When I was about to spit more vitriol at him, Bastien raised his voice to silence my rant. “This is what my love looks like, Rosie! Don’t you understand that if you don’t live through this day, there’s no point for me? Why are you constantly underestimating how much I need you? I love you even when you hate me.” He didn’t wait for my answer, but kissed me hard and fast just once before I could bite him in retaliation.
Bastien was the same kind of stubborn as I was, and we shared that unapologetic vicious streak when the people we loved were threatened. I couldn’t fault him for it, but I didn’t have to comply with the terrible plan, either. “Bastien, no!”
Draper clapped his hand over my mouth as Bastien backed away and Lane opened the door. He met my eyes and blew me a kiss before he left, tucking Lane under his cape at his side before they shut the door behind them.
14
A Duplex Built for Nine
Due to my unwillingness to come close to hurting him in our scuffle, Draper wrestled me to the floor and sat on me like a jerk when I tried to break free. My face was pressed to the cold stone, and Draper was bouncing lightly with his butt atop mine. I didn’t cry out for Bastien to change his mind, lest we be found out, but I did struggle and call Draper every nasty name I could think of.
“You forgot ‘ingrate’,” he suggested, mildly amused at my fight.
“Shut up! It’s your mom up there, too. You should be fighting her down here, not me!”
“And yet, here we are.” He leaned over and patted my cheek twice, just to piss me off.
I growled at him like an animal, ready to pounce. I’m not sure why Reyn found this hilarious, but his chuckle was just enough to turn my attention from plotting Draper’s painful demise. “Something funny over there, Uncle-Dad?”
“You. You’re exactly like your mother.” When I snarled at this, he waved off my anger. “Lane, not Morgan. Though, all the Daughters of Avalon are painfully stubborn.”
“Yes, how cute it is to not want the woman who raised you to be killed,” I simpered, frustrated that Draper was still on top of me. “Would you let me up? I mean, for crying out loud. You weigh a ton!”
Draper bounced a few more times, not acquiescing to my demands. “It’s funny because I can’t see you. I feel like I’m floating.”
“Get up!”
“See? This is what we missed out on when I was stuck in Avalon and you were growing up in Common.”
“Oh, the joys of having a sibling.”
“Yes. I do all sorts of terrible things, like keep you from death. You’ve never killed anyone before. I won’t have your first kill be your own mother.”
“Lane is my mother,” I argued, not wanting to tell him that I’d killed before, and recently.
Draper softened. “I know. This was her call, and as her children, we’ll respect it. Lane wouldn’t go up there unless she knew something we didn’t. She can do this.”
“Don’t you try your optimistic cheerleader shiz on me. I’ll straight up beat your butt after this!”
Draper ignored me. “How are you feeling, Reyn?”
Reyn scoffed, as if there wasn’t a suitable answer for how crappy this whole situation had turned out. “I’m upright, which is the best thing I can say about it all right now.” When I struggled again, Reyn cast me a gentle smile, his darker features barely visible in the flickering lamplight. His kind emerald eyes were clear as day, though, which was how his sweetness usually tended to be. “They’ll come back to us.”
“Or we’ll lose everything! You get that it’s pretty much fifty-fifty, right? Am I the only one taking this seriously?”
Reyn studied his fingernails for several long seconds with a compassion that came from experience. “I know your pain,” he said quietly. Then he took the conversation in a direction neither of us could’ve predicted. “You’ll be my only children, you know. Lane can’t…” He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “So long as I can be with her, that’s alright. Still, since you’re her daughter, when I marry Lane, you’ll be mine, too.”
I gaped at him. Though I’d known this and teased him about from time to time, it still felt surreal. “I guess that’s true.”
“I don’t know how to have a daughter, much less one who’s already grown.” His eyes shifted to Draper. “I’ve never had a son, much less one so close to my own age.”
Draper snorted, and offered a respectful bow of his head. “I wouldn’t mind you as a father.”
