Treat (Terraway Book 5)

by Mary E. Twomey

  I had no words that were the right ones, only jaw-dropping horror that made me squeeze Finn tighter. I was surprised to find that Garrick had the peace of mind to speak sense into the madness Finn howled into my hair. He touched Finn’s shoulder, gently giving him a pull to dull the never-ending awful that would no doubt haunt him for too many years. “I can help you,” Garrick promised. “You’re not alone in this.”

  “Yes, I am. It all falls on me. It always falls on me.”

  “Tell me who’s next in line to rule after Banak.”

  Finn scoffed. “Julius, who’s every bit as bent as his father. Only he prefers men in his bed.” He cast me an apologetic look through the anxiety that had overtaken his stoicism. “Prince Julius wanted Von, so I had him watched, brought in when his brother’s gambling debt grew high enough. Then I gave him to Julius to work off his brother’s debt in the royal bedchambers.”

  “Hush, now,” I warned, wishing Garrick wasn’t there to hear Von’s darkest secrets. Garrick gasped, and I shot him a deadly look. “You didn’t hear that. Not a word of it.”

  Garrick’s hand went over his mouth, horrified. “I had no idea. Danny mentioned Von was a prostitute. Made it sound like Von wasted his life on purpose. He didn’t mention him taking his brother’s place. Is that what Danny was on about? Because he’s a foul git for looking down his nose on Von and talking about him like he does.”

  I gritted my teeth, hating myself for talking about the thing I’d just said we couldn’t discuss. “Von plays it off like it was his choice, having sex with wealthy women for money. It was very much against his will, and only with Julius. Danny sees what he wants to see, and you’ll let him. It’s Von’s business, not yours.”

  “That’s awful. Which brother did he take the rap for?”

  “It doesn’t matter. It was Von’s choice to save his brother, and he doesn’t want Danny or anybody to know. It was a dark time for him.”

  Finn leaned back a few inches, his arm still around me. He touched his knuckle to my abdomen, his expression fearful. “I hurt you. I didn’t mean to knock you out of the way. I’m so sorry. Is everything… Are you alright?”

  “I’m fine, but just so we’re clear, I’m not sorry I punched you.” I lowered my voice to a threat and moved his chin so he could see my sincerity. “Come at me or Garrick again, and I’ll knock your kidney even harder next time. You don’t get to solve your problems like that. I came here to escape getting knocked around. I know you didn’t mean to get me, but if it happens again, Garrick’s taking me back to shore, whether or not Ezra’s cleared the Topside of the Ekeks and Manas. You promised me a safe house, and that wasn’t safe at all.”

  Finn held my gaze, and then nodded. “That’s fair. I am sorry I hurt you.”

  “I know, honey. I know.”

  Garrick waited a few beats and cleared his throat. “Okay, then. Who’s in line for the throne after Julius?” Garrick asked, trying to focus.

  Finn shrugged, holding onto me through the up and down of his shoulders. “Mathias of the Green Lakes, who’s so old, he wouldn’t be in power for long.”

  “But he’d give you a year maybe? Two? We need just enough time to scrape together a decent leader who can actually rule without pushing it all off onto you.”

  “I guess. I mean, I know a few who’d be great at it. They’ve fought alongside me and know what’s important. But what’s the plan? Banak barely leaves the castle. He’s happy with the Mermaids and doesn’t bother with war or his people or anything like that.”

  Garrick stood. “I think it’s time October’s Duwendes come to get her. It’s about to get bloody, and I won’t be able to help you and keep her safe at the same time.”

  “Help me?” Finn questioned, finally looking up at Garrick with something other than loathing.

  My mouth fell open when I heard Garrick say, “I think it’s time Banak was relieved of his throne.”

  Thirty-Seven.

  Baking Bread

  I sat on my hands so I didn’t scrape the skin off my arms while I listened to the two plot out the murder of the king and his son. “It’s got to look like a family feud, or it’ll set the next rule on a bloody course. The people will see how to dethrone a king, and everyone will try it when they’re the least bit unhappy. That’s how Lumipad devolved into the mess they’re in now. Our monarchy’s untouchable, but theirs wasn’t after that first murder of their queen a couple years ago.” Finn thought aloud as he paced the kitchen with Garrick. I sat on the couch, trying to stay out of the mutiny planning.

