A Blade So Black

by L. L. McKinney

  “That wasn’t your fault.” Alice clenched her fists. She surprised herself with the forcefulness of her words, but she believed them, and she needed Hatta to believe, too. “You can’t blame yourself fo—”

  “I was supposed to protect them!”

  Alice had never seen Hatta like this before. He was all writhing fury one second, then deflated anger the next. Sorrow twisted his expression. She moved forward, her arms encircling him, squeezing.

  He pressed his face to her shoulder.

  “It’s okay.” She choked on the whisper, clutching him. “It’s okay.”

  He shook faintly, and she let him take his time, concentrating on her own breath, on the thickness in her throat. The area between her shoulder blades ached as she fought to keep still, solid, rocklike, for him.

  She refused to cry. Hatta didn’t need her pity. He didn’t need her sympathy. He needed her to wait until he pulled himself together.

  They stayed like that. For how long, she wasn’t sure, but when he withdrew, she dropped her arms to her sides. There were no tears on his face—she wasn’t sure he could cry—but she knew the value of having someone there while you disappeared into yourself for a little while.

  Hatta cleared his throat, his gaze playing over the room before drifting to her. “You’re better at that than you let on.”

  Alice smiled faintly. “All I did was sit here.”

  Maddi offered Hatta a tumbler with a touch of amber liquid inside. He took it with murmured thanks and downed it in one go.

  “Could I get one of those?” Dem asked.

  Hatta chuckled, and the tension dissolved in shared, slightly awkward but genuine, laughter.

  “So, if he’s not the Black Knight, how is he tied to the Black Queen? How does he share her powers?”

  “I’m … I don’t know,” Hatta said. “All the more reason you should not have gone after the princess.”

  “She’s the only one who can help you,” Alice stressed.

  “Exactly.” Hatta shot a look at Maddi before wincing, shifting on the bed. “The Heart and the Eye are useless without a member of the royal bloodline. Even if the imposter managed to find either of them, he couldn’t use them on his own. Attacking Queen Emalia, then me.” Hatta shook his head. “I should’ve seen it. He did this to ensure you’d bring him the last part of the equation.”

  “Odabeth,” Alice murmured. Swallowing thickly, she pushed down the small voice inside her head that said she’d screwed things up, again. The Black Knight continuously played her, and somehow she kept falling for it. She was supposed to be smarter than this, better. “So what, we just let you die?”

  Hatta met Alice’s gaze, his softening. He lifted a hand to the side of her face, his touch gentle but brief. “I’m not worth the risk.”

  “You are to me,” she whispered, her voice cracking.

  He smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “And Queen Emalia is worth it to Odabeth. Between the two of you, we were bound to end up here.”

  “Hate to admit it,” Dem started, “but this Black Knight bastard is brilliant.”

  “Maybe,” Alice said. “But maybe he overplayed his hand. Now we know his plan, we know what he wants, and he has to come to us to get it. We find the Eye, find the Heart, but keep them separate. That way, we cure you, cure the White Queen, then she can scatter everything again. We’ll just stay ahead of him this time. He can’t beat all of us.”

  “Heart, Eye, starting to sound like we’re building Frankenstein,” Dem murmured.

  “This is all real interesting.” Dee stepped into view beside his brother. “But I was sent to fetch you lot.”

  Alice hadn’t even heard him approach. She wondered how long he’d been standing there.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “Nothing, just finished with Xelon.”

  Alice had nearly forgotten about the injured knight. She’d been rushed off to be treated with anti-venom.

  Everyone but Maddi—she said she had a bit more work to do with so many busted-up people—moved to follow Dee. They filed down the hall and then an adjacent corridor. Dee ducked through yet another mystery door, which opened to what looked like a hotel room of some sort. The generic green-and-black-plaid comforter stretched across the king-sized bed, and a little chair and desk sat off to the side. There was even a kitchenette complete with a minibar.

  Xelon rested in the bed, wrapped in bandages. Concern tugged Alice forward, but she stopped at the foot of the frame.

  “Will she be all right?” she asked.

