He gives me a look that says he doesn’t believe me in the least. He sits down on the bed and pulls out a small black flask from his jacket. “Here. There’s something I want you to try.”
“What the hell is that?” Even though the flask is sealed, I can smell the pungent odor coming from within. It smells like he mixed every herb, tea and spice into one container and then let it ferment for a few weeks.
James smiles, obviously amused by my reaction. “Just try it. If I’m right, it’ll help you feel better.”
“If you’re right?” I ask, sitting up against the headboard. “About what?”
“Just humor me.”
I sigh, taking the flask from him. “Is this some nasty health shake or something?”
“Or something.”
I open the lid of the flask and grimace as the odor hits me fresh. I hold my breath and gulp down a few sips before I start gagging.
“Sorry,” he says apologetically. “It’s not made to taste good.”
“I can tell,” I sputter. I hesitate a moment, trying to figure out if the surge of energy I feel is a placebo, or simply my body trying to rally everything it has against the noxious mixture.
“How do you feel?” James asks, watching me closely.
“Better… I think.”
“Try to drink a little more.”
I’m reluctant, but every second that passes, I do feel more like myself. I pinch my nose and gulp down another few sips. My tongue pays the price, but the rest of me feels surprisingly good.
“What’s in this stuff?” I ask, staring down at the little flask in awe.
“A little bit of everything,” James answers. He’s being so cryptic that I’d be convinced it was poisoned if I didn’t know him.
“Okay, well… whatever it is, it works like a charm,” I say, standing. James moves like he’s ready to catch me, but I feel steadier on my feet than I have in a long time. Maybe ever.
“Just take it easy.”
“I will,” I promise. “But we have to get out of here.”
James frowns. “I know you want to find Aedan, Danica, but…”
“But what?” I ask. “You heard Ryland. It’s the only lead we have on who might’ve taken Albien, on who killed our parents. Are you saying I shouldn’t try to figure out who it is?”
“I know who it is,” he says gravely.
I stare at him. “You… what?”
“Every vampire knows his name,” James murmurs shamefully.
“Who is he?” I ask eagerly.
The way he hesitates makes me wonder if Ryland was just screwing with me. Throwing out a breadcrumb knowing it wouldn’t lead me anywhere but in circles. Still, I have to try. “He’s a Vampire Lord. He presides over the City of the Dead.”
“The City of… that’s real?” I can’t hide my disbelief. Everyone knows about the city, but most wolves think it’s just an urban legend. An underground hub where all the oldest and most powerful vampires live, and any human who passes through ends up in a body bag.
“Yes,” he murmurs. “I’ve never been, but Brit has.”
Of course. “Could she get us in?”
James’ eyes widen and for once, he’s looking at me like I’m as crazy as the others think I am. “No. Absolutely not.”
“I didn’t ask if you wanted me to go,” I say, frowning. “I asked if she could.”
James frowns, but he seems to actually be thinking about it. “I don’t know. Probably, but it’s a moot point. You’re not going there.”
“The hell I’m not! If anyone is ballsy enough to hide the King, that’s where they’d do it.”
“I’ll go,” James says. “I don’t want you anywhere near them, especially not now.”
“Especially not now? What does that mean?”
“Nothing,” he says quickly.
Before I can interrogate him, the door opens and Rowan comes in, breathless. He looks at me, his eyes filling with relief. “Oh, good. You’re awake.”
“I’m fine,” I insist, standing. “Where were you?”
“I was looking for…” He trails off, looking at James. Whatever he was going to say, he changes his mind at the last moment. “You. To uh, see how you’re doing.”
“Like I said, I’m fine.” I fold my arms, looking between them. “What’s going on? What aren’t you two telling me?”
“Nothing,” James mutters.
“Bullshit. When I woke up before, I heard you talking about looking for someone. It’s Christopher, isn’t it?”
I focus on Rowan, since he’s the easiest to break. Sure enough, he looks like he’s ready to run. “Rowan?”
“Okay, we just thought he could help,” he blurts out. James rolls his eyes.
“Help with what?”
“You used magic to interrogate Ryland,” Rowan says flatly. “This is all out of our element, so we figured he would know what’s going on.”
“Oh,” I murmur. Now I know why James didn’t want him to say anything. Being reminded of what I did just raises the question of how much of a role that had to play in Ryland’s apparent suicide. I don’t want to believe it’s possible for me to influence someone like that, but I never thought I had any magical ability whatsoever.
“You can’t hold yourself responsible for what happened,” James says firmly. “It was just a coincidence.”
“And what if it wasn’t?” I challenge. He doesn’t seem to have an answer for that. Neither of them do. I hug myself closer, because it feels like I’m going to unravel if I don’t. “Something’s obviously wrong with me.”
“Nothing is wrong with you,” James says, taking me by the shoulders. “Nothing. You can’t think like that.”
“Then what am I supposed to think?” I ask, forcing him to look me in the eye. I want to believe him when he says everything is going to be okay, but how can I when nothing makes sense? When I don’t even know who I am anymore?
He hesitates, but it’s enough to shake my hope that he knows something I don’t. Something that would make this all okay.