  Garrick touched his rounded chin when he was deep in thought. “Von’s the best ticket for that. When he comes to get October to bring her home, tell him the plan. Let him go back to Prince Julius and sell himself back into the harem. Only give him a knife this time and tell him to kill the bastard. Von’s deadly when he needs to be.”

  “No!” I cried, horrified.

  Finn acted as if I hadn’t spoken. “I can switch out the normal guards for two that I trust with something like this. They can sneak Von out and let Julius ‘sleep it off’ for a few hours.” I could almost see the wheels turning in his mind. “I can do the same with one of the women in the harem for Banak. There’s no shortage of Mermaids who’d jump at the chance to gut the king. I always frisk them, and they have no access to weapons anyway. I can slip Maleeah one. She’d be great for the job. She’s a fighter, that one. Bit clean through Banak’s earlobe her first time.”

  Garrick nodded appreciatively, but I was livid. “Do you hear yourselves? Von’s not going back to that awful place. He won’t set foot inside the palace. Do you get what you’re asking him to do? You’re asking him to take the fall for murdering the heir to the throne! How much diplomatic immunity do you think Ezra and I have up our sleeves? Not enough for this.”

  Finn waved off my concern. “We won’t let Von take the fall for it. We can move the bodies after they’re both dead into the throne room. We’ll stage it so Banak and Julius look like they got in a fight and killed each other.”

  Garrick laughed, clapping his hands. “You’re the master. That’s it, right there. Exactly like that. Your two men, they’re trustworthy with something like this, yeah?”

  “The things they’ve kept secret would undo many a kingdom. They’re good men.”

  “Hello! Doesn’t anyone hear me? I won’t let this happen. Von isn’t going to go back to the man who raped him and hand himself over for more. I won’t allow it.”

  “You won’t allow it?” Finn chuckled. It just figured that something awful like this would finally put him in a good mood, the jerk. “And just how are you going to stop us?”

  I hadn’t seen Von in my dreams the entire time I was in Dagat, but I was determined to connect with him tonight, whether or not he’d fallen out of love with me. “Von’s my Reaper. He’s like my best friend. What you’re asking him to do? It’s cruel.”

  Finn sobered for a moment. “Von knows true cruelty, and this is his chance to end it.”

  Garrick finished the thought. “Don’t you think he deserves justice for what Julius did to him?”

  “What about you?” I asked, standing and staring down Finn. “You stood back and let it all happen. You let them take Von and who knows how many others. Does Von deserve justice on you, too?”

  Finn’s eyes steeled over as he met my glare with his own. “He’s welcome to try. I was following orders, October.”

  “That’s pathetic, and you know it. You’ve been operating on your own conscience for over a month now, maybe two. Take some responsibility.”

  Finn postured, his attitude flaring. “Men have been hanged for less. I’d watch yourself.”

  “Passing off blame like you’re doing? It’s weak. I’m glad you’re righting the wrong and all, but if you’re doling out justice to Banak and Julius like this, what makes you think you’re exempt?”

  Finn stared at me a moment and then blew out a loud raspberry. “You’re just having mood swings. Von knows wher
e to find me if he wants revenge.”

  “Mood swings?” I reared back, offended. “Because I’m a woman, my points are invalid when they clash with yours? You can write it all off as a mood swing and ignore me just because I have breasts? You’re a jackwagon if I ever saw one.” I stomped to the kitchen cabinet, yanking out the bucket and filling it with soapy water from the tap, splashing a rag inside. If no one would listen to me, I would take it out on the floors, cleaning until they shined for me. The floors would listen to me. They always did.

  Garrick followed me to the kitchen and brushed his hand over my back, pulling a portion of anger from me. Lucky for me I had plenty to spare. “Leave me alone,” I huffed. “I’m just as pissed at you as I am at Finn. Killing off a monarchy doesn’t solve anything. Read a history book, you jags.”

