by Cherie Marks
She looked at him as if he’d just spewed vomit out of his mouth all over her boots. “Are you crazy? You’re offering me a lifetime behind locked doors when I know how to fix this whole mess. No, thank you. You can take your negotiation and shove it up your tight ass.”
How was she planning to fix it? Was this what Baba Yaga had been telling him about?
She turned toward the door, but he spanned to stand in front of it, blocking her exit. “Surely, you have questions about your father’s assassination.”
Her mouth parted slightly, and her eyes narrowed as she crossed the small room to stand right in front of him. She poked her finger into his chest as she explained, “I didn’t try to murder my father five years ago, and I didn’t assassinate him. But someone did, and I have a way to figure out who it was, and it doesn’t involve answering questions for the Protectorate. You are not getting in my way.”
He slowly reached up and grasped her hand mid-poke. He held it gently in his as he reached out to her face with his other hand and stroked the back of it down her cheek.
“There’s a record of you being in your father’s bedroom both nights. They have evidence.”
She nodded as he lowered his hand from her face. “I was there both nights. That much is true, but the first time I was there, he was still sound asleep when I left. And the second time, he wasn’t even there. Someone else attacked the King, and I must find out who it was.”
“Wait! What do you mean you were there both nights?”
“Five years ago, on the night my father was attacked, I went to his room to explain to him why I...I couldn’t be an assassin any longer. I had just returned from a mission where I was tasked to kill a child. A child, Mav! I couldn’t do it. And I couldn’t believe my father had ordered such a horrific thing. I went to confront him, but when I was in his room, standing at the foot of his bed, I couldn’t go through with it. I couldn’t bring myself to ask him the questions I so desperately needed the answers to because I was afraid that I already knew the truth. The man who had sent me to the Assassin’s Academy, despite my mother’s protests, at the age of five was heartless, and I was just a tool for him to use when the job was too ugly for him to complete. I ran and never looked back. I went straight for the portal and left Linwyn and all my misery behind.”
Her gaze stared past him, as if she were watching the scene unfold behind his back. She was lost in her memories, but he could feel she was telling him the truth.
“And the night he was assassinated?”
She met Mav’s gaze with hers again. “I snuck back into Linwyn. I scaled the palace walls, and I crept into his bedroom once more. I planned to show him that in the five years since I’d run away, I’d learned who I really was. My plan had been to confront him. I wanted to know how he could do what he had done to someone he called his daughter. He turned me into a killer. I needed answers about more than his motivation in using me, though. I wanted to know how I could be his offspring. I couldn’t quite reconcile the realization that who I was could be so different from him. How was I his daughter? How was he such a monster? This time, though, when I stood at the foot of his bed, it was empty. He wasn’t there. In that moment, I saw it as a blessing. I’d lost my nerve. I went back through the portal and decided to find a different way to get my answers.”
“So, are you telling me you’re innocent of the crimes for which you’re accused?”
“I’m telling you that I need to find out who is behind all of this, and I finally have a way to do that. Now, you either get out of my way, or I will go through you. I’ll warn you, if you choose the second option, it will be painful for you.”
He dropped her hand and stepped to the side, leaving the doorway unblocked. But as she stepped to open the door, he laid a hand on her shoulder. “I’m curious about something you said. Are you saying that he wasn’t in his bed the night he was assassinated?”
“He wasn’t there when I arrived in the room. I don’t know if he arrived afterward into a dangerous situation, but I hope to find out the truth for myself.”
“I don’t know that I can answer all your questions, but I can tell you one thing. After you left, he was devastated. You meant more to him than a tool to be used for his bidding.”
“Then, why would he send me to murder a child?”
“That’s a mystery to me as well, but when you were gone, he stopped sleeping. He only slept for a couple hours each night, and usually, in a bed at the other end of the palace—your bed.”
“Mine?”
He nodded as he watched the confusion and shock on her face. She really hadn’t killed him. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have gone to his bedroom. She would have gone to her own. He was assassinated in her room.
“This detail is why I believe you. The assassin didn’t kill him in his bed. He was murdered in yours, and you didn’t even know that was where you’d find him.”
Her body sagged as her knees seemed to give out, and he held her upright, while Jeff circled her legs. The realization of her father’s actions probably only caused her more confusion, but he needed to help her. Someone was trying to steal the throne, and he felt a sense of responsibility to make sure that didn’t happen.
“I’m coming with you. Whatever you need to do, I’ll help you.”
“I don’t need your help, Mav. Your job here is done. Just let me go.”
He closed the short space between them and placed his hands on her hips, staring into the brilliant green of her eyes. “I can’t do that. Where you go, I go also. I will give my life for yours. Your cause is my cause from this day unto forever.”
Her chest worked in and out rapidly as she listened to his words. “I can’t ask that of you.”
“That is the vow I gave to your father as a Royal Hunter, and now I give it to you. I am yours to command, Princess.”
Chapter 15
Gemma sat down at the small table across from Mav in his room. He’d asked her to stay to talk him through what needed to be done. She still had her doubts that she could trust him, but she had to admit that she didn’t think he would just let her walk away. And, if she was being honest with herself, she could use another mind to help her think out the execution of her plan.
