Chapter 30
Chapter
Thirty
Filtered sunlight streamed through the curtains, shooting through my eyes and into the back of my skull. Groaning, I slammed them shut, feeling my brain splinter in half.
Damn palinka. Though, it was more than my head throwing a tantrum.
Inhaling through the agony, my muscles screamed and spasmed.
In training, it was always the second or third day when your body really responded to a brutal workout.
There were days I struggled to even sit on the toilet and pee.
Today my body suffered everything it had gone through during our escape.
A louder moan parted my lips as I tried to stretch out, my legs aching, feeling tight, as though I hadn’t moved all night. Locked in a ball resembling a pill bug, I had been too afraid to venture out of my protected space.
Every memory of the night before swept in, some slightly fuzzy, but all rocking my stomach like the ocean waves. I really needed to stop drinking my meals.
Lifting my lids, I found the room empty again.
After the night before, I thought I’d be relieved to not face his intense presence this early, but instead, my shoulders deflated at his absence.
Where was he going every morning? I thought we were supposed to be in hiding.
He only had one motorcycle to dispose of.
Slowly, I rolled up, pausing to take a breath several times on the way. Placing my feet on the ground, I clutched my head, leaning over my legs. The idea of scrubbing my teeth and drowning in a shower sounded like heaven.
I stood, bones cracking, and shuffled to the door, feeling decades older than my not even twenty years.
My birthday was coming up in a few months, the day fae celebrated Samhain all over the world, an ancient Celtic festival.
Another reason I never wanted to observe my birth—it was a sacred day for fae.
Caden always threw me a party, trying to cheer me up, but I would have been happier ignoring the whole thing.
To me, my birthday represented my mother’s death.
Millions were murdered and killed that night.
Our world crumbled into chaos, never to be the same again.
And for us in the East, nothing but hardship came after.
The day the wall fell was filled with hate, sadness, heartbreak, and blood.
“They really wanted to make sure I was dead. It was the night of the Fae War. Right before the final barrier fell.” Walking down the quiet hallway, I rubbed the space between my eyes, recalling Warwick’s admission the night before. He had died when I had been born.
Life and death.
“Oh, gods.” I groaned at the reflection in the mirror. My pale skin appeared almost blue under the dim lighting, my veins showing through my thin skin. My cheeks were gaunt, my eyes bloodshot, and my body was covered with bruises and marks.
Once, I had been the perfect bait for powerful leaders, a lure for generals and delegates. Heads of state had courted me for my unusual beauty and wit.
Now? I looked haggard and beaten down by life.
Washing my face and teeth, taking care of business, I headed back to the room, halting in shock at the person leaning against my door.
“What are you doing up?” I tilted my head at Rosie. Dressed in her silky negligee and robe, her makeup smeared under her eyes, hair in tangles, she still looked better than I did. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping for another six hours?”
“I should be, yes. But thanks to your man, I haven’t gotten to bed yet.” She trailed me into the room, her throat husky and low.
“What?” I spun to her, regretting my quick movement as a brick of dread plummeted to my stomach.
“Oh relax, luv.” She swished her hand, tugging at her robe with the other.
“It’s not what I meant. Though I won’t lie to you and say I wish it was for that reason.
” She winked at me. “But because we’re friends, I could never do that to you.
Plus, he doesn’t want me . . .” She arched an eyebrow at me.
“I have no idea what you mean.” I rolled my shoulders back. “And he’s not my man. You have full permission to go after him.”
“Right.” She snorted, twisting a strand of her hair, not believing a word I said. “I was ushering my last customer out when he was leaving. Told me to tell you to stay put.”
“He said what?” I blinked at her.
“Think his exact words were, ‘Make sure she doesn’t step a fucking foot out the front door.’”
“Oh really?” I folded my arms. “He leaves each morning but orders me to stay put like a dog? He has no say over what I do.”
“Funny, he knew you’d say that. He told me, quote ‘hogtie her if you have to, use your cuffs, but she doesn’t leave.’” She curled her fingers in quotes.
Indignation detonated inside, breaking my hangover into tiny pieces, leaving only rage and obstinacy. “He said I couldn’t leave through the front door. Did he say anything about the back one?”
“Oh, I know that look.” Rosie grinned wickedly, rubbing her hands together. “I mean, I wasn’t against tying you up. You are seriously sexy, but once upon a time, I was married to a controlling man. I’m all for putting them in their place.”
“You were married before?” The peek into her life, the realization she was completely human with a life before this, punched me in the gut. As much as I pretended I didn’t judge people here, I did. But they were people with lives. Families, mothers and fathers, husbands, wives, kids.
“Yeah.” She wrinkled her nose. “He saw me in a play, came to the back door every night for a week with flowers and promises. He was charming, and I was young. Thought it was love. I was looking for an escape from that penniless life and thought he was it.” Her gaze went to the floor, agony slicing over her expression. “He was the opposite.”
There was a moment of quiet, her past life haunting the room, stinging my heart.
“I’m so sorry.”
She let out a shaky breath, forcing a smile on her face. “No worries, luv. He’s long gone, and I couldn’t be happier.”
“He’s dead?”
“One can hope.” She shrugged one shoulder.
