“Bite me, you jag! I’m not a puppet! I’ll bash your head on the cement if you don’t let me go right now!” I finally ripped my head away from him and thrashed around as best I could, but dude was ripped. I bit Bastien harder on the inside of his middle finger, not stopping until I drew more blood, letting it drip down my chin like a savage.
Reyn continued his conversation with Lane, shaking his head at the two of us. “We just saved her from Armand, Morgan’s favorite pet. If he’s here, more are coming. You might want to consider going further into hiding, your majesty. In fact, if Armand found her, you might not have much time to relocate. I’d get out now. Pack a bag and run, Duchess. If you come meet us, we can protect you and keep you hidden.”
I heard Lane quiet down as I listened to the strangest conversation I’d ever heard. Her answering tone sounded like the whole thing wasn’t all that confusing to her, which scared me more than the whole being abducted thing.
Reyn nodded a few times. “Alright, then tell the Lost Daughter of Avalon that. She’s trying to run away, and we don’t have a whole lot of time before the others find her.” He mustered up a friendly smile to contrast my wrath as he put the phone to my ear.
“Rosie? Hun? Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“I’m hurt!” Bastien unclamped his hand from my mouth and sucked on his finger to stop the bleeding, complaining loudly. “Does anyone think to ask good old Bastien how he’s holding up? No! Rosie bit me! I saved her life, and she bit me! Your girl attacked an Untouchable, I’ll have you know.”
“I’m okay.” Tears pricked my eyes as I struggled against Bastien’s looser grip to get closer to the phone, as if that could get me nearer my maternal source of comfort. Lane would somehow find a way to make everything better, I just knew it. She had that way about her.
When no one had asked me to the homecoming dance senior year, Lane went as my date. We’d gone to the thrift store and found a couple of not too shabby dresses that we doctored up to look like the dream come trues we would’ve bought if we’d had the money. We did each other’s hair in fancy twists and made a day of having the most fun being girly and young. She was always a ball of optimism and life, pushing me out onto the dance floor until I came out of the turtle shell I so loved cozying up in. Surely she could find a way to make this chaos better, too. “Laney? Tell me you’re right around the corner and can make this all okay.” I closed my eyes, knowing even she couldn’t sew and bedazzle me out of this mess.
“Baby, I need you to listen to me. There’s a lot you don’t know about your parents. Your mom… Well, I didn’t tell you the whole truth. Actually, I outright lied. A whole heap of lies to keep you from looking for her.” I could hear her frustration as she spoke through her teeth. “And I don’t even have the time to tell you all this gently, because Avalon’s probably on their way to me right now! This isn’t how I planned on telling you any of it.”
Shock. Buckets of cold watered shock poured down on me. “You lied to me?” I squeaked, my whole worldview shifting like a Rubik’s cube. It wasn’t an accusation, but rather a plea for any other explanation.
When Bastien sensed my shock was too great for me to run away, he released me, so I could hold the phone on my own.
“I did. I lied to keep you safe, babe.” I could hear her rummaging around in drawers, no doubt having driven back home to pack in a hurry. I was upset with her, sure, but underneath was a note of fear that someone might hurt her, and take away one of the few constants in my world. “Morgan? Your mother? She’s a bad one, and if she’s looking for you, it’s for nothing good, I can promise you that. Go with the guys. They’ll take you somewhere away from the danger, and I’ll meet you there as soon as I can. Can you do that for me?”
I was thunderstruck. “Are you serious?”
Bastien shot me a superior “I was right” look, which earned him a hard slap across the face he only grinned through. It was like he enjoyed being slapped, and was used to women being so pissed off at the sight of his mug that they attacked without warning. This, of course, only got me a crushing bear hug when he spun me around so I was facing Reyn, my back pinned to his flannelled chest once again.
Lane’s voice grounded me. “I so wish I wasn’t serious. Rosie, go with them. They’ll take us to Faîte. I’m meeting you at the gate. Think Narnia, but with immortals and Fae and all sorts of things that’ll make your head spin.”
My mouth was dry and my nose red. “My mom’s alive? Why would you… I… You’re all I have, and you lied to me!”
