Null & Void_a Royal States Novel

by RJ Blain

  “Don’t kill them both, Jessica,” William said, his tone colder than the river, colder than anything I’d heard before.

  “I won’t,” the Texan queen replied, and like William, her tone had turned frigid. “Not until they tell me who sent them.”

  “Five minutes,” Geoff barked.

  Five minutes until what I wasn’t sure, but before I could force my tongue to obey me so I could ask, the darkness sank its claws into me and dragged me under.

  I didn’t dream. I hung in the void between it all, not quite awake but not asleep, either. Every time I surfaced, pain rippled through me, most of it concentrated in my arm and back. Before I could identify what was wrong, I once again sank into oblivion.

  I never wanted to emerge from the suffocating black of unconsciousness to the steady beep of monitors ever again. If I never stepped into another hospital again for as long as I lived, I’d die a happy woman.

  There needed to be a law against the number of times someone could go to a hospital in their life, and I’d reached my quota years ago. On the other hand, the other times I’d been hospitalized, it had hurt a lot less.

  It no longer hurt to breathe, but the aches reached my bones, and I wanted to retreat from my own body.

  It wasn’t to be; the infernal beep started the progress, and new sounds filtered in, including the murmur of quiet conversation, the scrap of metal on tile, and a distant alarm. The alarm bothered me. I’d been hospitalized enough times to recognize it wasn’t close enough to be in the same room with me, but it had the distinct, shrill noise I only associated with intensive care.

  All things considered, falling off my horse and tumbling down a steep, rocky slope to the river below warranted a stint in intensive care. It amazed me I’d reached the hospital at all. While I’d brought my allergy pens, I couldn’t remember what had happened to my purse. Had I been carrying it? And it gotten stuffed into one of the bags the horses carried on their saddles? I hadn’t put them in my pocket; I never put them in my pockets. People thought to check purses for the pens, and I needed to make it easy for my daughter—or someone else—to locate one. Most of the time, they had the topmost spot in my purse.

  I considered it a miracle I hadn’t died before I reached the water. Later, I’d appreciate being tougher than nails unless cold temperatures were involved.

  After, I’d thank Dr. Glaskow for the allergy medications that had kept me alive long enough to reach the hospital despite my discovery I didn’t know how to swim.

  Water was not my friend.

  Another shrill alarm annoyed me so much I cracked open an eye, and the source of the noise came from a cell phone. While it was so close I could see a few scratches on the screen, I couldn’t will my arms into motion to bat the damned thing away.

  The holder of the wretched device chuckled, turned it off, and leaned close, kissing my forehead. “There you are.”

  William.

  I pondered the novelty of him at my side at the hospital, blinking away the grit in my eyes. As always when I landed in the hospital, it took a while until I regained enough coherency to attempt talking. Unlike my other visits, the pain hampered my efforts enough I drifted in and out of consciousness before winning enough ground I could speak.

  My first attempt emerged as a croak.

  “Don’t try to talk yet,” he soothed, pulling his chair closer to my bedside. “I’ll give you the good and the bad news, then you can try a few sips of water and ask questions. First, you’re not pregnant. After you first arrived, the surgeons treated you like you were just in case. Since you’re not pregnant, you get to have all the painkillers you want.”

  Huh. I hoped I remembered that so I could gloat our daughter hadn’t been right for once in her life. I hoped I’d remember to be grateful for that later. Depending on what sort of painkillers the doctors had me on, I might not remember much of anything until they eased me off them.

  Memory lapses happened, and I fell victim to them more often than not when I landed in the ER.

  “Second, someone hired two men to shoot you on the trail, but they couldn’t give us the name of their hire. It was done anonymously. The only clues we have is that someone knew you’d be on the trails sometime over the weekend; they got unfortunately lucky, as they arrived at the airstrip the same time the horse trailers did. They saw an opportunity and took it. They’re in custody for questioning. I’m not allowed to help, as it’s universally believed I’d leave bloody smears in their cells by the time I finished with them. Unfortunately, everyone’s correct, as that’s exactly what would happen.” William’s tone turned wry. “It’s on the list of things I can’t get away with despite being a king.”