She’d sent Jeff to the cottage in the woods where Kylie and Gaston waited to hear news about Gemma’s status. She was still upset that Mav had led Kylie through to Linwyn. Too many things could go wrong, and Gemma had thought she’d kept Kylie out of it. Now, Gemma had to factor in how to keep Kylie safe and how to get her back to where she belonged.
They were sharing a meal of a chicken-like bird that was raised on some of the surrounding farms in Linwyn. It was crispy and flavorful, and each bite brought back memories of growing up here. This was one of the few good memories. Too many of what she remembered was bittersweet or downright miserable.
“What exactly are you planning, Gemma?”
With a heavy sigh, Gemma reached into her backpack and pulled the brown, hardcover spell book out of it. She laid it between Mav and her on the table and flipped the pages open to the spell she planned to use. Mav leaned in and read the page. He glanced up at her and back down to the page.
When his attention was fully back on her, he asked, “You’re going to travel back in time?”
She nodded. “I’ll be able to go back to the night I was going to confront my father. I’ll arrive a few minutes after the earlier version of me leaves.”
“How do you know the attempt on your father’s life happened then?”
“I don’t, but I don’t need to. In that ten minutes, I will wake him and warn him. He’ll see for himself who tried to kill him. That’s all the time I get. The spell only lasts for ten minutes.”
She watched his thoughts play out on his face as he pondered her plan. He doubted her ability to pull it off, of that she was sure. And he also probably wondered what difference it would make. These were the exact things that Gemma couldn’t help but consider as well.
Could she
even do this? And would it work? She didn’t know, but there was only one way to find out.
“Will you have time to ask him your questions?”
“I don’t know, but I know that I don’t really have a choice. I have to make this right.”
Baba Yaga’s warning came back to him. “What if this has far-reaching consequences? How do you know this won’t mess up the flow of time in some way? Maybe destroy the very fabric of time?”
“According to the spell, I have to have something to ground me. Something that ties me to my correct time. It must be something for which my soul will always return. I think it will be the necklace my mother gave me.”
He nodded. “Tell me what you need from me.”
“I need you to distract the Royal Guard. I’m sure they already know that I’m here, but I need time and space to work the spell.”
“I can do that. Anything else?”
She wasn’t quite sure how to make this next step work, but it was necessary. “I need you to get me into the King’s bedroom.”
“And how do you suppose I do that?”
“Can’t you just span us into the room?”
He shook his head. “It’s magically sealed. No one can span in or out.”
“That’s going to be a problem. I have to cast the spell in the place to where I will send myself into the past.”
“Captain Narcus still posts guards outside of the King’s bedroom. He will also be monitoring all the palace hallways and high-traffic areas. It would be difficult to move through the palace without being seen.”
Gemma’s hair was pulled back in a long braid as she usually wore it, but small tendrils had come loose around her ears. As far back as she could remember, she’d wrapped the tendrils around her pointer finger whenever she tried to soothe her anxiety. Her hand slipped up to the tendrils, and she began curling the wisps of hair around her finger while she tried to think of a solution.
“What is this that you’re doing with your hair?”
When she met his gaze, Mav stared intently as he reached across and slid a finger down the palm of her hand. She shivered in reaction.
“It’s nothing. Just a nervous habit.”
“It’s so...human.”
“I can assure you I’ve had the habit since I was just a young child, long before I traveled to the human realm.”
“I know of the behavior. It’s called self-soothing, and it is a way that children often calm themselves when they don’t have a parent there to do it for them.” He cocked his head to the side, and his eyes softened. “I’m sorry you were so alone.”
Was he...pitying her? She drew her finger free of her hair and sat up straight, pulling out of his reach. “What do you mean? I don’t need your sympathy. I’m fine.”
“You are. Despite the fact you had to grow up quicker than many, you are fine, and I’m not trying to pity you if that is what you believe.” He sighed and stared at the tabletop for a few seconds before explaining, “I have self-soothing behaviors as well. Specifically, when I’m anxious, I push my fingernails into the soft skin of my fingertips and make a fist to feel the bite of my nails in my palm. It is something I started doing at a young age after my parents both died, and I was left orphaned.”
Gemma’s heart clenched with Maverick’s revelation about the effect on him from the loss of his parents. She had a sudden urge to wrap him tightly in her arms. How very human of her. Yet, he’d turned out well after such adversity. She could relate to his story. Though she’d had both parents until her mother left two years before Gemma did, she’d often been left to her own devices to cope with the difficult lessons and drills of the Academy. Not to mention, she’d had to navigate the politics of being a student assassin among other student assassins without any support or advice. As a young child, it had made her life hell at times. She’d survived, clearly, but she had never thought about the lasting effects it would leave on her mind.
“How did you become a hunter?”
He looked up and focused his deep blue eyes on her once more. “Your father, King Zolunder, sent me to train to be a hunter. I owe him my life, so when he asked me to find you and bring you home, I didn’t hesitate. When I heard of his murder and the accusation against you, I must admit I was confused. Something didn’t add up. Your father only wanted his daughter back.”