I knew my accusation hurt her. We never fought. Not even when I’d pulled a teenager on her and threw a fit about not being allowed to get my driver’s license the day I turned sixteen. She handled me with a cool shrug and a hug that ended our feud in a matter of minutes. She was good like that.
But she couldn’t hug me now, and Bastien’s restraint was a poor substitution. Though his hold was still firm, it wasn’t nearly as bruising once I stopped struggling so much. His hands were too big for typing, his fingers splayed across my heaving ribs to keep me secured to his torso.
Lane’s voice came back repentant. “I did lie, and I’m sorry. When I meet up with you, I’ll tell you everything, even the ugly parts. I kept the truth from you because the truth is awful, and you don’t need to be around something so terrible. I want good things for you, hun, and your mom? My sister? She’s… she’s not a good thing.”
I closed my eyes, reining in all the fury I wanted to rant. It would have to wait for an in-person showdown. “I don’t want to go with Bastien and Reyn. Bastien killed a man right in front of me!”
Bastien hissed at my issue with him. “What was I supposed to do? Let Armand kill you or abduct you? I don’t think you understand danger. Or a hero’s welcome. I saved the day, you know.”
“They drugged Judah and shoved him who knows where!”
Reyn kept his polite expression in place, smiling lightly at me as if I was being dramatic over a puddle in the middle of the sidewalk. “Judah’s tucked safely in the trunk. He’ll be just fine.”
Lane was forcing her voice to sound calm, but I could hear the anxiety tightening her speech. “I know, but they’re our best bet right now. Judah will be alright. The guys can hide you, so listen to them. It’s a life and death thing we’re facing, here, and we don’t have other options.”
I waited too many beats, wishing I had words to tell her how deeply she hurt me, and how scared I was at being asked to walk with the lions into their den. Finally I closed my eyes, consenting to whatever fate I was being pointed at. “Okay. I’ll go with them.”
Lane gusted out all the tension in her body. “Good girl. Thank you for trusting me.”
I don’t trust you. Not anymore, I wanted to say, but I bit back the hurtful words I knew I wouldn’t be able to unsay. Reyn took back the phone and spoke in a low voice to Lane, making arrangements to meet during the half-moon at some place I’d never heard of. I didn’t understand a crack of it, but I guessed that mattered very little.
6
Blood and Luck
I slumped in Bastien’s arms, trusting that they were strong enough to hold me upright if they were powerful enough to restrain me. The alley was unlit, which suited me just fine, covering my tears as I broke down past what was socially acceptable to do in front of strangers. I felt Bastien’s discomfort as he squirmed behind me. “Alright, alright. It’s fine. Your aunt just told you it’s fine, didn’t she?” I could tell he wasn’t used to comforting girls. He patted the top of my head awkwardly, like a giant holding a rag doll. It was sort of like being slowly knocked by a bear’s paw. “Are you going to run?”
I shook my head, though I was still on the fence. Bastien released me, and I made a mental note that if I wanted to escape him again, all I’d have to do was turn on the waterworks. He put a healthy eight inches between us, looking away from my face as if I was wearing an embarrassing hat or something, the crackfish.
“Let’s go,” he said to Reyn, s
tarting down the alley and out onto the main street. He looked both ways for threats as we walked down toward the car. I wasn’t sure if that made me feel safer or more endangered. “Keep your head down. I don’t want anyone getting a good look at you.”
Dipping my chin downward helped to obscure my tears, I obeyed, wishing I could disappear altogether. “Where are we going?”
“Faîte. Your aunt just told you. Weren’t you listening to anything?” Bastien snapped as Reyn ended the call with Lane.
A sharp upswing of anger flared in my gut that anyone could possibly be impatient with me under these circumstances. I stopped, waited for Bastien to turn and face me, and then socked him square in the nose. A number of curse words spilled out of him, matching the flow of the blood that ran down his chin.
“Ah, man!” Reyn rolled his eyes at his friend, apparently expecting Bastien would say something that deserved a good crackdown.
I held my finger in Bastien’s face as he blinked rapidly to try and regain his vision. “You’ll watch your mouth, you raging butthole. My whole world just got smashed, so I don’t want to hear a disparaging word about any of the millions of questions I’ve got coming for you. Now look me in the eye and say, ‘I deserved that, Rosie.’”