“I’m going after Aedan,” he says at length. “I’ll find Albien, and I’ll bring him home.”
“Not without me,” I insist.
James’ gaze hardens. “This kingdom needs you, Danica. More than that, I need you to be safe. To be here.”
“Someone wanna tell me what’s going on?” Rowan pleads.
“James knows who Aedan is,” I reply warily. “He’s the Vampire Lord over the City of the Dead and he thinks he can take him on his own.”
Rowan gawks at him. “That place is real?”
“Apparently.” I shake my head. “This isn’t how we do things. We’ve come this far together, and that’s how it’s going to stay.”
“She’s right,” says Rowan. “We stick together.”
James gives him a venomous look. “Can I speak to you for a moment? In private?”
“Uh…” Rowan looks nervously between us. “Sure.”
James pushes him out of the room before he’s given his answer and I glare at them both. As soon as I hear their footsteps disappear down the hall, I follow them. Before I can reach the door to listen, I hear someone coming the other way.
To my relief, it’s only Jenna. She seems as startled to see me. “Princess,” she murmurs, her gaze traveling down my face. “I heard you were sick. Shouldn’t you be in bed?”
“I made a fast recovery,” I tell her, taking a step closer. “There’s something I need to tell you. It’s about Albien.”
“What is it?” she asks urgently, glancing to make sure we’re alone. “Actually, wait. We shouldn’t speak out here.”
I follow her, curious as to what she’s afraid of as she leads me to a private room down the hall. “There,” she murmurs, closing the door. “We can speak freely here.”
“Who would be listening?”
She doesn’t answer at first. When she finally does, her tone is guarded. “You can never be too careful.”
“Okay�
��” I know she’s keeping something from me, but there are other things to focus on. I take her hands and she starts at the informal gesture. “Listen to me, Jenna. I know you love Albien as much as I do. You’re the only one left in this place I trust to be loyal to him.”
Her blue eyes fill with pain once more, betraying the truth beneath her stoic exterior. “I did,” she says in a strained voice. “And I failed him.”
“You didn’t,” I insist, squeezing her hands tighter. “Albien is alive, Jenna.” I feel her walls go up immediately, and I know what she’s thinking. It’s what they all think. Even James and Rowan, though they’d never say as much in front of me. “I know how this sounds, but I’m not in denial. I’m telling the truth.”
I take out the locket and she gasps. “How did you get that?”
“I always had it. The one Raoul has is a fake,” I murmur. While I have her attention, I decide to catch her up on everything I know, including the parts that could get even a Princess burned at the stake.
“Why are you telling me this?” she finally asks once I’m finished.
“Because the same instinct that tells me my brother is alive tells me that I can trust you,” I admit. “I know you love him, Jenna.”
Her face drains of color and her expression becomes one of horror. She knows as well as I do what happens to anyone who steps out of her place. The rules may be different in the Eternus lands, but the consequences are still the same. “Your Majesty—”
“It’s okay,” I insist. “Please, call me Danica.”
She hesitates, like the idea itself is abhorrent. “He is my King,” she says in a shaky voice. “I’m just his knight.”
“I may not have known Albien for long, but in some ways, I feel like we know each other better than we know ourselves,” I murmur. “He loves you, Jenna. He may not know what to do with those feelings any more than you do, but I know it. And I know that deep down, you feel it, too. The fact that he’s still with us.”
She falls silent, but I can tell from the conflict on her face that I’ve hit a nerve. Knowing I’m not the only one gives me comfort.
Albien is out there. It’s just a matter of finding him before the people who want us to think he’s dead succeed at whatever it is they’re trying to do.
“I don’t understand. What reason would they have to lie?”
“Plenty, depending on who ‘they’ is,” I answer. “Raoul, for one, stands to gain this kingdom by marrying me.”
“Then you mustn’t choose him,” Jenna says, flinching as soon as the words are out of her mouth. “Forgive me.”
“It’s fine. And trust me, I never had any plans of choosing Raoul. I wanted his help swaying the Pentarch, but I think Ryland was right,” I say, feeling my mood sink. “They’ve got their own agenda, and right now, I have every reason to believe they’re involved in what happened to my brother.”
“If your theory is true, Raoul would want Albien dead, not captured,” Jenna says, frowning. It’s the first time I’ve ever heard her call him by his name, and it slipped out easily enough that it makes me think she’s used to doing that when it’s just the two of them.
At least now I know I was right to put my trust in her. If there’s any ally I want on my side, it’s one who cares for Albien as deeply as she does.
“True,” I admit. “Which is why I don’t think we’re going to find him in this kingdom. My hunch is that Raoul and the others are using his disappearance to their advantage, because they think they can manipulate me, but I don’t think they orchestrated it.”
“And this vampire… Aedan. You think he’s the one?”
“I don’t know, but it’s the only place I have to start.”
Jenna considers my words carefully, nodding. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
“Right now, I’m trying to deal with one of your overprotective knights.”
“James?” she asks knowingly.
“How’d you ever guess?”
