Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
BELLAMY
L eoni, Driscoll, and I sat on a couch in the parlor as Wesley played the piano while Jerome sang. Goji sat on a velvet maroon chair, leaning over and sipping from a glass of wine. We’d just eaten dinner, a fabulous meal prepared by Cook, and now we were getting to the entertainment portion of the evening. I winced as Jerome hit a high note that made my ears ring.
“I’d rather be out facing the shadows right now,” Driscoll mumbled, sipping from his own glass of wine.
Glints of light bounced off the walls from the glittering black chandelier that hung from the ceiling. Black and white stripes were painted on the walls, which was a nice change from just solid black.
“Are none of you going to have a drink?” Goji asked, gesturing to the small table by the door, adorned with wine glasses and bottles of wine.
“Don’t need to tell me twice.” Driscoll rose and strode across the room, pouring a drink for himself.
He returned and fell back onto the couch, peering at Goji. “So what happened to you?”
Leoni and Driscoll had told me a little bit about Goji. Mainly that she’d died. Sacrificed herself to save their friends. Yet here she was: clearly alive.
Goji drained her glass, looking out the open doorway and biting the inside of her cheek. “There’s really not much to tell. I was dying. I’d used almost all my magic to give Gabrielle and Bastian a chance to escape. Master Kairoth found me, brought me to his castle, nursed me back to health.”
I’d read somewhere that the pixie’s lives were connected to their magic. Every time they used their magic, their life force drained away.
“So you can’t use your magic?” I asked.
Goji got up, filled her glass, then came back and sat in her chair. “No,” she said, a hint of sadness in her voice. “I have a very small amount left. Once all our magic is gone, so is our life force. Simply put, if I use the small amount of magic I have left, I will die..”
“Did he punish you?” Driscoll asked. “For letting Bastian and Gabrielle get away like that?”
She raised her chin, and my anger flared at the thought of him hurting her for doing the right thing. For helping people escape his awful island.
“No,” she finally said, and I wondered if she was lying, covering for him for some reason. Maybe she was afraid she’d get in trouble if this conversation somehow got back to him. “But he was disappointed. He trusted me. Not something Master Kairoth does easily, and I betrayed that trust.”
“But you saved my best friend,” Leoni said. “Saved the love of her life.”
Goji winced at that, and Driscoll elbowed Leoni. I wasn’t sure what that was about.
“Yes, well, I’m glad they’re happy together.” Goji took another long drink. “I did the right thing, saving them. But I wished it didn’t come at the expense of hurting Master Kairoth. He didn’t deserve that. Not after everything else he’s been through.”
I peered at her, wondering what that meant. Was she brainwashed or was she being genuine? I wished I knew. I wished I could trust anybody here to tell the truth. To give answers. But it wouldn’t be that straightforward.
Goji stood abruptly. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m getting quite tired.” With that she fluttered out of the room, neither Jerome nor Wesley taking notice as they continued to sing and play the piano.
“Wow,” Driscoll said. “Poor Goji. Sacrificed herself for the man she loved, and now she’s here, stuck in this castle with Shadow Daddy.”
Leoni bit her lip. “She did an amazing thing. I wish she wasn’t so sad about Bastian.”
I stared at them. “Goji is in love with the pirate lord you always talk about? That’s why she saved them and helped them escape?”
Leoni nodded. “She was willing to die for him.”
I couldn’t imagine loving anyone, other than my brothers, enough to sacrifice my life. Certainly not some man.
I’d debated going back into Kairoth’s dreams today, but after our meeting on the terrace last night, I wasn’t sure I’d wanted to see him again.
He wasn’t like what I imagined, and it was disconcerting. For a bloodthirsty god, I’d expected him to be more... bloodthirsty. He was broody, grumpy, terse. But he didn’t strike me as evil. Then again, I’d grown up in the Wilds. Instead of playing with children, I played with monsters. I wasn’t exactly the best judgment of evil. It almost seemed like he had as much disdain for the gods as I did.
Driscoll leaned over Leoni to look at me. “Enough about Goji. Can we go back to that part where you told us there’s someone trapped in the east wing? You can’t just drop a revelation like that and then go all introspective and say nothing else about it.”
I pressed a finger to my lips, shooting a glance at the pixies, but the piano and the singing were so loud it drowned out our words.
“A prisoner,” I said . “I accidentally came upon her cell.”
Leoni translated, and Driscoll’s eyes widened. “A prisoner?” he whispered. “Who do you think it is? Did she tell you her identity?”
I shook my head, then jumped as Wesley pounded his fingers on one of the keys, the note echoing around the room.
“Are you going to go back?” Leoni whispered. “Do you think this prisoner is powerful, that she could potentially help us stop Spirit Shadow?”
