The other female voice she’d heard earlier scoffed in clear disgust. “Your Darnell looks like that because of me. Because I told that odious animal pretending to be my son that he was a bastard, he slapped me, and Darnell, like the gentleman he is, stood up for me. His face is the result of that rage-a-holic’s fists!” the beautiful woman seethed.
Birgit. This must be Birgit. “You’re Sten’s mother? Birgit?”
She smiled a weak smile then, and in the dim light, Murphy saw where two such perfect specimens as Sten and Bellamy came from. Her long dark hair, mussed and matted to one side of her face, didn’t detract from the beauty of her green eyes—eyes Bellamy had inherited. Her delicate features, in their human form, were soft, and her skin creamy magic.
She gave her a warm smile, even with a fat lip and a bruised cheek. “That’s me, and you’re Murphy. Of course you’re Murphy.”
“I am. It’s nice to meet you. I just wish it were under much nicer circumstances.” She paused then, straightening her spine so she didn’t appear as weak as she felt. “Why did he take you from the market? I don’t understand much, but I really don’t understand how you fit into this.”
Her laugh was dry and sardonic. “Because I knew he was an imposter! I caught him skulking around near the produce as I was leaving the market, and knowing what I knew about the mess had Bellamy made, from what my son told me, I went after him to give him hell for using his magic to fool Bellamy and sell her that horrid curse. Some might say that was a stupid thing to do, because he waved a gun at me and here I am.”
How had the animals in the forest missed seeing a gun? Would have been nice if they’d mentioned a gun.
Thinking about the gun made her stomach begin a loud protest. Murphy had to take deep breaths before she asked, “Are you okay? I mean other than the bruises. He hasn’t…
Birgit shook her head. “I’m fine, Murphy. Everything’s fine. I could use a shower and something to eat, but I’m fine. Now, I heard my spoiled daughter is the cause of all this?”
Murphy tried to think around the pounding in her head. “Well, my spoiled sister didn’t help. Suffice it to say, they both need a spanking.”
Birgit barked a wry laugh as she twisted her neck from side to side. “No truer words. I should have been harder on Bellamy. She didn’t grow up the way Sten did, with so much turmoil from my bad marriage to his father. He learned how to land on his feet. She had her every whim catered. I can’t tell you how much I regret that now.”
Murphy snorted at the irony of those words. “Yet, you somehow taught Sten not to be bitter and to accept his father for who he was. You must have done something right.”
Birgit’s eyes glistened as she peered at her through thick eyelashes. “Did he really say that?”
Murphy smiled at her, ignoring the pain it caused her split lip. “He did. He said he accepted Magnus for who he was and that’s what made his absences easier.”
Birgit’s head hung low, her eyes clenching tight. “I tried. I really tried. If only I’d have given that kind of effort to Bellamy. If only I didn’t overcompensate for Sten’s own scattered childhood by indulging her. His father and I weren’t exactly a great example of stability, and I wanted her to have more—better than what Sten had.”
“But he loves Jannick and has great respect for him,” Murphy whispered.
“Jannick,” she said, her face stricken. “Have you seen him? Is he okay?”
She looked to Darnell for an answer. The last she knew, they’d all come to sit with him to keep his mind busy while everyone else went to the north.
“He went out back just before we got nabbed. I think he’s okay, Murphy.”
Murphy exhaled a little. “So he’s safe?”
“Far as I know,” Darnell assured her. “He wasn’t there when we got scooped up.”
And then she remembered Carl, and panic set in again. Carl was so sweet, so gentle, so breakable. He’d never survive this kind of rough treatment. “Carl? Where’s Carl? Oh, my God, is he here, too?”
“He went with Jannick, Mistress Murphy. For now, the hope is he’s safe, too,” Arch said, his voice weary, leaving Murphy concerned for his health. “If I know my Carl, he saw the ruckus from outside and kept Jannick safe by hiding. If I know anything about my boy, anything at all, he’ll somehow get in touch with Master Heath or Master Keegan and they’ll come. Someone always comes.”
