“I better go see what’s going on. I think they just gave him the news that Alex would be staying,” I opened my eyes wide, then smiled down at Martin, who tried to laugh. “I’ll be back soon.”
I left Martin, and as soon as the door was closed I ran down the hall as fast as I could and up the stairs. I wanted to see what was going on, and I wanted to know if they had told Alex that we knew about his little secret, because if they hadn’t, I was going to. I stepped through the open door to find Bernard crawling over the back of the mattress, trying to get away from the reaching hand of Cates. “I won’t leave Alex, I won’t!” he yelled, dropping down onto the floor as if he could hide. Cates kicked the mattress and Bernard screamed when his broken leg slammed into the wall.
“Leave him alone. You’re hurting him,” Alex cried out from the other side of the room.
I walked up to Jacob and whispered, asking if they had mentioned anything about Alex being Inara’s son, and he shook his head just enough to tell me no.
“Will your mother not be pleased to have one of you back, Alex? Isn’t that the little secret you were keeping from me?” I asked as I made my way painfully slow in his direction, my statement even silenced Bernard. “Thought we didn’t know about that, didn’t ya?”
“I…I,” he stuttered.
“I, what? I told you that I could smell your lies, but what I failed to mention was the fact that I see all, I know all, and your failure to tell me everything has now split you and your brother apart.”
“I was afraid. Please, leave him alone. Take me to your dungeon,” he begged as crimson streaks ran down his face.
I turned around and looked at Jacob, who shrugged with a slight smile on his face. I twitched my lip to keep from smiling and turned back around. “He’s the weak one, Alex.”
“I will tell you anything, please.”
“You had your chance,” I spun around, swinging my hair into Alex’s body. “Take him out of here.” I stormed out of the room and made my way to the top of the stairs as fast as I could to keep the prisoners from hearing my laughter.
I straightened, acting like I was fixing my gown, which was one solid piece of white cloth. Cates appeared, backing out while dragging Bernard by the back of his shirt, with him kicking his legs, splint and all. Jacob came out and closed the door to the howls of Alex’s cries, smiling from ear to ear. He walked up beside Cates, where Bernard couldn’t see him. I bent down and got right in Bernard’s face. “If you don’t shut that mouth of yours, I will pull your tongue out myself.” He looked at me with eyes the size of teacup saucers, and closed his mouth. Cates lifted him with his one hand and carried him down the staircase, dangling like a ragdoll, from the grip he had on the back of Bernard’s shirt.
“What are you going to do to me?” Bernard asked, clamping his hand over his mouth at the sudden jerk of my head, looking so comical that I couldn’t control myself any longer and I burst out laughing, which made him think I was even madder than he first had thought.
“We are going to show you what we are going to do to, not you, but Alex…if you fail us in any way,” Jacob said, once we reached Martin’s door.
“Give me a moment,” I ordered, opening the door just enough to slip inside.
I rushed to Martin’s side and told him that we were bringing Bernard in to scare the living crap out of him before we sent him back to his mistress, and that I needed him to look his worst. He looked up at me like I truly was mad and asked how much more did he need to do to look worse than he already did. “Moan, roll your head from side to side. Think of something, because I want him to think we’re going to pay his mistress back by doing the same thing to Alex that was done to you,” I explained, getting a reassuring pat on my hand that he knew what I was talking about and that I could let them in.
“Would you mind if I remove the cover? The damage on your lower half will have more of an impact than him just seeing your feet and face.”
“I am sure that all have seen my most private of places, so yes, you may remove my cover,” he smiled, looking better every time I looked at him.
“Okay,” I leaned down and moved the cover, afterwards lightly kissing his lips. “Now act like your dying.”
I went back to the door and opened it slowly for emphasis. The first thing that Bernard tried to do was back up, moving both legs against the floor, while reaching up and gripping Cates’ hand as Cates lifted him up and carried him into the room. The sight of Martin being at this house was something he hadn’t expected at all and the visual display of his tremendous wounds let him know first-hand that we knew what was happening to our maker. “I didn’t know, I swear,” he lied, out of pure desperation.
“Hello Bernard, funny seeing you here. Last time I saw you, you were happily running a blade down my back,” Martin cringing as he pushed himself up in a higher sitting position.
I spun around fast with my arm already coming up and backhanded Bernard across the face, knocking him out of Cates’ hand and into the door frame. He collapsed to the ground. Blood flew from his mouth as he cried out and spit two teeth into the palm of his hand. He bent forward, bringing up the only knee he could, and held his face. When he finally looked up and saw me glaring, he was ready to go back, leaving Alex at our mercy. Cates reached down and Bernard’s hands shot up, thinking he was blocking another blow, when he was once again lifted off the floor, and none to gently. Tammy’s eyes were dead set on him, and even I could read his death in them. He kept his eyes to the floor as Martin spoke.
“You say nothing, about anything, except what you are told. If you choose to do otherwise, I will have my guard do to your precious lover what your true mistress has done to me. Bernard has a secret of his own don’t you, Bernard?”
“If she finds out she’ll kill me.”