  I’d been shot?

  My expression must have changed, because William sighed and brushed my hair away from my face. “Yes, you were shot. That’s what made you fall. The bullet hit your arm, and the sound and your unexpected jerk startled Runs Amok. He did as he was taught, bolting for the safest part of the trail. You had unbalanced in the saddle and fell. The edge of the trail crumbled, and you went down. Before anyone could grab your horse’s reins, he went down after you. I hadn’t taught him to do that. He did it all on his own. It’s a good thing he did, though. You hit the water and went under.”

  “Bummer,” I croaked.

  “Mackenzie,” he complained, grabbing a cup of water with a straw in it. “I wasn’t done yet.”

  He cleverly used the straw to keep me quiet, and the first sip barely reached my tongue before my parched mouth claimed all the water. “Not sorry.”

  “Onto the bad news. You’re going to be here a while. You’re going to make a full recovery, but unless we can figure out how to make you stop nullifying all magic, the doctors can’t use their talents to speed your healing. We had a little luck when you were in critical, but the theory is your talent shut down because you were in shock. As soon as you started stabilizing, you began nullifying everything anyone threw at you. So instead of a two-week recovery, we’re looking at up to two months, possibly longer.”

  My eyes widened. “Two months? That long?”

  “You’ve been in intensive care for almost three weeks, Mackenzie. I requested Mireya be transferred to Colorado to make visitation easier. We also confirmed Adam’s bonded with her; Mireya came to Colorado alone, and Adam had a breakdown, so he was sent over, too. Pat’s preening like a peacock over it, as it seems to be a family tradition.”

  “Adam fainted?”

  William laughed. “He sure did. The poor kid worried himself sick and dropped during a private riding lesson. Since he was already on watch, it was easy to confirm the source of his anxiety, so he was shipped to Colorado, too. She’s been visiting over the weekends with Adam in tow, and I’m working from here for the moment. The rest of my family is handling the non-critical affairs. Olivia’s in town, and she’s been staying with you when I’ve been attending to business.”

  “Pat and Jessica?”

  “Infuriated. They notified all participants of the auction, and a new auction organizer has been assigned. I’m sorry. We didn’t know when you’d regain consciousness, and with the current estimates like they are, you’ll barely be out of the hospital when the auction happens. You’ve been excused from participating unless you want to.”

  I blamed the drugs for my giggling. “Watch you be sold on the man-meat auction?”

  “If you’re released from the hospital in time and are up for it, I fully intend to marry you at the conclusion of the auction. I’m stepping down as an eligible bachelor, and per your suggestion, I’m sacrificing my single siblings, giving them my spot instead. We’re merging it with Olivia’s auction, and men and women will both be participating, trying to earn favor with one of my siblings. Alaska’s king made a suggestion that’s bound to make it through the congress.”

  “What?”

  “Playing off your masquerade idea, the eligible bachelors and bachelorettes will mingle with the crowd. It’ll be a standard bidding, excep
t both genders will be able to participate, tiered depending on interests. Those the eligible bachelors and bachelorettes bid on will be invited to participate in a secondary auction vying for dates or other arrangements. The charities benefit, and if one of the participants meets someone interesting from a low-income bracket, they can participate in the secondary auction. There’ll be sponsorships available for those people.”

  “Better than what I came up with,” I admitted.

  “You developed a good starting point. Your job from here on out is to get better so I can take you home. I expect you’re going to be annoyed with me, but I’ve made it perfectly clear I’m going to marry you. I also had your talent registered so you’re as protected as I can make you. In other news, I’ve developed a rather strong dislike for your parents.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry. They’re convinced they should be the sole guardians of our daughter, as they’re the only responsible parents involved in this situation. I told them no, far more politely than they deserve. I wasn’t wearing my mask. After they made it clear they’d file a motion attempting to get custody, I barred them from visitation. If you’re willing to unseal Mireya’s records, I’ll have her officially registered in the Montana royal bloodline and have her birth certificate updated.”