Still, she leaned back against the rough wall and closed her eyes, praying what Arch said was true. “Thank God. Okay, give me a second and I’ll try and figure out how to get us out of here.”
Darnell scooted around until he was facing her. “How’d you get in here, Miss Murphy?”
Ugh. She closed her eyes and shook her head, disgusted with herself. “I fell in, chasing after a purple raven named Pete. Like all idiots do.”
Birgit gave her a sympathetic look. “The mines are everywhere under Troll Hill, but the beginning of them is in the forest. He’s been scoping this out for a very long time, Murphy. He knows so much more than even some of our historians know.”
“Who is he?” she finally asked. “What does he want?” The noise she’d heard earlier, a chuffing and scraping, began again, distracting her from her initial question. “And what is that damn noise?”
Birgit used the heels of her feet to inch her way toward Murphy, her gorgeous face wreathed in concern. “That’s Nova, honey.”
Panic rolled over her in a wave of ice. “Nova? What is she doing?”
“Digging.”
Of course. Duh. “For jewels,” she whispered, because her head hurt so much.
Birgit looked at her and winced. “For his inheritance, specifically.”
Murphy blinked, trying to ignore the ache in her arms from being tied behind her. Then she remembered what Pete had said. He’d said he’d heard the man with Nova say the word inheritance.
“For his what? Who the hell is he?”
If Birgit’s face had looked grim before, now she positively blanched. “He didn’t use magic to change his appearance. He truly looks like Sten and they’re both replicas of Magnus. He’s Sten’s half-brother—born of one of Magnus’s affairs and older than Sten by about six months, and he’s looking for the crown.”
She obviously wasn’t thinking clearly because she still wasn’t getting the big picture. “What will the crown do for him?”
Birgit leaned forward, her face somber. “Do you remember the human story of Cinderella, Murphy?”
Was this going to be like the Trollketeers? “I do.”
“The crown, like Cinderella’s shoes, is meant for the one true king of all trolls. If this monster puts it on, and it fits—which of course it will, because he’s older than my son—that entitles him to the role of king of Troll Hill, according to troll legend. The eldest living heir, even if they’re born out of wedlock, gets the crown.”
Ah.
Sometimes having the answer wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
Chapter 23
“Where the fuck are we? Jesus Christ, we’ve been up and down this damn mine ten times, King of Trolls! I smell her, but we’re still going in goddamn circles. Is there another riddle we have to solve to get where we’re going? Like, what the fuck is going on?”
Sten clenched his jaw, as frustrated as Nina and the rest of the OOPS women, and he wanted to kick himself for not knowing the landscape of Troll Hill, because he didn’t have any idea there were secret entrances to the mines.
Of course, his father hadn’t exactly trained him for the job of king, either. The history he did know had come from his schooling, but he felt like a complete failure for not taking a closer look.
Today, right this moment, he was pretty angry with Magnus for not at least making him aware of the existence of the magic this person who’d taken Nova, and probably his mother, possessed.
It was as ugly and putrid as Gilda had said and then some, and he had no defense against it other than his troll strength—which would do him
no good should this troll—whoever he was—decide to use it against them.
Not Nina’s strength alone nor the strength of the three combined would make a bit of difference, and that left him feeling madder than hell and helpless.
When this was over, change had to happen. Whatever it took, he was going to rid Troll Hill of this evil.
Facing the women, he didn’t know what to say, and he told them as much. “I don’t know where to go from here, Nina, but I’m not stopping. This maze has to have a beginning and an end, and I’ll be damned if I won’t find it.”
Wanda’s hand shot up, her face smeared from the dirt of the mines, her eyes narrowed and alert. “Wait. Listen,” she demanded.
Each of the women stopped what they were doing and tilted their heads.
“Do you hear that?” Wanda asked sharply, gripping Marty and Nina’s hands.
“I do!” Marty whisper-yelled.
“What? What are you hearing?” Bellamy asked, clenching her hands into fists.