  I went to the living room and rolled up the rug, getting down on my hands and knees as I took out the rag and started scrubbing the concrete floor. “Look at what’s happened to Lumipad. Serena thought she could do a better job than Sylvia, so she killed her. Now the whole land’s in an uproar. You people never learn.”

  Garrick threw out his hands. “That’s why we’re not making a big revolutionary scene of it. We’re staging it as a family feud. No one’s going to get it in their heads they can off the next ruler. There’s no precedent. It’s not the same thing. The people will mourn, protocol will be followed, the throne will go on to the proper person. Everyone wins.”

  “Fine, whatever. You both know best,” I spouted, my words dripping with sarcasm as I wrung out the rag over the bucket, focusing on the floor.

  I didn’t expect Finn to shout in exasperation at me, so when he barked out a frustrated, “Would you get off the floor?” I tilted my head up to look at him.

  “What’s it to you if I clean the floors? I’m three weeks off my meds, Finn.” Thank God for those healing waters. “This is the sanest I get at this point, and it’s only because Garrick’s been pulling all day long. You’re lucky I’m not rocking myself in the corner, counting the ceiling tiles.”

  Eighty-eight. There were eighty-eight total. I knew because I’d counted the ceiling tiles every day for two weeks, checking the tiles eighty-eight times each day just for good measure. I fought the urge to look upward and check again.

  “I don’t mean that. I mean get off the floor. Come on. You know this isn’t good for someone in your condition.” Finn walked over and helped me up, moving me to sit on the couch.

  “Actually, this is the best thing for my condition. You said you didn’t want me scratching up my arms. I have to do something with my hands, or I’ll go back to that. I’m barely hanging on here, Finn. Don’t act like you know all about OCD.”

  Finn shook his head, looking down on me with a hint of resentment in his eyes. “Not that. Your condition.”

  “OCD is my only condition, other than living with two homicidal maniacs.”

  “You’re going to make me say it? You’re really going to make me go there? Why are you pretending it’s some big secret you’re hiding from us? We’ve known for days.”

  “Huh?”

  “I know you’re pregnant! You throw up every morning, and you’re moody as anything lately.”

  It was as if Finn had started talking gibberish. “Are you high? What are you talking about?”

  “I know your secret boyfriend got you pregnant. I can’t believe it’s lasted through your kidnapping.”

  I stood, confused and indignant. “I’m not pregnant! I’m a virgin, you backwards jackfish. Just because a woman throws up while she’s living at sea doesn’t automatically mean her uterus is baking bread, alright? I’m seasick, is all.”

  Garrick tilted his head at me. “We know you’re pregnant. It’s okay, October. You don’t have to pretend for us. We won’t tell anyone.”

  “But I’m telling you the truth! I’m not pregnant, guys. Of all the things to say to me. Am I gaining weight or something? I gotta tell you, it’s mean to assume a girl’s knocked up because she’s eating regularly.”

  Garrick’s hand went to his heart. “No, sweetie. Nothing like that. I’m pulling for two when I touch you. I can tell the difference.”

  “Pulling for two what? Two Pullers?”

  Garrick buried his head in his hands. “No, I’m pulling for two people. Do you really not know? How long’s it been since your last…”

  I shoved my fingers in my ears, not caring that I looked like a child. “I’m not discussing my body with you two! I’m not pregnant, and that’s the size of it. You have to have sex to get pregnant, and I’ve never done that.”

  “Why are you lying to me?” Finn asked, a cloud of betrayal stinging his features.

  I spun on my heel and marched into our bedroom. I slammed the door shut and locked them both out, staring down at my stomach in total confusion.

  Thirty-Eight.

  Knowing No Boundaries

  That night, Finn and Garrick tiptoed around while I pretended to be asleep in the bed. Garrick combed his fingers through my hair, pulling out a bit of stress before he went to sleep on the couch.

  When it was just the two of us, Finn took off his shirt and kicked his pants to the ground, crawling into the bed behind me mostly naked, clad only in his black cotton briefs, as he always did these days. He rolled me onto my side and spooned me with his body wrapped around mine, just how he liked to sleep together. “I know you’re awake,” he accused, kissing my neck. When I didn’t answer, he said, “You didn’t snore when we were on the road in Silo, but you do now. Another reason I knew you were pregnant.”