  I’d need to anyway. She’d been left without a father and a family long enough. “Do it,” I rasped. “Wait, you weren’t wearing your mask?”

  “I’m beginning to make public appearances without it. Jessica and Pat provided me with a few dampeners that work for me as a bracelet, so I’m wearing those. I keep the mask around just in case, but so far, so good. I’m going to have them made into watch bands if I can.”

  “Good. Too pretty to hide.”

  He laughed, a strained, sad sound. “That has to be the drugs talking.”

  “No. You were always beautiful.” The effort of talking sapped the little energy I’d mustered, and I sighed. “I’m tired.”

  He leaned over me and kissed my cheek. “Get some rest. If you need me, I’ll be here.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  I spent another week in intensive care, fighting the one thing the doctors couldn’t protect me from, not without the magic my body insisted on rejecting: infection.

  The few times I was coherent enough to understand what was happening, the team of three doctors managed to explain I’d required several operations. The whys and whats remained a mystery, as I developed an unfortunate tendency to slip back into a drugged stupor every time someone attempted to explain things to me.

  More often than not, when I woke up, William was at my side, tapping away at a laptop, unaware of me watching him. When he noticed, he’d close the lid, set it aside and smile at me. The day I was scheduled to leave intensive care for a quiet recovery room, his smile was a little brighter than normal, his expression a little less strained. “Mireya’s due to arrive within two hours, just in time for you to be in your new room.”

  I couldn’t remember any of her visits, which bothered me so much I bit my lip so I wouldn’t cry. “She’s okay?”

  “She’s holding up remarkably well. Unsealing her records helped, and she’s had a constant parade of aunts and uncles keeping her company when she hasn’t been in classes. Adam’s beside himself, as one of my brothers figured out he can tease Adam by showering our daughter with affection. Adam’s amusingly jealous of my brothers. We’ve managed to convince her that you’ve stayed in intensive care for so long as a precaution. I’d appreciate it, however, if you figured out where your off switch was for that talent of yours. It’s driving me insane.”

  “Short trip,” I muttered.

  “You must be starting to feel better. You’re getting mouthy with me.” He grinned and rewarded me with a kiss. “Judging from past trends, you’re going to snooze right through her visit. It’s all right. You quietly sleeping doesn’t bother her. She knows you need to rest to heal, so she views you sleeping the day away as you working on getting better. She’ll be happy to know you were awake for a while.”

  “Tell her I love her,” I whispered.

  “Of course. You get some rest, all right?” William checked his watch. “I’ll be here until Mireya’s ready to go back to school. They have a class trip, so she’s only here for tonight. She’ll be overseas for two weeks, then she’ll be back to Colorado. I promised I’d bring her and Adam back over if you’re able to stay awake for more than short periods. In a way, we’re lucky.”

  “We are?”

  “We are. The doctors have been very open about your recovery, they’ve explained the setbacks, and have gone over all the operations with her. So, she feels better knowing exactly what’s going on. Since we’re not hiding anything from her, she’s willing to believe us when we tell her things are improving. She’s working really hard on her school work, too. I think she wants to impress you when you’re feeling better.”

  “She always impresses me.”

  “Well, you’ll have to be extra impressed with her this time.”

  “Okay.” I could do that. I would.

  William sighed and kissed my brow. “Go back to sleep, Mackenzie. Everything’ll get better from here, I promise.”

  I was too tired to tell him he shouldn’t make promises he couldn’t keep, so I closed my eyes and did as told without protest.