“Digging. That’s fucking digging!” Nina barked. “It sounds just like it did at my house. Nova’s around here somewhere, doing what she does.” Then she held up a hand for silence again before she pointed to her left. “That way.”
With Nina in the lead, they began to retrace the same steps he was sure they’d already taken, leaving him feeling more helpless than ever.
Murphy took the time to absorb Birgit’s words as she tried to get her bearings. They were stuffed into a small room in the mines, obviously one this Sten-alike had carved out to use as his office.
There was a small desk, a dim lamp, some papers that, if Murphy was seeing right, were maps of some kind, and a thermos, but not much else.
Packed together like sardines, all of them had their hands tied behind them, bound by magic, and were leaning up against the rock wall.
Getting out was looking less possible without the help of David Copperfield. Darnell was a demon, for God’s sake. If he couldn’t help them, how the hell could she?
“So, let me get my head around this. Sten’s father Magnus cheated on you and had a baby with another woman. Did he know about the child?”
“I don’t know. I can only tell you, he had many affairs when he was married to me,” Birgit said sadly. “When I realized there was no way Magnus was going to be a faithful partner, when I couldn’t take any more of his philandering ways, I divorced him. I don’t know if he knew about this boy or not, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t, considering the level of parenting he produced. Which is to say, very little.”
Arch blustered with a frown, his face wrinkling in distaste. “So technically, this man who looks like Master Sten is the king, and he has every right to the crown. I must say, troll monarchy is very different than that of the Brits. Regardless, this is disastrous, Madame Birgit. Disastrous.”
Birgit blew out a breath of air. “No kidding. He’ll ruin Troll Hill with his hatred alone. And then there’s his magic. He has so much dark magic, it frightens me, Murphy. I haven’t seen the likes of it since I was a small child, and believe me when I say that was many, many years ago. I thought Magnus had abolished the dark arts. But leave it to that damn man to leave everything up to the universe and not do his due diligence. If he weren’t already dead, I’d kill him!”
Murphy’s head wasn’t the only thing that hurt, her stomach had a weight the size of the Titanic in it. “So where’s this guy been all this time? Why is he just showing up now?”
“Because I was forced to live in the human world with my human mother, Murphy,” the Sten-alike spat as he strolled into the small room, looking—even sounding—just like the real Sten. He gazed down at her, his eyes narrowed as though it were her fault he’d kidnapped them. “I didn’t know who my father was my entire childhood because my mother tried to protect me.”
Sitting up straighter, Murphy lifted her chin. If she was going out, she wasn’t going out like some damn coward.
“So I guess we should cut to the chase. Suffice it to say, you found out who your father was and did a little research on what that entitled you to. Right?”
He stared harder at her, his eyes as orange as Sten’s and filled with hatred. “You bet I did. I heard all about the fair King Sten Peerson, who’d inherited the title from his father. How he’d lived a life of luxury while my mother and I had to scrape by on food stamps and public fucking assistance.”
Birgit squared her shoulders, her cheeks still red from the last time he’d slapped her. “Did Magnus know about you?”
Rocking back on the heels of his boots, the Sten-alike sneered at them. “Seems like he did. That’s why he hid the crown. So no one could get ahold of it and claim it before his precious Sten got his hands on it. But I did my research. I broke into Magnus’s play palace on the hill, and I found the maps of the mines where it was rumored he buried the crown. But as you can see, the mines are massive—even with my magic, there’s no way I could locate the crown on my own. I’d be here for an eternity. Sooo, enter your sister…”
Fighting for breath, Murphy narrowed her gaze at him. “But why my sister? Why would you turn a human into a troll? Why not just find a treasure troll here in Troll Hill?”
His face went sour, the hard slant of his jaw tightening. “Treasure trolls are rare, Murphy. You know that. I’m sure your boyfriend told you. I didn’t know how to find one, and even if I did, do you suppose they wouldn’t have ratted me out to Sten? But I did know how to create one, because I’ve been practicing the dark arts for years now—waiting, hoping for the right opportunity to come along.”
“You son of a bitch!” Birgit snarled, trying to force her way up the wall to stand.
