I opened the door and wasn’t surprised to find that Ebonia had never gone farther than the waiting room.
She flicked her tail, swimming gracefully over toward me. Her braided hair was down and loose. Her cheekbones were razorblade sharp, and her jaw more squared than rounded. Her skin gleamed like a black pearl. She was a striking woman made of harsh and soft lines all at once.
“Now you know,” was all she said in the elegant tones of her house. Her eyes were the color of a golden dawn and burned fiercely with both pride and devotion to my sister. Theirs was a romance that had spanned several decades. If it wasn’t love, then I didn’t know what love was.
“Take care of her, Ebonia.”
“So long as I am able, I will always be here for Anahita.”
“Damn the rules,” I growled, grabbing her wrist tightly. “Make her yours, Ebonia. Make her yours and bring my sister some measure of happiness in this miserable life that’s been thrust upon her.”
“So long as your father lives, you know we cannot. But I will always watch over her. That I promise you.”
It pained me to know she was right. I turned to go.
“She never stopped loving you, Arielle. Never. You have been the greatest source of pain in her life. The tribunal will convene tomorrow, she has already told me. But trust in her. Even if she doesn’t say it while sober, Anahita will raze all of Undine to see you safe. She will do whatever it takes, for love of you. I just thought you should know that.”
I thought of a million different things I could—should—say to her, but none of them made it past my lips. I simply nodded and turned into the hallway. It was time to find Father, and then… then it was time to face the tribunal’s wrath. Crowley and I had run out of time.
We’d run out of time.
CHAPTER 48
ELLE
I WASN’T sure how it was so easy to find where they kept Father, but on the other hand, I didn’t think they were intentionally attempting to keep him hidden from me—not like with Hook.
I clenched my molars even as I stared down the set of guards positioned in front of the infirmary.
They wore the razor-bladed helmets of my father’s elite unit, and their eyes glowed electric-eel blue. They were his deadliest fighters, which only made sense, considering who he was.
I stopped walking and planted my hands on my hips.
I recognized the guard on the left as Barathanous Aenon, brother of the noble Anders. I flicked my chin and glowered at him directly. Barathanous seethed with obvious cold hate, but he didn’t so much as flinch.
“Move.” I said only the single word. The following day, Barathanous and those like him would get their pound of flesh out of me, but I was still a princess of that realm until then.
He grinned. “No.” He too only spoke one word, but it echoed with the promise of violence.
I smirked and jutted out a hip. “I could always make you. You know who I am and what I can do.”
Grinning from ear to ear in a manner that made my flesh crawl, he grunted. “I’ll not move. Especially not for you. And you’re no longer one of us. Haven’t been for a long time, Princess .”
I laughed, doing whatever I could to hide the fact that my blood felt like electrical currents coursing through me. “You would defy the orders of your princess?” My voice was silky but with an undercurrent of promised retribution for his arrogance.
He didn’t so much as bat an eyelash. I lifted my hand.
“Stop! Stop this at once. Princess Arielle, of course you can enter.” It was Jacamoe, bursting through the door, glaring hostilely in Barathanous’s direction before turning his soft, dark eyes upon me. “I was tending to your father and heard the disturbance. I apologize for the delay.” He stepped back from the door, ushering me inside solicitously.
Barathanous’s jaw muscle twitched several times, and I knew he was likely grinding his molars down to dust at the slight I’d given his ego. But Jacamoe was the King’s personal attendant, and his word was nearly as powerful as Anahita’s when it came to such matters.
I made a point of smirking as I sidled by Barathanous. But only once I was safely behind the door did I release my pent-up breath and wilt against the back wall. My knees lost all strength for half a second. “Thank you,” I whispered sincerely to Jacamoe’s back.
He’d turned and was to attending to my father, who was suspended in air in the way Hook had been. And just like Hook, he was tied to what seemed like dozens of miles worth of tubing and machines.