  Life went on without me, but day by day, I gained a little ground. I lost track of time, but as the start of physical therapy drew closer, the doctors grew restless, warning me of trouble on the horizon. I improved enough I was able to have afternoon calls with Mireya, and she warned me what to expect, which included the equivalent of torture as the doctors forced me to use—and redevelop—my muscles and restore what I’d lost in the fall.

  She handled it better than I did, as she had a lot more faith I wouldn’t suffer impairment despite my long recovery. To her, broken bones healed, and while I had survived a myriad of internal injuries, I hadn’t damaged anything important. My evil entity disguised as a miniature human enjoyed reassuring me I’d be able to give her the siblings she wanted, which made everything all right in her eyes.

  When business called William back to Montana, he refused to leave until I told him he needed to go, and his complaints over leaving my side made me unreasonably happy. The instant he left the hospital, I glared at the congregation of doctors hovering in my doorway. “You contrived that so you could torture me without him hovering.”

  My accusation was met by a trio of unrepentant grins, and the only one of the doctors I knew, Dr. Glaskow, led the charge. I narrowed my eyes at his determined expression. “I don’t know what you’re planning on doing to me, but I don’t think I like this at all.”

  “That’s because you’re a smart woman, Mackenzie. His Royal Majesty would lose his temper if we started this with him in the same kingdom. As soon as he’s boarded his plane to return home, the stewardess will be slipping a sedative into his dinner, and he’ll be taking a nap. He’ll be roused long enough to reach his palace under his own steam, where he’ll resume sleeping for a period of no less than twelve hours.”

  “Uh oh.” I lifted my hands and crossed my index fingers together. “Back, foul beast!”

  “I assure you, this torture session is absolutely necessary. We have an idea we wish to test.”

  “I don’t like the sound of that. What idea?”

  “The one where we temporarily bypass your nullification abilities so we can use our collection of talents to help speed your recovery. We’ve determined that His Royal Majesty has been using at least one of his talents on you, so you’re not nullifying all magic. If we can get two hours with you with our talents functioning as they should, you’ll be leaving the hospital tonight.”

  “And if you don’t?”

  “We’re stuck with you for at least another two to three weeks. I’m tired of Texas, Mackenzie. It’s hot, the royals are a royal pain in my ass, and if His Royal Majesty keeps hovering like he’s on death wat
ch, I’m going to be forced to insert my foot in his ass.”

  I howled my laughter at the thought of Dr. Glaskow trying to do anything of the sort to William. “Is that an approved medical treatment, Dr. Glaskow?”

  “It is now.”

  “How are you going to test this theory?”

  “We asked Geoff to volunteer his talents to test the limits of your nullification. He’s going to shock you at varying strengths to test your tolerances, and we’re going to observe. Many talents require a recharge time, so if we can find a gap in your talent, we might be able to work on you. Ideally, we’ll identify how your talent ticks at the same time. I’d really like to send you home.”

  “That’s two of us. Are you sending me to Dallas or Montana?”

  “Montana. Ideally, you’ll be snuggling in bed with your future husband before his sedatives wear off.” He held up two fingers. “This many hours, Mackenzie. I beg you, please figure out how to shut off that blasted talent of yours for two hours. That’s all we need to have you ready to go to Montana for the next stage of your recovery.”

  “Do I want to know?”

  “A lot of exercise.”

  I could deal with exercising, although according to my daughter, it’d hurt like hell and I’d wish they’d kill me before they were done with me. “How are we going to do this?”

  “I’ve reserved the physical therapy room for the next five hours. We’re going to have Geoff hammer away at your resistances while we try to work with you and speed your recovery and begin rebuilding your muscle structure.” Dr. Glaskow examined my catheter and removed the line, capping the tube they used to inject fluids into my arm. “If this goes well, you won’t need this, but we’ll have the IV stand just in case. For the first part of our session, you’re going to walk yourself to the PT room.”

  I’d done several short walks over the past few days, and every last one of them had hurt like hell and ended within ten feet. “That sounds painful.”