“Tyran.” She placed a finger to her lips. “I didn’t think you’d be back so soon.” Using the armrests for support, she heaved herself to standing. “A great magician like you—we’d have ruled the land together. Too bad you have to die.”
The queen nodded to two guards, who grabbed Tyran’s robes and dragged him away. Everything within me wanted to reach out and help him, but we had to keep up the façade. Three feet in front of me, Brek and Wren stood side-by-side, no longer holding hands. Beads of sweat trickled down the back of his neck and his body shook.
I closed my eyes and attempted to conjure up the best friend connection we had. Don’t worry, Brek. I’m never going to let her hurt you again. Not sure if it would work, but I had to try because physical touch was impossible without giving our immunity to her stench away. And now, we were down one magician who may or may not be dead already. My stomach tightened again for more reasons than the smell.
“Brekken.” Her mouth produced a wide grin, where rotted and missing teeth were on display.
No! Leave him alone. I clenched my fists. Had my small acts of body language already given me away? Carter’s shoulder brushed against mine.
“May I ask why one of my most promising soldiers is back here with this ragtag horde of rebels?” She ran a finger over her darkened upper lip. “Please tell me you’re responsible for capturing them and bringing them to me.”
He dropped to one knee, the sweat still visible on his neck. I could only imagine what his forehead looked like. “Yes, your majesty. I’ve uncovered the insurgent headquarters beyond Mateel. I infiltrated their town as a spy. After my soldiers raided the fortified town, these were the only survivors.”
“Stand.”
He rose to his feet again but kept his eyes forward. Beside him, Wren clutched her arms around her trembling body, her head down.
“Come forward, boy.” The queen’s words were meant to demand obedience but sounded screechy and shallow.
He ascended the stairs to the throne’s platform, never taking his eyes off the horrid woman. She didn’t try to hide her assessment of him. Her eyes swam with lust as she took in his face, broad shoulders and red uniform.
“Kneel, soldier.” Another command.
He dropped to one knee in front of her.
She set her hands on his shoulders then raised her eyes to the rest of us. “I promote you to the captain of my guard, Brekken Matthews. And as a reward for this honor, I’ll clear my schedule for you to join me tonight.”
The crowd erupted in applause. They chanted, “Athena! Athena! Athena! May she live forever!”
By some miracle, Brek had calmed the shaking as he kneeled like a statue I’d seen in a book of one of King Arthur’s knights. His head remained bowed. What was the plan? Did Brek and Wren have it in them to fight off a whole room of worshippers? And if we waited and were separated, how could we ever defeat her apart?
A scuffle alerted the queen’s attention to the rear of the chamber. One lone soldier pushed through the crowds to the front. His pinkish-red uniform was bloodstained and his sleeve ripped.
“Your majesty.” His voice came out raspy as he knelt before Athena. “The rebels are within the citadel. We tried to fight them off, but they’re too strong.”
“How many are there?” She seemed bored with the whole situation, like it was an everyday occurrence.
The soldier shook his head as he kept chancing glances behind him. “They’ve ripped down the sacred relics—your portraits. Smashed your statues.”
“I said how many.” She pushed past Brek and descended the stairs until she was right in front of the soldier. Reaching down, she grabbed his ear and forced him to look up at her.
“Fifteen… maybe twenty.” His voice shook as she twisted his ear. “We escorted them to the courtyard, but then they turned on us.”
The man’s ear turned bright red; Athena’s nails buried deep in his flesh. “Are you saying my army of hundreds of men can’t squash a twenty-person rebellion?”
Even I felt bad for the messenger.
She released him and barked out an order with the wave of her hand over us. “Lock them up, except that one.” She pointed at Carter, a suggestive smile crossing her lips. “Give him something more appropriate to wear, and I want him waiting for me when I get back.”
“Matthews! Follow me.” Athena marched down the red carpet to the rear door of the chamber.
