“The woman I called my mother,” I say, before I can talk myself out of it. “Was she part of the plan, or was she just another one of your tools?”
He snorts. “That’s what you want to know? You really are weak.”
Rowan punches Ryland in the jaw in a lightning-fast move and blood sprays the wall. He glowers murderously at the traitor, and if looks could kill, interrogating Ryland would be a lost cause.
“The Princess asked you a question, scumbag. I suggest you give her an answer.”
James looks on, his arms folded and his icy gaze just as full of venom. Ryland looks frail for the first time in my entire life, but I’m too livid to enjoy it the way I probably should.
“Your mother wanted a child more than anything, and when I gave her one, she didn’t ask questions,” he spat. “Obviously that’s not a trait you inherited.”
His words bring me more comfort than I anticipated. Maybe it’s just because I know that if he could hurt me with the truth, he’d find a way. Whatever the case, it gives me the strength I need to move on.
“I know Albien isn’t dead,” I say firmly. “Why are you taking the fall for a murder you didn’t commit?”
“You think I had a chance to defend myself?” he snorts. “When the Pentarch wants you to take the fall, no amount of persisting can change that. Especially not now that you gave them the proof I helped Harquest betray the King.”
“Who?” I demand. “Raoul?”
“How the hell should I know?” he growls.
“Someone framed you for Albien’s murder,” James says in a dangerous tone. “You must know who it was.”
“Raoul, Gianna, that old creep, they’re all the same,” Ryland spits. “Haven’t you figured it out by now, halfblood? The Pentarch works as one. You think you saved this kingdom from Harquest,” he says, turning back to me with a mocking voice. “All you’ve done is deliver it into the hands of a five-headed dragon.”
His words chill me to the bone, but I tell myself he’s just trying to get at me. “You wanted to kill Albien. You must know where he is.”
“I didn’t give a shit about that pasty brat one way or another,” he snaps. “I was just taking orders from Harquest.”
“And him?” I demand. “Why did he want Albien dead?”
“It wasn’t anything personal. Contrary to what your dead parents believed, you two weren’t the end all, be all of creation,” he says bitterly.
“Then why?” I press. “Why kidnap me? Why try to kill him? Why bother with any of it?”
“To keep you both away from him,” he answers.
“Who?”
Ryland is silent, and another strike from Rowan does nothing to make him open up.
“Stop,” I murmur, not for his sake but because there’s one more answer I intend to get out of him. I step forward, eyes locked on him. I know he won’t answer of his own accord. In his mind, he owes me nothing. Certainly not a luxury like the truth.
I don’t know what possesses me to try the same trick Christopher used on me without a second thought. It’s not so much a plan as an impulse, and I’m not expecting it to work. I’m not even sure what I’m doing. All I know is that one moment, I’m looking into Ryland’s eyes and the next, I’m inside of them. I feel my mind reaching into his, and the same strange energy that stirred within me when I was with Christopher for the first time comes to the surface, only this time, it’s in my control.
If I hadn’t been on the receiving end of it, I might not even be able to recognize the manipulation, but when I see the light leave Ryland’s eyes, I know something is happening. He stares blankly at me, his jaw slack.
“My parents,” I whisper in fear of breaking this tentative control I have over him. Rowan and James are silent, but I feel them watching me. I feel their confusion as if it’s my own, but the information is too much to process and maintain my focus, so I tune it out. “Why did you kill them?”
“I didn’t,” he says listlessly.
“Bullshit.”
“It’s true.” The lifelessness in his tone and the ease with which the answers come from his mouth gives me the awful sense that he’s actually telling me the truth, for once. Even if this is what it took to get it. “I didn’t kill them.”
“Then who did?”
“I don’t know.”
Tears of rage slip down my cheeks, but I fight them back. I can’t lose it now. Not when I’m this close. “You must know something.”
“Harquest took advantage of the accident, he didn’t cause it,” Ryland insists.
“Who else would have wanted them dead?” I ask.
“Take your pick. Any of the other nobles in line for the throne, the Pentarch, the vampires…”
“The vampires?” I echo. “What do they have to do with this?”
“Plenty,” he mumbles. The way he frowns tells me he wasn’t planning on divulging that tidbit, which makes me want to push him all the more. “Aedan, for one.”
“Aedan? Who is he?” I demand.
Ryland’s face goes blank and the light returns to his eyes for a moment. I pull back, struggling to maintain the hold that was foreign to me until moments ago. I can feel him slipping nonetheless, and trying to hold on is draining all the energy I have.
“Who is Aedan?” I cry as I fall to my knees, barely able to breathe through the strain.
“Danica!” James cries. He’s the first at my side, but Rowan is close behind. “You’re bleeding.”
I touch my face and realize that what I thought was tears is actually blood. I look down at my stained fingertips in confusion and back at Ryland, who’s already unconscious or faking another award-worthy performance.
I try to stand, but I go down hard before I can take a single step. Rowan is the one who catches me and as he lifts me into his big arms, I hear him conversing nervously with James about how he needs to get me out before the others come.