  “Yes.” Odabeth stood near the window, still wearing her tattered dress, staring at a view of the downtown area that was obviously not real. For one, it was at least a tenth-story view. “She’ll be fine.” The princess twisted her necklace. The jeweled star at the end danced like a puppet on marionette strings.

  Dee joined his brother, who rummaged through the fridge. The two spoke in whispered Russian that came out garbled every time Dem took a bite of a sandwich.

  Hatta sat on the edge of the mattress and reached to lay a hand over Xelon’s arm but stopped short, his fingers hovering over pale skin. “She does good work.”

  “A compliment, coming from you.” The Duchess emerged from the washroom, the sound of running water fading behind her. Dee and Dem leaped to their feet and stood at attention when she entered. She waved them off as she wiped her hands on a towel, then tossed it aside. It landed in the mesh basket near the door. “How are you feeling, Addison?” She perched beside Hatta and angled herself forward to place her palm on his thigh.

  His hand fell atop hers. “I’ve been worse, Anastasia. You know that.”

  “But you’ve also been better. I know that as well.” The Duchess smirked and withdrew her touch.

  It happened so quickly there was nothing to be bothered about. The concern in the Duchess’s tone meant nothing. And there was certainly nothing to be worried about in Hatta’s returning her friendly gesture, or the way he smiled at her. And definitely nothing troubling in the way they used each other’s names like that.

  Nope.

  Nothing to be upset about.

  Alice stood there, watched the exchange, and when it was over, she lifted her chin and cleared her throat a little.

  “It’s good to see you again, Alice.” The Duchess nodded at her.

  “Good to be seen.” Her eyes are like emeralds. Who actually has eyes like emeralds?

  It was silly, complaining about the color of someone’s eyes. Green, like envy.

  “How’s she doing?” Hatta asked, drawing the Duchess’s attention to the bed and Xelon.

  “She’s stable. This news of the White Queen’s condition troubles me, though. It’s a shame we weren’t alerted sooner.” The Duchess tossed a glance at Odabeth’s back. The princess’s shoulders stiffened, but she remained silent. The Duchess looked back at Hatta. “If she’s been poisoned for as long as I believe, we’re running out of time.”

  Odabeth turned to face them, tears in her eyes. She clutched at the chain around her neck. “How long does my mother have?”

  “Days. Maybe.” The Duchess looked at Hatta again. “Tell us where you hid the Eye.”

  “And risk plunging both worlds into darkness if this all goes tits up?” Hatta countered.

  “Hatta.” Alice looked at him. “We’ve been through this. We have a plan.”

  “You have a plan. So far your plans are how we wound up in this mess.”

  Alice jerked as if slapped. “What?”

  He lifted a hand, as if to ward off what she was thinking. “I know, it was also Madeline’s plan. And this one’s.” He eyed the Duchess.

  It was a nice save, but Alice didn’t buy a word of it. “You think this is my fault.” The Black Knight had been right. After everything they’d been through, Hatta didn’t believe in her. She didn’t believe in herself half the time, but she’d always thought he had. That’s what kept her going. Now, looking back on everything, it was clear she was f
ooling herself. He lied to her about the Eye because he didn’t think she could handle it.

  “Alice, listen.” Hatta approached her, stopping just shy of reaching out to her. His fingers flexed and his arms shifted as if he wanted to, but they remained at his sides. “However you’re taking it, that’s not how I meant it,” he murmured, searching her face with those oddly colored eyes.

  Alice nodded, blinking rapidly to fight tears. “Whatever. You’re dying. The White Queen is dying. Your plan is to just let that happen.”

  “What?” Odabeth squawked, her wide eyes dancing between the three of them. “No. No! This is the only way to save my mother, it will be done.”

  Hatta sighed, his entire body sagging with it. “Your mother and her sister gave explicit orders. Under no circumstances are we to risk bringing the Heart and the Eye out into the open, Your Majes—”

  “Don’t you ‘Your Majesty’ me, Addison Hatta.” Odabeth chewed on his name. “You may be in exile, but you are still duty bound to my mother’s crown. With her ill, it is now mine and you are hereby ordered to do everything in your power to save her, and thus yourself. I won’t hear a word otherwise.”