Jenna chuckles. “Male alphas are all the same. But he’s right to be concerned. Vampire territory isn’t safe for anyone, let alone the Princess of wolves.”
“I don’t plan on waltzing up to Aedan in my crown,” I assure her. “But there is something I’d like your help with.”
“Anything, Your Majesty,” she says without hesitation. When she catches my look, she sighs. “I mean… Danica.”
I smile. “It’s a start.”
Chapter Seventeen
To my amazement, I actually make it back to my room before James and Rowan. Well, just Rowan. James isn’t with him and I can only assume he’s gone out on his own again.
“Where is he?” I demand.
“You know where,” Rowan says, dropping into a chair by the door. “And before you start, I agree with him.”
“How’d he get to you?”
“He didn’t ‘get’ to me.”
“Okay, what did he say in thirty minutes that changed your mind about teamwork?” I ask, sitting on the bed across from him.
Rowan sighs. “There are things you don’t know, Dani. Things you can’t know for your own good.”
“Such as?”
“If I told you that, it would kind of defeat the purpose of you not knowing them, wouldn’t it?”
I groan. “Not you, too.” I’ve got six hours, give or take, before the plan I hashed out with Jenna takes effect. I was hoping to have at least Rowan on my side, but now I’m not sure.
I know he and James think they’re just trying to protect me, but there’s more at stake here than my life. This kingdom needs Albien, not me.
“I know how you feel. Trust me, I do,” he mutters. “But you’re gonna have to trust us on this.”
“If you want me to trust you, then you have to trust me.”
He grimaces. “I was afraid you’d say that.”
“It’s the truth.”
“I gave James my word that I’d make sure you didn’t leave,” he says, eyeing me nervously, like he’s not twice my size and capable of stopping me from doing anything just by picking me up.
Then again, maybe he’s afraid after he saw what I did to Ryland. The idea of Rowan being scared of me hurts, but I can’t say I’d blame him.
“So you’re what, my prison guard?”
“If you want to see it that way.” He shrugs. “Or we could make the most of it and hang out.”
“Hang out?” I ask dryly.
“Sure. I bet there’s a deck of cards around here somewhere. Probably some good trash TV on.”
“You never struck me as the reality show type.”
He flashes me a charming grin. “You’d be surprised.”
I’m sure I would. I pat the bed next to me and Rowan hesitates before he makes his way over. I know it’s cruel to use my “wiles” against him, as he puts it, but it’s not like I’m leading him on. He’s the one who’s been avoiding me after that kiss.
While more complication is the last thing my heart needs right now, I can’t deny the fact that I have feelings for Rowan, too. I’m so comfortable around him that it was hard to recognize them as what they were at first, but it’s getting easier as time goes on.
Especially when he’s close like this. Close and warm enough to put off heat even though we’re not touching. What starts as an attempt to sway him becomes genuine curiosity and I realize as I run my hand over the stubble on his cheek that if I’m not careful, I’ll easily slip into need.
It’s not something that’s ever been an issue before, but the more time I spend around Rowan, Christopher and James, the harder it becomes to deny that side of me exists. Need is really the last thing I need right now, especially when the odds that I’m going to be separated from the only men I’d trust to get me through it keep going up.
“At least you’re not avoiding me anymore.”
His silver eyes dart away from mine, proving that even a giant like him is capable of being bashful at times. The contrast is more adorable than he seems to have any idea of. �
��I wasn’t avoiding you.”
“No?” I challenge, casually moving further up the bed. “Could’ve fooled me.”
“I just didn’t know what to say, after the…” He trails off, like he can’t bring himself to say the word.
“Kiss?” I offer.
His face turns a darker shade of red, but he nods.
I can’t help but laugh, especially when I see the look of indignation that flashes in his eyes. “What’s so funny?”
“You,” I admit. “And the fact that I ever thought you were this cold, intimidating alpha douchebag.”
“I’m a little intimidating,” he grumbles.
“To other people, sure.” I run my hand down the freshly trimmed sides of his scalp and note the energy that surges under my fingertips with the touch. Maybe it’s another hallucination, but it’s mesmerizing. “With me, you’re like a big teddy bear.”
“Only you,” he mutters under his breath. Without either of us really seeming to realize what we’re doing, he ends up down beside me, my right thigh draped over his hip.
I like being close to him like this. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to cuddle up against his big, strong, warm body, his muscular arms wrapped around my waist. The reality is far sweeter than all the wondering, and this time, when I kiss him, I have no plans on pulling away.
“Dani,” he moans against my lips. “What’re you doing?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. It’s not entirely true. I know what I want to be doing, and it’s not just a matter of keeping my heat at bay. I know what I have to do to save Albien, and I know what the risks are once I leave the safety of these castle walls. It’s a risk I’m willing to take, but first, I want to answer the question that’s always lingered in my mind where Rowan is concerned.
The sweetness of his lips against mine and his hard body pressing up against my curves is enough to distract me from the fact that this might be the last time as well as the first. Just as I feel the familiar heat stirring in my core, he breaks the kiss and looks down at me worriedly.
“If you’re just trying to distract me —”
Court of Alphas: A WhyChoose Shifter Romance Page 9
