by Amira Rain
Melody’s bubblegum-pink mouth twitched with amusement. “How about a cheesecake? You seem to need more of that particular dessert in your life.”
Completely taken by surprise, I burst into laughter, realizing how good it felt after the stress of the previous twenty-four hours. “Okay. Make it a cheesecake.”
Melody laughed, too, and the musical, melodic sound of it soothed my nerves even further.
A short while later, after she’d assured me that Warren wouldn’t be putting me in any kind of jail, I dressed in khaki shorts, a bright fuchsia top, and a pair of cute strappy sandals she’d given me, and we began making our way out of the clinic. It crossed my mind that maybe we should check in on Dalton, but I ultimately decided against it.
For one thing, I was a little salty at him for what he’d made happen the night before. Though I believed him that he hadn’t intended to pull anyone into the wormhole with him, it wasn’t lost on me that it was a miracle his actions hadn’t led to my death. For another thing, since he’d never told me what his intentions were, I had no idea why he’d decided to come to the island, and I realized that Warren could be right about him.
Though he didn’t strike me as sinister in any way, it was entirely possible that he was some sort of attacker or a spy or something. I just didn’t know him well enough to make a judgment, obviously.
Seeming to read my thoughts, Melody spoke in a low voice as we walked down a long, tan-tiled corridor to the clinic exit. “So, while everything that happened last night was happening, did Dalton ever tell you exactly why he created a wormhole to come to the island?”
Shaking my head, I spoke in an equally low voice. “No. And whether that’s because he’s got some secrets or ill intent or something, or whether that’s because there just wasn’t time for him to explain, I really have no idea.”
Melody frowned, nodding slightly. “Well, Chief Knight will get to the bottom of things; I’m sure.”
We soon exited the clinic and stepped into a day of absolute breathtaking brilliance. Opposite a flower-lined wood-planked walkway in front of the clinic, the sun shone down on a beach of the softest-looking, palest gold sand I’d ever seen. The ocean beyond was a bright, clear turquoise blue.
I came to a dead stop, just taking it all in. “Oh my gosh... It’s gorgeous.”
No sooner than I’d said those words, a tall, very well-built, stern-faced man with salt-and-pepper hair stepped directly in front of me, blocking my view. Just about blocking all the sun.
Hands on hips, he spoke in a measured, authoritative voice. “I’m Chief Knight’s prisoner detail, so you’re now my prisoner, as well as his, indefinitely. You don’t leave my sight, at any time, for any reason, without permission. Understood? Chief Knight’s orders.”
I stifled a gasp, curling my hands into fists almost without even being aware of the action. “Well, you go get your boss, Chief Knight, and you tell him I’m no one’s damned prisoner. Tell him to come talk to me this instant, and tell him I’m ready.”
The muscular, heavyset man scoffed, curling his upper lip. “Ready for what?”
I snorted, curling a lip myself. “Ready to kick his scaly dragon ass, like I should have done earlier this morning.”
CHAPTER THREE
The moment I uttered my threat about kicking Warren’s ass, Melody gasped, clearly horrified. “Ellie, no! You have to take that back! No one talks about Chief Warren like that. Do you understand me? No one. Just say you take back what you said before Hugh calls him and tells him what you said.”
Melody’s alarm kind of alarmed me as well, and I began to regret my sharp tongue. I wondered if now I really would be thrown in some sort of island jail. I wondered if maybe spies weren’t immediately tossed in, but anyone who disrespected the chief was. But it was too late. My prisoner guard, whose name was apparently Hugh, had already pulled out his phone and punched a few numbers, and he was now holding the phone to his ear.
“Chief Knight? Hugh here. One of your prisoners, the female one, has something she’d like to say to you about something she intends to do, and I just thought you might find it of interest.”
Hugh passed the phone to me, and I took it, not knowing what else to do.
With heat rising to my cheeks, I put the phone to my ear, determined not to get thrown in jail. “Hello?”
