“Screw you, Will.” I turned for the door, and he caught me gently, pulling me toward him.
“I am your king. You are my wife. I command you to escort Violet, her children, and our daughter to safety. You will do this.”
I hated his tone. Every bone in my body wanted to resist, to mouth off to him, maybe even to slap him (okay I wouldn’t slap him, I loved him too freaking much, but I was pissed) until Perry began to cry.
“You will go to her, comfort her, feed her, and I’ll see you to the passageway.”
“Will,” I tried, begging softly. “Please. Please don’t send me away. Don’t do this.”
“In seventy years, I have not loved anything more than I love you and our daughter. You will protect yourself, and her,” he took my face in his hands, peeling away my mask. “We will be together. I swear to you.”
My mind was running a thousand miles an hour. Finally, I blinked away the burning tears, nodding in his grasp. “Fine.”
“Fine?”
“I’ll feed her, and then I’ll take them to safety.”
“Thank you.”
I nodded, accepting his kiss without another word.
“I shall have a maid bring her a bottle, and I return in an hour to escort you. The masque will be in full swing; you will not be seen in the chaos of the celebration.”
“Okay. Whatever.”
“Eva,” he turned, and as irritated as I was, I still melted into his touch as he kissed me completely senseless. “I am proud of you.”
“Uh-huh. I love you, Will.”
He smirked. “And I love you, Eva.”
He swept from the chamber, and the maid who entered a moment later stared at me with wide eyes as I threw my arms around her. “Valerie! Val, I… know you don’t know me… but I know you…,” I carefully lifted Perry into my arms, rocking her. “I need you to help me.”
“Help you?” She repeated. She was younger than I remembered, maybe fifteen, and I was freaking her out, I knew it.
“I’m going to take you to my sister, and I need you to help her care for my baby,” I began throwing diapers and wipes and everything I could find from the stash that Will had collected over the past week into a bag. “Okay?”
“Yes, my lady,” she answered, confused. I smiled, hugging her again.
“Just Eva. We’re going to be friends. In the future. Never mind, just come on,” I corrected, creeping into the hallway with Perry in my arms. She suckled anxiously on the bottle, and I threw a plain, hooded cloak over myself to mask my costume.
We moved to the fencing arena, and as I entered the dark room, I realized I had no idea where the door was. Awkwardly shifting Perry in my arms, I began feeling beneath cabinet ledges, cursing as Valerie cast nervous glances at the doorway.
“My lady, a guard approaches,” she whispered nervously.
“It’s okay, I’m sure it’s here somewhere-…,”
“Bottom, right.”
I whipped my face to the doorway at Christopher’s words.
My brother grinned, crossing the dark arena, his eyes darting between me and Valerie. “Valerie?”
She stared at him in confusion, and he nodded to the farthest end of the weapons cabinet. “Did you find it?”
“Yes! Chris, thank you,” I poured. “What’s the code?”
“You’re supposed to be taking Violet and the children home.”
“I am, I just want to hug Mom and Dad before I go,” I lied, handing Perry to Valerie. “You know how to burp her, right?”
“You’re such a shitty liar.” Chris punched in the code, and the hidden door shifted open. Violet huddled inside with her daughters, and she stood to protect them as soon as the door opened.
I ran to her, throwing my arms around my sister. “Vi, please listen to me,” I pleaded. “I’m going to talk to Mom and then we’ll cross over.”
“Okay,” she nodded, and Chris ushered Valerie into the room as well, turning to me.
“Take Valerie with you.”
“What?” I demanded, listening as a melody began from the great hall. I recognized The Four Tops, somehow comforted by my favorite music. “Okay, fine, whatever.”
“I have to go,” Christopher turned to Valerie, and the maid sat in a chair, gently holding Perry in her lap and patting her back. “And I know you don’t remember me. But you love me. A lot.”
“I do?” She asked, and he bent to kiss her lips.
