Chapter 25
MADDISON
“If we miss the plane, we’re screwed,” someone is saying in an annoyingly loud voice.
“We can’t take her on it like this,” a woman replies. “It’ll draw too much attention, even if we pay off security.”
A pause and then the first person says, “I know that, but the longer we stay here, the easier it’ll be for him to track us down.
We need to get to Golden Crest Fall before we can even begin to relax.
James can’t get access there. He’s been put on a ban list after he illegally smuggled humans through the tunnels that are underneath the town.
“I’m surprised he didn’t pay them off.”
“That’s not how the town works. They hate Royals.”
My head is pulsating as I force my eyes open. I’m lying in a small room with a bed, a dresser, and a television. It looks like a hotel room. When I turn my eyes, I find Aiden and Ellie standing near the door.
“Do you think we should call a doctor?” Ellie worries. “She’s been out for a while. I’m starting to worry that the drug in that tranquilizer was too strong for her.”
“James wouldn’t have risked her getting hurt,” Aiden assures her while checking his watch.
He’s no longer covered in blood and is dark wearing jeans and a blue shirt.
It’s the most normal I’ve seen him look.
“I’m worried about calling a doctor who’s from here.
This place is too close to the island, and word could get back to James and the society about it. ”
“Can you guys please stop talking so loudly?” I groan as I sit up, my head pounding like I have the worst hangover in my entire life.
Both of their attentions snap to me. Relief consumes Ellie’s features, and Aiden stares at me with a trace of what I’m guessing is relief in, but the dude is pretty unreadable, so I don’t know.
“You’re awake,” Ellie states as she whisks toward the bed.
I clutch my head. “I kind of wish I wasn’t. I feel like I got punched in the head.”
She stops in front of the bed. She’s paler than she normally is, and her outfit is odd because the silk pants and shirt are much fancier than the worn jeans and T-shirts she typically wears.
“One of James’ guards shot you with a tranquilizer.” She smooths her hand over my head like she did when I was a kid. “You might feel a little groggy for a few days. We were starting to get worried you weren’t going to wake up.”
“Yeah, I heard.” I slant away from her touch as the reminder of all her lies floods my brain.
She frowns at the move, but a look of understanding crosses her face.
“Where’s Finn?” I ask, rubbing my eyes with the heels of my hands.
When neither of them responds, trading a look instead, I panic.
Even though it aches like a motherfucker, I stumble to my feet. “Where is he?” I demand, my legs trembling.
“We’re not sure if we can trust him,” Ellie explains, glancing at Aiden again.
Aiden is strategically standing in front of the door with his arms crossed. “We should leave him behind. He’s James’s son. We can’t trust him.”
“And you’re his guard,” I snap, ignoring the wobbliness in my legs. “If you don’t tell me where he is right now, I’ll—”
“You’ll what?” Aiden cuts me off, stalking toward me, his boots scuffing across the dingy blue carpet. “You can’t do anything. You can barely stand up, for god’s sake.”
I let out a humorless laugh. “You don’t scare me, asshole. I know you’re probably used to Royals thinking you’re all spooky or whatever, but I’m not a Royal.” I inch closer to him. “And you don’t scare me at all.” I poke him in the chest.
His lip spasms as he stares at where I poked him and then at me. “You are a Royal, though.”
I roll my eyes. “Maybe by blood, but up here,” I tap my head, “That’s all northside trash. And northside trash knows how to punch a guy twice her size in just the right place to knock the wind out of him.”
He studies me, and it’s infuriating how difficult it is to decipher him. I’m betting he’s been trained to do that, to not show his emotions.
“Calm down, you two,” Ellie interrupts as she steps up beside us. “Fighting isn’t going to help with this already tense situation.”
I tear my gaze off Aiden and scowl at her. “Where’s Finn?”
Ellie casts a glance at Aiden, who reciprocates with a firm look, which she disregards. “He’s in the other room.” She points at a door behind me. “I’ll let you see him, but I should warn you that we tied him to the bed.”