  “I’m not pregnant, and I don’t snore. Stop trying to freak me out.”

  “Who’s the father?”

  I scoffed as I rolled my eyes, frustrated that it had only taken a handful of sentences from him to piss me right off. Maybe I was a little moodier than usual. “You. You’re the father, Finn. You got me pregnant one night. You were reading to me, and I got so turned on that I imagined having sex with you, and now have a hysterical pregnancy. My ovaries just can’t get enough of your love juice. I’m thinking of naming the baby Leonard. Leonard Reese or Leonard Fredo? I can’t decide.” I palmed my stomach and frowned. It actually did feel a slight bit rounder. I cringed, miffed his teasing was getting to me. “Go to sleep.”

  Finn chuckled at my attitude, though I couldn’t tell you why. “I’m sure I’ll find out who the father is soon enough. Though if it were mine, I can tell you for sure he wouldn’t be named Leonard. He’d be Finn Fredo, Jr. I don’t know why you’re lying to me. I already know.”

  I turned in his arms, scowling up at him. “For the last time. I’ve never had sex. I only just started seeing New Guy, and I’ve been either locked away in some lousy basement or locked away with you here. New Guy and I barely got in more than a handful of kisses before I was taken.” I raised my palm and put my other on my heart. “I swear on all the seaweed and facial mud masks in this ocean.”

  Finn kissed my cheek, more amorous than usual now that he was in a better mood with their new (stupid) plan in motion. “You’ll have to send Mason away when you get back. Maybe not right away, but at some point.”

  “Um, good luck with that. I’ve tried to fire both of them more than a few times, but it never took.”

  “For your safety. He’s Matruculan.”

  “He’s not a wild animal when he transforms. He’s still Mason.” I shrugged, picturing Mason’s furry wolfy face.

  “I know. You should see Ezra when he transforms.” Finn shuddered. “Pacifist though he tries to be, Ezra has no control over himself when he turns. Mason’s wolf is far more easily tamed.”

  “I like Mason as a wolf. Sometimes I like him better that way. Less bickering. Plus, I always wanted a dog of my own.”

  Finn huffed his frustration at my limited knowledge of unicorns and leprechauns. “Matruculans eat babies. He’ll start getting hungrier and hungrier through your pregnancy until he can’t control himself. When the mother’s somewhere in her
third trimester, that’s when they snap. The more zealous Matruculans start gnawing on the woman while she’s still pregnant. Best send him away until the baby’s at least a month or two old. That’s usually when the craze dies down.”

  “Do you hear yourself? Gross! Mason isn’t going to try to eat me or my baby.” I harrumphed and growled my frustration. “There’s no baby! You’re driving me up a wall, you jackballoon.”

  “I don’t know why you’re denying this so hard. You don’t have to hide it anymore. Are you doing this to spare my feelings?” The edge in his voice died down to insecurity. “Because I know you’re not in love with me. I get it, and I’m okay.”

  I softened, feeling horrible for the rough spot I’d unwittingly put him in, and how gracious he was being about the whole thing. “I’m sorry, Finn.”

  Finn’s hand drifted down to shift me and wrap my leg around his waist. Our stomachs sealed together, giving him easy access to my feet. He wasted no time reaching his hand behind his back to massage my heel. “You like that?” he asked when my lashes fluttered shut, his voice husky with too much desire.

  “You know I do. But don’t get carried away.”

  He responded by rolling atop me and rocking his hips against mine in a PG-13 kind of way that was unsuitable for children, or women who were trying to get their life in some sort of adult order. “It’s our last night together.”

  I pulled a fast one and rolled us so I was on top, my frown pronounced as I scolded him. “See? That’s getting carried away. Exactly what I told you not to do. Don’t make me go sleep on the couch with Garrick.”

  Finn gripped my hips, his eyes climbing slowly up my body and making me feel gloriously naked, though I was safely clad in the tank top and shorts he’d brought for me to sleep in. I didn’t like how the branding of the bat scar Serena had carved into me was visible on my shoulders, and every now and then I caught the guys staring at the markings with sad eyes.