“I can’t imagine a lovelier offer.” Kerdik’s grin warmed me from the inside out. It was like watching a baby deer take his first steps. Awkward and unpracticed, Kerdik’s smile was just introducing itself into the world, and it was a beautiful thing to watch.
22
The Link in the Plan
After Kerdik tucked my modest, and dare I say tasteful, diamond-encrusted white gold crown in a safe place in my bedroom, Bastien tore me away and all but ran down the hall toward the steps, our feet echoing off the stone. “I don’t want you hanging around him,” Bastien ordered as we ran. “He’s deadly, Rosie.”
“Hello, so are you.” I had to hold up the front of my dress so I didn’t trip. “You don’t get to tell me what to do. You’re not my guide, my Guardien, or my boyfriend. Let’s just do the job without fighting.” That was probably too much to ask, but I had to try. “I have an idea where one of the stones is.”
“Good. Let’s stop at the parlor, and you can send one of the guys to it, while we look for the next one.”
It was the most solid plan we had, so I went with it. “Mad!” I called when we burst into the parlor. I was a little taken aback by the additional person I didn’t know, but I wasn’t sure we had time for introductions.
Madigan stood, his relaxed demeanor fading as he went into soldier mode. Rousseau stood at my entrance, too, as well as Draper, who all but ran to scoop me in his arms. Draper’s hug was purely loving, and forced emotion to rise up in me. My sweet older brother had been worried about my well-being. He didn’t care about the jewels; he cared about me. Lane smashed me in on my other side, the two of them holding me together to make sure I stayed theirs. It was a heady feeling, to be loved so wholly.
“I only have a minute,” Lane apologized. “I have to go out and deal with my sister. Avril’s causing a scene about your crown and your ring.”
“Jeez. I can’t believe she’s making such a fuss over something so small.”
“It’s not small, Ro.” Lane couldn’t stop squeezing me, and it warmed me to know that she’d needed me as much as I’d needed her. “Since when are you friends with Master Kerdik? Roland mentioned that he saved you all from the tonnerre storm, but you actually hugged him. Did he really give you this ring?” Lane held up my finger to examine the sparkling beauty.
“Yeah. He’s a nice guy. Just needed a friend.”
Lane shook her head slowly, her expression torn between alarm and trepidation. “A gem from Master Kerdik is a big deal, babe. Be careful with this. Sheesh, I thought Avril was being dramatic. And honestly, I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen Master Kerdik doting on you with my own two eyes. Be careful. I mean, like, more than careful.”
“I’ll wear seven seatbelts. But I’ve got more important things to deal with first.” I rushed through my plan to Lane, Draper, Madigan, Rousseau, and the dude who’d shouted Mad’s name through the crowd earlier. He had tattoos of zippers all over his body to cover some of his scars, and he wore a mischievous grin that split his roguish features. “New guy’s cool?” I asked Bastien, who nodded. I offered up a quick two-fingered wave to the new tattooed Untouchable. “Hey, man.”
He sniggered at my informal address, and offered up a charming grin. “Hallo, wee princess. Link of Éireland, at your service.”
Link had the same brogue as Madigan, but an entirely different demeanor. Madigan was rigid and standoffish. Link seemed like the guy who pulled your hair in class and grinned at you like you started the whole thing. I couldn’t fathom how the two of them became friends, other than being in the Brotherhood together.
I slapped my hands together to focus the group. “So we have to find the last two Jewels of Good Fortune before Morgan wakes up, and get them out of here.”
Lane held up her finger. “Roland gave my jewel to me, and I know Avril has hers in Province 8. She’s been bragging about it nonstop. Roland’s got Heloise’s, and I’m sharing the extra jewel with Province 3 to get them back on their feet. The rumor we’re spreading on that is the jewel was found with Bayard’s body, so he’ll get the credit for bringing Gliten’s Jewel of Good Fortune back to his people. The Dukes and Avril are outside. I can stall them from leaving, if you like. Avril might be hard, though. She’s pretty upset about Master Kerdik giving you a crown.”
Bastien spoke up. “Stall them without telling them what we’re doing. We’ll send out the jewels as we find each one.”