She had a hard time believing what Mav said. It didn’t sound like they had known the same man. Yet, no doubt about it, his actions had shaped both Mav and her.
“For better or worse, he certainly made us who we are.”
“Will you be satisfied if you don’t get the answers to your questions?”
“The only way I’ll be satisfied is if I am able to have that conversation with a very healthy and alive King once I awake in the present. Then, we’ll see why exactly he wanted his daughter back.”
“We should probably get some rest.” He looked sheepishly to the right side of the small living space. “I only have the one bed, and it is rather narrow. I’ll take the floor. You can have the bed.”
Gemma shrugged. A flirtatious part of her she never knew existed asked, “You don’t believe I can keep my hands to myself?”
He laughed lightly, and Gemma liked that she could evoke such a reaction from him.
“More like, I don’t want you to sneak away again in the middle of the night.”
“What if I promise not to go anywhere. Would you lay in the bed with me then?”
His eyes lit up and widened. “Could you keep your hands off me?” Then, he broke into a wide grin. “I’m okay either way. Just need to know what to expect.”
“You’ll never know what to expect with me, Maverick.”
For all her big talk, though, Gemma laid down and turned her back to Maverick as soon as the bed gave with his weight. She wasn’t sure how the night would go laying next to Mav, but right now, all she could think about was the taste of his lips.
Twice now, they’d kissed, and the way the kisses had warmed up her insides and made her throb between her legs. She wasn’t sure she would be able to stop at just a kiss the next time. Yet, she found herself turning onto her back. Mav was facing her. As she turned her head, their gazes met and held. Electricity fired between them.
How bad would it be if they kissed a little? Took it further? She didn’t mind taking the chance, so when Mav reached for her, she didn’t hesitate. She grabbed his shirt and pulled herself toward him. Their bodies collided as Mav cupped the back of her head and angled his.
Their lips met, and Gemma’s senses went wild. Flowing energy turned somersaults in her abdomen at the touch. Her heart was pounding in her chest.
The kiss was hot and, as his tongue met hers, wet and uninhibited. She couldn’t get enough of the taste of him as their mouths slanted and slipped against each other’s.
Maverick pulled back, and Gemma stared at him hazily as he said, “Your kiss is driving me crazy. I don’t think I can stop, Gemma.”
“Then don’t.”
It was all the motivation he needed apparently. He slid his hands down to the waist of her pants as she shifted to lie on her back once more. He untucked her t-shirt and began working it upward as she lifted slightly and raised her hands above her head. The shirt came off and he tossed it somewhere behind him. His hands hovered over her for a moment, and she felt her cheeks heat.
He unhooked the front clasp of her bra and swept it aside. His hand lifted and rubbed his mouth as his gaze locked onto her breasts.
“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful. I’m going to kiss and suck until your begging me for more.”
With that, he lowered his mouth and hung over her nipple, sending warm exhalations over the sensitive skin. His tongue tentatively laved at the point, and she arched her back, her body expressing the need building inside her. When he enclosed her nipple between his lips, she throbbed between her legs. As he sucked gently, she moaned, and sunk her hands into his hair, pulling him in closer.
When he closed his l
ips around her other nipple, her hips lifted into the air, and she wanted to feel the hardness of his body against hers again. “I need you, Mav. I can’t wait any longer.” She could barely catch her breath.
He went straight to the button at the top of her pants and pulled it free. The zipper made a familiar growl as he pulled it, and then he began working her pants down her legs. Impatient, she helped him with her own hands, kicking them off as they reached her ankles.
As he looked at her, his eyes burned with arousal. His lips went to her stomach, and he kissed it lightly as he slipped a finger inside her silky panties. It was the one feminine thing in which she allowed herself to indulge, and she was glad she wasn’t the only one who got to appreciate them for once.
“Just look at you. I’m going to spend myself just looking at you.”
He kissed his way up to her breasts once more, rolling his tongue around her nipple as his fingers searched for and found her slick and ready. He slipped a finger inside and positioned his thumb over her clitoris. He had to be holding his hands in a sort of horseshoe shape as he worked them in tandem. All kinds of pleasurable sensations shot through her body as his touch triggered an instant reaction.
“Ah, goddess, Maverick. Feels so good.”
“You like that, do you? Are you going to come for me, Gemma?”
“Goddess, yes. Keep doing that. Yeeesss.”
He paused to add a second finger, then picked up the rhythm again. She felt the stirrings of her orgasm, and her hips began to buck slowly as she cried out. She teetered on the edge for just a moment as he worked his hand rhythmically over spots she never knew existed. The world went still for just a moment as her orgasm came crashing over her, and she covered her own mouth to keep from shouting loud enough to wake up the palace. Over and over, her sex clenched, and she rode the pleasure like a wave until it settled, and she could breathe again.
“That felt amazing, Maverick.”
He was up on his elbow, his reddish-brown hair tousled, and a huge grin stretching his cheeks wide. He was clearly proud of himself. She thought he should be. Never had she experienced any pleasure like that, and she was sure it would only get better with him.