Violet, Wynn, and I stared as the aura around my brother and Valerie completely changed to a golden hue. A crown sparkled over each of their heads, and I covered my mouth, my heart hammering.
Christopher will reign.
Will.
“What… just happened?” Violet widened her eyes, and Valerie gazed at Christopher, blushing red through her dark complexion.
“Go, Chris,” I ordered, taking a breath and turning to Violet. “I’ll be right back,” I promised. Christopher rattled off the code to the room, and added that it was Mom’s birth date, reversed.
He left for the hall. I bent to kiss Perry’s soft forehead once before turning to secure the door with the code.
“Eva, wait,” Violet, clothed in maid attire, reached for me. “I can’t stay in here. I need to be there. I need to know that Logan is okay.”
“You have to stay here, Vi-…,”
“Listen to me,” her throaty voice lowered as she led me just outside the room, “I can help. I can at least distract Troy. I know you’re lying, I know you’re not coming back. If you’re doing this alone, I’m helping you.”
I have to take Troy out before there’s even a chance of a bloodbath. I listened to her, trying desperately to decide. I can’t risk her life again. “You’re not immortal here, Vi-…,”
“Neither are you. Neither is Logan,” she said, her blue eyes filled with such intensity that I felt like I was looking into my father’s gaze. “I will distract Troy. He’s not stupid. You need me. Give me something to wear, now,” she ordered.
I had no time to deliberate. Waving my hand, I gave her a lacy mask, turning her into some kind of forest sprite. She looked like she was headed to a sorority Halloween party at the Bunny Ranch, and I decided Troy would be thoroughly distracted.
She stared down at her lace gloves before touching her masses of spiral, blonde curls. “Wow.”
“Valerie,” I said softly, and then looked at Wynn. “Wynn. Please take care of Perry and Rose, okay?”
Wynn nodded bravely. “I will.” She folded into Violet’s hug once more, closing her eyes in a silent prayer.
Still cloaked, I crept down the corridor with Violet, keeping my mask on and watching as couples poured into the great hall. They were dressed like a bunch of crazy forest animals, chattering excitedly and wearing varying masks of different styles and colors.
As we passed through the doors, I noted the lack of guards at every entrance. Taking inventory of the weapons, I acknowledged that many of the men had swords but no firearms, and the women were unarmed.
I turned to the thrones. Troy and my mother sat next to each other, and Will was speaking to her softly. Troy was grinning at a maid who was bent in front of him with a tray of food.
“Move toward the altar, Vi. If Troy starts to leave, distract him,” I whispered.
She only looked at me, took a deep breath, and disappeared into the crowd.
Now. Slowly. Calculated. I waved my hand in the air, and as my cloak disappeared, the music faded.
Korn’s Twisted Transistor began. The music caught my mother’s attention; I watched her search the dance floor, her fingers clasping together nervously.
The DJ looked thoroughly confused, pressing several buttons. I threw my fingers his way, and his expression moved to one of acceptance as he adjusted the lighting.
Dark, shadowy, flashing lights. I grinned, almost satisfied with my atmosphere, finally deciding to add some simulated flames to the floor. The crowd gasped as it appeared they were dancing in fire, only to realize that it was
just creative lighting before cheering appreciatively.
I moved to a guard who was communicating through an earpiece, and the moment he saw me, his mouth fell open.
“Dance?” I asked, lowering my voice, husky, seductive. He could only sway slightly as I dropped as provocatively as possible against his body, slowly creeping up his torso. As my hand slid over his chest, I let it rest over his heart.
Picturing my sketch of the human heart in my parent’s living room, I began with the left ventricle. Right ventricle.
Aorta.
Fire.
The guard gripped his heart, and I watched as a black, charred hole was left in the cavern of his chest.
He slid against the wall, and I made him invisible before moving on. Well, that was easy. I’ll just kill them all from the inside. I danced to the next guard, estimating another ten or eleven between me and Troy. This guy went for my ass, and I burned his heart to an ashen cavity before he could release me.