“You what?’ I screech, then reel around, nearly falling down.
But I manage to maintain my balance, yank the door open, and dash inside the room.
Finn is lying in the bed with his back propped against the headboard and his wrist secured to a bedpost by a handcuff. He’s wearing the same clothes he had on the last time I saw him, only dirt stains the fabric, and his bare feet are covered in mud.
I notice my own clothes are dirty, and realize I need a shower. So does Finn.
When he spots me, he sits up straighter. “Maddy?” His gaze scrolls over my body, as if checking for wounds.
I climb onto the bed with him. “Are you okay?”
He nods, touching my cheek with his free hand, which is his bandaged hand. “I’m fine. I’ve been worried about you, though. They told me they couldn’t get you to wake up.
“Well, I’m awake now.” I stand up again as Ellie and Aiden enter the room. “Uncuff him now.”
Neither of them budges, lingering near the doorway.
“Maddy,” Ellie starts as she shifts her weight. “We need to leave him behind. It’s too risky to take him with us.”
“You can either uncuff him, or I’ll pick the lock and uncuff him myself,” I warn, staring them down hard. “I don’t care if he’s James’ son. He protected me. He’s been honest with me. And I’m keeping him no matter what you two say.”
Okay, maybe it was kind of weird to say that I’m keeping Finn, like he belongs to me, but I’m still tired.
“Besides, aren’t you friends with his mother?” I add with an accusatory arch of my brows.
“They both are,” Finn is the one to answer. Apparently, they’ve already had this conversation. “They don’t trust me, though, because my father chose me to marry you. They think I wanted to do it.”
Married. God, I almost forgot that I’m married to Finn.
“That’s not true,” Ellie argues, stepping toward me. “We’re just being cautious. Finn was part of the society, and every member is working with James. You can’t blame us for questioning his loyalty.”
“You two can question that, but I’m not going to.” I cross my arms and elevate my chin. “Uncuff him before I pick that lock.”
Aiden and Ellie stare at each other, having some sort of silent conversation. Just how long have they known each other? And why does Aiden have a familiarity about him? Has Ellie known him for a long time, and I saw him at some point?
With how many secrets she has, I wouldn’t be shocked if this were true,
“Fine.” Aiden retrieves a key from his pants’ side pocket. Then he sticks the key into the handcuff lock. “If this goes wrong, it’s your fault,” he warns, pointing a finger at me.
“Cool,” I deadpan, eliciting a dirty look from him.
I get a sick pleasure in knowing he let his emotionless mask slip for a moment, and he turns the key rather aggressively.
The cuffs fall to the floor, and Finn sits up, massaging his wrist. “Thanks,” he mumbles to Aiden.
“Don’t thank me. Maddy’s in charge of you now,” he grumbles to Finn as he pockets the key.
Finn gives a half shrug, then lowers his feet to the floor and stands up. “You say that like it’s terrible, but I don’t mind.”
“Also, I’m a terrible person for that job,” I chime in. “Since the only person I’ve ever been in charge of is myself, and look how well that turned out.”
No one says anything, but Finn squeezes past Aiden and comes to stand in front of me. “Are you okay? You passed out so badly when that tranquilizer hit you. I was lucky I had time to catch you, or else you would’ve hit your head on the ground.”
I offer him a small smile. “I’m glad you caught me then. And I feel fine.” I scrub a smear of mud off his cheek. “Are you okay?”
He nods dismissively. “I’m fine, but I’d like to know more about what’s going on.”
“Me too.” I face Ellie, who’s watching me closely. “You want to chime in here and tell me where the hell you’ve been and why you never told me I was your daughter?” My clipped tone causes her to flinch.
“I know you want answers, but we need to get out of here.” Her lips dip downward as she glances at the alarm clock on the nightstand. “We have a plane to catch in just a few hours, and the airport is a ways away.”
I cross my arms defiantly and lower my ass onto the bed.
“I’m not going anywhere until you give me something.