I nodded.
Driscoll’s brows furrowed. “Or she could be even worse, some bloodthirsty killer or something. You have to find out more information from her. Or one of us could go down there and talk to her.”
That would make it easier, but I wasn’t sure I trusted Leoni or Driscoll just yet. They could use this woman to ruin my own plan of killing Spirit Shadow. They could use her to steal the bolt and escape. If she had the power to even help them do such a thing. Either way, I wanted to do this myself.
My companions spoke like we were a team, but we weren’t. I worked alone. I always had.
I gave a firm shake of my head. “I’ll go back down there and find out more. I think it helps that I don’t speak. She’s more open to talking, to revealing parts of herself with no expectation of me doing the same.”
“I suppose,” Leoni said, but she didn’t sound convinced.
“So tell me more about Spirit Shadow.” Driscoll propped his head in his hand. “You’ve seen him three times now. You’ve talked to him. What’s he like?”
“Annoying,” I signed.
Driscoll rolled his eyes. “Why does everyone suck the fun out of everything? I just want some good gossip. We are in the literal presence of a shadow daddy. The least you can do is give me the goods.”
I looked at Leoni. “Shadow daddy?” I mouthed.
She waved a hand at him. “He likes to come up with nicknames for gorgeous, powerful men.”
I cleared my throat. “How do you know Spirit Shadow is gorgeous?”
I thought of when I’d entered his dreams for the first time, when I’d lit the hallway and his shadows had hid behind him, his entire body and face exposed for a moment. He was beautiful with his strong jaw, straight nose, thick black hair. But I would not be admitting that to Driscoll. If I did, I had a feeling he’d never shut up about it.
Leoni translated my question to Driscoll, who just smirked. “Oh Bellamy. Sweet, naive Bellamy. I know when a man is hot. Or a spirit. They have a certain swagger about them. From what I’ve seen of Spirit Shadow, he’s got the swagger.”
“Well, I wouldn’t know, ” I lied. “I’m not trying to flirt with him. I’m trying to kill him.”
Leoni cleared her throat before translating.
“Are we sure we want to kill him?” Driscoll asking, eyes darting to the pixies, then back to us. “It seems like he might not be all that bad. At least based on what Goji’s saying. We still don’t know why he’s getting those weapons.”
“It’s going to take time to unravel all of this,” Leoni said. “And it’s clear he’s suspicious of Bellamy, of her powers. That’s the only reason he’s letting us stay. He’s not going to open up easily, not unless...”
Both she and Driscoll looked at me expectantly.
“What?” I signed.
“Maybe you could charm him,” Leoni suggested.
Driscoll barked out a laugh. “I’m sorry.” He wiped a fake tear from his eye. “It’s just Bellamy and charming in the same sentence? You have to admit, that’s kind of funny.”
I made a face at him but thought over Leoni’s words. Driscoll was right. No one had ever described me as charming. Scary? Rough around the edges? Abrasive? Yes, yes, and yes.
Not ever charming.
And I didn’t want to be charming. Kairoth was responsible for the death of my people, the destruction of my home. He was the reason I had to grow up in the Wilds. He was the reason my mother became a monster. Maybe not directly. But his actions had caused a ripple effect. Not only that, but he also destroyed his own court, killed his own people.
Maybe he didn’t act evil, but he was a monster, and I had no interest in trying to charm the truth out of him.
I shook my head. “I’ll find the truth my own way.”
Wesley now hopped off the piano bench, singing as Jerome took over playing. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught shadows flying through the air, Kairoth following them.
I squinted. Not just a few shadows, but an entire army of them.
“Well if you’re not going to put on the charm, let me.” Driscoll shrugged. “I’ll charm Shadow Daddy.”
I cut him a look. “You have a boyfriend if I’m not mistaken, and I’d like to remind you that if you hurt Aron, I will hurt you. Badly.”
Leoni translated the message with a smirk, and Driscoll shot me a glare. “He’s not my boyfriend. We didn’t attach labels.”
“To be fair, I think he wanted to be your boyfriend,” Leoni said. “I saw the way he looked at you.”
“You were with him for like two seconds,” Driscoll said.
I watched as the shadows continued to stream past the window. Something was happening. Something big.
“I have to go,” I signed as I stood from the couch.
“Where?” Leoni asked.
I pointed out the window, and she and Driscoll both saw the shadows outside.
“Go,” Leoni said. “We’ll keep the pixies distracted.”
“I don’t think we need to,” Driscoll said as Jerome tap danced while Wesley bellowed out a song. “They are having the time of their lives entertaining us.”
“Just tell them I didn’t feel well and decided to retire to my room.”
Leoni nodded as I hurried out of the parlor and chased after the god of shadows.