The music pounded, the hall darkened even more, and I continued to make the bodies invisible so that no one would notice the dead guards that began lining the east wall. I let the song take over my body, and I knew my eyes were glowing amber. The pulsing beat of the music, combined with the dancing, the adrenaline, and the fire that I was producing ripped through me, possessed my mind, and took over my every movement.
Dance. Kill. Burn.
Disappear.
“How does this feel?” I purred to the next guard, and he dove for my mouth just before I slapped my hand over his chest, lighting him up.
Grinning, I kicked him aside, turning to my next victim. Number thirteen.
And I collided with Will.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Troy
The strange frequency drew my attention just before the industrial, drumming rock began to play. The floor lit with flames that licked at the feet of the dancers, and my eyes scanned the darkness.
In my hundreds of years, I had learned the difference between magic and reality. What was happening on the floor of the great hall was definitely magic, and I was on my guard as I started to stand.
“Troy,” Roam turned to stop me, and I recognized apprehension in her eyes. “Please excuse me, I need the restroom.”
Turning, I saw two of my men in mesh masks. I indicated that they move closer, and Logan lifted his mask slightly. “Yes, your majesty.”
“Brother,” I began, and as usual, it irked me to consider this good-for-nothing kid any kind of relation to me. “You will both escort her majesty to the restrooms. She is not to be alone at any time.”
“I don’t like this song,” Roam complained, looking at the guard next to Logan urgently. He bowed low, turning and disappearing into the crowd before I had a chance to stop him.
“Who orders my soldiers around, me or you?” I demanded of her, and she turned to me quickly, her brows knitted in worry. I was still irritated by her comments before the masque. After I’d just offered to give her everything, and told her that I loved her, she asked me to let her go.
Again.
“I’m sorry, Troy, I-…,”
“Always apologizing. Stop disobeying me,” I snapped, waving her away as Logan escorted her from the hall. I watched the second guard move through the masses, stopping every few feet as though he was searching for something.
Or someone.
Shifting in my throne, I turned to William. He stood with his back to the wall, watching the crowd with such ferocity I thought he’d bolt from the altar at any moment. He’d taken over his duties with twice as much vigor as before, though I rarely saw him at mealtimes and had heard rumors of him spending much time in his private quarters.
“William, go enjoy the festivities. This is supposed to be a celebration,” I shouted to him, waving at the floor. His eyes flicked to mine as though he’d forgotten I was even there.
“Yes, Father,” he answered, taking two steps at a time from the altar. I watched him move along the east wall, and I guessed that some bitch had caught his attention.
And then I saw her.
She was dressed as a pixie, the leather and lace drawing the attention of every man she passed. Long, twisting tendrils of blonde hair dipped appetizingly over her shoulders and breasts, and blue eyes sparked at me through the slits in the mask.
I was absolutely fucking her tonight.
When she curtsied before me, I got a full view of her generous cleavage.
“Your name?” I demanded, curling my fingers at her to come closer.
“You know my name,” she taunted, her husky voice sending direct signals to my dick. I narrowed my eyes at her disrespectful response, but when she curled those moist lips into a playful smirk, I stood.
“Come with me. I don’t need your name.” I held my hand out, and she turned her face slightly, nervously.
“What about… the queen?”
“She is not of your concern,” I caught her hand before she could pull it away, leading her toward my office. I was trying to decide whether I wanted her across my desk or on the long, leather couch.
“Wait,” she balked, and I wrenched her to my chest.
“Did you think to tease me?” I demanded, dropping my face to her hair. Inhaling, I caught something familiar, something I couldn’t quite place. “Move.”
“Troy.”
I turned to Logan’s voice, irritated. The kid’s face was filled with animosity, and it took all of my continence not to tell him to fuck off. “Entertain the queen,” I snapped, and the bitch in my arms whined as I led her toward my office.
“Let go of my wife.”
