by Nana Malone
“I have to find out.”
He frowned. “I think you need to be careful. What if they are trying to hurt you?”
He has a point there. “I feel like I owe it to myself. I need to find out. I need to understand who these people are, if any of this is even true. We have to consider the source. My father, after all… I mean, honestly.”
Phillip sat on the edge of his desk. “Jessa, I’m afraid for you. Because if your father was right and you were actually in danger, then these people should be dealt with warily. I don’t think you waltzing in and saying ‘Hi, I’m your sister’ is the safest approach.”
“Well, I’m not suggesting that I would walk up to them and do such a thing. I’m just thinking that I should find out more about them. Maybe there’s no danger. Maybe my father was just a very sick man. Maybe I spent my life hiding for nothing. Maybe these other people from this Heirs of Angelus faction are really the ones who want to hurt me.”
He swallowed as he nodded slowly. “And maybe you spent your life hiding for a very good reason. I would just tread lightly. I feel very protective of you. I wouldn’t want any harm to come to you.”
“I think that’s a risk I need to take. I have been hiding my whole life, and it’s time to stop doing that. I don’t want to hide anymore.”
“I just want you to be careful and aware of what you’re doing.”
“I am.” At least, I thought I was.
Then how do you explain the tranq gun in your bag?
“Good. From what I understand of the previous king, Cassius, he made a lot of enemies. And your father was very afraid. I just wouldn’t want you thinking that this is the instant family you’ve been looking for.”
“I’m not looking to run away from or toward anything. I loved my father. But I owe it to myself to find out the whole truth. And maybe these people can give it to me.”
“Maybe. But read that book first. It paints a picture of people who would do anything to stay in power. And if you’re going to walk right into their lives and give them access to the one thing they have been wanting all these years—you—a certain risk comes with that.”
He had a point. What if they were really dangerous? What if they were going to make me marry some horrible ally? What if this was some kind of princess job?
You have an overly active imagination.
“I appreciate everything you’ve told me. You’ve been so helpful. I think I know what I need to do.”
“Let me guess. What you need involves going to the Winston Isles?”
“Yeah, it does. I need to know what I’m dealing with, who I’m dealing with. I’ll be careful. They won’t even know I’m there. I will go as quietly as possible. No one knows who I am.” Except they’d sent someone to watch me. It couldn’t be a coincidence that Roone lived across the corridor and worked with me. But I needed some answers, and the only way I was going to get them was to go to the Winston Isles.
2
Roone
My mouth tasted like someone had packed it with alcohol-soaked cotton. What the hell? I tried to lift my head, but very large, very heavy elephants stormed through, determined that I should keep it down. I tried again though, and as soon as I did, a wave of nausea and dizziness hit me. My stomach cramped, and oh shit, something was coming up, and it was going to be a rocky road.
Breathe. Easy does it. Fight the urge.
I tried to talk, but any movement just made me more nauseous. Someone or something strong was attempting to roll me over. Just in time too, because I wretched. Oh, and lucky me, there was a bucket.
I was pretty certain I was going to die. But fucking aye, this was going to be a shitty way to die. And today was not a good day to die.
I had to do something. I tried to force my brain to focus and function, but something was stopping it. Oh yeah, what was that?
“Easy there, killer. Let it out. Let it all out of your system.”
I knew that voice. “Who?” God, talking was such an effort. “What… happened?”
The voice was female and tsked at me. “Well, it seems like the princess shot you full of some ketamine cocktail. I called the doctor. Don’t move your arm too much. You have an IV in it. It’s flushing your system.”
An IV? Who was talking? An American? The voice was familiar. Not grating, but I wanted to be irritated at it. I peeled my lids open and then shut them quickly. “God, that hurts.”
“Yeah, it’s going to hurt,” the voice muttered. And then something was sliding over my face. I blinked again. Suddenly the piercing light was gone. Shades? “Thank you.”
“Yeah, I never thought you’d actually say those words to me.”
“Who drugged me?”
“The princess, Jessa. She shot you with a tranq gun.”
I frowned, trying to sort the words out. Princess. Oh God, the princess. Princess. I needed to find the princess. I forced myself to a sitting position, and the room spun.
“Nope, you’re not going anywhere. And don’t move your fucking arm. As big as you are, apparently you have little tiny veins. It took forever to get the IV in your arm.”
“IV?” I peeled my eyes open again and stared at my arm. Shit. That was an IV. I swung my head up looking for the beeps and bleeps of hospital monitors, but there weren’t any. Instead I saw bookshelves, sparse walls… Jessa. Jessa’s apartment.
Slowly it started to click. I’d come to find Jessa, to talk to her, to tell her the truth. But why was I here? And then she’d been angry. She wouldn’t listen. Then she’d shot me. Tranq gun. Which meant that the voice… I blinked again. Ariel.
“You need to find Jessa.”
“Do you think I don’t know that? I’m already on it. The whole team is out. It’s just you and me here. I brought the coms in here, as well as the monitor. The team is out looking for her, trying to track her movements. She hasn’t used her cards. Not even her Oyster card. She’s probably using cash, which leaves us nowhere. But we’re hitting up anyone that she may know. I’ve got men sitting at Chloe’s place.”
