn’t look to Eve for guidance. “I am. I can make the castle safe again. I can stop the violence.”
“Why were you her champion?” Pete demanded. “That’s something warriors seek for their own glory. If you wanted glory in that pit of vipers how the hell do you expect me to believe you’ll clean it up?”
“I did not seek the role, it was forced on me. But I have performed my duty as best I could. I had no choice.”
“Bullshit! You’re looking to set yourself up as steward in her absence.”
“That is not true,” Kieran said, voice rising.
Eve came to stand between them. “Kieran, you said you were forced. How so?”
He glanced at the fire, pain in his features. “She took my daughter,” he whispered. “She threatened to sell her to the highest bidder if I refused her.”
No wonder he was glad to have a new queen.“How old is your daughter? Is she safe?”
“She lives in a locked room in the castle. I was allowed to visit at the queen’s discretion. It has been many months since I’ve seen her. She is but a child.”
Damn it. “Where’s her mother?”
“Dead. The queen slit her throat when she raided our village.”
Eve stepped closer to the fire. Pete moved away from her. His attitude confused her but right now she had bigger things to deal with. In the memories from those manacles Agnar had forced on her, she saw more than just Pete in that awful place. There had been many captives. So very many. “You said you would stop the violence.”
Kieran nodded. “The courtiers who share her habits would have to be dealt with first. Then it would be safe to open the cells and let the prisoners go free.”
“Are there people you can trust to help you with this?”
“I will have to be careful but yes, I can find enough who will serve you. I would need your authority to take action.”
“So you do need to be my…what’s the word, steward?”
“Yes, Miss Kane. And on my honor I will obey both the letter and the spirit of your decrees.” He paused for a long moment, his dark eyes punching right through her. “In exchange for my daughter’s freedom.”
In the midst of all this insanity that was something she could understand. “Done. I name you my steward.”
“Your majesty.” He inclined his head. When he met her eyes again, his burned with an intensity that almost frightened her. “You will have no greater ally.”
Chapter 16
Pete rebuffed all attempts to tend his wounds. He argued for returning to Bradbury as soon as possible but Kieran insisted that Eve stay until he’d retrieved something that would allow him to communicate with her. It threatened to turn into a fight so Eve agreed to wait while Pete took Sanngrid back so she could get needed medical care.
Eve sat on the floor in front of the fire, arms wrapped around her drawn up knees. It seemed like days, weeks even, since they’d left the institute to visit town. She touched the bracelet Pete had given her as a Yule present. He’d been so relaxed, even flirting with her. A whole different side of him than what she was used to. But now he wouldn’t come near her, would barely make eye contact. It was clear Agnar used her as bait-was that what angered Pete? Did he not want her to know about his past? Probably not, considering how awful it was, but it wasn’t her fault she’d found out. That was Agnar’s doing. And Pete let him walk away scot-free.
This queen business wasn’t her fault, either. She’d had no idea what would happen. Her only thought had been protecting him from harm. Now she wondered if he’d even bother to come back for her.
Surely he would. But on the off chance he didn’t, surely Chet would search for her. Sanngrid would tell the others what had happened and where to find her if Pete either could not or would not return for her.
Eve blew out
a frustrated breath and ran her hands through her hair. Her short, ragged hair. It now hung in a crooked line on her nape, the shortest end just below her ears. Her scalp still ached from the brutal hacking. She’d have to get it trimmed into a decent shape but right now all she wanted to do was break something. Or have a good cry. Exhaustion settled heavy in her bones, tempting her to close her eyes and rest. That wasn’t an option in this place. Kieran wanted his daughter safe but that didn’t mean she could trust him. Eve wouldn’t feel safe until she was back home in her apartment at the institute compound.
Sick of feeling vulnerable, she wished Pete or someone would come get her and take her home.
***
Chet signaled for the group to stop, withdrawing his katana from the sheath strapped to his back. A lone figure came toward them through the snow-filled night. In moments he recognized Sanngrid and ran to meet her. “You hurt?”
“Ja, but bandaged up. Pete went back to get Eve.”
“What the hell happened?” The others joined them, forming a half circle. Rami offered her a water bottle.
After a long drink Sanngrid said, “It was a trap to get Pete to Sideways. Eve shot the Bone Queen.”
Judith said, “Is the queen dead?”
Sanngrid’s mouth twitched in a quick humorless grin. “The old one is. Apparently now there’s a new one.”
“Oh my god.” Judith covered her face. “We have to get her out of Sideways before word gets out. She won’t be safe. A human monarch in Sideways, the Valley Below at that.” She shook her head.
“Pete went back for her,” Sanngrid said. “He’s messed up right now but he won’t abandon her.”
Chet didn’t like the sound of that. “What do you mean, messed up?”
Sanngrid dropped her gaze to the ground. She didn’t want to be disloyal, he could tell. He could even understand. More than Pete was at stake, though. He was about to speak when she finally answered.
“The person who took Eve is his brother. And Pete’s name, it’s not Pete. I don’t know the whole story but what I do know is bad. Family business, bad blood.” She looked at Chet. “It’s bad, Chesney.”