“You should not challenge them that way, Little Fish. You wound a man’s pride too often, and he’ll bite.” He glanced up at me, his lips turned down in a thoughtful but sincere expression.
I sighed, wincing at the gentle chastisement even though I knew he was right. “I know. I know.” I shoved off the wall and moved over to a couch in the corner. The cushions had an imprint of a body in them, and I assumed Anahita had been spending most nights at his bedside.
I still couldn’t look at his face. But I saw his body. He looked as though he simply rested. He was big and intimidating, even in a coma.
Blue light pulsed around Jacamoe’s hands as he ran them down my father’s head and chest over and over again.
“Has he woken?” I asked gently.
“No. Not even once.”
“How is he?”
His dark eyes flicked to mine. “The same.”
“Tell me truth, Jacamoe. Will he rise?”
He clenched his jaw. “I-I couldn’t say, Princess. It is still too uncer— ”
“Cut the bullshite and tell me truth now, dammit,” I snapped, gripping my hands into tight fists, my knuckles turning white from the pressure on them.
His look was as serious and penetrating as anything I’d ever seen from him. “No, Arielle, he will not.”
I waited for his words to wound me, waited to feel the pain, to feel flayed alive by them. I’d lain my sweet sister to rest tonight, and I was still reeling from her death. But with Father, there was just… nothing. I was cold inside. “Oh,” I said softly.
“I am sorry if I— ”
I looked at him, holding his gaze steadily. “I’m not,” I whispered honestly.
His brows dipped.
I shook my head forcefully. “I’m not. Really. And this isn’t me trying to be strong.”
“He did love you, Arielle. In his own way.”
I shrugged. “He had a funny way of showing it. To me. To mother. To my sisters. To all those who knew him,” I said it so softly, it was practically a whisper, but I knew Jacamoe heard it by the soft flinch he gave. “He was a hard man. His only true legacy was in creating a powerful kingdom to leave behind for his daughter to tend, so no, I will not miss him.”
“You never got to say goodbye to him.”
I pursed my lips. “Do you honestly think he would have cared? I don’t. And I’m pretty sure you know I’m right.” I watched as father’s chest rose and fell, thinking of what my sister had drunkenly confessed to me.
With anyone else, I might have thought that the actions Father had taken to see Hook dead had come from a place of caring or even love. If he believed the curse, that my true love would turn me into a monster, it might almost have been forgivable. But I was convinced he’d done it for no other reason than to make certain I never grew strong enough to eventually overthrow him.
Funny thing was, he might not have been wrong.
Undine was divided into two camps, those who wanted change at all costs and those who felt better with the devil they knew than the one they didn’t. But on one thing, all of Undine could agree: none truly wanted to live under Father’s totalitarian grip any longer. The only ones who’d benefited were his generals and lackeys, but even they would have jumped at the chance for a coup if any one of them had thought the odds of success attainable.
With father out as he was, a vacuum would be created. And with Anahita set to ascend, a target would be placed on her back. My sister would be given the t
hrone, but she would have to earn the hearts and minds of her subjects in order to keep it. Her position was as precarious as tap dancing on thin ice. I clenched my fists and got up, moving over to where Father floated peacefully and steeling my nerves to look at him.
Rumors of his infidelity had followed him for years, but those hadn’t been the worst, growing up. The worst had been the ones saying Mother hadn’t died of a mysterious illness. It was no secret that Father had never truly loved her. Theirs had been a political alliance, the merging of two great houses, and once he’d exploited her power and money for his own, he’d been through with her.
But whether he was so wicked that he could have justified her murder was another question. I thought of his vendetta against Hook and me and thought that maybe a man capable of that would have been capable of so much more.
“How much longer does he have?” I asked into the sudden and deep silence that hung between us.
“There is no way of saying.” He paused, and I knew he wanted to say more. I could practically hear his thoughts. So I waited him out.