Bastien glowered as if he wanted to return my assault, but knew he couldn’t. I could tell it wasn’t because I was a woman, but more because I was the commodity they needed. “I could have you hanged for that, I hope you know.”
“Bite me.”
“Whatever. Run your mouth to Reyn. I saved your life, by the way. Any of those things you want to say to me have a ‘thank you’ laced in there?”
“You’ve got to be joking. Thank you for holding me against my will? Thank you for abducting me?”
“You’re welcome!” Bastien shouted.
Reyn opened the door and ushered me inside with Bastien, taking the passenger seat for himself. “Head East,” he instructed the driver, who obeyed like an emotionless puppet.
“Hello! Get Judah out of the trunk!” I protested as we drove down the street. Sure, now I saw pedestrians. Where had they been when I was calling for help? Lame.
Reyn shook his head, checking in the rearview mirror to make sure we weren’t being followed, and that I wouldn’t jump out of the car again. “He’s got more room back there than with you. I put him on a blanket. He’ll be out for a long time, anyway.”
“How long?”
“A day maybe? Half a day? Depends on how much he inhaled before he passed out.”
I lunged forward and socked Reyn in the temple, but Bastien jerked me back before I could go in for another. “You keep your hands off of Judah!”
Bastien growled low in my ear. “You don’t like it when your Judah gets messed with? Well, Reyn is my Judah. Punch him again, and we’re going to have a problem.”
“Bite me!” I seethed, unapologetic.
Reyn held up his hands. “Okay! I’ll never drug him again. I promise.”
After I settled into my seat, Bastien leaned his head back and motioned to Reyn. “Give me something for my nose, man.”
Reyn fished around in the glove compartment and pulled out a stack of napkins for just such an occasion. Bastien started choking as he dabbed at his nose, sucking in the blood.
“You’ll make yourself sick doing that,” I commented, watching him struggle through swallows and gulpy breaths like most people did when they leaned their head back on instinct through a bloody nose.
“I don’t need advice from a Commoner on anything. Man, you popped me good. Suckerpunched me when I wasn’t ready.”
“That’s the thing about pissing me off. You want me to warn you next time before I knock you one? Being that you abducted me, I hope you’re not expecting an apology.” I wasn’t usually so confrontational, but Bastien seemed to bring out the worst in me.
“Hello, I’m bleeding over here! You want to tone down your mouth?” Bastien scowled, marring his rugged and masculine features that would’ve been handsome, were he not so surly. And if he wasn’t, well, a kidnapping murderer from Narnia. He had lots of visible scars, I’m guessing from women fighting back in the throes of him abducting them.
I shouted in his ear just to disorient him. “What?!” It probably didn’t speak well of me that I giggled when his mouth dropped open as he winced. His eyes shut while his head swung to and fro at my too-loud voice in his ear.
“Oh, man! Why, Reyn? Why couldn’t we have dosed her and shoved her in the trunk instead of her little boyfriend?”
“Play nice, kids.” Reyn was unperturbed by our fighting. He had the well-bred air of sophistication that came from someone born into a higher class than Bastien or me.
“Shut up.” I huffed and rolled my eyes at Bastien’s ineptitude to deal with such a minor affliction after successfully pulling off a murder. I could tell he wasn’t used to being bested by a girl, or bested at all. His pride looked equally as wounded as his nose. Good. “Here. Give me that. You’re going to make yourself sick.” I took two napkins off the top of the pile resting on his thigh and batted his hand away, scooting closer to his parted legs and sitting up on my knees to reach his unshaven face. I pinched the bridge of his nose and tipped his head forward. The gentle pressure from my other hand on the back of his head told him to let me take charge. He swatted at me, but missed. When he could breathe through his mouth without choking, his shoulders relaxed. I patted him lightly on the back in a “hang in there” kind of way. “Despite the punch to the face you totally deserved, I am grateful you helped me with that Armand guy.”
“That doesn’t sound like ‘I’m sorry I broke your nose, Bastien.’”