Chapter Fifteen
When I open my eyes, the familiar scent of the fresh flowers the servants always leave by my bedside tells me I’m back in my own room. I still don’t know if what happened with Ryland was a dream, or the reality that spawned all the nightmares I’ve just lived through, but as my mind begins to wake, my body remains too heavy to move.
“Are you crazy?” Rowan seethes. “He’s the last person we need around her right now.”
“You saw what she did. He’s the only one who’ll know how to handle this,” James answers quietly. I’m not sure if he’s trying not to wake me, or just trying not to draw any attention.
I can’t bring my eyes to open, much to my frustration. My eyes flutter behind the lids, and the harder I try, the less success I have. It’s like someone has sucked all the energy out of me, every last cell, and while I can feel it slowly replenishing, the process is much too gradual to control.
“I don’t know what the hell I saw,” Rowan growls. “I just know the wolf witch isn’t gonna make things better.”
Witch? Is he talking about Christopher?
My head aches as soon as I think about what I did to Ryland. Even I’m not sure what it was. I just know I was enraged, and on a whim, I tried doing to him what Christopher did to me. It seems like such a bizarre thought to have, looking back on it, and that’s to say nothing of the fact that it actually worked.
I can understand why Rowan is so freaked out. If I was fully conscious, I’d probably be having a panic attack myself.
My attempts to wake up seem to have gotten their attention. James shushes Rowan and I hear footsteps coming toward me. His hand is cool on my cheek, and the touch slowly draws me back into my body. I only realize then just how far I was from waking up on my own.
“James?”
“Hey,” he says gently, sitting down next to me. “You’re okay. Take it easy.”
“Ryland,” I mumble, managing to sit up despite his attempts to keep me still. “I have to go back. Make him tell me…”
My words aren’t coming out half as clearly
as my thoughts, but I still feel half-asleep, trapped between worlds. James and Rowan exchange a look that makes my confusion even worse. What do they know that they aren’t telling me?
When I try to swing my legs over the bed, Rowan puts a hand on my shoulder to keep me there. It’s probably for the best, judging from the way my head spins from that small movement.
“Take it easy,” Rowan grunts. “Whatever the hell you did back there took a lot out of you.”
“I think I… controlled him,” I murmur.
“No shit.”
James gives him a look and takes my hand. “Dani, we’re just trying to understand what happened so we know how to help you. Where did you learn to use a spell like that?”
“Spell?” I shake my head. “No, it wasn’t… I didn’t. It just happened.”
The way James’ brow furrows, I can tell he’s not sure if I’m telling the truth and I’m too uncertain myself to reassure him.
My mouth is dry and all I can think about is water. I finally manage to stand without their interference, even though Rowan shuffles along behind me with his hands outstretched like a parent waiting for his child to fall off a bike. I make it to the sink and put my mouth under the faucet, drinking eagerly.
It doesn’t do quite enough to sate my thirst, but my stomach feels like it’s going to burst if I drink any more. I moan, sinking against the wall. The lights are blurring and my head keeps spinning, making it hard to stay upright.
“Danica,” James calls, rushing to my side. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m fine,” I insist, even though he’s holding me up now. I lean against him, breathing in his scent, which has the strange effect of soothing my nausea. He’s not wearing aftershave or anything. It’s just his scent, even if there are notes in it I never really recognized until right now.
“I’m calling the doctor,” Rowan says.
James doesn’t argue. Rowan leaves the room and James pulls me into his lap, sinking down against the wall. “It’s okay,” he reassures me, even though I feel perfectly fine, other than the spinning room.
I lean against him, turning my face into his neck. His scent is even stronger now, and it makes my mouth water. Then my mouth goes dry again and the thirst comes back with a vengeance. My lips brush against his neck, an innocent exploration, and he freezes.
“Danica…”
“You smell nice,” I mumble, leaning closer. My tongue slips past my lips and up his neck.
James looks down at me, his eyes filled with confusion and curiosity. “What’s wrong with you?” The way he asks makes it clear it’s a question of concern rather than judgment, but it jars me back to myself enough to heap plenty of it upon myself.
“I don’t know,” I murmur, rubbing my eyes. “My head hurts.”
James hesitates, reaching up to dim the lights. “Better?”
I nod and he slips even deeper into his thoughts. “You’re going to be alright,” he says gently.
“I’m fine,” I murmur. “I have to get back to the dungeon. Ryland—”
“Danica,” he interrupts, frowning in worry as he searches my face. “You can’t go back down there.”
“I have to.” When I try to stand, he takes my wrist and holds me gently. “James!”
“You don’t understand,” he says, lowering his voice. “Ryland is dead.”
“What?” I choke. It feels like all the air just drained from the room and from my lungs, creating a vacuum in my chest. Surely I heard him wrong. He doesn’t clarify, he just gazes at me in pity and concern, which I’m getting tired of being the object of. “No. No, that’s not possible.”
“I’m sorry,” he says gently. This time, when he tries to pull me back into his lap, I let him.
“How?” I ask. “We were just there. He was fine. Did Raoul—?”
“It wasn’t him, or any of the Pentarch,” James answers. “He killed himself not long after we left.”
“Killed himself?” My voice cracks. “How? He was tied up in a cell!”
