“Come on then.” Miri ushered me to follow her.
“Ah, I just need to say goodbye.” I attempted to delay our departure. I just needed a minute to talk to Devyn. We needed a new plan. Obviously, walking casually out of the hospital wasn’t going to work now that it was crawling with sentinels.
“Are you crazy? Have you not been listening? They’re tearing the place up looking for you,” Miri said urgently, reaching out to grab me to pull me along with her.
I looked at Devyn in desperation. What should I do?
“I’ll talk to you again, donna,” I called over to the curtain where my supposed new friend lay admiring her unusual bouquet. Unusual, I belatedly realised, because it was made up of berries and leaves that grew in the walled garden on Richmond Hill.
“I’ll go and fetch more of those gorgeous bright autumn colours for you soon. I know just where to find them,” I improvised hastily. If I could make it out to Richmond, surely Devyn could meet me there?
I couldn’t see whether or not he understood my message as Miri had already pulled me out into the hall and was marching me back towards our ward and Marcus.
Chapter Twenty-Four
He knew. We made our way back through the chaos of the ward and the stern-faced sentinels standing back to let me pass through to where Marcus stood with the more senior officers. He watched my approach, coldly furious. He knew. I didn’t know how but this wasn’t just about the fact I had disappeared for thirty minutes or more. Marcus knew I had been with Devyn.
“Where is he?” His tone was clipped, restrained.
“Who? I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened. The time just went. I’m so sorry everyone went to all this fuss.” I was playing for time; every second they spent talking to me was one more that Devyn had to get away.
The grim-faced officers exchanged glances as I widened my baby blues for all I was worth. My mind was racing. If they knew I was fully conscious again then I had no chance of making it out to Richmond and I would be under lock and key until the vows were exchanged. By now I was firmly convinced that whatever it was about handfasting that made me so compliant would be impossible to shake off once we were actually married.
Marcus stepped up to me, taking a grip on each of my upper arms and pulled me into him. His green eyes were flinty.
“I know he’s here,” he said. “I could feel it. My body was on fire. Is that how he makes you feel?”
I gasped. Did the handfast cuffs imitate the connection I had with Devyn? Could Marcus feel my emotions? If so, how much had he been able to pick up from our exchange? But no, we had been wearing these bands for weeks and I’d never sensed anything from Marcus.
“Feel?” I echoed.
“I felt your desire,” he bit out angrily. “I know it’s because he was here. You’ve never felt that way with me.”
Fire. Desire. The cuffs transmitted passion. Of course they did; they were a courtship device. That’s all they knew for sure, that I had been with someone… who was not Marcus. My brain just wasn’t working fast enough. There was no way Marcus would accept I had felt that way for some random person I had bumped into on the fourth floor. Had Devyn had enough time to get away? I hoped so because I was out of options.
I shook my head as if trying to shake off a foggy confusion. I allowed my eyes to open as if in shocked horror.
“Oh no. Oh, oh. Marcus. Guards,” I exclaimed as if only now coming to myself. “Quickly, Devyn Agrestis is here. He’s in the hospital.”
I pointed in the direction from which I had come. The officers moved quickly, dispatching the men who had come to a standstill when I arrived back into the ward.
“I don’t understand.” I lifted a shaky hand to my brow, a tad afraid I was overplaying it. “He was here. I… I… how is it possible? What was he doing here?”
Marcus watched me narrow-eyed.
“We were about to ask you the same thing.”
“I don’t know. I don’t understand what’s going on. I went upstairs with a bouquet…” I lifted a hand to my lips. “Oh Marcus, I’m so sorry. He kissed me. I remember now, he kissed me. I should have stopped him. Why didn’t I stop him?”
I looked up at him in apparent confusion and fear at my recollections. I really was laying it on thick. How much did they know about the weaknesses of the handfast? How much should I tell them?
