Chapter 9
Nelle
Inching closer, I rose on my toes and matched Dustin’s low whisper.
“What are you doing here?” How did he even know I’d left the estate?
Had he been following us all this time? It wasn’t as if Graysen and I had snuck away, we’d practically screamed we were leaving the godsdamned estate, protected within a formidable convoy.
But following me into the restroom?
It was more than risky.
As if he sensed my thoughts, his mouth pulled into an apologetic grimace, and his breath whispered over my temple when he said, “It’s the only way I could see you.
I needed to make sure you were all right.
Evelene is out of her mind with worry. She’s been waiting for me to report back.
” He raked a hand through his hair, mussing the flattened strands into spikes.
Anger gritted his voice as he folded his cap and shoved it into his back pocket.
“Jett’s playing me. As soon as I arrive back at the estate, he sends me off again on some pointless errand. ”
The air whooshed out of my lungs. “Do you think he knows you’re a spy?”
He shook his head. “No. It’s simply the mutual dislike Jett and Fluffy the Fourth have for each other. He wants Mrs. Lyon’s dog as far from him as possible, which means sending me away.”
I had so many things to ask. So many things to say. But the most important was my sister. “How is Evvie?”
His eyes softened with compassion. “She’s as well as expected under the circumstances.”
Abruptly, his expression hardened, and the words rushed out. “Has he hurt you?” His gaze swept over me, laser focused, checking for bruises or wounds.
I rolled back onto the flat of my feet, frowning. “Graysen?”
He hadn’t. Not once. He’d done nothing to terrorize or hurt me.
Dustin’s dark gaze snapped to mine, his fingers curling into fists. “If he has—”
I shook my head quickly. “No.”
Dustin’s mouth thinned, and he looked as if he didn’t believe me. “Your sister’s terrified about the Alverac binding you to…him.”
Hells, it terrified me too. It was something I didn’t want to think about.
I couldn’t plan any further than getting free of this collar.
I knew escape was a false hope to cling to because the Alverac would tie my body and soul to Graysen’s will until my death.
And that wouldn’t be very long because the Witches Ball was in two months.
But what else could I do but hope for a miracle?
I waited for Dustin to say more—to curse, to rage about the Witches Ball, to tell me Evvie was terrified of that too.
But he didn’t.
He just stared, waiting for me to say something.
My mind went still. Silent except for one fact.
Dustin didn’t mention the Witches Ball.
He and Evvie were only worried about the Alverac.
A cold, awful realization dawned on me that no one outside the Crowther family knew what they were up to. My family thought all of this was simply revenge, that their betrayal would be punished through me. They believed the Crowthers sought the Alverac simply to bind me to their will.
They had no idea Tabitha was still alive.
And they were completely unaware I was going to be auctioned off at the Witches Ball.
The revelation was a weightless jolt, a sensation much like the sodden ground falling out from beneath me when I stood on the cliff’s edge with Graysen staring back at me in horror.
“Can you please pass on a message to Evvie? To my family, too.” My voice cracked, and I wet my lips with a dry tongue. “Tell them I’m okay.” What else could I say? What good would it do to worry them further?
There came a loud barrage of knocks on the restroom door, pounding through the air. My bodyguard called out in a gruff voice, “Miss Wychthorn?”
Hellsgate!
In a panic, I pushed past Dustin. “I’m coming!”
Twisting around, I grabbed hold of him. “He can’t find us together. I’ve been in here too long. I need to go.”
Dustin stared at my hand on his arm with a tangle of emotions so enmeshed I couldn’t work them out.
I didn’t have time to try either. I let him go and reached for the stall door only for his fingers to curl around my upper arm.
His touch was warm, infused with strength, and for a heartbeat, as brief as a spark catching dry tinder, I liked it.
My gaze swung back to his. He smiled, his gaze rich with tenderness and determination. “You’ll see your sister and family soon, I promise. Hang in there. It might take longer than I hoped, but I’m working on a way to free you.”
“Okay,” I whispered. Though I was working on my own plan to save myself, I’d be a fool not to accept his help if it came along.
His smile broadened, and I nodded.
With one last, tentative glance at him, I slipped through the stall door and ran toward the bathroom’s entrance.
I practically stumbled into the corridor in my rush to reach my bodyguard before he came looking for me.
Dim light and a swell of chatter bounced all around my panicked figure.
The restroom door swung shut behind me with a heavy thump, the loud sound so sharp I jolted, sending my hand flying to my throat in a startled flutter.
Hellsgate. I needed to get a fucking grip.
My nervous fingers skimmed my collarbone, trembling as I drew in a deep, fortifying breath. I had to be calm. Collected. Well, as much as I could be under the circumstances. Graysen couldn’t know I’d just spoken to my sister’s spy.
Although, as I cast a furtive glance around the passageway, it seemed I needn’t have worried.
My bodyguard stood a little further down the corridor, speaking in low, urgent tones with another guard.
They were so caught up in their conversation that they hadn’t realized I was there.
Taking advantage, I twisted sideways and rose onto my toes, peering past the shoppers strolling through the passage.
Through the great archway ahead, I spotted Graysen among the stalls.
Like my guards, he looked distracted. The market’s lights poured downward, illuminating the bowed crown of his head and turning his untamed mane of hair slick and dark as oil while he typed furiously on his phone.
The tense line of his jaw ran down his corded throat to stiff shoulders and a rigid stance.
He suddenly glanced up beneath drawn brows, gaze honing onto someone out of my sight.
He went still, listening, before scowling and parting his mouth to reply.
I couldn’t hear him, but I caught the pinched features and the sharp shake of his head, reading his lips as he shot back, “What the fuck,” before he dropped his attention back to his phone, fingers flying over the screen.
What the hells was happening?