This time, I turned fully around to face Logan. “Excuse me?”
He reared back and punched me so hard, I barely had time to react. The crack of knuckles meeting my cheekbone threw me, and the floor began to rumble. The shrill scream of a woman in the crowd cut the music off abruptly, and my focus snapped to the dance floor.
The bodies of dead men, my dead guards, began appearing along the dance floor.
My face was throbbing. The moment I released the girl, Logan was reaching for her. Distracted. I roared and drew my sword, watching Logan pull an AK47 from his back.
Three guards were between us in the time it took him to ready the weapon. Gregory lunged, aimed to thrust the sword into Logan’s chest.
He was met with an electric shock; I watched the soldier seize spasmodically before dropping to the ground. Some kind of barricade of voltage separated Logan from the soldiers, and as he tried to shoot at me, his bullets only ricocheted off the barrier.
“Eva! Drop the wall!” He shouted.
Eva.
I turned for my office, hearing Will’s voice next. “Don’t let him get to his office… the creatures, Eva-…,”
I slammed the iron office door behind me as the floor rumbled with tremors, running to my desk. The panel inside the locked drawer held the keypad that, with the correct code, would open every cell in the dungeon.
And release the bowels of hell into my castle.
The walls were crumbling. Something was bringing my door down, and only then I register her name.
Eva.
Eva, with her red hair, her green eyes so like Roam’s…
And her furious magic.
The maid in my castle.
The maid in the Romani camp.
How long had she been following me? Through time? She had to be West and Roam’s daughter. She possessed her grandfather’s magic…
And she was going to kill me.
Without another doubt, I punched in the code, releasing every monster I’d worked for years to collect with the help of Asher’s magic.
And I waited.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Logan
I was carrying Violet from the hall, and she jerked in my arms. “Logan! I’m fine, let me walk-…,”
“Stay in the locked room!” I roared to her, dropping her to her feet as we ran toward the fencing arena.
“I don�
��t know the code!”
“I can’t fucking believe Eva! I can’t fucking believe you!” I stumbled as the floor shook again, adrenaline forcing me into action. “West is going to bury this castle with his power- I have to go fight-…,”
“I’ll guard the room,” Violet rushed, reaching for a sword from the cabinet. “I’ll make sure no one goes near the door.”
I knew she couldn’t use a sword. I also knew that this was what I loved about her the most; she was bold, persuasive, and would do anything for me.
And I hadn’t even married her yet.
Her face was in my hands as I crushed her mouth to mine, kissing her with all of the strength that I had left in my heart. The endless nights, the longing, the heartbreak… I spoke into her lips, tasting the salty tears in her kiss. “I love you, Vi, I love you so much,” I promised. She cried out, shoving her fingers into my hair, and I tore away to gaze into her eyes through the lacy mask. “I’ll win, and I’ll walk out of here with you and our girls. Understand me?”
“Yes,” she nodded, tearful but so strong, and I tore the black mask away and kissed her again.
Leaving her standing in that room was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. I didn’t know if she would survive, or if my children would live, or if any of us would come out of this alive.
All I knew was that Troy had to fucking die.
Before I made it down the corridor again, I heard the gunshots and the screaming, and nearly slammed into Roam as she carried her sword toward the atrium.
“Stay away from the dungeon stairwells!” I shouted at her, knowing that Troy now had plenty of time to release the creatures that Will had warned us about.
“No! My family is in there, and I won’t let Eric or any of those monsters hurt them,” she turned for the dungeon, and I caught her upper arm viciously.
“Cam, stay the fuck away from the stairwell,” I growled.
“You’re a traitor!” She screamed back at me, wrenching her arm away. “You are the one who betrayed me, all of those years ago! We died because of you!”
“He was going to hurt Eva! He was going to fuck your daughter, and she was about to set the entire world on fire with her magic. That would have changed everything, and we wouldn’t have existed, Roam!”
Reign (Roam Series, Book Six) Page 18