Chapter 6
Rosabel La Rouge
It was so sudden, that sound. So… ordinary in a sea of strange magic buzzing and harsh Iridian words being thrown at me like fucking daggers.
Everything came to a halt. My eyes opened, and I saw how all of them had gathered around me, except for Ferid, Natasha, and Madeline, who’d remained a few feet behind.
Now everyone was looking at the door, especially when it opened.
It actually opened without Madeline telling whoever it was on the other side to enter, and every person in the room held their breath until we saw the face of the guard. That same guard who’d taken me to the Iris Roe, who’d smuggled me in. That same guard who was now pale as a sheet when his eyes found Madeleine.
“It’s an emergency,” he said, and he strode over to her like he couldn’t even see the members of the Council—and me sitting there on the couch, waiting to die.
Goddess, is this real?
The magic that had been pressing against my chest disappeared. It no longer buzzed in my ears, either, and everyone was still looking at the guard as he whispered in Madeline’s ear.
I thought for a moment I could make a run for it. I thought for a moment I could jump to my feet and run and protect myself when they came after me, but that’s only until I remembered that I didn’t have the bracelet on me—or my father’s ring.
“What is the meaning of this, Madeline?” Natasha the Greenfire demanded when the guard stepped back and waited, his unblinking eyes on my grandmother.
My grandmother who had been looking at the floor for a moment before turning to Helen—it had been her who’d been chanting that spell to pull at my magic. Which made sense since she was the only Whitefire in our midst.
“Selem is here,” Madeline said, and every inch of my body rose in goose bumps.
Silence—such a long and heavy silence that could make a person believe she’d gone deaf.
Then…
“They wouldn’t,” said George in a whisper, and his voice trailed off as a strange smile spread his lips.
And I thought, no, please no, please no, please no…
“They’re here and they claim they know how to find David,” Madeline continued, and now my stomach was doing all kinds of horrible dances.
“By the Goddess,” said Nicholas and fell on the armchair with a deep sigh, almost like he was relieved. Not because of what Madeline said, but because he wouldn’t have to go through with what they’d wanted to do just now— drain me and give him my magic. My life source. All of me.
“And…” Madeline said, and her eyes locked on mine just for a split second when she said, “They have the bracelet.”
Fuck, Taland, run! my mind shouted, while another part of me was thankful, so thankful I wanted to burst out in tears with relief.
He’d come back for me. He’d brought the bracelet—that fucking bracelet. He’d come back for me, and I honestly thought it was only him. I honestly thought he’d made it to me himself.
“Very well,” Helen said, stepping away from me, and all the others did the same. “Invite them in, I suppose. Let’s have a chat.”
Everyone was already taking their seats and filling their glasses. Madeline turned her head to the side just slightly and nodded, and the guard understood. He walked out the door, closing it behind him, leaving us alone once more.
Meanwhile, I had made a mess of my palms and my eyes were closed and air went down my throat with ease. I was breathing. I was alive. For now.
Never before had I felt more helpless than I did in those moments, not even in that alley in Night City, when the other players had been chasing me, coming to kill me. That’s why I already decided that I was never going to allow myself to be in that position again even before the door opened—this time without a knock.
The first to come in was Aurelia Mergenbach, and my heart took a long pause at the sight of her face. Behind her was none other than Radock Tivoux, and my eyes refused to blink for fear he’d disappear. Zachary followed, and behind him was Kaid, then Seth.
Behind Seth came Taland, and the room around me disappeared.
Taland was in Madeline’s mansion, in Madeline’s office.
Taland was here.
Our eyes locked. The people spoke, but I couldn’t understand a word they said, and I didn’t care to. Taland was here, and he was standing on his own even though he looked like shit. He had a clean black shirt and a new jacket on, but his jeans were a mess and there was dirt around his neck, too, like he hadn’t had time to even shower.
He wore boots—and an expression on his face that said he was this close to setting the fucking world on fire.
“That’s far enough.”
The sound of Madeline’s voice fell in the center of my mind like a big piece of rock. I was suddenly aware that Taland and I were not the only people in this room. I was suddenly aware that I had made it to my feet, too.