Brek gritted his teeth. No one called him Matthews except me. He’d make her pay for that. I’d make her pay for that. He followed the queen but shot me a wary look on his way by. He knew my inner animal was ready to be uncaged.
Up to this point, I’d never wished I’d kept the amulet Tyran gave me behind the Green Door. But now, if I had Brek’s magical powers, I’d go all Voldemort on the dumb ass of a queen. I’d show her what I thought about her turning my boyfriend into an object and voicing the name that shall not be named.
24
Two guards shoved Esme and I into the same room. What harm could there be to put two blondes together, even if one was the prophesied queen?
Before I could say a word, she had used a pin from her hair to unlock the door to the secret passageway. She slipped into the stairwell with her bow drawn. The guards hadn’t taken the time to check us for weapons. I removed a knife I had hidden in my boot and followed.
When we reached the top of the stairs, she turned the knob to the door that led to Aric’s potion room. It cracked open to reveal a place similar to the one we’d been in a week ago, just not the mess that Brek had left behind.
A young man worked at one of the tables with his back to us. He had three colorful vials bubbling on the surface. They stood out because the potions weren’t red, but blue, green and orange. He picked up the orange potion and turned in our direction to place it on a tray.
I gripped Esme’s arm, my heart beating clear out of my chest. It was Mack—the player who’d escaped the Green Door. It was his brown hair and freckles, but I’d never picture him in a red lab coat. He was more of the black-motorcycle-pants type.
I pulled on her shoulder and whispered, “I know him.”
She only nodded. It was apparent that she didn’t think this was the time for any kind of reunion. Mack was one of the worst human beings I’d ever met. He’d do anything to get the money behind the doors, even wipe out an entire village of people. But what if he was under Athena’s spell? The capsules that saved us came from Rosenbaum’s mansion. And from the look of his attire, he had to be under the influence of her pheromones.
When he turned away to the book on the table next to the other colored vials, Esme cracked the door open wider and slipped into the room. She motioned for me to follow. We kept to the shadows along the wall. He worked like a robot, running his finger through a recipe in the pages and then adding two drops of the green liquid to the blue.
My stomach flipped as we neared the far side of the room, our feet sliding along the seams of the hardwood floor to prevent creaking. I wasn’t sure if my nerves came from being caught or from knowing what I had to do.
“Mack.” My voice filled the room. There was no way I was going to let him live under Athena’s oppression.
Esme raced for the door as he turned around with the blue vial.
“Occludo!” The word that left his mouth chilled every inch of my body.
The heavy deadbolts on the door snapped themselves shut, locking us in. He returned to his potions as if we weren’t even in the room. He picked up a glass rod to stir the liquid.
Esme stepped closer to him and held up her bow, pointing the arrow at his head. “Unlock the door, or you die.”
His shoulders rose and fell, his hands against the table. “If you kill me, your chances of leaving die along with me. I’m the key that unlocks that door. Now be good little girls and have a seat. I’ll take you to Athena when I’m done, and then you can really thank me.”
We sat in silence for a long time, watching him mix things togethe
r like a boy with a new chemistry set. Why did I have to try and save everybody? Now Carter and Tyran were in danger, and the only person free to help them was Brek. I sighed, rested my head against the wall, and closed my eyes.
Someone pounded on the door, waking me from my semi-conscious state. Mack ignored it. Whatever he mixed together must’ve been worth more than gold.
The pounding continued.
“Hold on! Hold on!” Mack set the vial in a stand and crossed the room. He looked back at us. “Stay quiet.”
When he opened the door, Carter crossed the threshold and ran him through with a long knife. Drawing the weapon back, he rushed past him to where we sat against the wall. Mack doubled over, groaning for the wretched woman as his blood spilled onto the floor.
Carter had impaled Mack’s partner behind the Green Door. A whole team killed with my boyfriend’s blade. I felt defeated that it came to killing the other player.
“Are you all right?” He directed the question to me but then checked Esme.