“If I might be so bold as to say, Princess,” he finally said, asking if I would allow him to speak honestly before me.
I nodded. I knew that whatever he would say would not be pretty. And in most other places, in most other times, he could get into a heap of trouble for it. But he was safe with me, as I’d always been with him.
“He is not worth your tears. The only true legacy your father leaves behind is his ability to make good men turn bad. He was the pied piper and led them all down to the gates of the twin hells with his forked tongue.”
I’d always known Jacamoe had despised my father, but I’d never known just how much. I did not chastise him for stating the truth. “That is enough, Jacamoe,” I whispered into the silence. That was all I said. I didn’t care that he’d said it, as it had only been the truth, but walls had ears, especially in this place.
I turned. He had thrust his jaw out, and his gaze was turned toward the shadow. A dusky rose had crept into his cheeks, but whether it was from shame or mortification, I wasn’t sure. It didn’t matter. Jacamoe was my friend, but he took too many liberties, even against someone who actually deserved it.
“Did you find Hook?” I finally asked.
He startled, guiltily looking up at me. I bit my lower lip before nodding. “I know you did. I also know you lied to me. Why? Why wouldn’t you take me to him as you promised?”
“I”—his frown grew deep and hard—“he will not make it either, Princess. I didn’t wish to give you false hope.”
I laughed. The sound was manic and high-pitched, nearly frantic. “So what else is new? I lost him once. I knew I would never get to keep him. He is cursed to me. Always has been.” With that, I turned on my heel and left.
I’d never even looked at Father’s face. I’d not even said a word to him. There was no point.
If he’d been conscious, mine would have been the last face he would have wanted to see, anyway. He probably wouldn’t even have bothered having a tribunal. He just would have cast me into the eternal pit without a word of fanfare.
Live by the sword, die by the sword. Father had never made friends. Not even his own family would mourn him.
I closed the door behind me, ignoring Barathanous’s glare and walking without hurry back to my room.
When I opened my door, I saw Crowley sitting on the edge of my bed. His bloodshot eyes were full of questions.
We’d failed, he and I, and we both knew it. We’d been around the block enough times to know when a case could not be solved. We’d learned some truths, but not nearly enough of them.
He might live tomorrow. But I would die. That was as sure as the rising of the sun.
I nodded slowly, telling him he could stay. That he should stay. We’d fought like cats and dogs earlier, but that’s just what he and I did. We were past the point of taking things personally anymore.
Funny how death threw things into perspective.
He held his arms out to me as I toed off my uncomfortable slippers.
I didn’t say a word to him as I crawled into the giant four-poster bed and into his arms. We positioned ourselves in the middle, he with his arms wrapped around me and me with my head on his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.
“My father is not going to make it, Crowley. Possibly not even through the night. Neither is Hook, or so I’m told.”
“Shh ,” he said, squeezing me tightly.
My lips twitched, but I wasn’t done. “I will die tomorrow too. They got their chance at me, Crowley. They got what they always want— ”
“Shh . Stop. Just stop.” Then he kissed my forehead, and I let him, stunned by his honest touch but also yearning for even more human contact. I looked up at him with my lips parted, giving him every chance, every sign that I was willing.
My body yielded against his.
He wasn’t my truest love. I wasn’t even sure he was a love. But he was there, in that moment with me. We were in it together, and it might have been my last chance to feel love, lust, whatever it was. I splayed my hand on his chest, leaning up ever so slightly and pressing my breasts fully against his hard-as-stone muscles.
His eyes glittered with animal hunger, and his jaw muscles flexed and relaxed as he clenched and unclenched them. He wanted me. I knew it. I also knew he wouldn’t take my offer.
“Don’t be noble, Crowley. Don’t be noble. It won’t matter tomorrow. I’ll be gone and— ”
With a hungry groan he rolled up, taking my lips for his own. He was lightning in a bottle, magnificent and powerful. I was his willing and pliant partner in every way, consumed by the ferocity of his hunger for me. Neither of us said a word, but we spoke with tongues, touches, sighs, and with lingering caresses that turned the blood in my veins to fire.
