“What’s that?”
“Something to take the edge off.”
She holds her hand out. “Can I have one?”
I raise an eyebrow. “Are you serious?”
“Nah!” She waves me off with a laugh. “I’m not actually real, so it wouldn’t do me any good. And it looks like you need it more than I do.”
I place the pills back in my pocket and peer up at her. “What do you mean, you’re not real?”
“I mean exactly that. Not flesh and blood like you.”
“Then what are you?”
She passes a hand over my mother’s tight bun. “A manifestation of this room. I am whoever comes into it. Whoever they are most likely to tell the truth for.”
I laugh. “Well, the room sure as shit got it wrong this time.”
She shakes her head. “The room never gets it wrong, dear.”
I cross my arms over my chest, feeling smug. “I hide everything I can from my mother.”
The woman laughs, and the lights in the room dim slightly. Thank goodness. That damn light was about to melt off my corneas.
“That doesn’t mean she doesn’t know the truth. That she can’t see it.”
My expression falls, and the woman nods.
“Everyone that walks into this room thinks it can be outsmarted. We’ll save a lot of time if you get over that notion right now.” She starts pacing again.
With a sigh, I lean my head back against the wall. “What do the Harkers want to know?”
She stops and stares me down. Then she gets right to it. “Have you been sneaking around these grounds with a witch?”
“No.” My response is automatic. Even though Charming hates me. Even though he’s not coming back here. Even though he probably never needed my help keeping himself concealed in the first place, I won’t betray him. Not any more than I already have. Just thinking about him sends sharp blades into my heart.
What the hell was I thinking?
“Has a spirit witch inhabited your body?”
I raise an eyebrow. “Uh, no.”
She stops pacing and slams her hands onto her hips, nostrils flaring. I’ve been seeing that look on a lot of people tonight.
“Then how did you cross the magical barrier?”
I shrug.
“Listen, Kinsley. Whoever you’re trying to protect… Is it really worth being stuck here for the rest of your life?”
I frown. Is it? After I chose drugs over him? It actually might be.
“I’m not protecting anyone.”
She puckers her lips. “Are you yourself a witch?”
I think about what Charming said. About my ability to perform touch magic. But that didn’t make me a witch. It certainly didn’t make me strong enough to breach a Harker witch defense.
“What was that?” The woman kneels in front of me and shoves a finger in my face.
I bat it away. It slices through thin air, and a chill wraps around my body. The lights flicker again.
She doesn’t seem to notice. “What were you just thinking?”
I shake my head. “Nothing.”
She straightens up and dances in a circle like a child. “Liar, liar, pants on fire!” She spins to facing me again and clucks her tongue. “That eyelid flutter means you were thinking about something. What was it?”
I shake my head at the woman. “What is your name?”
She tilts her head to the side.
“So I have something to call you.”
“I told you to call me the truth.”
“I’m not calling you the truth. A real name please. The Harkers must call you something.”
Her nose wrinkles up. “They call me Verity.”
I nod. “Nice name.”
“Thanks.” She frowns at me. “I’m a magical program used for getting the Harkers information they want. They don’t like getting their hands dirty in public.”
I nod, and my stomach tightens with dread. I wonder if Verity was exaggerating about this room not letting me go until it knows all my secrets.
“How are you doing this?” Verity asks in a faraway voice.
I look up at her. “Doing what?”
Another dark shadow passes her face, and when it leaves, her features are flushed red and contorted with anger. She comes at me looking like a hungry bull shark. Before I can make a move, she picks me up by the sleeves of my jacket and slams my head back against the wall.
“How are you doing this?”
With another slam against the wall, I start to feel dizzy. I grab her wrists and try to pry her fingers off me. Why is everyone so strong tonight?
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about!” I scream.
Her hands snake around my neck and squeeze. “You know exactly what I’m talking about!”
As soon as my air supply cuts off, I panic. Why is it that I can’t touch her but she can touch me? Screw it. I throw my head back and slam it forward into air. Her hands loosen from around my neck, and I fall flat on my face. With a groan, I roll around and wrap my hands around my neck. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Verity starts walking around me in slow circles. “I’ve been doing this for hundreds of years, and not once, ever, have I told anyone my name or what I am.”
Coughing, I scramble backwards on my ass and take shelter in the corner. “I don’t understand why you think I have something to do with that.” My voice comes out scratchy, almost like I’ve just nearly been choked to death.
Verity simply smiles at me and holds her right arm out to her side. My eyes widen as a double-bladed sword appears in her hand. Blue tinged fire dances along the metal of each blade.
I try to back away again, but there is nowhere to go. She stalks toward me, swinging the blade expertly. Flames spit off the metal and land on the floor where, of course, it doesn’t burn.
Nothing on these grounds works the way it should. Might be a good thing. Might mean that when Verity touches me with that blade, I won’t get charred and sliced up.
Somehow I doubt it.
“Enough games, Kinsley. You’re going to answer this next question, and you’re going to do it truthfully. Or…” She points one end of her flaming sword at me. “I’m going to take a small piece of you away. Each time you lie, you’ll lose another piece until pieces of you are littered all around this room. You got it?”