I stepped into Marcus’s arms and tucked myself into his chest, just as I had done only moments earlier with Devyn, and let a sob shake me. We had been so close to escaping.
“It’s okay. We’ll find him, it won’t happen again.” Marcus’s attempts to comfort me actually fed my worst fears. I closed my eyes, wishing with everything in my being that I could go back. If only we’d realised earlier that the protection charm in the wristband somehow interrupted the compulsion of the handfast cuffs. Because I was under no illusion now that it was a compulsion and that my will was being suppressed in favour of whatever had been coded into the armband. At least I was still myself, and while I was in control there was still a chance.
We were moved into a quieter room that lay just off the entrance of the large ward, usually used for nurses’ meetings as well as being a place to sit and observe the ward at night. Or rather, it had been in quieter times.
The seconds ticked by while I made occasional noises of distress about having gone off script and how it wasn’t my fault and I couldn’t understand it etcetera, etcetera. With every minute that passed, my emotions rollercoastered. There hadn’t been any word yet so he must have gotten away. Nobody was coming for me so they must have caught him. Around and around I went. I reached for the connection between us but while the charmed wristband appeared to counteract the handfast cuff’s ability to subdue my will, it didn’t allow me to access the link I had with Devyn. It seemed only physical proximity or contact made that possible now.
I eyed Marcus warily. Could he detect the façade I was presenting to him? I didn’t think so. Maybe it was only desire that pulsed through the handfast bond – it made sense since the handfast period was all about the couple bonding with each other. It was revolting. It was all so conniving and manipulative. I wondered how many happily married couples in the city were living a lie and didn’t even know it. Did they love each other or were they just conditioned to think they did? I checked the door for the millionth time. Where was Devyn?
The door opened and a grave-looking officer stepped through, one of the ones that had been standing with Marcus earlier perhaps, but I wasn’t sure.
“Dr Courtenay, Donna Shelton, forgive me for delaying you here,” he started warmly, but it was a warmth that didn’t make it all the way to his sharp eyes. The laurel emblem on his chest was silver, not the standard dark red.
“Praetorian Alvar, I really must get back to my patients.” Trust Marcus to get straight to it, utterly dismissing one of the praetorian guard, the security force that personally served the council, as though all this was just a most inconvenient interruption in his important day.
“I can only apologise, doctor.” Those sharp eyes flicked to Marcus before coming straight back to me. “We have concluded our search.”
I couldn’t breathe. Don’t react. Don’t react.
“And?” Marcus’s tone was impatient. “Did you catch him?”
“I’m afraid he has eluded my men.”
And breathe. Don’t react.
“He was here in the hospital and you let him get away?” Marcus was furious. I moved closer to him and took his hand; I figured it would look good. I swayed at the contact. Something had changed – my feelings about Devyn seemed remoter. Not as remote as they had before but less raw, less overwhelming. I looked down at where my hand was held in Marcus’s. Should I to step away to preserve my freedom? Was physical contact with Marcus going to be my undoing? I searched my consciousness… no, I was still me. My feelings towards Marcus were warmer and my feelings about Devyn a little more distant but I was still myself.
“It’s all right,�
�� I reassured Marcus. “They’ll get him next time, darling.”
“Indeed, Donna Shelton,” Alvar intoned. “We’ll get him, but there won’t be a next time.”
I glanced up at him before looking back at Marcus, our physical contact urging me to reassure him, to make him feel better. He had to feel bad about what would seem like my betrayal of him, cheating with Devyn, and he had felt it. I checked myself. Was I just using the motivations being dealt me by the handfast in order to cover or were they taking over? I unlinked our hands gently.
“I would greatly appreciate that, sir.” I shuddered. “I’m not sure what happened but I’m to be married in a week and I need you to keep that Codebreaker away from me.”
He bowed his head sharply. “Indeed, Donna Shelton, let’s get you home.”
I frowned, it was early in my shift.
“I’m not due to finish until six,” I informed him.