“Hello, Miss Eleanor Christine Elizabeth O’Brien, esquire.”
The sound of Warren’s deep, rich voice made something electric ripple through my stomach for some reason.
I cleared my throat with my face becoming even a little warmer still. “Hello, Lieutenant General Chief Warren James Knight.”
“My guard tells me you have something to say to me, about something you intend to do.”
I swallowed, picturing what I imagined the island jail might look like. I didn’t have a clue what to say and was only able to respond to Warren after several seconds.
“Well, I just wanted to inform you that I intend to go for a walk on the beach right now.”
There was a long pause.
“Well, that’s perfectly fine, so long as you don’t try to do anything to shake the prisoner guard I’ve assigned to you.”
At the mention of prisoner guard, I gritted my teeth, fighting not to say something I might regret, specifically something about kicking Warren’s ass.
“I wouldn’t dream of trying to shake my... my prisoner guard. And that’s because, as a person who isn’t a spy and therefore hasn’t been trained in any evasive maneuvering, I wouldn’t even know how to throw a guard. Which is another thing I called to tell you. I just wanted to tell you again that I’m not a spy or an enemy to you or your people in any way.”
“Well... that remains to be seen and determined. And until then, you will remain my prisoner, as I’ve stated.”
A faint scoff was my only reply, and Warren continued.
“I have to go now, but do feel free to call me again, anytime you like. Just whenever you get the urge to tell me what you intend to do. In fact, I’ll have Hugh give you your own cellphone shortly, just so we can stay in touch. You’ll also be able to use it to call anyone else on the island as well. Enjoy your walk on the beach, Miss Eleanor Christine Elizabeth O’Brien, esquire.”
I mumbled a goodbye, handed the phone back to Hugh, and began striding off to the beach with him and Melody at my heels.
Seeming relieved that I’d backpedaled on my threat to Warren, Melody asked if I’d like to take a tour of the village, and I said sure, soon forgetting all about Warren, at least mostly. That was because the village was breathtaking, almost mesmerizing in its beauty.
Set well back from the beach, in front of dense jungle land, sat row after row of dwellings that could only be described as small castles. Made from stone, they were each a different color, from nearly white to salmon pink to the deepest charcoal gray and everything in between.
They were also each styled differently, with some having many turrets and others only having a couple, and some were single-story while others were two. One of them, the largest of all the castles, a dark gray one, was even three stories high. I had a guess who owned that castle.
While I surveyed the castles from afar, in complete awe, Melody shrugged, smiling. “A while after the scientists left, we razed all their boring, cookie-cutter houses and built our own. Being that our men are dragons, all of us kind of thought that living in castles just fit, somehow. Warren’s is the largest. It’s that three-story one in the middle with all the space around it. As our chief, he gets the honor of living in the most elaborate castle.”
We soon set out on a stroll in front of the castles so that I could see them up close, and many villager women stopped us to introduce themselves to me. Some of them were a bit quiet and reserved, but most of them were very friendly and didn’t seem to treat me with any kind of suspicion at all. Melody told me that earlier that morning, she’d already told a few of her friends that her opinion was that I was not a spy or a threat of any kind
, which I was sure had a lot to do with the warm welcome I was receiving.
A flagstone walkway ran the length of all the maybe hundred-odd castles, almost like a main street running through a town, and with Hugh following at a close distance behind us, Melody led me down a “side street” of this main street, to the back of all the castles. Part of the jungle had been cleared away to make room for at least a dozen stone structures of various sizes, and Melody told me this was the “town” part of the village.
“And what I mean by that is this is where our great hall for special events is, and the council lodge, and our community’s school, and our community hang-out-type-place where adults can go to play cards or have a drink together, and we even have a little community library in one of the smaller buildings. You have no idea how many books Warren has had to bring across the portal with him to fill it.”
