I moved further into the room. Adam glanced at me and his lips quirked into a small smile, yet everyone else continued to argue. ‘Where is my baby?’ I croaked, not loud enough to get their attention. Adam opened his mouth to answer, but the uniformed man stood before him had the audacity to jab Adam in the chest, demanding his attention. I swallowed back some saliva and tried again. ‘Where the hell is my baby?’ My voice came out stronger, loud enough to silence the room. They turned to face me as one. Maria grinned and Adam, who looked ready to throttle the smaller man in front of him, gave me a tired yet warm smile. Eris merely scowled. The soldiers lost interest in the arguing women and trained their weapons on me, not aiming for a headshot, but halfway there.
I ignored everyone except Adam. ‘Where is my baby?’
A look of confusion flittered over many of the faces. Even Adam blinked at me in surprise.
I stared at him, pleading, ‘Where the hell is our child.’ Hysteria bubbled in my words. If someone didn’t answer me soon, I would lose my mind. ‘Adam.’ I stepped towards him. ‘Tell me Cleas didn’t kill my baby.’
His eyes flickered to Eris in confusion. Panic surged in me, and my legs buckled. I stumbled forwards and gripped a chair. I stared at Adam, my breath uneven with panic and exhaustion.
Eris raised her voice, managing to eyeball everyone in the room. ‘Time to get out while we check Ana over.’
The guards didn’t react while a few people protested. Eris glared at them all, a small smile playing across her lips, not one you would ever mistake for kind; maybe playful—if she were a shark and you the fresh bait.
One of the soldiers, an older man in a well-pressed uniform, stood. ‘Let us give them some time.’ He held his hand up, indicating for everyone to leave the room.
Once we were alone, Adam rounded the table to me. ‘The child is fine.’
I looked around the room, searching even though I knew my child wasn’t present.
Adam tried to slip his arm around my waist to assist me. I pushed him off. There was so much I wanted to know. ‘What did we have? A boy? A girl? How old are they?’ I couldn’t stop the questions pouring from my lips. I craved the answers like I had craved water upon waking. ‘What did you call them? Are they here?’ I looked around, remembering that I had no idea where here was.
Adam frowned, his confusion deepening, and looked me over as if I spoke in an unknown language. There was something they weren’t telling me. Eris and Maria watched me with apprehension yet were unable to meet my eyes. What were they hiding? What was wrong with my baby?
I stared at them in horror. Oh my God, there was something wrong with my child.
I wanted to scream. ‘I swear to God! Someone tell me where the hell my baby is?’
Adam gripped my shoulders and turned me to face him. Once he had my attention, he gripped my right hand and guided it to my abdomen. ‘The child is still here.’
I looked at my stomach, trying to make sense of his words. It was still flat, which wasn’t possible. Even if I had wildly underestimated how long I had been in the Wastelands, I had definitely been out long enough to at least have a bump.
I backed away from him, managing a few inches until the table halted me. ‘No.’ I pushed his hands away. ‘That is not possible.’ I glared at him. ‘You are lying. Why are you lying? What has happened to my child?’
Adam frowned at me as if I had grown a second head. ‘How much time do you believe has passed since you confronted Cleas?’
‘Years.’ I stumbled around the large table. Maybe I was still in the Wastelands, having only imagined escaping. Maybe this was all a construct of a broken mind.
Adam followed me, remaining within arm’s length. ‘Ana, it has been eighteen days.’
I blinked at him, trying to understand what he said. There was no way in hell that was true. I knew that for a fact, deep in my heart. Even with the sky never changing, I would have noticed the difference between years and eighteen days.
‘Fascinating,’ Eris said from across the room, her anger towards Maria forgotten for the moment.
I turned to face my friend across the table, my eyes wide with silent pleas. Maria wouldn’t lie. She wasn’t my blood, but she was my sister, and she would tell me the truth.
She grinned. ‘It’s true.’ Her eyes brightened with joy and she yelled, ‘You’re finally awake!’
