My eyes widened as my heart stuttered. Under me, the stone was like a sheet of ice. I jackknifed up, but pressure around my neck choked me. Gasping, I pressed my fingers to my throat. Cool, hard metal.
No. No. No.
I wasn’t there. I wasn’t in the tomb. This had to be a nightmare. Shaking, I looked down at myself, recognizing the faded image of a mound of beignets on my sleep shirt. My gaze shot to where the door to the tomb was located and saw nothing but a void of nothingness. The abyss rippled out. Thick tendrils licked over the walls and drenched the floor, rapidly swallowing the tomb and me.
Wake up. Wake up. I need to—
“Miss me?”
The sound of Aric’s voice in my ear sent a bolt of fear straight through me, and a scream tore from deep within me. I twisted, hands pushing out—
My palms connected with something hard and warm. Aric was never warm. His skin was always cold, his touch painfully frigid.
“It’s me. Brighton, you’re okay.” A deep voice scattered the darkness. “You’re safe.”
Caden.
I opened my eyes, wincing. A bedside lamp had been turned on, casting the room in light that was normally soft. My pounding heartbeat accelerated as I realized that the hard, warm surface under my palms was the white button-down shirt covering Caden’s chest.
Scrambling back to the center of the bed, my gaze flew to Caden’s face. He was right there, perched on the edge of my mattress, several strands of hair falling forward to rest against his cheek.
He didn’t blink as he stared back at me. “Brighton?”
“Yes?” I whispered, disorientated.
His gaze searched mine. “Are you all right?”
“I…I think I was having a nightmare.”
“You were. You screamed.”
“You heard me scream?”
He nodded.
Some of the fog lifted. “How did you hear me scream?”
“I was outside your room.”
I started to ask what he had been doing there, but then it struck me. “You’ve been keeping watch during the night?”
Caden said nothing as he tucked the strands of hair back from his face.
My heart started pounding for a wholly different reason. “Have you’ve been doing that every night since…?”
“Since you lied straight to my face and walked out of the room?” he finished for me. “Yes, I have.”
I jolted. “I didn’t lie.”
One eyebrow rose as thick lashes lifted.
I decided to ignore that look. “Why are you doing that? You’re the King. I am sure there are several fae you’d trust to keep watch.”
“There is no one I trust enough to keep watch—”
“Besides your brother and Tink?” I interrupted.
“I trust them to a certain degree.”
I thought about the sensation of awareness when I was in the courtyard as if he were there. The warring mix of emotion rose again.
“And if you have to ask why I’m the one watching over you, then I don’t think I’ve been clear enough with you,” he added.
Oh, he’d been clear, and I was desperately trying not to see the reasons. Maybe that was why the tiny piece of bitterness slipped out of me. “I’m surprised you’re not busy right now with—” I managed to stop myself from finishing the sentence.
“With whom?” One side of his lips curved up. “Tatiana?”
I looked away.
“I saw you in the courtyard, Brighton. I wasn’t there with Tatiana, but it seems where I go this week, Tanner finds me with Tatiana in tow.”
I kept my face impressively blank. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I don’t even know why I did. And you shouldn’t be here.”
“I know what I should and should not do. Keeping you safe is something that I should be doing.” His gaze lowered. “Checking out your legs at the moment would probably be one of the things I shouldn’t be doing.”
My legs?
I glanced down to discover that the blanket had slipped to my knees, and a whole lot of leg was visible. Flushing, I yanked the cover up. “I see knowing you shouldn’t be doing something hasn’t stopped you.”
“You know you shouldn’t lie to me, but yet you still do,” he replied. “Why should you be the only one who does things they know they shouldn’t?”
My grip tightened on the blanket. “For the last time, I—”
“Did I ever tell you that my mother always knew when I was lying?” he interrupted, throwing me off.
I shook my head. “No.”
“She always claimed that I would look down and smile whenever I told an untruth. I didn’t believe her. Who would smile when they lied?”