My tongue felt like it wanted to stick permanently to the roof of my mouth. “I feel bad.”
“Yeah, you’re going to feel it. She gave you enough to fell a horse. And even though you’re as big as one, you’re not going to feel too peachy for a while. But the IV solution I gave you should make it all go away faster.”
“I feel like shite.”
“Yeah, that’s normal.”
I tried again to push myself up, and Ariel swore at me as she helped me to a sitting position. The room spun less this time. Okay, so the IV was working, getting rid of whatever the fuck was in that tranq.
“Everything went bad.”
“Yeah, I see the hole in the wall. I don’t know how much money she’s got on her, but it could be enough to stay hidden for a while.”
“I fucked up.”
“No, you didn’t fuck up. We all fucked up. We were behind the curve from the moment we got here. We need to catch up. There’s something else going on. Something we’re missing, because there’s no reason she should have run. She’s fucking in love with you.”
I tried to shake my head. “She doesn’t love me.” Hard truths. Also, I should not have shaken my head because it just made the room spin.
“You know nothing about women, do you? I see the way she looks at you. What made her run? I watched that tape backward and forward, and you didn’t do a thing, surprisingly.”
“Arsehole.”
“I told you, I’m a bitch, not an asshole.”
“Call home.”
“Yeah, I’ve already called. They’re supposed to call me back at ten.”
“Huh, where is she?”
“You relax. There’s nothing you can do anyway. You’re fucked up. Until this shit leaves your system, you’re grounded.”
I tried to shake my head again, having forgotten the lesson I had just learned. I stopped abruptly. “No. Find Jessa. Need her… understand.”
“Yeah, I get you
, but I need you at your best to find her, and that’s going to take time.”
After a few minutes, Ariel brought me tea with too much sugar in it. I groaned and tried not to drink it, but she insisted. “You need the sugar. It’s also going to help you process all that shit inside you. Come on.”
The more I sipped the cup, the better I felt. I hated it when she was right. Then she tried to shove food inside me. The last thing on earth I wanted was to eat, but the fucking crumpets were goddamn delicious. I was able to wash them down with tea, and the moment they hit my stomach, I first thought it would cramp and reject, but then it felt like sweet nectar. How long have I been lying here? “Long, out...”
“You were out for three fucking hours. I think I got to you not long after she left though, so I’ve had everyone looking for her that long.”
A phone rang. I turned my head toward it, and Ariel put it on speaker. “What the fuck happened?” Sebastian asked.
Ariel sighed. “The princess, it seems, had a go bag. Something spooked her. She took off. She tranqued Roone on her way out.”
Sebastian swore. “What the fuck? Why did she have a go bag? And is Roone okay?”
Ariel shifted a glance to me. “Yeah, I had a doctor bring over an IV. Another hour or two and most of it should be out of his system. But he’s out of commission for the moment.”
Sebastian gave a series of colorful curses.
Penny’s voice came on the line. “Okay, any idea how long she had before you found Roone?”
Ariel shrugged. “I’m not sure, and Roone obviously has no way of knowing. But from the tape, it looked like minutes. I’ll watch again and fully assess, but it wasn’t long. The problem is she paid cash for a taxi. Then she could have taken a train to anywhere in the city. It will take longer to find her. I’ve already got programmers working on getting access to the CCTV cameras. Then I’ll be able to access them and track the taxi. I’ll find her.”
Sebastian’s voice was firm. “Stay there. Find her. If you can’t find her in a couple of days, come home. We need to regroup.”
I frowned and tried to shake my head. “Not going home. Jessa needs me.”
Sebastian’s voice went into his I mean business register. “That is an order. You have forty-eight hours.”
I groaned as I tried to shift. “I’m finding her. It’s my responsibility.”
“Ariel, give him an order. Forty-eight hours. If nothing turns up, the mission is cancelled. Come home.”
Sebastian and Penny hung up.
Ariel’s voice was soft. “Look, I get it. You care about her. You’re blaming yourself right now. But that won’t help. And you can’t antagonize Sebastian.”
“I’m not afraid of him. I vowed that I would bring his sister home, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
“And if you get killed in the process?”
I shrugged. “At least I’ve kept my word.”
Jessa
The motel was not exactly where I would normally want to stay. But I needed someplace that would accept cash, so the Travel Lodge it was.
I held my phone in my hand, knowing what I needed to do, but not able to do it yet. Hell, at that point Roone would have been an easier call to make. But I couldn’t call Roone and make him explain. Phillip had a point. I didn’t know him. I didn’t know any of these people. But this other call I couldn’t avoid.
If they were in on a plot to hurt me, I wasn’t going to let it stop me. I needed to do this. I needed to figure all of this out, understand who I was dealing with, and then decide on a plan. But I couldn’t make that plan if I was worried about what was going to happen for the rest of my life. So I pressed one and made the call. Evan answered on the first ring. “Jessa. Is everything all right?”
I never called on the weekends, so of course, he was worried.
“Yes. I’m fine.” God, I was the worst liar. “Um, I just wanted to say that I’ll be taking some of my holiday.”