My eyes raked over my boyfriend. The only thing he had on was sparkly, gold boxer shorts. His anti-pheromone pendant dangled over his defined pectoral muscles. Black ink swirled up his forearms and over his biceps. The empty space along his forearm shouted at me from the myriad of tattoos on his left arm. My face flamed, and Esme cleared her throat and stood up.
He hid his arm behind his back. “We’ve got to go. They’re going to behead Tyran in front of the queen. We don’t have much time.”
“How did you escape?” I asked. “And how did you find us?”
“Do you really want me to go into that when Tyran might be facing down the real life Queen of Hearts at this very minute?” He pulled me up, and we crossed the room. Esme already stood at the opened door. “Or can we discuss your lack of trust in me later?’
I pushed past him. Esme had already reached the bottom of the stairs; her bow was drawn and she was scanning the hallway below.
“I have an idea. Use me as a distraction.” He raised one arm to flex a muscle. “This woman obviously has the hots for me. I can distract her long enough for Esme to kill her.” He ran his hand through his hair and produced his lop-sided grin. “That is, if you don’t get jealous.”
I shoved him against the wall. My eyes held his in a game of who’d look away first. “If we get out of here alive, we’re going to have a long talk.” I glanced away. Damn, I hated losing. “You’re hiding stuff from me, and I don’t like it.”
Without another word, I stomped down the remainder of the stairs to join Esme. I glanced around her shoulder. Three bodies with arrows protruding out of them lay limp on the floor. This girl was good.
We moved through the hallway with weapons drawn but luckily didn’t meet any other guards until we reached the throne room. Without hesitation, Esme shot one, and Carter charged the other with his knife. He dodged the soldier’s spear and shoved him up against the door with his elbow. Instead of using the sharp end of his knife, he hit him over the head with the handle. The man fell to the floor beside his fallen comrade.
“Inside the chamber, let me take the lead.” Esme leaned one shoulder against the large door. “You can do your whole distraction thing first.” She sized up Carter’s lack of clothing. “Then we’ll come in and do the real work.”
“Hey, that’s not fair.” He shoved his knife down the back of his shorts. “You know I want to be in on the real fun.”
Esme rolled her eyes and then swept her hand in front of her to invite my boyfriend into Athena’s throne room to work his magic.
We flanked either side of the door. The plan was to give him ten minutes, which to me was nine-minutes and fifty-nine seconds too long. The queen was sure to ask Carter about the pendant dangling over his chest. But maybe I didn’t give him enough credit in avoiding her advances.
After what seemed like ten minutes, I asked, “Is it time?” I tapped the long knife against my leg.
Esme had her bow drawn in case more soldiers came up the hallway. “No.”
Sweat dripped down my forehead, so I rolled up my sleeves. I scanned the corridor. It was deserted. “Is it time, yet?”
She shot me a pointed look. “No, Meg, it’s not time.”
“Can we just go early?”
The thought of Carter being woman-handled by Athena made me cringe.
Ignoring my question, Esme walked down the stairs, away from the throne room.
“Where are you going?” I chased after her, keeping my knife drawn.
“We need reinforcements to go into the hive.” She swung around and faced me. “Even if I’m this so-called prophesied queen, I’m not going to take down Athena and her followers with two teenagers. We need to find Tyran, Brek and Wren.”
“Brek’s probably still in the throne room.” I kept pace with Esme, using some serious cardio. “I’m sure Wren’s in a room like ours. And, Tyran, well… we can only hope.” I pushed the thought from my mind.
The blonde soldier marched in front of me, taking down two more guards. She pounded on the prison cell next to the one we’d been held captive. If Wren was in there, why didn’t she blow the door off?
Esme’s fist hit the wooden door again. “Wren? Wren?”
No response.
We moved down the hallway to a metal door.
She pounded on the cold steel, withdrawing after only three knocks. “That hurts.” The side of her fingers were completely red. “It’s hot.”
“It must be a magical door.” I studied it from top to bottom.