“Good question,” I murmured.
“But then I started to pay attention, and she was right. Every time I lied, I looked down and felt my lips curving upward. It wasn’t a large smile, but she was right.” He grinned then as he drew a finger over the sheet, idly tracing a shape. “Of course, since I learned that she was right, I’ve managed to stop doing it. But she could never tell when Fabian lied. Used to irritate the hell out of me.”
Unable to pretend that I was disinterested, I said, “Fabian has never struck me as the type who lies a lot.”
He snorted. “Fabian lied about finishing his studying or where he was when he was supposed to be training or whatever. He lied as much as I did, but it was never anything harmful.”
“Were any of your lies harmful?”
“Only one.” His gaze lifted to mine. “But that was a long time after I learned to conceal a lie, and it wasn’t all that long ago.”
I thought about when he told me that what had happened between us hadn’t been real. My stomach churned as all those terrible, sticky feelings came surging back. And now I was doing the same to him.
“My mother would be so incredibly disappointed to learn how good at lying I’ve become,” he commented.
I dared a quick peek at him. “What happened to your mother? And father?”
“They died during the war with the Winter Court,” he answered, his voice tinged with sorrow.
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you, but they died fighting for their people. I know both took great honor in that, and I take solace.” He trailed off, shaking his head.
“What?”
“I shouldn’t even admit this. It shows how incredibly selfish I can be, but I…I take solace in the fact that neither my father nor my mother was alive to see what became of me.”
Sympathy squeezed my heart. “What became of you wasn’t your fault. You were under the Queen’s curse. I don’t think your parents would hold what you did while under her control against you.”
“They wouldn’t have.” His eyes met mine. “And that makes it all harder to comprehend.”
“I can understand that,” I whispered.
He was quiet for several moments. “You look so tired,” he said. I didn’t take offense. “Have you been having nightmares?”
“Tonight was the first,” I admitted. “And I haven’t had any more hallucinations.”
“It’s no surprise that you have nightmares. I have them.” There was truth in his eyes when my gaze lifted to his. “Let me stay with you tonight. I know nightmares won’t find either of us tonight if we’re together.”
My lips parted. “Caden—”
“Let me lay beside you so both of us can sleep peacefully. That’s all I want. No expectations. No conversations,” he said—pleaded, really. “Let me be here for you tonight.”
I knew I needed to say no. This had bad idea written all over it, even if all he did was lay beside me, and I honestly didn’t expect him to try anything else. Sleeping together was far too intimate. It would mean too much, and it would make distancing myself from him even harder.
But Caden had nightmares too, and no matter how much I wanted to harden my heart, I couldn’t. I nodded, knowing I would regret this later, then lay down on my back.
“Tha
nk you,” he whispered. Those two words entrenched themselves in my skin.
Caden toed off his shoes and without wasting a moment, turned off the light and then climbed into bed beside me. I might’ve stopped breathing a little. I felt him even though he didn’t touch me, and when I worked up the nerve to look in his direction, I found him lying on his side facing me, eyes closed. I could make out the shape of his hand resting beside his chest, on the bed. I closed my eyes, and after several moments, I rolled onto my side. As if my hand had a mind of its own, it moved beside his, and then I fell asleep.
No more nightmares found me.
Chapter 8
My house looked like it had when I left.
Gray-and-white-checkered throw pillows were fluffed and placed at the corners of the couch. A stack of books was piled neatly on the coffee table. Several tiny stuffed mice had been collected and left by a foyer table where all the mail had been placed. A pair of sandals sat on the bottom step of the staircase leading upstairs. Above them were black and white sneakers that belonged to Tink. The kitchen was utterly spotless, which was almost impossible with Tink living here.
My gaze flickered over the living room. This was where Aric had grabbed me. He’d been waiting for me, and I’d walked right in, having no idea that he was here. I knew that if I closed my eyes, I would hear his voice.
I hear you’ve been looking for me.