I frowned at Reyn, though he couldn’t see it. “I got news for you, chief, I’m raised already. You’re off the hook as far as that goes. I’m only like, eight years younger than you.”
Reyn nodded. “If you had a daughter, would you let her go up against someone who wanted to capture her and use her to make the world a worse place?”
“I’m not playing this game with you. Daughter or not, no girl’s going to let her best friend walk into a situation where she has to murder her family member. Morgan’s already had her brutalized too many times to count. I could’ve done it.”
“But because Lane loves you, now you don’t have to.”
My anger fell to the wayside as anxiety poked through. “If she doesn’t make it… If Bastien doesn’t come back… Reyn, I can’t take this!”
Reyn motioned for Draper to let me up. “I need to see your face. Come here, Rosie.”
I shoved Draper when he rolled off of me, but he only laughed at my anger. I crawled over to Reyn and draped the edge of my cloak over his knee, so he could see me. “Better?”
“I have as much to lose in this as you, but there’s nothing we can do about it right now. Sit with your father for a while. I’m not feeling too hot.”
I leaned against the wall, turning my head from Draper as he sat down on my other side after shoving Astin’s body in the cell he’d previously occupied. My brother lifted a corner of my cape to lay over his thigh, so the three of us could see each other. I worried about Reyn’s shallow breaths. I wanted to give him water or something, but I had nothing to offer. “What can I do, Reyn?”
“You can tell me it gets better than this. You can tell me that when I marry Lane and you marry Bastien, we’ll start over. Tell me our life in Common won’t be a thing like this dungeon.”
I reached down and sifted my fingers through his, squeezing his hand. It was musty and dirty in the dungeon, with grime covering the floor and stone walls, but I was determined that Reyn should have something lovely to hold onto. I brought my knees to my chest, cozying in for a dreamy story I was prepared to make up on the fly if it distracted Reyn from his aches. “When we move to Common, I think we should buy a big farmhouse with plenty of land. Like, a few acres, at least. We can make it into a duplex, so we never have to split up.”
“What’s a duplex?”
“It’s a house that’s divided down the middle, and inside, both halves contain all the stuff to make up a functional house. So each side has its own kitchen, enough bedrooms and bathrooms and whatnot. If we get a duplex, then we’ll have our own space, but we’ll still be together.”
“Hello, what about me?” Draper said, affronted. “You four will be in your honeymoon stages, and where does that leave me?”
I decided to extend the olive branch and reached out to hold Draper’s hand, linking the three of us together more securely. “You, Judah, Link, Mad and Annabelle can stay with either of us. Pick which house you want to live in, and we’ll make sure you get a wicked cool bedroom. My dad’s going to be visiting a lot, so we might want to earmark a room for him, too.” My voice faltered when I was about to suggest we make some space for Kerdik, but I knew Kerdik would never come to Common and risk muting his magic in the exchange. I also knew Bastien wouldn’t be cool with that, and truthfully, neither would I. It was time for me to be with one man, no matter how much it hurt to cut that tie that bound me to Kerdik so tightly. Plus, green skin on earth would be a hard sell.
“Where’d you go in your head just then?” Draper wondered aloud.
I shook my head, knowing there would be less harrowing times for such fretting. “When we go to my world, we’ll have a whole bunch of animals, obviously. We’ll get regular people jobs and we can go to school together, if you guys want. Maybe I’ll be able to finish my degree.”
Reyn let out a grunt of frustration at the pain his back was in, and shifted uncomfortably next to me. “What else? Keep distracting me.”
“Okay, we have to go to this beach by our apartment. It’s so gorgeous. I mean, I know you guys are up to your ears in nature here, but this one’s got volleyball nets up, picnic tables, grills, a couple waterslides, a biking trail, a fishing pond, a nature center and a basketball court. You could totally spend a whole day there and not see half of it.”
“That sounds nice. What’s basketball?”
I gaped at Reyn, but quickly remembered my manners. “It’s only one of the greatest games. You can hang with people who you don’t have to be friends with beforehand if you play basketball together. It’s bonding.” I started explaining the rules of the game to them, but was cut short when we heard footsteps echoing down the stairwell.