Lane nodded. “Of course.”
Though I was the smallest person in the room, the heavy hitters had no problem deferring to me. “Alright guys, the jewels might be in a box or a pouch or something with a vanishing charm on it. So don’t rule out the area just because you don’t see it. Remember, Morgan’s kept some of these jewels hidden for two decades.” I reached across the huddle and put my hand on Rousseau’s hairy arm. My gut was being all confusing, telling me the gem that I’d thought was for sure in the moat was now somehow not. “Rousseau, why don’t you go after the first one. I’m not sure if it’s been moved, but at one point, I could tell you exactly where it was.” I explained where I knew it had been hidden, and the landmarks nearby so he could locate the area easily. “It’s in the moat, though, so be quick and quiet about it. Though, if it’s been moved, it won’t be there, obviously. Still, that area should be ruled out. Maybe you should take Bastien, just in case you run into trouble.”
“No,” Bastien ruled, resolute. “I’m not leaving your side. Morgan made an attempt on your life today. Keeping you safe is higher priority than finding the jewels.”
I stared up at him, flabbergasted that he could be so magnanimous after I’d given him the very clear cold shoulder up in my bedroom. “Okay, then just be careful, Rousseau. But don’t leave that area until you either find it, or you’re sure it’s not there. As soon as you have it, bring it straight to Lane. Only Lane.”
Lane nodded. “I’ll be out in the courtyard, stalling the royals.” She squeezed me once more. “Be safe, babe.”
“I’ve got her,” Bastien assured Lane, who seemed to accept this as some sort of apology for the idiocy he’d inflicted on my life.
She didn’t need to tell Draper to follow her, he simply went, kissing both my cheeks before going with his new mother.
Link jerked his head toward the entrance to the castle. “The other Untouchables are outside, so if we need more bodies, we’ve got them waiting.”
I rubbed my forehead, trying to concentrate on which way my gut was leading me. It was hard to get a hold on my jumping nerves, now that real progress was being made.
“Which way, Rosie?” Bastien prodded, as if that would make things move faster.
“I’m not sure. Hold on a second. It’s not an exact science.”
Link eyed me curiously. “Is she really trying to find the missing Jewels of Good Fortune with her mind? This is the lass ye found?”
“Aye,” Madigan replied. “I’ve seen her Compass in action. I’ve learned not to question it.”
“I lost my mammy’s kerchief in grade school. Think she could find tha? Earned myself a wallop over tha thing.”
I glowered at Link, who grinned at me like an incorrigible boy. “How about let’s concentrate on the jewels first, Lucky Charms. The Compass thing is harder than it looks.”
Bastien tugged me away from the group so I could get a little distance. “Just breathe, honey.” He rubbed my shoulders, centering me as his arms fell around my waist.
The dance was too easy, and the moves too familiar. My eyes closed when I inhaled his comforting scent I’d tried to scrub from my memory. Pine and cinnamon, mixed with something deeply masculine flooded my senses, jerking me right back to a place I swore we wouldn’t go again. He brought my head to his shoulder, my forehead nuzzling his chest like it belonged there – like we belonged here – in this moment, with each other. His head leaned down as his large hand spidered the back of my head to massage my scalp. My skin erupted in goosebumps when he whispered, “Feel it all now. List
en to your gut. I’ve got you.”
Again, with his simple promise that comforted me every time.
I reached my hand up with the intention of gripping his bicep, but hesitated to make contact of my own accord. I didn’t know what it would mean if I held onto him – if he would vanish, or if I would get sucked into his vortex. I’d barely made it out alive the last time. I decided against clinging to him, but permitted him to hold me while I breathed through the confusion. I banded my arms around my stomach to keep my hands from taking me down a road I might never return from unscathed. “I haven’t been able to find them so far,” I admitted. “The one in the moat was there, but I can’t feel it outside of the castle anymore. My dad told me where the second one was. I haven’t been able to feel my gut much in this place.” I squinched my eyes shut. “What if I can’t find them?”
“You didn’t have me here before, but you do now. We’ve got this. Deep breaths, baby.” His chest made a show of expanding and contracting, so I’d mimic the motion.
