Chapter 26
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SIX
Licking my lips, I sit up and focus as much as I can when my brain is still in post-bliss mode, but one look at his tightening eyes and all that happiness disappears. “What is it?”
“I need to show you what’s been happening.” Hurrying across the room, he presses his hands to my head and closes his eyes. My eyelids flutter shut as a movie of images appears in my brain.
It’s hard to make sense of it at first, since it’s snippets of images from others’ brains, but then I realise it’s an update of everything happening within my court.
Luan accessed as many heads as he could to sort it for me.
When he pulls back, I blink away a slight headache and focus on his worried face.
A tentative plan starts to form in my mind, and when I look into his eyes, I know he hears it too. “I can do it,” he murmurs. “I can disguise you so they won’t see you.”
Looking at the others, I nod. “I’ll be back. Stay here.”
“Be safe,” Ami calls, and I smile.
“Please,” Corbin adds for good measure.
Frost simply kisses me, and when I glance at Eversor, he just winks. Rolling my eyes, I look at Luan, who sighs. “She’ll always be safe with me.” Taking my hand, he leads me into my bedroom and to the door.
Once there, he tightens my hold and nods.
“It will be okay. Just act normal when they pass. They won’t see you, but instead who I want them to see,” he assures me, and then we step into the hall, walking like nothing changed.
I’m nervous at first. I have wandered these hallways many times, but now it feels different, like there’s an enemy lurking around every corner.
When the first set of guards pass without even sparing us a look, I relax a little, keeping pace at Luan’s side.
“Is that how you do it? Holding my hand and covering me in their minds?”
“I don’t need to hold your hand to do it.
That’s just a bonus,” he murmurs distractedly, and I smile despite the situation.
He leads me down the hall, and I direct him in my mind, which is odd but comforting.
I don’t need to speak to get my point across, and I worry about what he will see sometimes, but he never invades my privacy, and if he does see something he shouldn’t, he doesn’t mention it.
When we round the corner, the bare walls make me stagger. Portraits of our people, of my mother, once hung along this corridor, but now it’s empty, until we reach the middle.
COURT RULES
No woman is to be left unattended.
If a woman disobeys her master, she will be punished.
Women are prohibited from using their powers.
If any women are caught meeting, they will be executed.
My heart aches, and my fury grows. He treats them like slaves, nothing more than a hole to satisfy them.
He stripped them of their ideas, dreams, and freedom, and the fact that he replaced the memories of our court with these infuriating rules only makes me angrier, so I turn away before I do something stupid, like burn them and get caught.
I need to be patient.
They are relying on me to be smarter than him.
Once we are on the bottom level, we follow the familiar hallways to the kitchen.
Formerly a place of gathering and family, it is stark and silent.
I used to love spending my time here. I never enjoyed cooking, but those who did filled this place with love.
Besides, I like eating, and they would let me test their new recipes.
Food was a love language to some women here, but as I look them over, I realise all that is left is fear and anger.
The room is free of guards, which shouldn’t surprise me, since they don’t want to have to feed and look after themselves.
They think we should, the arseholes. The women are chained to their stations but unattended despite their new rules.
That was their second mistake, as the first was believing they could ever control us.
I nod at Luan, and he locks the main door. When I turn, I hear a gasp, indicating he must have dropped his disguise. “Rethia!” They lower to their knees, but I hurry forward, slapping my hands onto the steel counter.
“Do not,” I beg. “Please stand.”
They climb unsteadily to their feet. I hate the bruises and scars littering their skin. “What are you all doing? Do you want them to come back in here—” The voice is familiar as a figure emerges from the walk-in fridge before she freezes.
I stare at Piper, who drops the tray she was holding, her face pale.
“El,” she whispers, and then she runs to me, the scarf tied around her usual perfect hair hitting me in the face.
The scent of meat and herbs wraps around me, a familiar and comforting smell.
She grips me as she pulls back, and I cup her beautiful face, hating the bruise on her cheek.
“I’m fine. They can’t break me,” she mutters, and I smile sadly. “El, what are you doing here? You got out. They promised me you did.”
“I couldn’t leave you all behind, could I? What kind of friend would I be?” I ask, and she shakes me. I have no idea how we became best friends, since we are polar opposites, but it works.