She scrambled over the table and crashed into me. Adam gripped my waist, preventing us from toppling to the floor. She hugged me tight, pinning my arms to my side. ‘I was beginning to think that you had deserted me.’ She choked a little and squeezed me harder, making it difficult to breathe. When I thought I might suffocate, she pulled away and slapped my shoulder hard. ‘Don’t you ever scare me like that again. Do you understand me? I can’t do it all on my own.’ Before I could respond, she dragged me into another crushing embrace. ‘You had better understand.’
I didn’t have enough breath to answer, she pinned me in her arms so tight, I couldn’t even nod. She didn’t seem to need a response as she clutched me for a few moments longer before pulling away. She pressed her palms against her shimmering eyes and laughed, a choking sound that sounded suspiciously like a sob. Old bruises covered much of her face, now a sickly yellow with purple specks within.
I gave her a weak smile before focusing on Adam. His hands loosened on my waist as I turned, and he dropped them to his side. ‘Are you really telling me that it has only been eighteen days?’ My head spun with the new information.
He nodded, his eyes scanning my face, likely checking for indications of insanity. If he looked deep enough, he would find many signs that I was a few eggs short of an omelette. For all I knew, I was so insane this was all a figment of my imagination. I wouldn’t go there right now. Just in case it was real, there were things I needed to know.
‘The baby is okay? Cleas didn’t harm it?’
He smiled, his eyes warm. ‘She is strong.’
I stared at him, my eyes watering, and I touched my stomach, caressing it with my fingertips. ‘We’re having a girl?’.
He nodded, and the tension drained from me. I felt for a seat, needing to sit while the information digested. Someone must have helped me out as cool wood slid against my fingers.
I smiled, my throat thick with emotion. ‘We’re having a girl?’ I sunk into the chair. A warm feeling filled my chest as I pressed my hand to my stomach. I was having a little baby girl.
Adam knelt before me, tracing his finger over my womb. ‘She is over eleven inches long, right on target for twenty-three weeks since conception. She is healthy and has a strong heartbeat.’
I looked down at my abdomen in wonder as I traced circles on my stomach through the hospital gown.
My little daughter is in there.
‘How am I not showing yet?’
Maria snorted. ‘That’s what happens when you spend the best part of the month on your back. It also helps that your stomach muscles have muscles; it keeps it all in.’
I barely heard her speak. I’d known I was pregnant for what felt like forever, but reality suddenly hit home; I carried a real baby, a baby with fingers, toes, and a face. A baby that I would hold in my arms, breastfeed like Beth had, teach her to walk, talk, ride a bike and so much more. I was going to be a mum. Love for the child overwhelmed every other feeling I had, filling every dark crevice in my mind and soul.
I swear, I will always protect you, Elinor.
The name came to me like it was destined for her. I wiped my unshed tears of joy away as I looked at Adam. ‘I want to name her after my mother.’
He nodded as if he had expected nothing less. Maybe he had guessed; I had talked of my mother many times before I’d fallen pregnant. For a moment, sadness enveloped my heart, a feeling of loss for the times Adam and I had shared, the banter that had made the days pass quickly. We didn’t have that anymore. It had been strained since the night we slept together and now I knew why.
Maria was the first to break the sile
nce. ‘Did it really feel like years in there?’
I nodded, unwilling to discuss the never-ending, monotonous time that had seemed to last forever.
Someone knocked on the door and opened it. ‘Excuse me. It might be best if we reschedule our…conference until tomorrow when Ms. Martin is feeling more refreshed.’
I froze. I recognised that voice—it sent a chill up my spine—but it took me a moment to place it. I tried to stand but swayed. Adam gripped my elbow and helped me up. I took a deep breath before I turned to the person whom I recognised, the man I’d first seen in Downing Street. The Defence Minister looked the same as in my memory; his short, ginger hair thinning at the top, thin-framed glasses pressed close to his eyes, his face lined with age. He touched his hand to his bulging stomach as if removing a speck of lint.
Unfortunately for him, I also recalled him from Cleas’s memories. If I was right, the short, sweaty man stood fidgeting before me was a danger to us all.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
All happy feelings gone, I turned to Adam. ‘Whatever happens, do not let him leave this room.’