I breathed in Bastien’s scent, pulling my focus to my gut and asking it to take me to the jewels Morgan had stolen from her sisters. When nothing happened, I started to worry. “I can’t feel it.”
Bastien’s hand trailed from the back of my head down to my tailbone, relaxing me from my fear that I would let everyone down so close to the finish line. “Stop worrying,” he urged quietly. “Don’t you know that I’ve always got you?”
His signature reassurance resonated in my chest, spreading out the inner peace like molasses through my body. His warmth chased away the scattered sensation I hadn’t been able to master to properly listen to my gut. “There you go,” he said as he felt me relax in his arms. “That’s how we do it.”
Slowly, and without warning, something clicked in my brain. “Upstairs.” I straightened in Bastien’s arms, now sure of where the next one would be. My eyes met his, and that familiar spark of connection, intrigue and oh-holy-crap-it’s-on crackled between us. “Let’s go.”
23
The Tallest Tower
Bastien threaded his fingers through mine when I turned to open the doors to the parlor, but I retracted my hand. “Rosie, please.” He was hurt, but that wasn’t why I’d dropped his hand.
“I’m engaged to Madigan. In public, I’m not going to hold another man’s hand. I won’t make Mad look like he can’t keep a woman faithful the day he gets engaged. I care about your friend, and so should you.”
Bastien swallowed as he shoved his hands into his pockets. “Okay. That makes sense.”
Madigan said nothing, but trotted along behind me with Link while I led the way up the stone steps. We moved quickly, slowing only when we came across soldiers in the hallways. We passed the eighth floor my room was on, my gut tugging me higher still. I could hear Madigan breathing loudly behind me, but none of the guys wanted to be the first to admit that nonstop stairs were no one’s favorite thing. “You guys want to take a break? We can if you need to lie down.” I worded the offer just sweet enough so they didn’t hear the dig, but only resonated with the challenge. It was a great way to keep a steady pace. My high school basketball coach used to play that trick on us all the time.
I lost count after ten flights of stairs, my sturdy thighs burning and my heart racing with the adrenaline of a kingdom on the brink of change. The few guards we ran by in the hallways didn’t even try to stop us, though I could tell they didn’t have a clue why we were climbing up to the more obscure parts of the castle.
When we reached the end of the road, my gut was telling me to go higher still. “This isn’t high enough. Are there more stairs somewhere?”
Bastien nodded. “There’s got to be a way to get to the tallest tower. Of course she’d hide it there. No one could get in and get it out without coming across dozens of guards. Lucky we have you, really.”
Link grabbed a stitch in his side and keeled over at the waist. “Aye. They’re all afraid to stop ye. Magic ticket, ye are. Is tha part of the bewitching Master Kerdik put on ye?”
Madigan answered for me. “They’re all afraid Morgan might not wake up. That would make Rosie Queen of Avalon, so no one’s going to cross her. Quick, now. Where next?”
I cast around, but the hallway seemed like a dead end. I frowned at the stones at the end of the short walkway that formed a door shape with rounded top edges. “Huh. We still have to go up, but I don’t see how if that door’s walled off.”
Madigan moved toward the stones, feeling their commitment to the rest of the wall. “I can break this down. Someone go get me a sledgehammer.”
I shook my head. “No. The trick is to get as many jewels out as possible without letting Morgan know we took them right away. I still have to live here until the last one’s gone. I think a giant hole in the wall might clue her in.”
Madigan waved off my concern. “So she finds out you’re after the jewels. I’ll move in here to watch ye. She won’t be able to hurt ye if I’m here.” He jerked his finger to Bastien. “And if Bastien moves in, too, she’ll have even less reign over ye. Might want to consider having the whole Brotherhood move in until this is settled.”
I shook my head to stop that right quick. “No. She was pissed I wore jeans outside, so she had Demi beaten. She’ll find a way to punish me. Plus, she might move them again, and make them harder to find. Stealth, Mad.” I trusted a hunch and jerked my chin toward the stairs we’d just hiked up. “This way. I’m feeling something.”