I didn’t close my eyes, but his voice was still like a whisper in my ear.
“I tried to keep things the way you had them.” Ivy had moved ahead of me, her long, curly red hair pulled up in a messy topknot. “I even dusted.”
“Actually, it was me who dusted,” Ren said, coming down the stairs. He’d quietly gone up there when we entered, and I knew he was scoping out the rooms, making sure no one was here.
Ivy rolled her eyes. “But I was the one who gave him the supplies.”
“It was a joint effort then.” I ran my hand along the back of the couch. “Thanks, you guys. I had no idea what to expect when I returned.”
“It was no problem at all.” Ivy looked down as Dixon pranced out from the kitchen, rubbing against her legs. Bending, she scratched him behind his ear.
Ren leaned against the banister of the stairs. “You sure you’re ready to be back here?”
“More than ready.” I forced a smile that felt as fake as pleather.
The two of them exchanged a look, and I knew they had questions. Lots of them.
Luce had checked me over this morning, and after setting up a time for me to visit her the following weekend, she’d cleared me to leave Hotel Good Fae. I’d expected Tink to show up then, but come to find out, he was already at the house with Fabian and Dixon. It was Ivy and Ren who arrived as Luce left. All I knew was that Caden had asked them to escort me home, but I had no idea what, if anything, he’d said to them.
He’d been gone when I woke up, but that didn’t change the fact that I’d gotten the deepest sleep I had in a really long time. Neither had it erased the moments at dawn when, still mostly asleep, I felt the bed shift and the soft sensation of his lips against my forehead. I told myself repeatedly that had been my imagination.
“Well, if you need anything, you know you got us,” Ren said as Dixon meandered over to me, the white tip of his gray tail swishing. “And even if you don’t need us, you still have us.”
“We’ll be making periodic patrols,” Ivy said. They’d been filled in about the traitor in the Summer Court, but as discussed, they hadn’t been told everything.
“Your phone is on the kitchen counter,” Ivy explained while Dixon stretched up, pressing tiny paws into my legs. I picked him up, burying my face in his soft fur as Ivy said, “Oh, and by the way, Miles said to call him whenever you’re ready or stop by the headquarters.”
Face still planted in Dixon’s fur, I nodded. “He most likely wants to see if I’m mentally stable and find out if I spilled any Order secrets.”
“He didn’t exactly suggest that, but…” Ivy trailed off.
I cracked a grin. Miles was the bluntest and most deadpan person I’d ever met. Even more so than Faye. Not one to beat around the bush, his first concern would be if I shared any of the Order’s secrets.
“He should be happy to know that Aric didn’t seem to care at all about the Order,” I told them as Dixon purred.
“Actually, that would probably displease him,” Ren commented.
I snorted at that and lifted my head, looking around the sundrenched room. “How did he respond to the news about there being someone in the Summer Court who’s working with the Winter fae?”
“The same way Miles takes the news about almost everything,” Ivy answered. “He raised his brows, was silent for probably a good minute, and then said something like ‘there’s always one rotten apple in the bunch.’”
“That sounds like him,” I said dryly. “I almost wish we didn’t have to tell him, but the members need to be on their toes.”
“Agreed.” Ren folded his arms. “It’s not like every Order member has dropped their guard around the Summer fae, but they have relaxed, and that could be deadly.”
And that was why the Order members needed to know.
“I just don’t get how any of them could do that.” Ivy shook her head, causing a thick curl to fall over one eye. “Them supporting the Queen’s return is bad enough, but to aid the Winter Court when they’re using stuff like Devil’s Breath to destroy the younglings? It just doesn’t make sense.”
It really didn’t. “Aric had said that whoever it was had their reasons. I don’t think he said more. Or if he did, I…I don’t remember it. But you’re right, it doesn’t make sense.”
“I feel like we’re missing something,” Ren said. “I’ve been thinking about this, and I can’t come up with a reason a Summer fae would want the Winter Queen to enter this world, especially since they have their bright and shiny King.”