Murphy saw him raise his hand to strike her again, and she threw herself across Birgit to thwart him. “Stop it!”
His hand connected with Murphy’s cheek, leaving the sting of his blow pulsing with heat.
“Miss Murphy!” Darnell yelled, and then he growled at their captor. “I’m comin’ for you, boy! I’m gonna make you pay in ways your dark magic never could!”
Murphy lifted herself back up and leaned into Darnell. “Darnell, stop. It’s okay. I’m okay.”
The Sten-alike, whose name she still didn’t know, crouched before her, using his fingertip to push her hair from her face, and she had to force herself not to cringe at his touch.
He grinned, peering at her from beneath his short, thick eyelashes. “You’re really nice, Murphy. Did you know that? Nice but dumb. Your sister treats you like the damn maid, like you’re beneath her. Kind of like my father. Maybe we should team up? Be a power couple?” he asked, making kissing noises at her.
She didn’t know what to do or how she was going to get them out of here, but it couldn’t end this way, could it? With him taunting her? With his disgusting face in hers?
No. She wouldn’t allow it.
Inching her way forward until she was almost nose to nose with him, Murphy asked, “So why Nova? Why her specifically? Of all the people, in all the world—why her?”
He stared at her for what was surely an eternity before he smiled, wide and perfect, just like Sten. In fact, they could be twins.
And then he said devilishly, “I’ve been watching Sten and Bellamy and everything they do for almost a year now. Sometimes opportunity presents itself if you pay attention, Murphy. Bellamy was sick with jealousy about Nova, and vice versa. I knew she’d bite to get back at her, and if she didn’t, I’d wipe out her memory. No harm, no foul.”
“And she bit…” Murphy murmured without meaning to.
In times of complete terror, she was discovering, she became repetitive.
He raised a fist to the sky as he stood, brushing his other hand down the thigh of his jeans. “Fuck yeah, she did! Like I’d dangled a worm on a hook, she snatched that damn curse with her over-Botoxed lips and swallowed it whole. And that brings us to where we are now. Where I’ve waited to be for months. All I need is that damn crown, and it’s the finish line or bust, b
aby.”
She gulped, her throat threatening to close up. “So Nova’s digging for the crown right now?”
He nodded his green head, leering at them with a smile full of his hate. “Yep, and she’s going to keep on digging until she finds it—or dies trying.”
And then everything sank in. All at once, a sense of doom reared its ugly head and clawed its way to the surface.
“You bastard! You cowardly piece of shit!” Murphy screamed.
The words escaped her mouth before she could stop them, and with the strength of a troll and the speed of Nina, he grabbed her by the front of her sweatshirt and hauled her upward until her feet were left dangling.
He pulled her in close, his orange eyes on fire. “Shut. The. Fuck. Up. Shut the fuck up, you stupid, stupid bitch!”
With those words, and a swipe of his finger to the tip of her nose, he let her go, laughing as she dropped to the floor, her head scraping the rock on the way down. Then he turned on his heel, leaving the room.
Murphy’s chin fell to her chest as tears of helplessness began to seep from her eyes. “He’ll kill her,” she whispered, the throbbing of her head pulsing in her ears. “I can’t let that happen. I won’t let that happen.”
“You listen to me, Miss Murphy. Ain’t nobody gonna let that happen. I won’t let that happen.”
She turned to the demon, her face on fire, her skull about to pop off her neck. “Then we have to do something, Darnell! But what? He has magic. All the strength in the world isn’t going to help us if we can’t get out of these restraints.”
Darnell looked at her then, his eyes more serious, harder than she’d seen them since they’d met. “Then you know what we have to do, Miss Murphy.”
“What?”
Darnell’s face was grim. “Eliminate him. It’s the only way to break the magic.”
“Eliminate him?”
Christ on sourdough, those words could only mean one thing. She was a mild-mannered assistant who booked events at makeup stores and photo shoots for energy drinks while she juggled meetings with people who wanted to give Nova a free pair of butt implants if she’d endorse their product.
The Accidental Troll Page 21