Draper and I moved together without speaking, dragging Reyn away from the door, and into the far corner behind one of the rows of cages. I quietly shut each of the cage doors, so the soldier wouldn’t know there’d been a jailbreak right away.
Draper stood next to the door so that when it swung open he would be concealed behind it. Hopefully we could jump the intruder after the door was shut. My brother tucked me behind him, though both of us had our knives drawn. “Stay hidden as long as you can. The second they know you’re here, Lane and Bastien won’t stand a chance.”
I held my breath when the key jangled in the lock. The door swung open, and I wished I hadn’t peeked around Draper’s shoulder for a look. I knew the back of Rigby’s head well – his erect posture and graceful movements.
“Astin? I’ve come with food for the prisoners.” When his eyes fell on the empty cages, it was already too late for him.
Draper sprang out from the wall and sunk his knife into Rigby’s side, cuffing him around the neck with his capable bicep. Draper whispered over his shoulder, “Rosie, shut the door!”
15
My Own Personal Judas
I was stunned, but managed to obey. My hands were trembling with trepidation, not wanting to be near someone who’d betrayed me so deeply. Despite my big talk that I didn’t want to get edged out of the fight, I let Draper handle this one. He lowered Rigby to the stone floor and cuffed his hand over his mouth to stifle any shouting that might alert the rest of the household. Draper leaned over Ribgy’s supine body so he could get in his face. “Tell me if Duchess Elaine’s been found out up there, and I’ll make your death quick.”
Rigby gasped as he writhed in pain. Draper didn’t uncover his mouth, so Rigby resorted to shaking his head.
“Good. Now tell me how many guards are in the house right now.”
Rigby jerked and moaned, tugging on my heartstrings. Draper pulled his hand away for the breathy reply. “Two dozen, though the household staff are well-trained, too. If you’re to escape, going out the back is your best bet. Seven guards are there. If you can get past them, you’ll be free.”
I was shocked Rigby actually told the truth. There had been seven guards out back, which Bastien and I had killed on our way in.
“Are you trying to set us up?” Draper asked with a threat in his tone.
“No. If you let me bleed down here, someone will come for me, and I’ll tell them you escaped with plans to disappear into the crowd at the front of the castle.” Rigby’s breath came in labored pants. “I wasn’t supposed to bring you food twice in one day, but I do because I don’t want you to die in here!”
Draper’s eyes widened. “Why? Why not free us, if you care so much?”
Rigby gripped Draper’s flannel as he gasped though his pain. “Because I wronged Duchess Elaine’s daughter. I wronged Princess Rosalie, and it’s the only way I can find to make her true mother’s life easier after all I did.” His confession had the desperation of a madman as sweat beaded on Rigby’s forehead. “Princess Rosalie loves the Duchess Elaine, so I made sure none of the soldiers took her against her will. I limited the beatings to only happen when Morgan was watching, and lied, telling her they were happening daily.”
Draper dropped his hands from Rigby, sitting back on his heels in confusion. “Why would you do that?”
Rigby writhed, touching his side through his red suit jacket to feel the blood.
I knew I was supposed to stay hidden, but I was so stunned, I disregarded the rules. I moved forward and knelt at Rigby’s other side, scooping up his hand to warm it. “Hey, Rigs. Did you miss me?”
Rigby’s eyes widened when I materialized out of nowhere, looking down on him as if I was his own personal angel of death. “Princess?” He startled, and then scrambled to sit up without much success. “No! You can’t be here. Her majesty most high will find you! She’ll take you, and then all of Avalon is doomed!”
I shushed him, laying him back down gently and brushing his messed hair from his forehead. I’d envisioned telling off my own personal Judas if I ever saw him again, but seeing him laid out and bleeding all over the floor gave me pause. His confession sounded real, but then, so much of his friendship had fooled me before it all went south. “Morgan won’t find me. Morgan’s dying today, so you don’t have to worry anymore.”
