Chapter 44
Forty-Four
A good little slut listens to her king.
Unless he’s being a dick.
- Arienna
I hurry through the tunnel, following Fabia as she pulls me forwards by the hand.
When I woke up a few minutes ago, I was alone in bed, and the pain of that hit me hard.
My best friend was in the room with me, sitting on the floor, but her presence, for the first time ever, wasn’t enough to make me feel better.
She asked me if I wanted to see Richard, and I shook my head. Just the thought of looking at him hurt too much. As soon as she came back in to tell me he’d left, I scrambled out of bed, still in last night’s clothes, with fragmented thoughts of where to go.
I just knew I couldn’t stay there.
Without question, Fabia pulled Jace in from the hall and told him we were leaving through the tunnels. He wanted to know where I was going first, and she looked at me, letting me decide.
Brownston didn’t feel like home anymore.
The library wasn’t guarded well enough for Jace to be comfortable with.
I loved animals, but Richard used the aviary too often.
And so I decided on the barracks – the last place he’d look for me, thinking I’m too weak to handle Raza’s love of blood and violence. With Echo there, only helping to guard Richard when he leaves the city for extended periods of time or if she’s called on a special assignment, Jace agreed.
But as I’m rushing through the tunnels, away from him, all my heart wants to do is turn back. Whose arms do you fall into when the person you love the most is the one who hurt you?
But I told him our safe word, and he did not stop.
I begged him, and he carried on.
I don’t know how to forgive him for that.
I don’t know if I can.
But what I do know is that I am not as weak as he thinks I am, and I’ll prove it to him.
I’ll prove it to them all.
I blink rapidly when we finally step out of the tunnels and into a small office. Beside me, Fabia pops a cork back on a vial of red liquid. My puffy eyes widen enough to hurt.
“What is that?” I ask, staring at her hands, pretty certain I already know the answer.
“Blood,” she says nonchalantly.
“Why do you have it?”
She slips it into her pocket. “To access the tunnels.”
My heart stops. “Is it Richard’s?” I whisper. “Did you stab him?”
“Don’t be silly. It’s Nicholas’.” Crossing in front of me, she crouches in front of a mini fridge.
“How did you get it?” I ask as she opens the door.
“He’s a heavy sleeper.”
Horrified, I draw back. “You were in my bedroom last night.” My skin crawling, I rub my arms with a shudder.
Rolling her eyes, she grabs two iced coffees, then rises to face me. “Only royal blood can access the tunnels. I have no need to take yours. And it’s not like Jace doesn’t have a vial of Richard’s blood.”
“What?” This is not okay.
She shoves one of the iced coffees into my hand. “Drink. You’ll feel better.”
I don’t see how coffee will erase the thought of her and Jace drawing blood from people as they sleep, but I obey nonetheless. I didn’t have anything to eat last night or this morning, and my stomach is starting to rumble.
“A good little slut takes care of herself.”
I take a gulp, and my nerves do settle a bit.
Sniffling, I rub a hand over my eyes as I look around the room.
There isn’t much in it. Just a desk with a single photo and the mini fridge.
Walking forwards, I pick up the frame. A woman and a little boy are smiling as they each hold up a throwing knife.
“Whose office is this?” I ask, not recognising the woman in the photo.
“Mine.”
I jump as Fabia winces beside me. Echo stands in the open doorway, staring pointedly at my friend. I gulp as I hurriedly place the frame back down. I didn’t even hear the door open. “You have a kid?” I ask, hoping to break the ice.
“No. What are you doing here?”
“We’re hiding from Richard,” Fabia says, taking a swig of her coffee.
Echo stares at her for a tense moment before her eyes drift to me. The darkness swirling inside the gold makes me shiver. I’ve never seen eyes move with the shadows of the Underworld before.
“We got an annulment,” I blurt, her gaze making me want to fill the silence with nothing but the truth. “And he’s getting married to Evangeline. Can you please not tell him we’re here?”
She doesn’t say a word.
“I’ll enrol. I’ll do whatever you –”
“Arienna,” Fabia hisses, but I just shake my head at her.
“I want to learn how to fight. I’m not weak. I can do this.”
“Echo –” Fabia tries, but when the woman glances at her, she instantly stops talking.
“And I want to learn how to do that.” A giggle pulls at my chest for the first time in seemingly forever. “She tells me off a lot.”
Snorting, my best friend mumbles something underneath her breath. It sounds a lot like, “You deserve it,” which can’t be right because she tells me off for no reason all the time.
Swallowing, I look at Echo, praying she’ll let me stay. I want to show Richard how stupid he’s being.