Link groaned dramatically. “How sure are we tha this Compass thing is real? I mean, the lass might just be jerking our chains to see us running up and down for nothing. I’ve got a fine arse. She just wants to stare at it, I’m certain.”
I guffawed, but then caught Link’s grin that told me he was joking. “Yes, that’s exactly it. Nothing gives me more joy than to watch a bunch of men go for a run, and then whine about it.”
“Aye, I knew ye were a saucy one. Bastien’s lady and Mad’s fiancée? Where do I fit in?”
I started back down the hallway. “You can be my puppy. Dog’s don’t talk, though, so best fall into the role without a fuss.” I couldn’t help my smile when Link didn’t fight back, but let out a bark. “And I’m not Bastien’s lady. Stop spreading that around. It’ll look bad for Mad, besides the fact that it’s not true.”
I didn’t look over my shoulder to see if the others followed, or if I’d hurt Bastien; I just went back down the first flight of stairs, stopping at the floor below to glance around. “I can’t put my finger on it, but something on this floor can get us up to the jewel.” I took a step forward, trying not to judge the likelihood of victory by the first uncertain step. I kept my pace measured, going where my gut led without questioning the “why” I couldn’t see quite yet. I rubbed my temples when Link’s whispering started to distract me.
“Is she always so intense, Mad?”
“No. She’s usually one ridiculous joke away from being shoved in the ocean.”
Link mimicked my tensed body language. “If I massaged my temples, do ye think I could be the Compass? Or is tha something tha only helps her, like a spell of some sort?” He kept rubbing his temples with his eyes closed. “Lead me to a giant pot of beef stew.”
I whirled on the guys and yanked Link down by his collar, keeping my voice quiet. “Look, Lucky Charms. I can’t concentrate when you’re yapping like that. Be a good little doggy and let me do my thing. You can lead the search party on the next mission. Then I’ll be sure to crack jokes and talk nonstop when you’re trying to concentrate and get the job done.”
It was as if I hadn’t spoken. “You’re a wee little thing. Mad’s going to have to pick ye up for your wedding kiss.”
“I’m five-foot-six-inches. That’s not ‘wee’. You’re all just overgrown football players.” I rolled my eyes and released him, guessing he was incapable of being serious or focusing. “Don’t talk about wedding stuff. Job first, yapping second.”
I moved forward, ignoring the others, who kept w
hispering about how it was going to work with me being Bastien’s lady, and marrying Mad. Link seemed to have been filled in on the broad strokes, but didn’t have the details colored in on his playmat yet. “Your mammy’s going to be Morgan le Fae, Mad. If that don’t get ye labeled a badass, nothing will.”
I geared up to spit out an acerbic retort, but Bastien closed the gap between us, cupping the back of my head and bringing it to his shoulder again. “Close your eyes, honey. Focus on the jewel.” He shot Link a disparaging look when the grinning leprechaun asked which one of my two suitors was allowed to knock me up. Bastien’s free hand rubbed slowly up and down my back to center me. “Just breathe. Ignore everything else. What do you feel?”
What a loaded question. I couldn’t get near Bastien without feeling a thousand too many things that each warred with each other, and tried to take top billing in my brain. “I can’t feel my gut, but I know the way up is here.”
Bastien turned me around so my back was pressed to his chest. His hand spidered out and palmed my stomach possessively while he leaned over my shoulder to speak in my ear. “Tell me what you feel now.”
I closed my eyes and placed my hand over his, willing the jewels to call me to them. Bastien’s free hand pressed against my forehead, anchoring the back of my head to his chest. We breathed in unison, and I hated that he knew exactly how to center me. I resented the fact that he knew what I needed, and that it was actually working.
Bastien moved with my feet as I stepped forward, his hand slipping from my forehead to lace his fingers between mine. There were no soldiers around, or anyone else on this floor, it seemed. We moved quietly, still, making sure to keep our footsteps light through the stone hallway. There were too many cobwebs stretching from the narrow stained-glass windows, letting me know that this floor didn’t see a lot of action.
My gut led us to a small doorway that only came up to my waist. “Huh. I think this is how we get up there.” I shifted the sliding door to the right, so I could peer inside.
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