Adam leant back on his heels, one brow raised in question.
‘I’ll explain in a bit.’ I turned back to the slime-ball of a man, giving him a cold look. ‘I need to speak to whoever is in charge.’
The man looked around, escaping my direct stare. He fidgeted with the knot of his tie. I could practically hear him wishing he hadn’t come into the room. ‘You can deal with me.’ He straightened his back a fraction. His shoulders still hunched over as if he had spent most of his life working at a computer or, more likely, had an extreme desire to hide.
I shook my head. ‘Not good enough. I need to speak to the person in charge of this base.’
He looked around again, his gaze lingered on the exit behind him with regret. ‘I am the Defence Minister. My name is—’
I glared at him. ‘Your name is Douglas Hughes. You live at Five Shomere Crescent. You have been married to your wife, Melissa Brown, for twenty-one years and you have two children; your son Ben, who has recently married his childhood sweetheart, Neave, and your daughter Isabelle, who is enjoying single life in Egypt while completing her doctorate.’ Doug blanched, his breathing heavy. Two figures blocked the exit, both watching us in silence, their weapons ready though not aimed.
I closed my eyes, recalling everything Cleas had said to the man. It had been a pretty extensive background check. ‘Your wife thinks that you quit smoking several years back, yet you still have a secret one on the balcony before you go for a bath. You also have a stash of salty nuts she has banned you from eating in your desk drawer, right next to a bottle of bourbon, also banned by your wife.’ I needed him to understand how much I knew about his life, but I didn’t want to drag myself through Cleas’s memory to get more details, so I brought it to a close. ‘You were never particularly faithful to your wife and, recently, you met a dark-haired woman in a bar, a woman you proceeded to take to your hotel room.’ Doug looked like he was about to throw up. I leant towards him. ‘I am not trying to threaten you, Doug, but I do want you to ask yourself how I know all this.’ I moved closer, staring into his frightened eyes. ‘Tell me what happened in the hotel room.’ I already knew, but I wanted to see what he recalled.
The soldiers filed into the room. Fewer people entered than had left before, but we still had a full house watching us. I ignored them and focused on the betrayer before me.
At first, he wouldn’t answer. It was Eris, saying, ‘Either answer her or answer me,’ that finally opened him up. Her voice wasn’t menacing—if anything, it was curious—but Doug shuddered violently at the thought. I waited for one of the guards to complain, maybe shove their gun in my face, but the room remained silent, everyone curious about what I planned to do with my information.
I squinted. My head ached. ‘Well?’ I stiffened, unable to keep moving as my ears buzzed, and black spots danced before my eyes. I managed to breathe myself into focus before he responded.
‘She was a dark hair, exotic beauty,’ he said. ‘We fucked until the sun rose, and then she left.’
I massaged my temples with fingertips. ‘More details. Every single one you can remember.’
Doug frowned in confusion, as if not sure what I wanted. I glared at him until he continued. ‘I met her in the bar. We chatted, and I bought her a drink. I had whiskey while she had sparkling wine.’ He droned on for a few minutes about how she looked, smelt and many more mindless details. ‘She suggested we go to my room.’ He shifted and picked at his thumbnail as he glanced at everyone staring at him.
I poked him, urging him to continue as my strength faded.
‘She kissed me in the lift, and she fumbled with my clothes, removing my tie.’
His face reddened as he recounted that night, where he believed he’d betrayed his wife. He felt shame, but not because he cheated on his wife—he had committed adultery many times—but because I forced him to admit it before people.
My head continued to pound, regardless of how hard I massaged my temples. ‘Then what?’
‘We went to my hotel room. Then….’ He paused with a slight frown. ‘Then we fucked until the sun rose, and then she left.’ The words he repeated from minutes before sounded false, like he’d given me a pre-programmed response.
With a sigh, I dropped my hands to my side, too exhausted to keep up the massage. ‘What exactly happened in the room?’
His shoulders straightened and his eyes narrowed. ‘I told you, we fucked until the sun rose, and then she left.’ I guessed detailing his adultery wasn’t as easy as committing it.