  “Ummm…” Maddi stood in the doorway, blinking wide brown, then black, then green eyes.

  “Yes, Madeline?” Hatta sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

  “Right. Your friends are here,” Maddi said, looking at Alice.

  Alice shook her head, blinking. “What?” She hurried out of the room, nearly bowling Maddi over in the process, and down the hall. Her chest tightened with each step. There were only two people the bartender could be talking about.

  Out in the pub, Alice slammed to a stop, her shoes squeaking against the floor. Courtney stood at the bottom of the steps to the door, her arms folded, her eyes fixed on Alice, who couldn’t read the blank expression on her face. Joy warred with irritation and a little bit of fear. Was she still mad?

  None of that mattered when Chess stood from where he’d been seated on the stairs behind her and the twisting in Alice’s chest went into full-on oh shit mode.

  “So.” He let his violet gaze dance around the room, then back to her. “About this job of yours.”

  Twenty-Two

  FIVE DOWN

  Alice stared at her friends, and her brain promptly dumped all information on how to speak. Or move. Or do anything useful except blink like some fool.

  Chess glanced back and forth between her and Courtney before sighing and rolling his eyes, then nudging Court’s arm.

  Courtney yanked away from him as if burned. “All right!” Chess lifted his hands as Court cleared her throat, blinked at Alice, released a faint breath, and said, “Hey.”

  Hey. Hey? That was it? “Hey.” Alice, apparently, didn’t have better. Her tongue felt too big for her mouth, her stomach twisting. “What’re you guys doing here?”

  Court shrugged, looking everywhere but at Alice now. “I maybe told Maddi to call me when you got back.”

  The twisting eased a little. “You got my message?”

  “Mmhm.” Court fidgeted with something shiny hanging off an expensive-looking purse.

  “That’s new,” Alice said, indicating the bag.

  “What?” Court looked at the purse as surprised to find it draped on her arm. “Oh yeah. It was a birthday present.”

  The twisting tightened right back up again. “You got a matching wallet? ’Cause I still owe you one. A present, not—not a wallet.”

  Chess groaned, flinging his arms into the air. “Oh, come on! Not five minutes ago you were ducking in and out of traffic like you were in The Fast and the Furious to get here. Could’ve gotten several tickets, definitely almost got us both killed, all ’cause you were worried sick about her!” He pointed at Alice. “Now, you wanna act like you’re not happy to see her alive and well and not, quote, ‘torn to shreds’?”

  Court stared at Chess like he’d started spitting fire from his eyes. He just held a hand out, indicating Alice, who’d started shaking, her lower lip trapped between her teeth. Courtney had been worried about her. Enough to speed over here the second she got a call.

  Alice sniffed as her throat closed off. The tears started before she could even try to hold them back.

  Court looked at her again, red crawling up her neck and over her stupid flawless face.

  Alice lifted her arms, and Courtney all but flung her bag aside as she crossed the room and threw her arms around her.

  “I’m sorry,” Court sobbed, gripping Alice tight enough it was hard to breathe.

  It didn’t matter; Alice was having trouble with the snot and tears anyway. “Me too!”

  “It was just a party. I was so stupid.” Court hiccuped.

  “I-it was important—I didn’t mean to miss it.”

  “You were nearly killed!”

  Alice held on to her friend as they cried and apologized, cried some more, promised to never fight again, cried some more. They finally let go, and the twisting in Alice’s stomach faded completely, replaced by this warmth that spread through the rest of her, healing a part of her she didn’t realize was broken. She wiped her eyes, sniffling, and smiled like an idiot.

  Court smiled, smearing her makeup as she wiped and sniffed as well.

  “Your face looks horrible,” Alice giggle-whined.

  “Yeah, well.” Court sniffed and wiped at her nose. “You literally smell like shit.”

  “I know!” They both laughed, the sound like so much music to Alice’s ears. “Gawd, we’re a mess.”

  “You have no idea.” Chess offered them both tissues from lord knew where.

  Alice ignored it, instead stepping between his arms and wrapping hers around him.

  He made an adorable little noise of surprise but folded her into a hug.