“Unfortunately, given today’s disturbance my orders are to see you home immediately.” Again with that smile that failed to meet his eyes.
“But I’ve barely seen Marcus at all today.” I gripped his arm as I spoke which enabled me to gaze adoringly up at him, though my reason for doing it was less out of the all-consuming need to spend every moment of every day with my groom than it was to stay in the hospital. Perhaps Devyn was still here.
“I have orders.”
Marcus patted my hand. “Don’t worry, darling, as soon as I’ve finished my shift I’ll come over to your house for dinner.”
I couldn’t argue with that so I reluctantly followed as Alvar led the way out of the hospital.
When we arrived at my parents’ apartment no one was home, so I let us in and was politely asked to remain in my room. For my own safety. Because if Devyn found a way past the guards stationed at every entrance to our tower, and through the ones outside the apartment and in the hallway, he was so much more likely to get at me in the sitting room than in my bedroom. But I smiled sweetly, thanked them for keeping me safe, and retired to my room.
I couldn’t settle. I hated being caged up in my room. I watched the walkway below but the only signs of life were the sentinels and the occasional paparazzo getting moved on. I scanned the bursts about the commotion at the hospital today. We appeared to have made both the gossip columns and the main news. There was some speculation gathering that I had been the subject of an attack by a patient. Pictures showed the sentinels arriving at the hospital and me being led to the awaiting car by a praetorian guard. Eventually, a photo of Devyn appeared as my attacker. Way to make the news work for you. Now the entire city would be looking for him.
I turned my room upside down looking for the pendant I knew I had carefully put aside the morning of the handfast. I had only intended to be without it for a few hours. I frantically pulled out drawers and jewellery cases before taking a moment to calm myself. Devyn had got away, I was sure of it now. They wouldn’t catch him; he knew every back alley and secret tunnel in this city. Besides which, the sentinels weren’t well loved in the stews and the hospital was on the edge of the tangle of the financial district. As long as he had made it there he’d be able to hide.
My mirror. I’d hung the pendant on my mirror after we’d applied the last touches to my outfit. And there it was, the chain hanging off the corner and the pendant tucked behind the back of the mirror, to hide the looping Celtic symbol on it. I pulled it out and felt the familiar weight of the rose-gold disk in my hand. Putting it on I immediately felt calmer.
I took some ribbons and other bracelets and wrapped them around Devyn’s wristband. I felt better with the added security of a second Celtic charm but, while it had gone unnoticed so far, it didn’t suit my usual feminine style so it was better hidden away from prying eyes.
When I was finally summoned from my room, I was in control and feeling surer of my version of the afternoon’s events. I knew the line I had to walk.
Anna led the way down the corridor which still held two guards. I entered our front reception room to find myself facing Marcus and his father as well as my own parents and the praetorian, Alvar, of course.
“Cassandra.” My father held his arms out to me and, given the censorious reception I was receiving from everyone else in the room, I was glad to go to him. Pulling away, I crossed over to Marcus. The charmed accessories Devyn had given me hadn’t entirely cancelled out the effects of the handfast and I was still genuinely drawn to Marcus. I had also evaluated my options while in my room and I felt my best chance of convincing everyone of my story was by appearing to be what they expected: a girl half in love with my groom. And I felt more like that girl while in contact with Marcus – not so much that I was completely under the influence of the handfast and likely to give up everything, but enough to make my performance convincing. I hoped.
I tucked myself in beside Marcus as we sat down, making sure to take his hand and hold it tightly. He kissed me reassuringly on top of my head.
My parents sat down to the side, my mother with a sniff having barely looked at me since I entered the room. Matthias took the seat opposite while Alvar stationed himself behind him. These two were the ones I really needed to convince.
Matthias smiled at me – or at least his mouth widened. If he thought stretching his lips across his teeth was going to make me feel more at ease, who was I to point out his mistake.