‘Details,’ I said. ‘Did you have a drink with her first? Did either of you use the bathroom?’
He blinked in confusion, opened his mouth to speak and clicked it closed again. His shoulders dropped, the anger draining from him. ‘I told you, we fucked until the sun rose, and then she left.’ His voice faded until I could barely hear the last word. ‘I don’t understand. Why can’t I remember it properly?’
I leant towards him again, unable to care about his fear. ‘Let me tell you what happened. A woman did indeed lead you to your room, but she never entered. Instead, you had a long conversation with a witch named Damien and Cleas!’ I snorted with disgust and turned away, unable to look at him any longer.
Maria stared at me, understanding dawning on her. She reached for the scar caused by brain surgery, even though Eris had long healed it, obtained when her cousin, Damian, had locked us in with the Fae. ‘That’s not possible. His powers were stripped.’
‘He somehow got them back.’ I looked around the room, scanning each person present. ‘Now, will somebody tell me who is in charge of this place.’
Maria shook herself, shedding the haunted look from her eyes. ‘For God’s sake, will someone get the General.’
A small, suited man scurried from the room, more than eager to leave. Many of the remaining people gazed longingly after him, wishing they hadn’t come back to hear the latest conversation.
Douglas went to follow but I gripped his arm. ‘Not you.’ Every armed person in the room pressed the butt of the rifle into their shoulders and aimed the barrels at me. I kept Doug in my grip. ‘Lower your weapons. I will not harm him, but I can’t let him out of my sight.’
The weapons remained aimed at me, the silencing in the room deep and menacing.
Eris tutted. ‘Come on people, don’t make me disarm you.’ I could almost feel her grin on my back.
Douglas straightened, bracing his shoulders. ‘Lower them.’ Douglas shed his unease like an unwanted cloak. His watery blue eyes met mine for the first time, direct, with no hint of fear. ‘You won’t get away with this. You won’t get away with whatever you have planned for me.’
They were all so deluded. They had seen a couple of videos, read a few reports, and thought they knew what they were up against. They had no idea of the shit-storm coming their way. ‘By the time we are finished, you will all be thanking me.’ I lo
oked down on him, the top of his balding head reaching my chin. ‘Though, maybe not you.’ I didn’t know the extent of the damage Cleas had caused, so couldn’t promise anything.
Eris sauntered to me, eyeing the Defence Minister like he was a spider missing his legs, with wonder that he remained alive. ‘Do you want to explain?’
Some of her memories flashed through my mind, along with the conversation I’d heard her have with Adam. I released Doug, took a slow breath and turned to face her. I clenched my fist as rage boiled in me. Her eyes widened in response, but she made the mistake of not moving away from me.
I brought my fist around and struck her jaw. She stumbled back a step, more surprised at the blow than the meagre weight behind it. I scowled at my own weakness.
Adam stepped between us, but I shoved him aside and leant towards Eris who responded with a flash of anger. I met her gaze, refusing to be intimidated. ‘That is for my brother.’
She rubbed her chin for a moment, the subtle shade of a bruise already showing, and stared at me, frowning with surprise. Adam stood almost breathless to my side, waiting to see what her response would be. I shook with rage as I waited, sure that the minute she opened her mouth I would fly for her. My body and mind might be weak, but the rage consumed me. I wanted to hurt her.
Eris dropped her hand down and smiled, only to wince and touch her jaw once more. ‘I suppose I deserve that one.’
‘Suppose? You suppose you deserve it? After everything that you did; tracking down a blood brother I never even knew I had, manipulating him to let you into his life’—my voice became so loud, it vibrated through the room—‘making him absorb some of your shi, and then’—I bellowed at her as the blood pounded in my ears—‘to top it all off, you God damn lose him!’ I glared at her, my chest heaving as I choked on the rage filling my throat.
Adam pushed us apart. ‘That is enough! I want everyone out of this room now. Except you.’ He gripped hold of Doug. ‘That also includes you too, Maria. We will convene in private with your General.’
Noble Lies Page 25
