by H. D. Gordon
CHAPTER 27
Would you like me to kill him for you, love? I will gladly kill him for you.
For a few moments, Surah couldn’t seem to form another thought, she just sat on the bed staring wide-eyed at the scene in front of her, her mouth hanging open as she sucked in air. There was no thought for composure. Samson was staring at Charlie, but Charlie was staring at her, his hands raised in surrender, his back pushed up against the wall, only his wide chest moving with his deep breaths. It was somehow paralyzing to wake from that dream, where the jade color of his eyes had been so crystal, and coming back into reality and seeing them with even more clarity there. To go from looking at him as that boy beside the lake to the man—very, very much a man—standing within her bedroom.
About to be eaten by her tiger.
She opened her mouth to say something, but instead spoke to Samson in her head, practically tripping over the words to get them across. “No, don’t kill him.”
The tiger’s only response was a small grumble, but he held his position between Charlie and his mistress.
Surah climbed out of bed and grabbed her cloak from the chair beside it, wrapping it around her shoulders and feeling a little better with the weight of her sais on her back. She used her Magic to return her boots to her feet. Then she just stood there like an idiot. Now what?
When Charlie spoke, his voice was deep and low, cautious. “I come in peace, my lady.”
Surah still didn’t know what to say, so when she opened her mouth, even she was surprised by what came out. “Are you insane, Charlie?”
Whoops. She hadn’t meant to call him that.
One side of his mouth quirked at this, but his hands were still raised at his sides, and Samson was practically breathing in his face. “It’s nice to see you again too, Surah.”
This seemed to snap her out of whatever trance she’d been in. She stalked forward, removing one of the sais from her back and clutching it in her right hand. “Do not speak to me like that,” she said, all her anger over the events of the past two days rushing back to her. “I am your princess. You will address me as such.”
Charlie said nothing to this, just stared at her in that annoyingly mysterious way he had, and Surah ignored the fact that she felt a little guilty at the harshness of her tone. Why the hell should she feel guilty? Highborn ladies were being murdered, her father was dying, and she knew his brother and him had something to do with it. She just knew it.
“Where is the Black Stone?” she asked, fully expecting him to evade the question.
He didn’t. “My brother has it.”
Surah’s brow furrowed as she was taken aback, not sure what to think of this blatantly honest answer. She found herself fumbling again for her words. “And why are you here?”
His next answer sounded as honest as the first, but Surah wasn’t young enough to let that make her think it couldn’t be a lie. She happened to be a master at deceit as well. “I’ve come to help you stop him.”
Her voice came out smaller than she would have liked, even though both of their tones had yet to reach above a whisper. “Why?”
She got the feeling his next answer was not the one that was flashing in his head, but still may have been a half-truth. “I don’t know,” he said.
Surah raised her eyebrows, still holding the sai in her right hand. “Well, that’s rather reassuring.”
“Your father’s sick, right?” he asked, and Surah’s eyes narrowed. He continued on before she could say anything. “You want my help or not?”
Her teeth clenched, and she raised her weapon for the first time and pointed it at him, her violet eyes as hard as stones. No one spoke to her so plainly. Except maybe her father. “What makes you think I need your cooperation? I could kill you right now. You obviously have a hand in all this.”
Charlie shrugged, as if it didn’t matter either way. “You could.”
They were silent for a moment, and Samson spoke in her head. You going to invite him to tea, my love, or do you want me to tear his throat out?
“I don’t know yet.”
You’re oddly indecisive with this one.
“I know.”
A pause.
Be careful.
“I’m trying.”
Charlie spoke in that slow way of his. “I’m sorry bout everything that’s happenin', my lady, but I’m here to help you. If you wanna have me locked up,” his eyes flicked to Samson, “or kill me, that’s your choice.”
Surah found herself looking at his lips and forced herself to stop. “You just want me to trust you?”
His eyes seemed to pin her, even though he was the one who was pinned, his voice as calm as if they were just sharing tea. “That’d be nice.”