After a tour of all these different buildings, Melody and I sat down for lunch in the community center with her younger sister, Melissa, who was quite the chatterbox, to say the least. While the three of us ate, she filled me in on island history, lore, and gossip without hardly taking a breath.
After finally pausing to take a few bites of her sandwich, she dabbed her mouth with a napkin, looking at me silently with a little twinkle in her dark brown eyes. Somehow, I just knew what she was going to say, or at least who she was going to mention, before she even did.
“He’s single, you know.”
Struggling to maintain eye contact with her, I feigned ignorance. “Who is?”
With her face a mask of exasperation, she instantly turned her face to Melody. “‘Who is?’ she just said, like she really doesn’t know who I’m talking about.”
Uncomfortable, I lifted my shoulders in the slightest of shrugs. “Well, I’ve been told that there are many men in this village, so you could be talking about any of them, and... well...”
Melissa tossed her balled-up napkin on the table as if disgusted. “Let’s get real. Melody already texted me earlier today that you were on some kind of a singles’ cruise when whatever happened to you last night happened. So, we all know you’re single.
Warren is, too, as I said. Melody also already told me via text that Warren had a funny sort of look in his eyes after he talked to you in your room at the clinic today, and it’s been quite a while since Warren has had a funny sort of look in his eyes about anyone.
See, he’s very picky. After his last relationship with one of the women in the bears’ village didn’t work out, he’s gotten even pickier still. Now, let me preface this next part by saying that I’m a very happily married woman and I think my husband’s hotter than the sun, but let’s get real again.
Warren’s hot. Smoking, scorching-level hot. Every woman here thinks it. Every woman here knows it. So please tell me just why in the hell, when I tell you he’s single, you’d say, ‘Who is?’ like you’re not even interested at all, and like the thought hasn’t even crossed your mind.”
Finally pausing for air, Melissa leaned back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest, as if very satisfied by the little speech she had given me. She was putting me on the spot, which I didn’t exactly appreciate, and I didn’t know quite why, but I liked her. Just as much as I did Melody, and I was glad the two of them were my new friends.
Of course, Melissa was right. I had wondered, though just kind of in the back of my mind, if Warren was single or not. I’d wondered if he had a special woman in his life or if he was even married. But now I knew. Though that didn’t mean I had to care.
I tried to show Melissa just how indifferent I felt toward Warren by giving her a slight eye roll. “I am not, nor could I ever be, interested in a man who suspects me of being a spy and is right now literally holding me as a literal prisoner even as we speak.”
“I noticed a funny little look in his eyes when I checked in with him earlier today, to,” Hugh said.
Hugh had spoken. I’d forgotten he even existed. He was sitting maybe some ten feet away from our table, in a darkened little alcove off to one side of the dimly-lit, stone floored and walled community center. He had a book up to his face and his feet propped up on a chair.
Mortified that he’d been listening to our entire conversation, I opened my mouth to ask him to please give us some privacy, but Melissa beat me to the punch.
Twisting around in her seat, she pointed a finger at Hugh, glaring. “You. Out.”
After lifting his wide shoulders in a shrug, he got up and lumbered out of the building, saying that he’d be just outside, waiting for me to emerge.
To my relief, for the rest of the day, as Melody, Melissa, and I, along with Hugh, explored more of the village and took a long stroll along the beach, Warren wasn’t brought up again even once. Which made me more than a bit confused about why I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about him.
That evening, Melody and Melissa helped me get settled in to a “guest castle,” where I would be staying. It was a smaller, single-story structure, decorated modestly, but I loved it right away.
With jewel-green plush rugs covering the floors, and an overstuffed couch and chairs in the living room, it was cozy and comfortable, and it even had all the comforts of home, like electricity and running water. The bathroom was actually the best part. It featured a sunken tub made of smooth, cream-colored stone, and it was so deep that it more closely resembled a hot tub than a bathtub.