  “Thank you,” she murmured into his shoulder.

  “Anytime.” He squeezed her gently.

  She returned the gesture, then stepped back, taking the tissue and blowing her nose. Court was dabbing at her makeup, compact already in her hand from where she’d fetched her purse.

  “Now, then,” Chess heaved a dramatic sigh, glancing between them with his attention settling on Alice. “You were nearly killed?”

  Oh right. Alice heaved a sigh, looking to Courtney. “You told him?”

  “No. I didn’t. Nosy Nancy here went snooping through my phone.” Court glared at him in the process of touching up her mascara.

  “I didn’t go—look, the phone buzzed, it was sitting on the couch next to me, I went to hand it to you, and the message was on the damn screen. There was zero snoopage involved.”

  “Uh-huh. Anyway.” Court paused to reapply her lipstick, which was probably all somewhere on the side of Alice’s face. “I told him you had an important position that sometimes led to dangerous things and, well…”

  Chess looked to Alice. “I tried calling you, but no answer. I texted you, and you said you were with Courtney, which you weren’t.”

  “Ahh, yeah.” Well, at least Maddi was on top of the text thing. At least, Alice hoped she was.

  “I spent for-ev-er trying to ditch him after school, but he was determined to come—”

  “Wait.” Alice lifted a hand. “What time is it?” With a wormy feeling in her stomach, she hurried around Courtney and ducked behind the bar, searching for her stuff. Her phone sat on one of the shelves, plugged in. The screen read 6:38 PM on Monday night. Her heart up around her ears, she checked her messages. There was no indication of trouble from school, so far. Mom had checked in right after class let out, telling her to come straight home. Maddi responded masterfully with a “yes, ma’am.” Everything was cool until Mom got home from work about an hour and a half ago. Three missed calls and a bunch of messages demanding to know where the hell she was.

  Shit shit shit. Alice unplugged the phone while calling her mom, who answered not two rings in. “She lives. For now.”

  “Hey, Mommy. I’m sorry, I—”

  “Don’t mommy me. Where a
re you, Alison?”

  Alice’s phone jumped out of her hand. She reached after it, only to blink as Courtney held it to her ear.

  “Hey, Mrs. K! It’s Courtney. Y-yes. Yes, ma’am. Yes, ma’am. She told me. Yes, ma’am. It’s my fault she’s late. My car got a flat, and we had to wait for my dad, but he was stuck in traffic. Yes, ma’am. No, ma’am, we were coming straight from school. Yes, ma’am. He’s already done. We’re on our way. Yes, ma’am. Here she is.”

  Court handed the phone over.

  Alice took it and pressed it to her ear like it might just bite it off. “Hello?”

  “You better have your ass in this house by eight thirty. Don’t walk in at eight thirty-one, or that’s the last thing you do.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I love you.” It was worth a shot.

  “Eight. Thirty. I love you, too, now bye.”

  Alice heaved a sigh, folding her arms over the counter and pressing her face to them. Her nose wrinkled at the sharp stink of Nightmare, rather, Fiend guts. Court was right, she did smell like shit. And she hugged Chess like this. Uggggh. Straightening, she looked to her friends. Court had finished her touch-ups, looking like she hadn’t shed one tear. Chess just looked vaguely confused, but intrigued, as he took in the pub decor.

  “So,” he said as Alice came around the bar, her pack of clothes in hand.

  “So,” Alice repeated. “We need to leave, or my mom might actually kill me.”

  “She sounded on the edge,” Court murmured.

  “Let me tell the others what’s happening.” She was already partway down the hall. Voices greeted her, rushed, clipped, and angry. Hatta and the Duchess still debating about the risk of revealing the Eye. Maddi looked over a still-sleeping Xelon. The twins had slipped off to who knows where.

  Alice didn’t try to make out who was saying what, just knocked on the door to gain their attention.

  “I have to go,” Alice said when curious eyes turned her way. “Not for long. It’s my mother … she’s … worried.” The last thing she needed to explain was how a freaking curfew was throwing a monkey wrench into her plans.

  The Duchess sighed. “It’s not like we’re racing the clock or anything.”