“What of Alex, Bernard? What would he think if he were to find out about you and the High Mistress?” Martin asked, displaying a lower tone when he said the last.
“He would hate me,” he whimpered. “She promised she would allow us safety by the throne when she rid London of her sister.” He glanced up, saw Martin’s privates then looked right back at the floor.
“You thought me dead in a few nights time. Why else would you freely agree to lay hands to Angelica, while others lay hands to me?” Martin asked, then called out my name sternly as he saw my hand coming up a second time. “There will be plenty of time for that if he fails us.”
“How can I stand here and listen to this and not beat this piece of shit?”
“Then leave,” he replied, shocking me with his tone but keeping me in control at the same time. I nodded and he continued.
I looked over at Tammy, who looked back at me and we had a perfect understanding. No matter what happened at that gala, Bernard and Alex would die. Bernard would taste my blade for enjoying what he did to my maker and then, and only then, would I step aside and give Tammy the rest to avenge the two women that were put to death at their hands; not counting the countless others before them. Martin told Bernard that his dirty little secret about sleeping with and willingly accepting Angelica’s offer to help kill her sister would be safe if he went back and told Inara that Martin was already safe in his own domain and that Alex would not be harmed if she helped us at Angelica’s the night of the gala. In return, other than just having her beloved son returned, she would take the position of ‘High Mistress’ and we would be on our way. It was a lie of course, but it was the lie that would get us in and close enough to take out the three seats of power and hopefully not have to fight the entire ballroom of breeders.
Chapter Twenty One
It was strange watching Sydney hook up the coach, since we found him on a sail boat, but he did it like he had been doing it all of his life. He and Cates dressed in the nastiest rags they could find with hoods that draped over their faces, trying their best to look like normals, which apparently meant smelling like the horse that drew the coach. Derek and Jacob rode inside with Bernard, both had their we
apons drawn and ready in case Inara’s people attacked them. Fala stayed back to protect the “women” who said nothing when it was brought up, thinking it might not be a bad idea to have someone that could rip the limbs off of just about anything watching our backs.
They drove straight there, dumped Bernard out at the front gate, and drove away to his cries for help. Garvin watched and, with the aid of the lights of several torches, saw Bernard running to the gates entrance, falling, and then being lifted off the ground and taken in. Once they arrived back at the estate, we started looking for things to wear and, for once, the search was one of pure joy without the never ending chaos that we had at the end of the so called rainbow. Martin told us about the trunks full of costumes in the attic, and the boys went up and brought them down to the family room, having to set some out in the hall, due to the lack of room.
There was one chest that stood out from the rest because it reminded me of the one my mother kept her personal belongings in. It once held the very dress that she and my father buried me in thinking I was dead and to them I truly was. She had it for her own death and had made it herself, just as her mother had made hers and I would have one day made my own had things been different. I walked up to it going down on my knees, smoothing my hand over the top, exposing the beauty of the dark wood under the thick layer of dust. The carvings were far different than that of my mothers; far more detailed and with the smallest of intricate art work. Vines and flowers graced the trim; larger leaves like rose petals lay spread out on the top with tiny clusters of flowers in each of the corners. The panels were equally as impressive, with swirls making no particular pattern.
When I opened it I had truly thought that I had stepped back in time to when my mother showed me her wedding dress for the first time when I was nine. It was the first thing you saw when you opened the chest. I reached in and lifted the similar dress out by the shoulders and stood up. It was breathtaking. I held it up against me and spun around. The flow at the bottom was wide and much longer in the back than it was in the front; the arms were billowy on the shoulders and slim down to the back of the hands, and completely covered in tiny pearls. The neck line was cut low on the chest and there was more lace than there was silky white material.
“I believe that is the wrong attire for the gala,” Jacob said, scaring me so bad that I almost dropped the dress…almost.
“I was just looking at it.” I put it back with my embarrassment showing all over my face.
“It is a thing worn by those joining in your culture, correct? As husband and wife?”
“Yeah,” I smiled with rosy cheeks. “My ring, Jacob?”
I darted down the hall past him and into Martin’s room. He was nude when we carried him back and my only hope was that he had hidden it somewhere in the house before he left out into the tunnels. He opened his eyes and tried to sit up. “No, please. I just have a question,” I said hurriedly, making my way to the side of the bed so he wouldn’t keep moving around. “Martin, I know I have no right asking you this, because of the way I treated you, but…my ring?”
“I am so sorry, my love,” he said, taking my hand and kissing the finger that it once sat on. “It was in the pocket of my vest that I was wearing the night that I left.”
“I should have never taken it off.”
“I will get you another one,” he said, as I laid my head down on his chest.
“I don’t want another one. I want my ring back.”
“I am afraid it is lost, my love.”
“I love the way you say that,” I smiled up at him, kissing the bruised skin on the center of his chest. “The sound of your voice is so different from mine.”
“I am French and you are an American. Your accent is as beautiful to my ears as mine is to yours. But, I must say that I do not understand some of the things that you say.”
“You mean what Jacob calls my slang?”
“I believe that is what one would call it,” he chuckled. “Ouch! You always make me laugh.”
“Laughter is healing and you are looking much better.”