I’d stood up without even realizing it, and now everyone was standing, and the office had never looked so small.
The doors closed. The tension in the air was so thick I could feel it pressing against my skin, and Taland was there still. He hadn’t disappeared. I hadn’t imagined him—he was there and he was looking at me and he seemed calmer by the minute.
Calmer because he didn’t know what these people had been about to do to me, and I preferred it that way. Because now he was here and now the Council had access to him. Now he was here, and the Council could kill him just as they’d been about to kill me, so I needed him to remain calm. To not piss them off.
Goddess, please, don’t piss them off, my fear begged.
“Isn’t this a surprise,” said Helen, as she stood in the middle of the room with the rest of the Council and my grandmother at her side. They’d created a wall in front of me, separating me from the newcomers, but I could still see them just fine.
Radock Tivoux stepped forward with his chin raised and a gleaming in his dark eyes, not an ounce of fear or hesitation anywhere on his body. “Maybe to you. I suppose it came as a shock to you to find out that you’ve been lied to and spied on for years.”
“Who are you?” said Ferid, shaking his head, pretending to be disgusted while he looked everyone over, but then Aurelia stepped forward, too.
“I think you know who we are, Mr. Nagi,” she said to him. “Just as we know who you are.”
“One little thing you didn’t know, though, was that David Hill was one of ours.” This from Zachary, who slowly crossed his arms in front of his chest, and I saw it because he was standing next to Taland.
Taland who hadn’t once looked away from me yet.
“True,” said Natasha. “Very true—we had no idea that he was screwing us over.” She flinched. “And you had no idea that he was screwing you over as well.”
“Enough,” Helen said. “We all know who we’re talking to here, and we’ve all been blindsided by a man we trusted—the same man.”
“Agreed,” Radock said with a nod, his eyes boring into Helen with such intensity I could have sworn she looked a bit nervous. “David Hill brought us together, as strange as that may sound. He’s not our guy and he’s not your guy—he’s nobody’s guy, apparently, and right now the only thing that matters is that he’s stopped.” He stepped closer. “I assume Rosabel has already told you everything that happened in Silver Spring.”
“And my guard told me that you know how to find David,” Madeline said, her voice ice-cold, so fucking terrifying—or maybe just to me.
“More importantly—we were told you have the bracelet,” said Nicholas.
Aurelia looked behind her—at Taland.
Taland stepped forward, pulling the left sleeve of his jacket up to reveal the bracelet around his wrist.
My eyes closed for a moment, chasing out the tears that had gathered in them. Goddess, thank you. He had the bracelet. He could survive if the Council turned on him. He could survive.
“I don’t just have it,” Taland said, and his voice raised every inch of my skin in goose bumps. He sounded calm, as certain of his every word as always. “I can use it, too.”
“Show us,” said Helen.
We all looked at Taland’s hand, and we all expected him to start chanting, when…
“No.” Once more, everyone in the room held their breath. “I’ve also memorized the Script of Perria that Alejandro Ammiz sent me to steal from your Vault. I imagine Hill has already taken it and has left behind no records. You will need that as well, to find him.”
He said all of it with such ease, you’d think he was talking about something as ordinary as the fucking weather.
Are you out of your fucking mind?! I wanted to shout at him, and I hoped he looked at me now so I could show him with my eyes how fucking absurd he was being, but he didn’t. His eyes remained on Helen—who was already livid.
“How dare you? What do—” she started, but Taland didn’t even let her finish.
“Rosabel,” he said, and he raised his hand toward me.
Fuck, the way I wanted to run, to jump, to fucking fly until my hand was in his.
But Madeline stepped forward, closer to Taland, and told him, “Rosabel is not going anywhere.”
Taland didn’t even look at her at all, like she didn’t exist. “I have the Script of Perria in my mind, and the only way any of you is going to have it is if Rosabel is by my side right now and she tells me to give it to you.”
Damn it, Taland!
A smile spread on my face—silly, I know. I couldn’t help it because this guy. This fucking guy came here just as I was about to die and saved me, once again, and looked the fucking Council in their eyes and told them that. Said those words.