More importantly, I need this for me. My whole life I’ve followed rules that other people put on me. First with the cult, then with Richard’s idea of a wife. Even Fabia tells me what to do, and I do listen to her most of the time.
But I want to be me now.
I want to learn who me is.
Staring into Echo’s eyes, I lift my chin.
Turning abruptly, she says, “Come. I’ll show you to your room.”
My heart hammering, I follow her out.
The hall is long, straight, and bare with numerous doors leading off it. We only turn two corners in five minutes of walking, and then Echo stops outside a door that looks exactly the same as all the others. She raps once, then opens it as she says, “Stevie.”
“Yes, Captain?”
A little girl, no more than six or seven stands at attention in front of a bunk bed, her back straight, her legs together, her chin up, and her arms behind her back.
The room is smaller than Echo’s office, only really big enough for two bunk beds pressed against opposite walls, a locker at the foot of them, and space for the door to swing open between.
Two other kids stand at attention – a boy and a girl, both roughly the same age and dressed in a plain brown uniform.
“This is your new squad member,” Echo says.
Stevie glances at me, her nose wrinkling. “She’s old.”
Hey.
“She has the skills of a newborn.”
My cheeks heating, I glance at Fabia, but she looks at me with zero sympathy. This is what you wanted.
Stevie snickers once, then clears her throat as her back straightens even more. “I will whip her into shape, Captain.”
“I know. Because her failure is whose?”
“Ours,” the three kids say in unison.
Nodding, Echo leaves. Fabia shoves me into the room. “Enjoy. I’m going to find my own squadron, assuming I’m no longer working in the castle.”
“I’m sor–” I start to say, but she brushes me off as she leaves. She never did like accepting apologies. I used to be annoyed at that, but as I watch her leave, I realise I don’t mind it so much. Forgiveness is not a given. It is won.
Taking a deep breath, I turn to the kids. “So… which bed is mine?”
Stevie points to the one on the right, top side. “That’s yours.” She points below it. “That’s mine.”
The other bottom is Nolan’s, the little boy’s, and the last one is Frances’.
“So how come you never learned to fight?” Frances asks as she stares up at me.
“We don’t fight in Brownston.”
“That’s that weird cult place, right?” Nolan says as he sits on his bed and tugs on a pair of boots.
“Yeah…”
A knock sounds on the door, and a man with freckles sticks his head in. “I have a set of bedding and clothes for the newbie?”
I hold up a hand. “Hi, that’s me.”
“Oh.” He looks me up and down. “I assumed these were for a kid that just hit puberty early.” Clearing his throat, he smiles at me, his eyes on mine. “My name’s Ari.”
“Arienna,” I say, taking the pile he’s offering.
His grin widens. “Like Ari, but longer.”
“Uh… yeah.”
“Nice. Nice, nice.” Nodding, he leans against the door jamb and crosses his arms. “So you’re new here, huh?”
“First day.”
“Back off, bozo,” Stevie says, shoving him out into the hall. “Newbie needs to change. You know what happens if we’re late.”
Shutting the door in his face, she turns to me. “Get dressed. We have five minutes before we’re expected in the courtyard.”
Peeling off my jumpsuit, I ask, “What happens if we’re late?”
Frances shuddered. “You really don’t want to know.”
Nolan points to my bunk. “Leka was the last person to be late, and she’s never been seen again.”
“That’s because she got sucked into Echo’s eyes.”
“Echo can’t do that.”
“Yes, she can. I saw it happen to Ingland.”
“Who’s Ingland?” I ask nervously.
“He was the boy before me.” Nolan thumps his chest and stands, having finished putting on his shoes. “If I make it to the evening, I’ll have lasted longer than him.”
The blood rushes from my face as I quickly pull on my new shirt. “And how long would that be?”
“Three years and seven months.”
Bugger.
I have a lot of catching up to do.
I stand at attention, mimicking the three- to six- year olds beside me as a young teenager walks in front of our line, his hands behind his back. His brown hair looks almost golden in the morning light. His eyes flash with a devilish but strict gleam of red.
“I’m Chief Gallagher,” he says. “When I call your name, step forwards.” Half a dozen names are called, followed by half a dozen kids stepping forwards one at a time. None of them look to be older than three.
“Arienna.”
Swallowing, I step forwards. As he stops in front of me, a blush heats my cheeks, but I keep my gaze forwards.
He nods at me. Then continues down the line. “These are today’s newbies,” he says. “Their failure is whose?”
“Ours,” the hundred-or-so-odd children chant back.
“If you see them struggling?”
“We help.”
“If you see their weaknesses?”
“We point them out.”
“And if they have any questions?”
“We answer them.”
He nods, then raises two fingers to his lips and whistles.