A small grin tugged at my lips.
“It’s not like they’re without leadership or whatever. So, the only thing that makes any sense to me is that it’s someone who has a vendetta against the King and would rather risk the whole world to either see him taken out or returned to his former evil glory.”
My heart turned over heavily at the thought. “But what kind of vendetta could drive a Summer fae to these extremes? If Caden were somehow placed under the Queen’s curse again, they’d have an even bigger problem on their hands.”
“So, maybe they were hoping Aric or the Queen would kill Caden,” Ivy suggested, and my stomach dipped. “Take him out so another could become King.”
I frowned as I thought that over. “From what I understand, only he can be King since he accepted the crown…or whatever. That even if he abdicated the throne, Fabian wouldn’t become King. The Court would be without a ruler, but I have no idea what would happen if Caden died.” The last word tasted like ash on my tongue.
“That might be a good question to ask,” Ren said. “But I doubt we’ll get an answer out of Fabian. He’d probably suspect that we were plotting to murder his brother.”
“I could ask,” I volunteered.
Ivy looked over her shoulder in the direction of the side door that led to the courtyard. “I hate to even ask this, but we don’t believe that Fabian has any desire to be King, do we?”
“No. I don’t believe that he does,” I said honestly as Dixon rubbed his nose against my shoulder. “There are…certain expectations that I don’t think Fabian has any desire to fulfill.”
Neither did Caden, but that was neither here nor there.
“But why would anyone want to remove Caden as King?” Ivy asked, lips pursed. “I mean, he seems to be doing an okay job, and it isn’t like he’s unfair or cruel.”
She was right, but I didn’t think Caden wanted to be King before he took on the role. He’d felt forced, and that was before things really escalated between us. Even now, he was willing to shirk his obligations, but no one knew that while I had been held capt
ive by Aric. And those who now knew about him ending his engagement were the only fae I one hundred percent trusted.
So maybe the traitor’s motivations had nothing to do with Caden? If so, that brought us all the way back to square one. Why would a Summer fae work with the Winter Court?
For some reason, I thought of the old leader of the Order. David Cuvillier had betrayed the Order by aiding the Winter Court and Queen. He’d done so out of fear and resignation, believing that we hadn’t stood a chance against the Winter Court. Could the traitor within the Summer Court have a similar mentality?
Fear could make some brave.
But fear could also turn others into the worst kind of cowards.
Chapter 9
“Are Fabian and Tink still out in the courtyard?” Ivy asked, drawing me from my unsettled thoughts.
Ren nodded. “Yeah, I have no idea what they’re doing. I should probably go annoy them.”
Smiling slightly, I watched him walk toward the kitchen, stopping to tip Ivy’s head back and brush a kiss across her lips.
A pang of jealousy and envy stabbed me, and I reburied my face in Dixon’s fur. He purred louder, like a little engine. After a few moments, I became aware of Ivy moving closer. I looked up, not at all surprised to see the concern in her gaze.
“I want to ask if everything is okay, but I know that’s a stupid question. So, I’ll try to refrain from asking that,” she said, coming to stand beside me. “How are you feeling being back here, though?”
“It’s…it’s good, but it is weird,” I admitted, thinking that if anyone knew what it felt like, it was Ivy. She had been through her own messed-up abduction. “Like it almost seems surreal to be here.”
She nodded in understanding. “When I was taken, there were times when I didn’t think I’d ever see my apartment again or the people I cared about. The first day home was a weird one.”
There had been many moments when I didn’t think I was going to walk out of that nightmare.
“Ren and Tink being there for me helped. If they hadn’t been, I probably would’ve eventually dealt with everything, but having them made it easier.” She scratched Dixon’s ear as she lifted her gaze to mine. “Can I give you some unsolicited advice? Don’t shut out the people who want to help.”
The Summer King Bundle: 3 Stories by Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 43