This had to be Wren’s prison, or Tyran’s. Athena’s way to deal with magical creatures.
“How in the world are we going to get this door open?” I inspected a keypad beside it. There had to be millions of combinations.
“In the most non-magical way possible.” Esme shrugged and stared at the numbers with me. “We have to think like Athena. What would she use as a password?”
Lust. . . dominance. . .ménage a trois?
“It’s Athena.” I punched in the numbers associated with the old letters on my grandma’s rotary phone. With the last a, a long beeping sound came from the keypad, and the door cracked open.
“How did you know that?” Esme’s eyes were wide.
I shrugged and pushed open the door with my foot. “I thought about what she loves more than anything else.”
Inside, the room glowed an eerie red with the same metal on the walls as the door. Wren and Tyran were attached to a machine with the same type of handcuffs that held Shaol captive behind the Green Door. They were unconscious, or asleep, slumped over in a heap of burgundy rags.
I rushed over to Tyran, the rougher looking of the two, and grabbed his face. His skin was deathly pale. “Wake up! We’ve got to get out of here.”
Blood trickled from his forehead. His face remained lifeless in my hands.
“Meg. Get over here.” A computer screen illuminated Esme’s face. She traced colored bars with her finger. “If I’m reading this correctly, Athena’s using their magic to enhance the power her pheromones.”
She pointed to two of the bars on the screen. One tracked the power of the queen’s pheromones; the other tracked the life force of the prisoners.
A beeping noise came from the main entrance to the room.
“Someone’s coming.” I scanned the area. The only place to hide in time was on the other side of a dilapidated cot.
We dove behind the bed as the door opened. My leg was buried beneath me, causing it to cramp almost immediately.
The man that entered crossed the room to the computer monitor. He wore a red button-up shirt and jeans. His long, dark hair tied in a ponytail behind his neck, his beard and mustache neatly trimmed as he whistled a Beatles song. Why was my boss behind the Red Door?
“Ricky?” I scrambled to get up, Esme’s hand on my arm. “What are you doing here?”
He snatched a metal clipboard from the computer desk and held it in front of him like a shield. “No, I think the real question is wh
o are you and why are you here?”
I moved an inch closer, afraid Ricky might deck me over the head with his office weapon. Why didn’t he recognize me? From what we’d seen, most people kept their memories. “It’s me, Meg. You know, your right-hand woman, your partner in musical crime, your purveyor of classic rock excellence.”
My boss was definitely under Athena’s influence. There was no way he’d be caught dead in the clothes he was wearing. And did he actually wash his hair? His normal, long, greasy locks hidden by his Orioles cap were gone. A perfect gentleman stood in front of me.
“It doesn’t matter anymore.” He clutched the clipboard tighter to his chest and stared off into a far off place on the ceiling. “The only thing that matters is the queenly goddess down the hall. She deserves to be the model for every record album in my store.”
The prize money must have lured him in. He’d have to approve any flyers hung in the entrance to the store, so of course he would have seen it before I ripped it down.
He marched to an old-fashioned red phone on the wall. He picked up the receiver and held it to his ear as he lifted his finger to the rotary dial.
Esme jumped to her feet and removed an arrow from her quiver. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” She aimed her weapon at Ricky.
The receiver fell from his hand, banging against the wall like a pendulum from its cord. He held up his arms in surrender.
“Now, go lie down on the bed.” Her voice held an authority that even I didn’t want to mess with.
The cot creaked as he lay down, arms pinned to his side. Maybe he did care about his life more than he cared about the wicked queen.
“Meg.” Esme kept the arrow pointed at him. “There’s a belt around my waist. Remove it, please.”
I crouched down and unlatched her belt. Knowing exactly what she wanted, I cautiously approached my boss with the leather strap. Not only could he slug me with one of his giant fists, he could also fire my ass when we got home.
“Give me your hands.” I took a move from Esme’s playbook, demanding him to comply.
The Red Door Page 18