This fucking guy.
“My granddaughter will—” Madeline started again, but this time, I didn’t let her finish.
Because fuck you, Madeline. Fuck her and the Council and Hill and everyone.
“Let me through.”
Helen and Nicholas who were standing in front of me turned to look at me and I didn’t hesitate. I moved between them, pushed them to the side, and for a second there I thought I would make it. I thought I’d walk all the way to Taland and take his hand in mine and then we could get the hell out of here.
Except both Helen and Nicholas put their hands on my shoulders the moment I stepped between them and stopped me.
Wands were drawn. Magic released in the air from the mages in the room in an instant—all that power.
Taland aimed his palm at Helen now—that same hand he’d extended for me.
Fuck.
I closed my eyes, took in a deep breath.
“Rosabel isn’t going anywhere without the bracelet and without the Script,” Helen said, and her fingers dug into my shoulder, and I could have sworn that magic leaked out of her, whether intentionally or not.
“I would normally agree with you,” Radock said, half a bitter smile on his face as he slowly, casually put a hand in the pocket of his black pants. “But see, that girl saved my brother twice.” He raised two fingers. “And now I am in her debt, which doesn’t sit all that well with me, to be honest.” I could hardly believe my ears. “So, I’m going to have to insist on this, too. Let the girl come to us and then we can sit and talk.”
“ Talk ?” George said, and he meant to mock him, but then Aurelia said, “Yes, talk, Mr. Levington. We all need to talk about Hill. We all need to work together to stop him before he actually brings back the dead army and dooms us all.”
Silence in the room. I didn’t look away from Taland, and Taland didn’t look away from me.
Then he winked at me, and I smiled again. It was automatic—when he was calm, my nervous system decided there was nothing to worry about. I trusted his sense of judgment more than my own, I think. Or I just believed that we were both here now and we both knew there was no such thing as impossible because of everything we’d gone through. We both knew we had no limits when it came to one another. There was nothing we couldn’t do.
And that put me at ease.
Fascinating how my entire mindset changed simply because he was here. I’d been surrendered to death just minutes ago, but now I had a thirst for life deeper than ever before.
“He’s going to do it,” Zachary said when nobody else spoke.
“He has everything he needs,” said Kaid. “We have word that the Devil has already found the bones of Titus. And the Devil is working with Hill.”
My stomach fell. Could it be that Kaid was telling the truth?
“The girl,” said Radock. “Let her go and we can talk.”
“ Or you can keep your little brother under control and give us the Script as a leader ought to do,” Flora said, her condescending tone sending ice-cold chills down my spine.
Radock laughed—actually laughed. “You think he told me anything?” He shook his head again and again. “How do you think he got us to come here in the first place? My brother is very thorough when he wants to be, and he’s always wanted to be thorough when it comes to this girl.”
Behind him, Zachary smiled mischievously. “Yep. Afraid we can’t help with that, but we’re sure hoping you’ll help us. All of us.”
The hands on my shoulders seemed to grow heavier by the second. I shook my head at Taland just a bit to tell him that he was fucking nuts to be doing this, and that I loved him for it.
The corner of his lips curled up just slightly in a smile. My heart all but leapt out of my ribcage to go to him.
“And if we don’t?” asked Ferid, who had his feathers in his hands—two of them, big and shiny and ready to be used.
They were preparing, all of them. Even Madeline had spread her fingers as she watched Taland, hated him with all her being the way she usually did me.
“If you don’t, we’ll fight,” said Aurelia with a shrug of her petite shoulders. “You’ll lose—and I’m not saying that to try to scare you or anything. I’ve just seen what this thing can do.” And she pointed her finger at Taland’s wrist. “A single spell and the Regah screen was in pieces—not only that but a good portion of the entire neighborhood shifted, and everyone within a mile radius fell unconscious. A single spell did that—from her.” She nodded at me, and grinned. “Him?” She then pointed her thumb at Taland by her side. “He’s even more powerful, far as I know. And he really doesn’t give a shit about anything, so…” Again, she shrugged. “Your call, I guess.”