I hurried toward my guards and cleared my throat. The rough, abrupt sound snapped both men’s gazes to me. I didn’t bother to wait for their instructions, instead, spinning on my heel and striding off, hoping to draw them away from the restrooms long enough for Dustin to steal out unseen.
I still couldn’t believe he’d managed to sneak in there, but with how preoccupied the guards were, maybe it hadn’t been difficult at all. Frowning, I wondered what had captured their attention. And Graysen’s too.
The carved wall of tall grasses and flitting dragonflies swept past me as I marched down the corridor and crossed the enormous arched entrance back into the market.
Surprise stopped me cold when I saw who’d joined us.
Caidan Crowther.
He darted an uneasy look my way and inclined his head. “Wychthorn.”
Good afternoon, douchebag, I wanted to reply but held my tongue.
Instead, I meandered toward a tall potted tree with dappled light spearing through its canopy and metal-crafted birds perched on its raised boughs.
Supple branches and soft leaves gathered around me like a cloak of foliage.
I wished for distance, but I needed to be close enough to hear whatever Graysen and his brother were discussing.
The mass of bodyguards lingered nearby at a respectful distance, keeping a wary eye on the market-goers, while others kept watch over the Crowther brothers.
Graysen paced, agitation radiating off him.
He jerked a hand upward, cutting Caidan off before he could speak.
Still staring at his phone, he barked, “Whatever it is, it can wait. I need to get to Mela.”
“I know you do,” Caidan shot back. “That’s why I’m here. Your team couldn’t reach you this afternoon.” He turned slightly, the tousled locks of his hair ruffling like wind-teased waves as he shot another look my way, curiosity gleaming in his gaze. “Listen, I’ll drive you.”
Graysen finally looked up. He shoved his phone into his back pocket and took a long, impatient step backward. “No. It’ll be faster if I just hit the pavement. The subway isn’t far from here.”
The stoic, steel-haired Luther intercepted. He pointed a warning finger at Graysen. “I know you want to get there quickly, but follow protocol.”
“Fuck protocol,” Graysen snapped back, scowling.
The withering look Luther leveled at him would have had me cowering beneath its scorching intensity. Graysen’s glare faltered, softening into apology. “I’m sorry. My apologies, Luther. You’re right. We’ll do it your way. But we need to go now.”
Luther spun away, firing off a series of sharp hand signals. The guards scattered around us like satellites, shifted formation and closed in.
“You have your weapons and armor?” Caidan asked.
“Of fucking course.” Graysen pulled an affronted face. “Never leave home…” the words drifted apart. He tipped his head back toward the ceiling’s puffy papier-maché clouds. “Fuuuck,” he hissed, dragging his palm over his forehead.
“Thought so,” Caidan drawled with a smug grin, raising a hand, a battered weapons bag hanging off his fingertips.
Graysen’s gaze slid his way, shining with gratitude. He stepped closer to Caidan and clapped him on the arm. “Thanks.” The brothers exchanged bags. Caidan handed over the weapons to Graysen while accepting the shopping bags that were shoved into his arms.
I remained apart, watching it all. I tried hard not to look back at the restrooms. I didn’t want to give myself and Dustin away, yet the urge was overwhelming.
It was impossible not to look. I twisted slightly, pushing my hair over a shoulder as an excuse to glance toward the entranceway to the restroom corridor, sweeping my gaze through the patrons leaving.
Worry had my fingers tangling in the fringed end of my scarf, and relief loosened my grip on the frayed threads. I couldn’t see Dustin anywhere.
“Pet.”
It was that cold, cruel voice that had my attention whirling to Graysen.
That godsdamned nickname of his had my left eye twitching.
He stalked my way, stopping right in front of me, and stared down with menace.
He spoke loudly enough for his team to hear.
“Pay close attention to my rules while I’m away, Pet. ”
But with his back to the guards, his broad shoulders shielding us, he let the coldness seep away.
His gaze dropped to my hand at my waist. He reached out, then stilled, as if hesitant to touch me.
His fingers hovered an inch above mine, and the energy arced from him to me, tingling my skin with delicious bursts of electricity zinging up and down my spine.
“Listen,” he whispered. “I have to go.”
“To the catacombs?” I asked. He’d revealed earlier that’s where he went every day, but he hadn’t told me why.
He gave the faintest nod, his expression turning even more serious. “I’m hunting a creature for Sirro. I don’t know when I’ll be back home. When you get to the Keep, go straight to the tower and stay there until I arrive.”
Blood rushed in my ears, and the world around me seemed sharper, brighter, surreal. Everything had changed. The players on the board had shifted position, him and me, and with it the balance of power too. And he knew none of this.
I had the mites, and I was going to escape.
He swallowed, glanced at my hand once more, and this time he closed the distance. Heat sparked across my skin as he curled his fingers around mine, his thumb brushing gently over my knuckles. “Be careful,” he whispered.
I raised my face as he dipped his head lower, the warmth of his breath caressing my cheekbones. We stared at each other, and there were so many things he wanted to say swirling in the black abyss of his gaze but couldn’t.
“You too,” I whispered back.
He let go of my hand. Cool air swirled between us when he stepped back, and for a moment, a strange, bleak sensation tightened in my throat. His touch leaving mine felt like a beautiful tragedy.
A goodbye.
He continued staring at me while quietly addressing Caidan over his shoulder. “Get her home.” His brother nodded, and then Graysen strode away at the head of a swarm of guards. Far too soon, he vanished into the sea of stalls and patrons, leaving me alone with Caidan.
Caidan, who had betrayed my sister’s trust.
Caidan, whom I might be able to leverage because of his affection for Evvie.
He swept a hand sideways, silently requesting me to walk back through the market. I lifted my chin airily and broke into movement, his own small army of black-suited guards falling in around us like a murder of crows.