“He disappeared years ago after one of his business deals went bad. He was into a lot of shady shit, always trying to find the quick, easy way to make money, which usually went the opposite way. Had a lot of enemies. Left me with a lot of debt from really bad men. Madam Kitty took me in. Saved me.”
“Saved you?”
“She paid them off so they wouldn’t kill me. I slowly work off what I can each month.” She smiled through a twinge of grief. “I’m a lifer here.”
Would my life have been so different if I married Sergiu? I would have luxury, but I’d be trapped, paying off my debt in sex and abuse. At least here, Kitty protected her girls.
“Warwick and my husband shouldn’t even be in the same sentence. Your man is nothing like him.”
“Not my man.” I gritted my teeth.
She ignored me, continuing, “His type of dominance is something most of us dream about: feral, rough, passionate. He could make you explode into a million blissful particles. But I’m still all for causing trouble.”
“Good,” I replied. “Because I have no notion of staying put.” I put my hand on my hip. “Just a few things I need: water, painkillers, breakfast, and an outfit that won’t make me stand out.”
Rosie’s smile grew slowly, mischief glowing her face. “Oh luv, you came to the right woman.”
“Be careful,” Rosie whispered as she peered out the back door first, checking the alleyway for people. “Causing mischief is one thing, but Warwick actually wanting to kill me is another.”
“I promise.” I tucked back into the hood. The late summer weather heated the air and soaked into the buildings, causing beads of sweat to pool under my garments.
Rosie was able to track down enough clothes left from customers to allow me to disappear into a crowd. Faded colors of blacks, dark greens, and grays. The cargo pants, cotton tank, and hooded cotton jacket were loose, submerging my identity under the clothing.
“It’s a little warm for this, but you won’t stand out,” she had said earlier when she pulled me into her room.
She peered down at my lacy underwear and silk tank I had worn to sleep, her mouth pursuing information about Warwick again.
“Wore that to bed? Small bed with such a huge man. Wasn’t he only wearing an itty-bitty towel? ”
“Shut up,” I growled, not wanting to think about the night before. I would stuff that memory back into a box, never to see the light of day again.
She sniggered, tossing me a handful of clothes. “Get dressed and come down to the kitchen. Painkillers, water, and food await.”
Once fed, dressed, and medicated, I felt a little better. I still ached, and I had a noticeable limp, but my plan was set, my determination locked to go.
I wasn’t going out of my way to be a brat to Warwick by leaving. I was taking my life into my own hands. I was going home.
In prison, I learned trust was not something given freely, if at all.
You looked out for yourself. And to a man who was riddled with mystery and secrets, no matter what tiny insight he confided, in the end, trust didn’t amount to much.
He wouldn’t even tell me why he aided in my escape, which meant he was hiding something.
He was looking out for himself as I needed to do for me.
As he was disappearing each morning and up to something, and it would be very na?ve of me to think the Wolf suddenly had my best interest at heart.
We couldn’t be far from the wall dividing Leopold and the neutral zone.
Any soldier on patrol along the wall would know my face.
I was good at melding, slinking up on people.
If I kept a low profile, I could get home.
I had no doubt the moment Caden and Istvan heard I was alive, they would turn the world upside down to get me back.
“You are returning, right?” Rosie’s expression tightened, as though she suddenly realized maybe there was more to my plans than I’d let on. Rosie had no idea who I really was, and I wanted to keep it that way—keep her innocent of my true plan.
“Of course.” The false smile I pinned on my face hurt deeper than I thought. I liked Rosie, and the idea of never seeing her again upset me more than I imagined it would after such a short time.
I clutched her to me, hugging her tight. “Thank you for everything.”
“Why do I feel I should have hogtied you?” She pulled back, searching my eyes for truth. “That I’m never going to see you again?”
“You will,” I lied again.
“Be careful out there. Savage Lands is not safe, day or night. And if you are hiding here, people are certainly looking for you out there.” She stared at me, her brows furrowing. “Why do I feel so devastated? I don’t even know your name.”
“Better that way.”
She chuckled sardonically, her head dipping. “Now I know I should have tied you up. Guess he knows you better than I thought.”
“I will miss you.” I dropped the pretense, squeezing her arm. “I better go.” I didn’t want him to return before I escaped.
She pinned her lips together and brought me in for a quick hug before looking out into the alley again. “Go.”
I touched her arm one last time before I slipped out the door and into the passage, going out the way she suggested to the main road.
Caden. I will see you soon. A butterfly of excitement fluttered in my chest at the thought. I missed him so much.
I slunk out to a heady mix of stale alcohol, vomit, and burned coffee thick in the passage. Half the world was already up and working, the other half sleeping until the night brought their world to life.
As excited as I was to get home, to see Caden again, I couldn’t deny the twist in my stomach at just walking out on Warwick. He had saved my life, but he of all people would understand. In this dog-eat-dog world, I had to look out for me.
Making it to the end of the corridor, I peered out into the daylight and saw people milling in the streets, urging my defenses up. When we arrived, it was in the dark, and I had been less than coherent, so I had no real idea where we were in the city. That changed the moment I stepped out.
My eyes locked on a structure in the distance, a choked sob hiccupping in my throat.
I could see a six-story wall about a mile from me, and behind it, the great dome of HDF. Like an old friend greeting me with shimmering brilliance.
A symbol of wealth and strength to some, but to me, it was home.