“He bit his tongue,” James answers somberly. I can tell he’s not sure about telling me the truth. Maybe that’s what he and Rowan were arguing about. All I can think is how this can’t be happening. This can’t be real.
“Why?”
“I don’t know,” James says, pulling his arms tighter around me. “I’m so sorry, Danica.”
I’m not sure how to respond, mostly because I’m not sure what to think. Out of all the potential outcomes, this was one I never imagined. Ryland has proved himself capable of just about everything, but I never thought it would be this.
It makes no sense.
“I don’t understand.”
“I know,” he murmurs, stroking my back. His touch is always comforting, but it feels like there’s some barrier between us. Something that keeps me from feeling it the way I want to, like a veil separating me from the world around me.
In that moment, I realize the magic that I was able to use against Ryland has never actually left. It’s still there, but I’m no longer in control. It’s simply present, watching, waiting, for what I don’t know.
A horrible thought occurs to me, and once it takes root, it digs in deep, spreading its tendrils under my skin and choking out my veins. “Did I do this?” My voice sounds thin and brittle, ready to crumble with the next word, the next breath. “Did I make him—?”
“No,” James says with certainty I doubt he has any evidence to back up. He holds me tighter, like that will keep this gaping, gnawing thought at bay. “No, of course not.”
Despite his reassurance, I’m anything but confident. Before I can question him further, the door opens and Ryland comes in with a doctor he seems to have dragged out of his bed. The man looks at me in confusion and bows quickly.
“Your Majesty,” he says, waking up in an instant. “What’s the matter?”
“She passed out,” James answers before I have the chance. Not that I know what to tell him. The truth is that I practiced forbidden magic even though I’ve never cast a spell in my life.
None of this should be possible, and yet, here we are. I hear James and Rowan talking anxiously to the doctor, giving him bits of information that leave out what I did to Ryland, while the doctor shines a light in my eyes and prods around my throat.
I try to listen to what they’re saying, but I find my thoughts drifting, taking sudden interest in the droplets of water falling out of the sink’s faucet in a predictable rhythm.
Splish.
Splish.
SPLOOSH.
“Princess?” The doctor’s voice calls me back, but before I’ve fully turned to face him, the strangest illusion overtakes me. For an instant, I could almost swear I saw Mace, but then I look back at him and realize it’s the same weathered face I’ve passed in the hall a thousand times. Not the devilishly handsome one that haunts my dreams.
“I’m sorry. What did you say?”
“I asked if you remember anything before the blackout,” the doctor says with mounting concern and sympathy.
I shake my head slowly. It’s a lie, but I don’t trust myself to come up with a convincing excuse, so it’s better to keep things simple. If anyone finds out we were down there, James and Rowan are the ones who’ll pay the price.
“What’s wrong with her?” James demands. “Is it a concussion?”
The doctor hesitates, turning my head slightly. “It doesn’t appear to be. More like a seizure.” He studies me carefully. “Do you have a history of epilepsy, Your Majesty?”
“No,” I murmur. “Not that I’m aware of.”
“Did anything stressful happen precipitating the event?”
I hesitate. Stressful? Only everything that’s happened since I left Marok, and most of what happened before then. I shake my head.
“Well, I’ll run some tests. Better get you into the clinic.”
“I’ll take her,” James says, lifting me into his arms.
“I can walk.”
He gives me a loo
k and says nothing as he carries me down the hall. I lean over his shoulder and Rowan gives me a reassuring smile from behind. I smile back, even though I feel like my life is spiraling out of my control once again. Rowan has that effect on me.
In a few minutes’ time, I’m in a hospital bed being poked and prodded and hooked up to every machine they have available. The doctor becomes even more perplexed when each test comes back normal.
“There doesn’t appear to be anything physically wrong with you,” he announces. “My guess is that it’s a blend of stress and dehydration. The fluids should help, but we’ll keep an eye on you overnight.”
“Thanks, Doc,” Rowan says, closing the door once the man leaves. He turns back to me, more worried than I’ve ever seen him. “You sure you’re okay, Dani?”
“Yeah,” I lie. I don’t even feel like I’m in my body anymore, but the feeling is gradually fading. There’s just not time to worry about any of that. “More importantly, we need to find out who Aedan is.”
James and Rowan exchange a worried look.
“We’ll find him,” James says gently. “But right now, you need to rest.”
I try to protest, but lifting my head off the pillow proves a challenge. James leans in, kissing my forehead. “Just rest now,” he pleads. “It’ll all be okay.”
His words don’t have the same magical force behind them that Christopher’s did, but I find myself forced to obey nonetheless. No matter how badly I want to be out there chasing down the only lead Ryland left me with, exhaustion is an enemy I don’t have the strength to vanquish right now.
Chapter Sixteen
When I finally open my eyes, I don’t feel any more rested than I did when I fell asleep. More like my body just reached the limit of its ability to lie still. James is the only one in the room, and he stands from his chair against the wall as soon as I begin to stir.
“Hey,” he says, reaching out to touch my cheek. “How are you feeling?”
“Good,” I lie, afraid he’ll try to insist on me staying here if I tell the truth. I manage to sit up, even though it feels like it takes all my strength.
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