“I’m not sorry, and I didn’t break your nose, you big baby. I wanted to teach you a lesson, not send you to the hospital.”
“Baby?! We’ve been searching for you for almost a year to try and save your life, and when we finally find you, you punch me and call me a baby?”
“Um, you might’ve gotten better results if you hadn’t tried to abduct me. Kidnapping and rescuing aren’t exactly the same thing.”
“Bite me,” he breathed, coming down from it all still.
“I already did. Bit through the skin on a few of your digits, and I’m not apologizing for that, either.” I braced myself for his tart reply.
Bastien paused, but the fight died between us when he chuckled into the napkin, which made him choke on the blood he’d already swallowed. “I didn’t think you’d do that. You got me pretty good back there. You’ve still got some of my blood on your face.”
I itched to wipe it off, but held my ground. “I think I’ll leave it there for now. Remind you what’s in store if you try anything rough like that again.”
He picked up one of the napkins that had fallen to his knee and reached up with a clumsy hand to dab the blood from my face. He was gentle, which I didn’t expect him to be. My hand pinched his nose while he swept the blood from my cheek with slow, gentle strokes. A few inches closer, and we would’ve been hugging. He studied my face with curiosity that had almost a graphic intensity to it. I tried not to be drawn in, but parts of me that usually were content to live out their days muted began to urge me toward action, confusing the crap out of me.
When he balled up the napkin in the palm of his hand and reached his finger to trace my cheekbone, I couldn’t help my intake of breath, nor the blush that swarmed up where he touched me. No man had ever touched me like that before. My eyelids lowered involuntarily, goosebumps breaking out on my skin when he ran his finger along the tips of my lashes.
Bastien retracted his hand a few inches, his eyes wide, and looking like he’d been caught farting in church. “I was trying to get you out of there before Armand could send word to the others that he’d found you. You have no idea how relentless they are.”
“You’re right on that.” I lowered my voice, speaking with a steady gentleness I willed myself to feel. “I don’t know anything about any of it because you snatched at me without explaini
ng a thing. Does that seem like a good idea now?”
“You’re annoying when you’re trying to be right.” Despite his prickly nature, Bastien let his forehead rest in my hand as I pinched the bridge of his nose. His shoulders relaxed when my hand gently stroked from the back of his head downward, calming the beast with a simple touch.
Trees whipped by us, announcing the beginning of spring to the world with their brightly colored green leaves to the night, laughing at winter for giving up so soon. I worried about letting the guys keep Judah in the trunk. He’d never done drugs before, and I hoped whatever roofies Narnia had to offer weren’t all that strong. Or maybe I hoped they were strong enough so Judah could sleep through the whole thing, and wake up thinking it was all a bad dream. I couldn’t decide.
I looked up, ignoring Reyn’s look of utter shock at the two of us playing nice after such a fight when I saw a trickle of blood coming out of the driver’s right ear. “Um, that doesn’t look so good. You alright up there, chief?”
Reyn glanced over at the driver and swore. “Pull off the road and park somewhere,” he instructed the emotionless man, who seemed unperturbed by his own blood. “This one’s done. We’ve got to switch up the guide so we don’t kill anyone else.” The driver pulled off the freeway and into the parking lot of a rest stop. There was a smattering of trees shielding us from behind, and your standard shabby, but not disgusting, rest area in front of us, with no other cars in the lot.
“‘Else’? How many people have you killed?”
“Just a few. Trial and error. I mean, we’ve been scouring Common, searching for you for nearly a year now. We’re still learning.” Reyn turned to the driver and looked the guy in the eye. “After I take off the necklace, you’ll go call a friend or someone to come pick you up. We’re keeping your car, and you won’t report it stolen. You’ll be alright, but you won’t remember a thing about this. You blacked out and woke up here. Nothing more.” He pointed to his chin. “Do you remember this face?” The man shook his head. “How about those two?” Reyn jerked his thumb in our direction, and the man shook his head again. “Alright, then. Have a nice life.” Reyn reached out and removed the rope necklace from around the man. He waved goodbye as the guy exited the car and headed for the restroom area, where there was sure to be a payphone.
Ugly Girl Page 5