“You think I’m a fool.”
He shook his head once, slowly. “Not at all, Princess.”
Surah looked out her window, trying to make a decision—any damn decision—and saw with a drop of her heart that the sun was making an appearance over the horizon, the first light of the new day. Bassil or Theo would be here soon, expecting her to be ready to set off to the jungles of the Southlands, where the eagle’s blood had traced the Black Stone.
She approached him now, feeling the urgency in her movements. If she didn’t make a decision here soon, the decision would be made for her. She stepped up beside Samson and held her hand out to Charlie, her face grave and beautiful. He gave her his hand, his inscrutable gaze locked on hers.
“Are you planning to betray me?” she asked, hoping he would pass her lie detector test and also hoping he wouldn’t. Somehow she knew that his answer would seal an envelope, though she had no idea what was tucked inside it.
“No,” he said.
Just then there was a knock at her door, and all three of their heads whipped in that direction.
Time’s up, Samson told her. What do you want to do?
Charlie watched her closely, said nothing, but his heart was beating out of his chest. He could not even begin to fathom what her answer might be. She really had no reason to trust him.
In the end, it was Samson who made the decision.
Oh, for Gods’ sake, let’s see what he has to say. You obviously want to. If he tries to betray you, I’ll kill him. But you better take us out of here now, love. Whoever is calling won’t wait much longer.
Before she could question her tiger’s council or her own warring thoughts, Surah gripped Charlie’s hand, which still held hers, and placed her other one on Samson’s shoulder.
The door swung open and Theodine Gray entered just a split second after Surah squeezed her eyes shut and teleported the three of them out of the room, feeling like she was falling over a ledge into a gorge that would be impossible to climb out of rather than flying through space and time.
Yes, it felt very much like falling indeed.
CHAPTER 28
They landed in the small forest that lay just outside the city, where only the woodland creatures and the occasional hunter roamed. The sun was slowly making its ascent in the sky, filtering through the trees in streams of golden light. The forest was quiet this morning, with only the sound of squirrels jumping from branches and birds calling from their nests. Charlie stumbled a little when Surah released his hand, bending over and clutching his knees at the feeling of vertigo that came with the sudden departure. Samson stood very close to her side, watching Charlie with a slightly amused expression behind his eyes.
Charlie straightened up, boldly giving Samson a look that said he knew the tiger was enjoying this. Surah couldn’t help but be a little impressed at his bravery. People didn’t just look at Samson any way they wanted. Only she did that. It made her wonder just who Charlie Redmine really was. She couldn’t get a read on the man.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Start talking,” she said.
Charlie stared at her for a moment, and she didn’t like the fact that she had to plant her feet to keep from shifting under his gaze. “My brother has the Black Stone, an
d he wants you and your father dead.”
For a moment, she was lost for words again. She wondered if his blunt way of delivering information had that effect on everyone. She was usually quicker on her feet. “Wonderful,” she said, “and you escaped his clutches to come tell me this? How did you get into my room?”
Charlie reached up and pulled out a necklace that had been tucked under his shirt. On the end of the chain was a small piece of the Black Stone, not enough to cure her father, but enough to teleport somewhere, like right outside her bedroom window, even with all the spells around the castle blocking the travel. Her eyes narrowed. “How’d you get that?”
“Michael gave it to me.”
“Michael?”
“My brother…Black Heart, I guess.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because I told him I would help him.”
She raised an eyebrow at this. “And instead you’ve come to help me.”
“That’s bout the short of it.”
“Well, forgive me, Mr. Redmine, but the ‘short of it’ sounds like drivel.”
“It ain’t.”
Surah threw up her hands, looking at Samson for an answer. The tiger gave her a look that conveyed his amusement. Do you want me to decide everything, love? I can, but at some point I might decide to just eat him, and something tells me you wouldn’t like that.
“Who says I would care? I never said that,” she snapped silently.
Samson gave his version of a grin. You don’t have to.