“Now, let’s discuss this afternoon’s adventures,” he began. Right to it then.
I nodded demurely. “Of course, Senator.”
“In your own words, my dear,” Matthias prompted me.
I smiled nervously, inhaling deeply before I began.
“I was asked to take a bouquet up to a patient on the fourth floor,” I started.
“Is this usual?” he interrupted.
I shook my head.
“No, not really, but we were busy. I’m not a trained professional so it made sense to send me,” I replied.
“Who sent you?”
I hesitated. Would Miri get in trouble? Would they think she was an accomplice? I had to trust that her innocence would protect her.
“Sister Miri. She was the one who found me later and brought me back to Marcus.” I watched as the praetorian made a note of her name, a sick feeling in my stomach.
“Continue.”
“I carried the bouquet up to the room. At first, I went the wrong way as I’m not too familiar with the other floors of the hospital. I got hopelessly lost.” I figured that the more time I accounted for before I met Devyn, the less time I would have to account for once I was in the room. “When I finally found the right room, there was no patient. He was waiting for me. Devyn Agrestis. I tried to tell him that whatever had been between us was over, that I’m marrying Marcus.”
I smiled tremulously up at my groom.
“What was his reaction?” Matthias probed.
“He was angry. No,” I corrected myself, sticking as close to the truth as far as possible for the less incriminating parts of my story. “He seemed confused, like he couldn’t understand what I was telling him. Like he expected me to be glad to see him.”
Matthias nodded. So far, so good.
“I told him the sentinels were looking for him, that he should hand himself in. I told him it wasn’t his fault he has magic,” I fabricated, while still feeding them a truth they already knew.
“What else happened?” Alvar asked, unable to restrain himself. Matthias threw him an annoyed look.
This was where I had to be careful. They knew this wasn’t the end of the story. They knew because of the event that had alerted them to the fact I was with Devyn in the first place.
I bit my lip, looking anxiously up at Marcus, before looking down at the ground.
“I… well, he started saying something in a language I didn’t understand and I tried to leave the room but he grabbed me and he was, I don’t know, I guess it was magic or something,” I glanced up to see how my audience were receiving my little tale. My parents were horrified but M
arcus was braced against the bit he knew was coming; my main interrogators were revealing nothing though. “Then he kissed me.”
“And?” Matthias prompted.
“Well, I don’t understand it but I kissed him back.” I took my hand back from Marcus and sat wringing my hands together in my lap, the very image of the penitent Codebreaker. “I don’t know what came over me.”
Matthias’s cold gaze remained indecipherable.
“Was this the first time you had kissed?”
What to do here? Did I make a full confession and hope that the scandal of my past behaviour became the focus of this fun family evening, or lie and say it was the first time? How much did they know? Did they know the handfast compulsion could be broken? I decided to stick as close to the truth as possible without telling them anything that further incriminated me.
“No, sir,” I said in a small voice. I felt Marcus stiffen beside me.
“You had kissed this man before?”
“Yes, sir,” I repeated my confession, bowing my head as if unable to look them in the eye.
“The night of the masquerade ball,” he said knowingly. I’d forgotten that they must know now that it had been Devyn I had been with at the ball.
I nodded, unable to trust my voice not to betray my relief at being caught in the truth.
“No need to rake over past transgressions,” my father said, defending me.
Matthias cast him a cutting look before returning to pin me once more.
“What else was discussed after the kiss?” If the kiss had been the moment Marcus alerted security that I needed to be found then I still had quite a bit of time to account for.
After the handfast ceremony I had admitted to helping Devyn get Marina out of the city, which they had already known. I hadn’t offered much more, not about my magic and not about my feelings for Devyn, and nothing about what he had told me about the truth of my origins. Perhaps I had failed to offer up the entire truth out of fear that Marcus would reject me or think less of me and reject me. Whatever the reason, I was grateful for it now.
Secrets of the Starcrossed Page 32