There was a bit of silence. “Excuse me?”
“Yes, you know I have some vacation time banked. I… I need to take some of it.”
“Is there something wrong?”
“No. I just… you know, it’s been a while since I’ve had a break, and honestly I’m exhausted. I really am. So I think it’s best if I just take some time and relax, have some fun, you know, that sort of thing.”
I could tell his brain was trying to process. “So, just like that?”
“I’m so sorry. I know this probably puts us in a bit of a bind, but I just… you know, I’m tired, exhausted.”
Again, more silence from him. “Well, I mean, if you need a few days…”
“I’ll be taking a week.” I said it definitively.
“A week? We’re in the middle of the entire revamp with London Lords. You can’t take a week.”
“Well, I need at least a week. It’s been two years since I’ve even taken a day off, Evan. I’m sorry.”
“You’re not giving me any advance notice?”
“No, I’m not. I don’t feel well. I’ve been getting sick. It’s time. I’m sorry. But Chloe is up to date on everything, and if there are any last-minute questions, I will be available by phone. I promise. But I would really rather nobody called, because like I said, I need a vacation.”
“If there’s something you need that we could do differently, we could.”
“No, there’s nothing I need done differently. I just need a break. And I’ll be available by phone. I’ve never asked for anything. Maybe this time you could just not ask a ton of questions?”
He sighed. “Well, okay. I’ll come by your flat and we can discuss this further. I’m worried about you.”
Why did he want to stop by my flat? That was not the kind of relationship we had. “I’m not home. I’ve headed out of town to clear my head.”
“What? Jessa this is very untoward. You should have discussed all of this with me.”
“I know Evan, and I am so sorry. I just can’t do this right now.”
“And what am I supposed to tell Rick?”
“Well, I called you because I was hoping you would understand. You were my mentor. You know I don’t take time off. You know how hard I’ve worked for the team.”
“Yes. Obviously, yes, you’ve worked hard. It’s just such a short notice.”
“I know.”
“Fine. As long as Chloe knows the status of everything, we’ll manage.”
“Thank you so much. I appreciate it.”
I sighed, relieved. There was no way I could manage what I’d just learned while also having to work every day. I felt like I was such a prima donna, but it couldn’t be helped. There was no way I was going to survive, otherwise.
I hung up with him and ran my hands through my hair. My fingers got stuck in the curls and knots. I needed to shower and deep condition. Some time under a dryer would make me feel more like myself.
I glanced at my ticket to the Winston Isles. I was headed for a place I knew nothing about, to people I didn’t know, to see if I could uncover the mystery of where I came from.
Yeah, it sounded like a totally smart thing to do.
3
Jessa
I hated to say it, but the Winston Isles felt like I belonged.
Everywhere I turned there was the distant sound of calypso music. The fragrant flowers in the air didn’t necessarily remind me of a permanent vacation, but they smelled like belonging. The faint, sweet nectar had been a constant since I’d woken up here the day before.
Then there was the water. It was the first place I’d gone after the plane. I’d dropped everything in my room and walked out to the ocean. Hell, I couldn’t even swim. But the moment I put my feet in that bath-water-warm ocean, the soft waves lapping at my toes, my body instantly relaxed.
Maybe it was the vacation vibe. Maybe that was all this was. I’d lived a hard several years in a row, and I just needed a break. I was willing to accept that. After all, it made sense. But there was a part of me th
at felt like I belonged here. I felt like these were my people. Which was exciting, terrifying, worrying. After all, I’d always thought I knew exactly who I was. But I didn’t, did I?
But in the short time that I’d been exploring the islands and watching my potential family, I knew I might need more time here.
Do you need more time, or do you want to stay?
I didn’t think I should want to stay. I didn’t think I should feel anything. But, sitting in the café atop the White Croft Hotel, watching the pretty blond with the pixie cut hair, and the brunette with the shiny straight locks hanging down her back, I wondered if they could be my family.
Or were they the enemy?
They didn’t look like the enemy. Not like I would even know what the enemy looked like. These women, they looked like me. Like me and Chloe out to lunch. Completely normal.
Except they sent someone into your midst to spy on you. Normal people didn’t do that. These women, with their lattes and wide smiles, on the outside, they looked like everyone else. On the inside there was something… different.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as a man built like an oak silently walked up the stairs. I only noticed him because he reminded me of Roone. My gut clenched with that fleeting thought.
But, as big as he was, he was silent. Shoulders much wider than Roone’s. This guy was built for coverage, or for football. American football. Rugby, maybe. But he was also very tall. He smiled at the two women at the table and then took a post at one of the corners. He grabbed a seat and a glass of water. He just sat there, never adjusting his sunglasses, but casually enjoying his day in the sunshine.
As far as I could tell around the sunglasses, his gaze stayed on the women. Yeah, he was worth noting, but only for a similarity to Roone. Other than that, I should have ignored him, except for the second and third men that walked up the stairs, both as tall, neither as broad. But they had that same ease of movement, as if they were well acquainted with exactly how their bodies moved and how to make them most efficient. They were bodyguards. All three of them.