His movements were raw and honest. I didn’t know how it happened but soon we were both naked. His body, all hard lines and planes, felt like it’d been made to fit perfectly against my own. And when he thrust deep in me, I hissed. The pleasure so good that I almost cried.
Our heated moans filled the room. He kissed and nipped at me, biting me gently, and then sometimes not so gently. I ran my hands all over his body, marveling at how he’d been made. The sinewy strength of his body had me hungry for more and more of him. We came together once, twice, and then more times. Moving as though on autopilot needing more and more of each other. Our bodies sweaty and our touches more intimate as time passed. He whispered things to me I knew couldn’t be true, but must feel true in that moment. Like how he’d always wanted me. Always hungered for me. And I started saying some of those things back to him. That the rage and fire between us was more than just hate, that somewhere deep down I’d felt him as a kindred to the very depths of my soul. Then I said that I saved him because I could never be without him. Those words seemed to unleash something in him, a fervor of passion that made my own rise to the fore. I didn’t know if those words were entirely true, but I wasn’t ashamed of saying them either. Somewhere deep down I thought that maybe they weren’t such a lie after all. Apart from Hook, Crowley proved to be one of the best lovers I’d ever known and it was a shame that this was to be my only experience knowing him. Or him me.
And when it was done, we simply held each other. His hands were gentle in my hair, and I smirked.
“What?” he asked in that deeply accented growl of his, his tone faintly amused, his body languid and loose and completely at ease.
I snorted and shook my head, even as I swirled my fingers through his groomed chest hair. “Only that if I wasn’t one hundred percent certain that tomorrow would be my last day on this Earth, I’d have said we’ve changed our dynamic forever. You can’t hate me now, Crowley. No matter how much you want to, you can’t.”
“You’re ridiculous. Go to sleep,” he said warmly, his hands still gently massaging my backside. It felt good. So much better than I ever thought it could have been with him.
&nbs
p; I chuckled. “You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone,” I whispered, my voice quivering a little as the truth of those words really sank in.
There wasn’t a damned thing I could do to fight the tribunal, and no matter how much Anahita loved me, her position in the under was too precarious for her to publicly stand for me. I laughed at the irony of it all. I’d left because I’d known staying would eventually get me killed, and I’d been right.
He growled. “Shut the fuck up, Elle.”
My spine stiffened, but then I got it, what he was doing. So I laughed even harder, wrapping my arm around his waist and squeezing tightly until my laugh turned into something else.
He just held me.
And I was so damned grateful that it was him with me. For the first time in my life, I was grateful Crowley was the one I’d been lost with.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
His only answer was to kiss my temple once more and run his nose through my hair.
And that was enough.
Hatter
I GRIPPED the charm tightly in my fist, staring at the doorway that would guide me into the very heart of Undine.
I’d visited a witch so that I could breathe below water once the doorway opened. I’d paid in copper and dragons’ claws.
After I’d successfully freed Buttons from the hangman’s noose, he’d gifted me two of his hind claws. Claws were literally worth their weight in gold, as they were imbued with powerful magick. I’d not had cause to use them before but was glad that I had them to buy the spell.
I stared at the algae disk in the palm of my hand. The blind witch had assured me that all I had to do was swallow it, and I would be able to breathe below the waves for eight hours. After that, I would lose the ability, and if I didn’t gain access to more air, I would drown.
But I wasn’t planning on spending more time in the below than I needed to. Getting to an underground waystation hadn’t been difficult, though I’d gotten more than my fair share of dirty looks from people scurrying out, trying to hide from the law. But Georgie had vouched for me with one of his dwarf brothers, and in exchange for one of Elle’s stashed sapphires, I’d made the impossible possible.
The Grimm Files Collection Boxed Set Page 69