” When she looks at Aiden, it adds fuel to my fire.
“Why are you looking at him for an answer? How do you even know him?” I whip around toward Aiden and almost topple over as the room spins.
But like always, Finn is there to catch me.
I point a finger at Aiden. “And why are you helping us? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“I agree with her on that,” Finn says, looking at Aiden with his hand resting on my hip to keep me steady. “You’ve worked for my father forever, so why did you all of a sudden backstab him?”
“Who said it was all of a sudden?” Aiden states with indifference, then he focuses on collecting the handcuffs from off the floor and putting them into a backpack that’s on a table.
Finn shakes his head. “I’m with Maddy on this. I’m not going anywhere until we get some answers.”
Again, Ellie looks at Aiden. “I think you should tell them. It might help them trust us.”
Aiden zips up the backpack. “They should trust us because we got them out of that prison.”
“I know, but at the same time, it does look like you’ve been working for James for years,” she stresses. “It’s okay. It might be good to get this off your chest.”
My gaze shifts from Ellie then to Finn, whose confusion mirrors mine. I direct my attention to Aiden, and he’s staring at Finn.
When Finn notices, his brows draw together. “What’s up? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“It’s okay, Aiden,” Ellie encourages him in a gentle tone. “Once you say it aloud, it’ll feel better.”
“Doubtful,” Aiden mumbles, but then snatches up the backpack from off the table.
“I’m your half-brother,” he tells Finn as he strides by us.
To Ellie, he says, “I have a few things to do before we leave for the airport. Meet me in the lobby in an hour.” He exits the room, slamming the door behind him.
“What the hell?” Finn gapes at the door with his mouth hanging open. “He’s lying, right?”
Ellie shakes her head. “He’s not. Your father has a handful of children with various women, most of them from northside.
And a lot of them were prostitutes, so he would take his kids from their mothers and raise them.
Except he didn’t raise them. He locked them up and tortured them into obeying his every command.
Aiden was the only one who survived it.”
Finn is struck speechless, his eyes wide, and he’s shaking his head.
“There’s more to his story, too,” Ellie explains as she leans against the doorframe. “But that’s for him to tell you.”
I feel awful for Aiden. Seriously, how can anyone do that to their own kid? Even my situation wasn’t that extreme. It doesn’t make it better, though.
“You’re my mom,” I say to Ellie. “And you never said anything.”
“I couldn’t, honey.” She reaches for me, but I step away from her.
“Don’t touch me right now. I need… some time,” I mutter. “And a very long, detailed story of how we got here.”
She swallows down a uneven breath, then backs away from me, giving me space.
“I’ll give you all the answers you want, but Aiden is right.
We need to be ready to go in an hour, and you two need to get cleaned up.
We need to make it through airport security without being flagged, so you need to shower, change your clothes, and mentally prepare yourself the best that you can.
I know it’s hard after what you just went through, but I know you’re strong. ” She aims the last statement at me.
The events of the last couple of weeks hit me like a train wreck, and I want to break apart.
Cry. Curl up in a ball and never move. But, like I’m so good at doing, I suck that wave of anxiety back and bury it inside me.
But I have a feeling that eventually it’s all going to burst free. And I’m not sure if I’ll survive.
“I got you guys some clothes. Let me get them.” Ellie ducks into the other room.
I rotate toward Finn. “Are you okay? You look super pale?”
“I’m fine.” He’s staring at the wall. “I… I think I need to call River, but I’m worried they won’t let me. The desperate pleading look he gives makes me circle my arms around him.
“I’ll get you a phone so you can call him.” I hug him, and he latches onto me for dear life.
“Thank you.” He nuzzles his face into the crook of my neck.
My eyes involuntarily. “You don’t have to thank me. You and I are still in this together. We can be each other’s lifelines until we figure out if we can trust Aiden and my mom. Because right now, you’re the only person I do trust.”
It’s the truth, too. Through all of this, Finn is the only one who hasn’t lied to me.
I trust him more than I’ve trusted anyone.