Charlie was watching them as if he could hear their silent conversation. As if he was the only one with mysteries. “We gonna stand here all day, or do you want get goin' on saving your father?”
Surah sighed, trying not to look at Charlie too closely, seriously afraid that she was making a huge mistake here. She shouldn’t be doing this, and she knew it. But no one had talked to her this way since Syris died, and his blunt, certain way of speaking had a way of making her listen. It had absolutely nothing to do with his wide shoulders and muscled arms and mysterious jade eyes and perpetually calm manner. Nothing at all. He just dealt differently than she was used to. That’s all.
“I suppose you have a plan on how to do that?” she asked.
“To help you save your father? Yeah, you could say that.”
“And then what?”
Charlie was silent for a moment, his handsome face carefully expressionless. “I can’t help you catch and kill my brother, if that’s what you’re askin',” he said. “I’ll help you, but I can’t do that.”
Surah swallowed and licked her lips. “Alright,” she said, “Help me save my father, and I won’t ask you to.”
She wasn’t sure if this was a lie or not, but it sounded true, so that was good. She had come this far, and the clock was still ticking. Step one was curing her father. She could decide on step two when the time came.
Charlie nodded. “Okay.” He took a step toward her, a slow one, his eyes flicking to Samson, and held out his hand to Surah. “Let’s go, then.”
Surah just looked at him for a moment, studying the dark, trimmed facial hair that covered his strong chin and surrounded his soft-looking mouth. The unwarranted thought that came next scared her more than anything else that had happened in the last two days. The thought was she wondered what that course hair would feel like against her skin, how his lips would feel against it too.
The realization that he wasn’t just a handsome man, but a rather gorgeous one was even worse. Her eyes wandered down Charlie’s body before she could help it, and that was probably the very first time that she knew she was in serious trouble here.
Samson’s head tilted toward her, and she cursed silently as she realized the tiger knew what she was thinking. She must have been projecting the thoughts pretty clear. She had to watch it. “Where are we going?” she asked, using great effort to sound as sure and strong as she didn’t at all feel.
Charlie reached down and took her hand, the movement as sure and unhesitant as his words. Samson shocked the Magic out of her for letting Charlie do this. People didn’t just reach out and touch their princess without permission.
She shocked herself even more when she didn’t protest.
“Shoppin',” he said, and when he smiled, perfect white teeth peeking out behind those lips, Surah’s heart flipped. There was nothing she could do to stop it. “You like to go shoppin', Princess?”
Surah knew he was trying to lighten the mood, but her mood was anything but light at the moment. The expression on her face was as blank as a fresh sheet of paper. She said nothing. But she didn’t pull her hand away from him, either. And when the thought came to her that she wished she weren’t wearing her gloves, so that she could feel his touch again, she chastised herself in her own mind like an angry mother.
Her silence seemed to have no effect on him. “We gotta be careful, though,” he continued.
Surah gave him a droll look, ignoring the hammering of her heart.
His small smile returned. “We’ll need some things if we hope to pass through the Southlands and get what we need for your father. This means we gotta go see some folks, and those folks will recognize you in a second.”
Surah nodded and snapped the fingers of her free hand. Charlie watched with wide eyes as her hair went from the short lavender to a long, pale blond, the violet leaking out of her eyes and leaving them a dull brown color. Her facial features shifted slightly, making her look ten years older and not like herself at all. Even her attire changed; her rich cloak faded into an old, used black. She couldn’t help a small smile at the amazement on his face.
Samson seemed to be grinning, too.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Charlie said.
Surah said nothing, but as she stared into those deep eyes of his, a strange feeling of fluttering and tightening in her gut, her breath catching in her throat, what she thought was, we both may be.
CHAPTER 29
Theo knocked once more on the princess’s chamber door, the sound of his knuckles rapping on the wood echoing down the windowless hallway, thinking that she was probably just rousing from her sleep. When still he heard no movement or response from beyond the door, his lips pinched together a little as he let out a sigh and looked at Lyonell, who stood guard to the right, Noelani to the left.