“You really expect us to believe that this boy will go to war with us knowing his family will die if we don’t hand Rosabel over?” This from Natasha, who shook her head like she couldn’t even believe her own ears.
“Well, considering he called Madeline Rogan and gave her the location of our own headquarters just to get her out…” Radock said, and the look on Madeline’s face.
I would never forget the shock, the terror that darkened her eyes. “It was you ,” she whispered, then pressed her lips like the words slipped out of her involuntarily.
“It was,” said Radock. “I was furious, too, when I found out—but what can you do, I guess. Young love.” And he grinned that awful grin that made you think of anything but positive emotions. That made you think of certain painful death instead.
“Helen?” Nicholas said from my left, but I refused to look away from Taland still. I refused to do anything but stand there and wait until they made up their minds because I knew one thing by now. I believed one thing with my whole heart—no matter what happened next, I was getting out of here with Taland. One way or the other.
“We really should get this over with sooner,” said Kaid. “Hill is on his way to the dead army right now. Do you really need us to remind you what happens if he actually succeeds?”
“He can’t succeed without that bracelet,” said Madeline.
“Who’s to say this was the only one he had?” said Radock.
This time, you could see the way they were all defeated by the thought of loss. Defeated by the certainty that David Hill might be out there right now, summoning the dead, coming to kill us all, to rule the world.
“ Tick-tock, ” Zach whispered, and he was still smiling, like the gravity of this situation was completely lost on him.
“The power of the Rainbow,” Nicholas started, and slowly he removed his hand from my shoulder as he looked at Helen first, then his colleagues. “I am almost certain it won’t work on me. It cannot be separated from her anymore. It has merged with Rosabel’s energy already. It won’t work.”
I could kiss the guy for saying that right now, but…
“Is that what you were trying to do,” said Taland, his voice low, barely a whisper, and I knew what he looked like when he was angry, even if the expression on his face didn’t change at all. I knew the shade of brown his eyes took on—and right now, he was raging on the inside.
The next moment, tiny flames in all colors sprung on his skin, on his hand that he’d aimed at Helen, demanding the focus of each and every person in here with me.
I shook my head once— no. He was not going to attack now when we were close. No, Taland, don’t you dare, I thought, and I like to think he understood.
“A fight isn’t going to serve anyone,” Radock said. “We will win against you, but as much as it pains me to say this, we need you to win against Hill, just like you need us.”
His words fell over me, warm and comforting—because I had been thinking the same thing—but heavy as well. Because he was absolutely right. As much as these people had worked against one another for years, now was not the time to fight. Now was the time to stand together—at least until the common threat no longer existed.
“Who would have thought?” said Natasha, shaking her head, and she took her seat on the couch again, reached for her glass on the table. “The likes of David Hill to force a truce between us—who would have thought?”
“Natasha,” Helen said, but the old woman waved her off.
“Sit down, all of you. Let the girl go. Let’s talk.”
I didn’t think, didn’t blink, didn’t even breathe as I waited and waited…
Helen dropped her hand from my shoulder, too, and I moved. My legs carried me to Taland, and I fell in his open arm with my whole being. He wrapped it around my waist and held me to his chest tightly, his other hand still raised. Still not entirely convinced that the Council was going to stand down. That they’d actually agreed to let me go and talk.
“It’s okay,” I whispered, holding onto his neck tightly, eyes squeezed shut, the sound of his heartbeat and mine in my ears. “It’s okay, Taland. I’m okay.”
His other arm wrapped around me as well, and he took us a couple of steps back while the others moved forward. All of them, closer to the Council.
“All right, then. If you would be so kind as to pour us a drink, too, we can begin to plan,” Zachary Mergenbach said, but I still hadn’t opened my eyes or let go of Taland, and he still hadn’t let go of me.
For a moment there, he lowered his head and pressed his lip to my shoulder, and I heard the deep sigh that left him—the relief. I could only imagine what it must have been like in his head—but it was over now. I was smiling because it was over.
“You’re mad , Mister Tivoux,” I said, and if we were anywhere else, I’d have laughed my heart out.
“I am, indeed,” he said without hesitation.
I wouldn’t have had him any other way.