I couldn’t wait to try it, and I did, after Melody and Melissa had filled my bedroom with clothes, shoes, and anything else I could possibly want or need during my stay on the island. They left to go home to their own castles around ten at night, but Hugh would be staying a little longer, patrolling the perimeter of my castle to make sure that I didn’t escape. Another guard would come to relieve him around midnight.
Sprawled out on a perfectly soft-yet-firm four-poster bed, I slept hard that night, waking only once, briefly, after having a dream about being pulled from the ocean and carried in strong arms.
***
The next day, I was eager to see Warren and talk to him some more in an effort to prove I wasn’t a spy. I didn’t see him at all. Something had happened during the night, some problem at the lake, Melissa said, and Warren and his best men were needed to try to keep the situation under control. Melissa, Melody, and I spent the day exploring the jungle land behind the village, and I tried to hide my disappointment about not getting to see Warren. And apparently, I did a pretty good job, because neither of them mentioned anything about me seeming a little down or preoccupied, which I was, just a bit.
Two more days went by, and Warren still didn’t return. Melissa reported that the lake was now continually filling with murky water, and the men were doing their best to add more rocks and not let the lake fill completely. I didn’t get to see Warren.
I did, however, see Dalton. He had not one, but two prisoner guards of his own, though he didn’t seem to mind at all. The couple of times Melody, Melissa, and I came across him, he seemed perfectly content, happily collecting shells, rocks, starfish, and other island fauna and flora while whistling, seemingly oblivious to the two hawk-eyed, scowling guards just feet behind him.
One afternoon, he called out to Melody, Melissa, and me, waving, then when we came over, he said that he wanted to apologize to me again for everything that had happened. I shrugged and said it was all right, and I pretty much meant it. With as much anger as I was saving for Warren in regards to my continuing prisoner status, I supposed I just didn’t have much left for Dalton.
My fourth day on the island, while Melody was working at the clinic, and Melissa was spending time with her husband Dan, I took a long stroll along the beach with Hugh, who, I had to grudgingly admit, had kind of become more of a quasi-friend or maybe uncle-type figure than a prisoner guard. I asked him if Warren was ever going to return, seeming to surprise him.
He looked over at me with his bushy salt-and-pepper brows raised. “Missing him, are you?”
I scoffed, turning my
gaze straight ahead. “Not in the least. But I do want to see him again so I can talk to him more and convince him that I’m not a spy or any other kind of enemy.”
I really did. Despite the fact that Hugh hadn’t exactly turned out to be the cruelest prisoner guard on the planet, I still resented the fact that he was still technically a prisoner guard, and still assigned to me. I still resented the fact that Warren hadn’t yet “cleared” me of being a spy, despite the fact that most everyone on the island had seemed to “clear” me the very first day I’d spent among them.
With his heavy brown boots making deep tracks in the sand, Hugh glanced over at me. “So, the only reason you’re eager to see Chief Warren again is because you want to convince him you’re not up to no good? Sure that’s all?”
“Yes. Absolutely all. That’s the only reason I’m eager to see him again. That’s it; that’s all... that’s it. That’s the only reason.”
“You sound more like you’re trying to convince yourself than me.”
Afraid that he was right, and having the teeny-tiniest of sneaking suspicions that he was, I abruptly changed the subject.
***
The following afternoon, using a phone that Hugh had given me, I sent Warren a text. I just wasn’t able to help myself. It read: I’ve been fully hydrated for days, and yet you still haven’t come to talk to me again like you said you were going to. Some chief you are, not following through on promises.
Within a minute, I received a response. Well, here’s a new promise. I’d like to meet you at my place for dinner at seven this evening to talk to you further, and I promise I won’t be late.
*
I read Warren’s text with my pulse pounding, telling myself that it was doing so because I was angry that he presumed that I’d even like to have dinner with him, despite the fact that I was, of course, still his prisoner. However, being that I did still want to talk to him, I sent a brief return text, saying that I would meet him at his place at seven.