Taking in a deep breath, I hold it and nod.
“How did you breach the Harkers’ magical defense?”
I open my mouth and ponder how to answer that question. A street witch showed up and swept me off to save my friends and then we wound up having the best sex I—or anyone else—has ever had, then I ditched him for my drug habit?
If I tell Verity that, will she alert the Harkers? Will the Harkers then hunt him down? Kill him? Can they kill him? Would Charming be able to stand up to all that magic? If he could, would he forgive me for selling him out?
Who am I kidding? Forgiveness from him has taken a long ride down shit creek. I open my mouth to form the words that will let me out of this room, but I physically can’t make my tongue work against him.
Verity steps so close to me, the fire from her blade heats up my skin. I start to sweat into my jacket. I back away as far as I can, which isn’t very much.
“I’m losing patience.” She inches the blade closer to my throat.
Panicked, I close my eyes, open my mouth, and blurt out the first words my tongue will allow me to form.
“I fell in love!”
What the fuck was that? I fell in love? With a guy I just met? Whose name I don’t even know just because he gives amazing dick? I bury my head in my knees and prepare to have a piece of my body hacked off.
Instead, the fire from Verity’s blades lessen in intensity. She lets out a shout, and I peer up between my fingers like a little kid hiding during the scary part of a movie.
Nothing.
I remove my hands and lift my head all the way up. Not only is there no Verity,
there are no impossibly bright lights. For a moment, I’m outside, backed against a tree, then booms start going off in the night. It sounds like logs being stacked on top of one another. I squint through the darkness and find that’s exactly what it is.
Within minutes, I’m inside of a cozy looking cabin. It’s dressed in all browns, from the curtains to the plush couch I’m behind.
In confusion, I struggle to my feet. The pop from a fire draws my attention to a stone fireplace. The fire dancing inside is welcoming, unlike Verity and her sword. Behind me, the door creeks open, and Mac is standing there.
I back away from him, holding my hands up. “Stay the hell away from me!”
He takes off his top hat and holds his head up. “Kinsley…” He keeps walking.
I stomp my foot. Tears sting the corners of my eyes. I bite down on my lip, refusing to let them fall. “I said, stay away from me!”
He stops and lowers his head. “It wasn’t my idea.”
“Like hell it wasn’t.”
“Please, you have to understand. My mother needed to know how you breached that defense. It’s never been done. We couldn’t let you go without knowing that information. For our protection.”
I stare down my nose at him in disgust. “For your protection? For your protection you were willing to lock me in a room forever?”
He shakes his head. “Of course not. Just until the truth came out.”
I snort. “Oh, well that’s much better!”
“Kinsley, please.”
“Forget it.” I march over to him and glare up into his stupid, handsome face. “Give me my phone. I’m leaving.”
He shakes his head. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. Not yet, at least.”
My body starts to shake with anger. “What do you mean? I was invited here. You can’t keep me.”
He stares down at me, his eyes searching mine. “You fell in love?”
I press my lips together. “What?”
“That was the confession that let you out of the truth room. You fell in love. How?”
I stare at him. “Give me my phone,” I say slowly. “I want to leave.”
“You can’t do that, not until…”
“Fine.” I brush past him and stomp out the open door.
There is a chiming in the air to my left. My gaze follows it. In the distance, a tall, stone clock tower sings off the hours.
It is eleven o’clock.
I just want this night to be over.
I snap my gaze back in front of me and continue to rush through the backyard. Suddenly, Gemma Harker blocks me, a friendly smile on her lips. I stop in my tracks then double back.
“What…”
Before I can finish, she whips her pointy black hat off her head and throws it at me like a Frisbee. I try to duck, but the hat glides down toward my feet, grows to one hundred times its size, and I fall through the hole.
With a scream, I fall for God knows how long until I hit a soft surface. When I look up, Gemma’s face is smiling down at me. She waves a hand over the brim of her hat and seals me up in darkness.
FOR THE NEXT few minutes, I howl Gemma’s name. Then I scream every curse word I can think of at her, but all my hateful words do is drift into the darkness and bounce back at me. She is nowhere, and I seem to be stuck inside her hat.
Of course.
I slam both fists into the material underneath me. I can’t see, but it feels like satin or silk. Well, I guess if a bitch is going to trap you, it’s nice of her to make sure you’re comfortable. Unfolding my hands, I press them against the soft surface and use them to push myself up. I stand on wobbly legs, darting my gaze to my left then to my right.
I can’t see anything.
“Gemma!” I yell, turning my face upward. “Let me out of here!”
Nothing. I wait a few minutes hoping she—or anyone—will answer me. When nobody does, I stumble around with my hands stretched out in front of me. All my fingers touch is air. There is nothing. No walls. I stumble down the…whatever in what I hope is a straight line.
Voices from above stop me.
“Mother, you can’t possibly think it’s okay to leave her in there.”
Mac. I look up again. “Mac?” I call out. “Mac! Hey, where are you?”
Again from above me, a female laughs. It must be Gemma.
“Not forever. Not even for a long time. Just until it’s time to use her.”
My breath hitches. “Use me? Use me for what?”
“I don’t know if she’s the one.” Mac’s voice again.