“I feel better, and with your group and the way that you are together, I should be healed in just a matter of days.”
“I better get back to the others. I have to find my gown for this party thing,” I stood, bowing at the waist and he choked on his own burst of laughter.
“Are you alright, did you hurt yourself?” I asked, sitting back down on the bed and holding his shoulder as he leaned to the side to cough.
“You must promise me not to do that at the gala,” he half coughed, half laughed.
“What? Do what, Martin?”
“Bow. You looked like a female version of Jacob, or perhaps, Cates. Women curtsy. You bend both knees with one behind the other.”
“I know how to curtsy,” I said, giggling just a bit. “I just forgot that I was a girl, momentarily.”
“You will be the death of me. Go before you cause me to laugh my stitches open.” He grabbed my hand as I started to get up again. “But not before you give me one more kiss to last until you return.”
I gave him another kiss; only this one was much longer than a simple kiss on the forehead. I pressed my lips to his and he held me there for a long moment. I could taste his blood when I licked my lips, saw a little seeping from the split on his bottom lip and I couldn’t control my next move. I leaned back over and licked the blood off in a slow, lingering swipe, then closed my mouth over his. He groaned in pain, bending at his waist.
“Did I hurt you? I don’t know why I did that.”
“There was no pain in what you just did. On the contrary, it felt so good it caused me pain elsewhere.”
I stood up after a few seconds of silent thinking and almost tripped on his bedside table. It was far too obvious to hide the fact that I had already looked down at his lower half. “I have to go. I am so sorry,” I apologized, backing toward the door, watching him smile, knowing I had just embarrassed the hell out of myself because we both knew what had happened to his private area and I just made it worse. I opened the door as I backed up, trying to act like everything was just fine, and whacked my head on the side of the door as I turned my head to leave. I could hear him laughing and choking as I made my way with a fast pace back down the hall.
***
“Why are you so red?” Derek remarked, as soon as I walked into the family room.
“Why on earth are you wearing that on your head?” I asked in reply changing the subject, and with good reason, because he had a white wig on that had curls all over it.
“They said we all had to wear them.”
“This trunk is full of them, even though your hair is long enough to create the same style,” Tanda said, squatted down in front of it.
“So, does that mean I don’t have to wear one then?”
“Hell yeah you have to wear one,” Derek answered for her. “If I have to, everyone is going to put one on.”
“I must agree with young Derek, Renee,” Cates said, flipping one of the white wigs onto his head.
“Yep, I have to say the same thing, girl,” Sydney added, putting one that looked just like theirs on his head.
Jacob, Fala, and Garvin followed suit and the whole room broke out in one of the loudest, longest laughing outbreaks that we had had so far. Tammy had to excuse herself, leaving the room holding her stomach. I think everyone in the room was coated with red faces from tears that came from laughing so hard, but it was one of the best times that we had had since this whole ordeal had started. The best part of the whole night was watching everyone try on the fancy clothing. Derek was the worst of all, griping about every single thing and causing more laughter than anyone in the room. He was the first to step back in from the hall wearing the knee high fancy green pants with white tights and slim black shoes that barely covered his toes.
“Where is the top?” Tanda asked, getting up and going over to him as he pulled up on the tights that were apparently bigger than the pants.
&nbs
p; “I was having too much trouble with all those buttons. I don’t even know if I have these things on right, and they are killing my business,” Derek explained, reaching down and trying to adjust himself.
“Well you most certainly cannot do that in front of those where we are going,” Tanda said, slapping his hand.
“I know just how he feels,” Sydney complained, coming in behind Derek in an outfit much like his, only blue. “I think my toe just broke through. Do we really have to wear the leg things?”
“It was the style of the dignitaries in the days of old, and yes, you have to wear them,” Tanda scolded him, taking control of inspecting the fit, as much as she did passing out the clothing. “I’ll find you another pair.” Then she began re-buttoning his shirt.
“I’ll let you deal with these two and go try on my dress,” I said, grabbing the gown she laid out for me and the silly wig that was much bigger than the one the boys had to wear, and quite frankly, I had no idea how I was going to keep it on my head.
I nearly dropped the things in my hands when Tammy and Cates came out of their room when I was going down the hall to mine. Cates wasn’t able to find any clothes that fit, so he had no choice but to go as Tammy’s eunuch slave. I twisted my mouth at the tight black tights and matching vest that only fit his upper chest. Had the legs been billowy, he would have looked like Isa’s servant. Cates had no shoes on and his hair was pulled back with a long black ribbon. “I’ll put his face paint on before we go to the gala,” Tammy winked as we passed. She looked amazing in her hoop skirt that brushed the wall as they walked down the hall. Her large breasts were pushed up so high, that I think the only thing that kept them from spilling out was the extremely tight way the dress fit around the bottom of them. The dress was gold in color with black lace around the waist and over the mounds of her breasts. I turned to look back at them and saw a large, black bow at her back that draped all the way to the bottom of the gown. Cates didn’t turn his head as I walked by, but I did see his arm leave Tammy’s to pull at the intruding material at his backside.
Bloodbreeders: Lies Beneath London Page 21