“What are you thinking? If he finds you—”
I cover her mouth. “He won’t until I want him to. Word is spreading, but I assume it has not reached here yet. I’m back to reclaim what is ours, and to do that, I’m going to need your help.”
“Whatever you need,” she responds and turns, grabbing a knife and flashing the sharp blade. “Who am I killing?”
I laugh and drag her into another hug. “All of them. We are killing all of them,” I murmur before pulling away and looking at the other women, who have growing hope in their eyes.
“I have a plan, but for it to work, I’m going to need everyone with me. It’s going to have a lot of moving parts, but if we are smart and careful, it will work, and we will reclaim our court and end those who dared to harm us and those we love,” I call out. “Are you with me?”
“Always,” they reply, and when I glance at Piper, she’s nodding and wearing a crooked smile on her lips.
“You know I’m always down for your crazy plans, El, so tell me what you need me to do.”
That’s what it boils down to because without Piper, this won’t work. She knows everyone and everything, and she’s also the one who smuggled goods into our court.
The smile I wear is full of pure malice, and her eyes widen.
It’s time we showed them our true strength.
With our plan in place, all we can do is wait, so Luan guides me towards my rooms and the others so we can fill them in. When we get to the second floor, however, we spy a group of soldiers heading our way, and he curses.
I cannot control that many at once. Something might slip through, he whispers in my mind, and I turn my eyes to him.
I glance around the familiar hallway, tightening my hold on his hand before I rip the door open, shove us inside, and lock it behind me.
It’s a cleaning cupboard I used to smoke in when I didn’t want to be caught. I don’t turn the light on, knowing they can see it from the hallway, but I slide backwards, past the two first shelves, and into the little area I cleared back here.
You’ve been here a lot.
I nod, pressing against the wall as he steps back and positions himself opposite me, copying my placement, the shelves hiding us as we wait for the soldiers to pass.
My mother didn’t like me smoking to relax. She didn’t mind tobacco, but she did not approve of the pixie grass Piper used to smuggle in. She said it dulled my senses. I’d sneak here and enjoy it without being caught. No cameras, and the ones in the hall point away from this area—I made sure of it.
He grins, the light from the hallway allowing me to see his face.
I have a feeling you were always up to something you shouldn’t have been.
I smile and lean my head back. Most of the time, I admit. I just liked to test boundaries and have fun. What’s the point of all this power if I can’t enjoy it?
He nods, but I know he never felt that way. We lapse into silence, our eyes locked together, and something passes across his features that makes me swallow. I have no doubt he senses the anticipation in my head and the random flash of lust. His lips curve, and I know he did.
Did you ever sneak in here for fun? he drawls, and flashes of his hand on my breast make my eyes widen before they are gone and I’m left blinking looking at his wicked face.
No, I reply. I always wanted to, but I didn’t trust anyone enough. Sex was always on display for us. I guess it made us feel safe and enforced our boundaries. It felt too personal in here.
It’s strange having a conversation in my head.
I run my eyes down his face to his body without meaning to.
It’s easy to forget how beautiful Luan is, but as the shadows caress him, I appreciate how truly stunning he is.
Without a word, he senses what I want and crosses the room to give it to me, sliding his hand around my throat and tilting my head back.
You never need to ask. Every inch of me is yours to control, tame, and break, cor meum.
Now is not the time, but as I stare into his eyes, I can’t seem to care. Desire rolls through me until I reach for him, wanting to do what I always imagined in here. With him, it’s not so scary.
Kiss me, I demand wordlessly, and his head tilts down, but I pull away, smirking as his eyes narrow. He waits, and when I close the distance between us, we explode.
Our lips crush together, the kiss fast, hard, and untamed as I tear at his clothes.
He rips mine from my body, baring my skin, and then he caresses every inch of me as he presses me to the wall.
He grabs my thigh with one hand and slides it up around his waist, tilting me until I grind into him as he deepens our kiss.
He’s all I taste, feel, and see, even with my eyes closed.
Tastes so sweet, so perfect. I want to taste her all over, want to feel her wrapped around me. Fuck. I need to be inside her so badly—