Either he’s ignoring me, or he can’t hear me. Both explanations seem just as likely.
“Having second thoughts, are we?” Gemma laughs without any humor. It’s a cruel, callous sound. “I should have known. You’ve been messing up all night.”
Footsteps echo above me.
“I have not been messing up,” Mac hisses. “I just don’t take to stealing people’s lives as easily as you do.”
Whoa, stealing people’s lives? What the hell are they talking about?
“Hey!” I scream through my raw throat. “Let me out of here right now!”
“I’m doing this for you, Mac. Because you’re my son. And you’re promised to her.”
“You mean arranged for her,” Mac shoots back. His voice rains down bitter on my head.
“Don’t be such a child! You have a duty to your family. Goddess! I almost wish Victoria could secure this union.”
Mac scoffs. “You would. You two are cut from the same cloth. Cruel… Willing to sacrifice an innocent girl to…”
A loud smack rings above me, followed by Mac’s low grunt. My guess is Gemma lost her temper with him. I can almost see his head snapping to the side while his mother looks upon him with cruel eyes.
“The girl is nothing! She is weak. It’s why she was chosen. And like I said, it’s your duty to this family. It’s the least you can do after you insulted the Morgans.”
I stare up into the darkness and listen to the silence. What the hell does this mean? Sacrifice? I sure as shit didn’t sign up for any of that. Were they going to sell me? Kill me?
Just when I’m about to start screaming again, light footsteps sound out in the distance. Then they stop, and I hear Gemma’s voice again.
“If you let her out, I will put you in the tree. Don’t test me.” Then, the footsteps start up again, followed by a door squealing open and slamming shut.
It feels like my heart is pounding in every inch of my body. Behind my eyes, in my ears, even in my toes. The sound of crashing echoes in my head. Glass splatters against a floor I can’t see, interlaced with Mac’s cursing.
“Mac!” I scream, sinking to the floor. “Mac, please, let me out of here!”
Tears flow down my cheeks, making me feel helpless and weak. And I keep screaming. I scream until my throat feels coated with cacti. It’s of little use. I know he can’t hear me. I know nobody can hear me. I’m trapped here until somebody lets me out.
Again I think about how this night should have gone. How it should be going, if only I were capable of making better decisions. But I’m not, so here I am. I wipe the stupid tears from my cheeks. They won’t help me here. Only I can help me.
Suddenly, the room starts to vibrate around me, like I’m in the middle of my own personal earthquake. My gaze darts all around. Slowly, a dim, blue light fills the space around me. It shoots upward and lights up my surroundings, pulsing above me like a blue moon from some alien planet. With a gasp, I take in my surroundings.
I’m surrounded by tall, bushy walls. The sound of water trickling draws my attention. I turn toward it, and a fountain with a statue of a goddess I can’t name at its center. Water flows from a small, golden chalice in her hands and lands in a pool at her feet. I crawl to standing and stumble toward her.
The closer I get, the brighter the blue orb above me shines. I stop at the circular, stone pool and gaze up into the goddess’s marble face.
“This is some
hat,” I mutter to no one.
Sitting at the edge of the fountain, I drag my fingers through the water. It’s so bitter cold to the touch, I jerk my hand back. When I wipe it on my jeans, and the spot immediately starts to tingle. It’s an intense tingle that reminds me of Charming’s touch against my naked body.
I stand up as thoughts of him storm my mind, almost as if I can’t help it. I see him pushing me against the wall, kissing me urgently like I’m swiftly melting ice cream. A moan escapes my lips.
“Charming,” I whisper, rubbing my hand against the spot on my leg that’s tingling.
“Kinsley?”
I jump at the sound of his voice and spin around. I back away from him and slam into the fountain, then start to fall backwards. Then he’s in front of me, pulling me upward before my ass can splash into the water.
The feel of his hand against mine steals my breath. But it doesn’t last long. He pulls away as soon as he can and peers down at me in confusion. I know how he feels.
“Charming? Is it really you?”
Anger flashes in his eyes, and his face screws up. “Of course it’s me.” He backs away and crosses his arms over his chest. “How the hell did I get here?” His gaze scans our surroundings. “And where is here?”
I bite down on my lip. “Um, I don’t know. Pretty sure we’re inside a hat.”
He turns his head back to me and furrows his eyebrows. “I’m sorry?”
I shrug. “We’re in a hat.”
“A hat?” he echoes, like my words must be wrong.
“Yes.” I take in a deep breath and spit out everything that’s happened since I left him. The Truth room, Gemma, the hat, the conversation I overheard, all of it. When I’m done he stares at me like someone lost on the interstate.
“I know it must sound crazy,” I add.
“You didn’t say anything about me? In the Truth room?”
I shake my head.
“And it still let you out?”
I nod.
“Hm.” He looks around again. “Sounds like we’re in a witch trap.”
Of course we are.
“What doesn’t make sense is how I got here. It should be impossible.” He makes the face of someone trying to piece together a complicated jigsaw puzzle. My heart starts to pound in my ears again. This time it’s not out of fear; it’s from excitement.
Wicked Legends: A Dystopian Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Collection Page 181