Lyonell shrugged. “Probably sleeping,” he said.
Theo gave him an impatient look and reached for the door, but Noelani stepped in front of him, ignoring the plain anger that passed behind the Head Hunter’s eyes. She met his glare evenly. “I’ll check on the princess,” she said. “She may not be descent.”
Theo still looked unhappy about being interrupted, his face smooth but hard-lined, and he waved a hand to tell her to get on with it then. Noelani opened the door to Surah’s room and pushed her way inside, closing the door behind her with a soft click. Her eyes went first to the bed, where the lavender silk sheets and large comforter were rumpled, the blanket kicked to the foot and one purple pillow spilled onto the floor. Empty. She looked then to the spot in the windowsill, where Samson was usually perched. Also empty. Noelani’s heart skipped a beat then as her gaze flicked toward the bathroom; the door was open and the insides were dark. She didn’t even bother to call out the princess’s name. She just let out a deep sigh, turned and opened the door, and looked right at the Head Hunter, knowing that Theodine Gray was going to be very pissed off about this.
“She’s gone,” Noelani said, and had to jump out of the way so as not to be knocked over when Theo charged into the room.
The Head Hunter’s eyes followed the same route hers had. The empty, ruffled bed, the window, the bathroom. As they flicked from place to place a darkness seemed to pass over his expression, his lips pulling down and his eyes narrowing in his masculine face. For a moment, he said nothing, but both Noelani and Lyonell could see this was in great effort of controlling himself. Noelani had been right, Theo was madder than a rattled rattlesnake.
When he spok
e, it was between clenched teeth. “Where did she go?” he asked.
At that moment, Bassil entered the room, moving in that eerily silent way the big Shaman seemed to have perfected, his patchwork cloak rippling with his movements. His deep voice sounded almost amused when he spoke. Almost, but not quite. “To save her father, I would assume,” he said.
Theo’s head whipped toward him, and Bassil could see the Head Hunter’s dislike for him clearly, though he was sure he had never done anything to Theo to deserve it. “That’s what we were scheduled to do this morning.” Theo said his voice almost a growl now. “She’s not supposed to go alone”.
The Shaman lifted his wide shoulders once and dropped them. “Maybe she got tired of waiting.”
Noelani spoke up now, ignoring Lyonell’s look that asked her to stay silent. “And the princess is not a prisoner here. She can leave whenever she likes.”
When Theo looked at her, Noelani could see that he wanted to slap her, the way that every women can tell when a man wants to do so. She felt a little fear spiral in her belly as she watched the thought form behind his cool gray eyes, and wondered at how she could have found him attractive all those years ago, wondered at how anyone could find him attractive with eyes like his. He was well built with fine features, yes, but his eyes betrayed uglier demons inside.
Surah was the only one who seemed to agree with her on this point, however. And Surah obviously wasn’t here right now.
But Theo didn’t strike out at her, of course, because whatever Noelani may have thought, he would not sink so low as to hit a woman. Instead, he regarded Bassil again, which almost enraged Noelani more than if he’d hit her, and something told her he knew this. He wouldn’t hit a woman, but he was very good at dismissing them.
“You said the Tracking Spell worked, correct?” Theo asked.
The Shaman nodded.
“And you have the coordinates?”
Bassil nodded again.
Theo was silent a moment, trying to think of his next move. Ordinarily, as Head Hunter he was to await orders from the Keeper before making any decisions or pursuits, but this was not an ordinary situation. Syris—who’d been the best Keeper Theo had ever known, even better than his father before him—was no longer here. And while he may have been in love with Surah, he was not the type of man who completely trusted a woman to these kinds of matters. These kinds of matters were between life and death. Highborn ladies were being murdered. King Syrian was poisoned with demon blood. The Black Stone was missing. No, this was no job for a woman. Women had soft hearts. Theo didn’t think this was a bad thing, an insult to females, rather just the way it was and was supposed to be. A natural balance. He would need to lead this case. Besides, the princess could end up getting hurt.