“You don’t understand! No one can kill her except for her sisters. King Urien confessed Kerdik’s protection on the Daughters of Avalon when he was fading years ago.” His eyes widened. “Is that where the duchess has escaped to? You have to stop her! Princess, you don’t understand. Morgan put a spell on herself! If anyone attacks her, their magic will spill out and she collects it. That’s how she’s grown so powerful.”
I tried to keep my voice gentle, not knowing how close he was to dying. “I know that, actually. Lane and I are both fine with the risk of losing our magic if it saves Avalon. You know how little I give a crap about my own mojo.”
“She’s got two immortals here. They’ve both tried to attack her, and their magic spilled out. She keeps trying to scoop it up, but it won’t go into her.”
I was shocked that Rigby was being so honest. That’s why his betrayal had stung so badly; because he’d been a team player up until the end.
Sweat beaded on Rigby’s forehead. “You have to leave, Princess. If Morgan finds you, she won’t stop until she’s got Avalon’s lost magic in her hands. She knows you have your Compass because you found the Duchess when she told you Elaine was in the opposite direction. It was a trap, and now you’ve come here, right where she wants you!” Actual tears streamed down Rigby’s face as he clutched my hand with his trembling grip.
Draper shook his head. “This wound’s not fatal, Ro. What do you want me to do with him?”
I shook my head. “Dude, I’ve got no idea. He’s right about everything, including that his absence won’t go ten minutes without someone coming to look for him. I don’t want us to have to kill a bunch of household servants who were taken here against their will, Drape! What do we do?”
Reyn tapped the cage we’d hidden him behind. “Knock him out and put him in here. When the servants come to check on him, do the same thing. We’ll fill up the cages so Lane and Bastien are up against far less.”
“I like that plan. At least we can help them a little from down here.” Draper dragged Rigby to the cage next to Duke Henri’s, and used Rigby’s keys to lock him inside.
“Why didn’t you kill me?” Rigs whispered, his head jerking around to try and see me.
I moved to his cage and reached through the bars to hold onto his hand, letting my face be visible to him once again. I don’t know why I let my heart beat with insecurity, or what sort of truth could be found in what might be a total lie, but I had to know. “Was it all fake? You holding me inside my father’s room and loosening my corset so I cou
ld breathe. Did you mean it?”
Rigby held my hand in his slippery one, the pain making him wince as he tried not to writhe in the cramped space. “It wasn’t a lie.” He swallowed thickly, meeting my eyes with desperation. “I’ll not ask you to forgive me, or understand how little choice I have in my life here, but I will say that I regret every day that has gone by, knowing it’s me who made you afraid of the dark.”
I closed my eyes and willed myself not to weep. There were too many sad things to choose just one to cry over. “How could you do that to me? You let them take my clothes and throw me into a well!”
His eyes were fixed on mine, determined to say his piece. “It wasn’t until then that I had to face the jaded man I’d become. Do with me as you wish. I deserve a swift death at your hands for what I did to you.”
I didn’t contradict him, but let the judgment crackle in the air between us. “You could’ve obeyed Morgan and still done something, but you left me to rot.”
Rigby looked stunned. “Is that what you think? That second day, I tried to sneak you food. Morgan caught me. She had me beaten and locked me in this very dungeon until you were rescued. I tried to help you after the wretched thing I did, but I couldn’t get to you!”
Draper took in the tenor of my shock. “You want to redeem yourself? Then tell us how to free Master Kerdik and Brìghde.”
Rigby shook his head. “You’d have to return their magic back to them, but it’s not possible. Morgan’s been using dark spells, perverting normal magic until it bends to her will. Even if you do return it to them, the moment they’re free, they’d attack her and their magic would fall out all over again.”
Draper covered his mouth at the insider information, and how easy it was to make Rigby spill all the royal secrets. “Well, you’ll rot down here, just as you left Rosie to do in the well, and just as you left me, Reyn and Lane, too. Rosie, get back from his cage.”
Stubborn Girl Page 8