Chapter 28
MADDISON
I cry until my eyes are swollen, until my chest aches from the sobs that rip from my lungs, until I nearly pass out, completely drained of all my energy.
“Lie down and get some rest.” Ellie helps me to the bed.
“I’m not tired,” I say feebly through a yawn as I lie down on the comfy mattress that has the softest pillow I’ve ever laid my head on. “And I want to be here when everyone gets here… River… Noah… my dad… Well, sort of… Is he nice?” I’m rambling, totally out of it.
“He’s very nice. Too nice sometimes.” She draws the blankets over me. “Just close your eyes for a bit, and I’ll wake you up when everyone gets here.”
“I’m not sure I believe you.” I nestle into the pillow, my eyelids lowering. “And how can anyone be too nice?”
She brushes her hand across the top of my head. “Sometimes being too nice complicates protecting the people you love. Sometimes you have to be brutal and make painful, soul-tearing decisions to ensure their safety.”
I roll my eyes open to look at her. She’s sitting on the edge of the bed, and the lamp light is filtering across her face, revealing the anguish in her eyes.
“Is that how you feel about protecting me? I softly ask.
“I’d do anything to protect you, so yes, that’s how I feel about you, Maddy. I’d die to protect you.” Her fierceness causes discomfort to creep inside me.
“That’s awfully dramatic of you,’ I crack a joke. “You’re starting to sound like Finn. He’s a total drama queen.”
The minuscule smile she gives me doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “I don’t want to upset you, but I need to ask if you’re sure you can trust Finn Averson. I find it odd that James took him instead of River.”
“River is betrothed to a woman named Isla. James said he still has plans for them.”
“I know, but still…” She hesitates, chewing on his lip.
Inhaling, I sit up so I can get my point across as firmly as I can.
“I don’t want to hear any more about Finn being suspicious.
You don’t know him, so I get why you’d question what happened.
But I do know him, and I know his soul is good.
You know I’ve seen a lot of ugly souls, so you should believe in my judgement on this. ”
Her lips thin as she presses them together. “You’re right. I’m sorry for pushing this. We just need to be safe.”
“We are now, right? Safe, I mean.”
“For a little while, yes. But I’m worried about what’s coming in our future.”
“Me too.” I sweep a lock of my hair from out of my eyes, then yawn. “What’s the deal with that map and book?”
She places a palm against my cheek in a motherly gesture. “Get some rest, and then when everyone arrives, we’re going to discuss that.”
I’d protest about sleeping, but I’m so tired my eyes are burning from being open.
Still, I dare ask one more question, one that’s been bothering me. “How did James get a hold of you?”
“I was on the run when one of his guards was able to track us and tranquilize me, kind of like what happened to you. When I woke up, I was locked in a cell. But I wasn’t worried. I knew Aiden would help me as soon as he found out I was there.” She says it without any wavering doubt.
“Weren’t you worried he was the one who put you there?” I question. “Didn’t that cross your mind at all?”
She shakes her head without a drop of doubt. “Not at all. I knew he wasn’t aware that James found me. Just like I knew if James got ahold of you, he’d get you out of there.”
I lie down as my eyelids grow heavy. “But how did he not realize I’d been taken until almost two weeks after I had? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Like I said, James has been running Aiden raggedly. And just before he took you, he was sending Aiden on these outlandish missions in an attempt to find Broken Crown Island. Aiden has been doing these missions for a while, and he wants to find the island and keep the location from James.”
“So he’s like a double agent.”
“Yeah, you could look at it like that.”
“Why would he do that?” I ask. “Why not just run away and go restart his life?”
Again, sadness resurfaces in her eyes. “Again, that’s for Aiden to tell you.”
Speaking of the devil, Aiden shouts up the stairway, “Ellie, I need your help with something! Can you come here?”
“I’ll be right down,” she calls out, then stands to her feet. “Get some rest. No one will be here for at least five hours or so. It could be longer, depending on the weather.” She walks out of the room, shutting the door behind her before I can protest.
While I had been sleepy from the crying, being alone in the room with the midnight sky plaguing the outside, is plucking at my consciousness.
Finn and I spent many nights staring out that single window in that panic room, at the stars and moonlight twinkling against the midnight backdrop, pretending we were someplace else, like in a tranquil field stargazing.
Nighttime was the only time the air grew still enough that we could pretend we weren’t locked up.
It was our peace. But now that I’m all alone, the silence is almost maddening…
The car accident…
The contract…
Having sex for the first time in that godawful situation…
Being locked up…
Being touched by doctors…
Drugged….
James’s fucking sick twisted glee every time he looked at us suffering…
I ball my hands into fists and stab my fingernails into my palms, spitting the flesh open.
When tears of rage begin to well in my eyes, I throw the blankets off me and climb out of bed.
I pad out into the hallway and start to descend the stairs, but pause when the voices of Aiden and Ellie reach my ears.
“You need to tell her,” Ellie is saying to Aiden. “Because of the environment she grew up in, Maddy is naturally suspicious. She won’t ever fully trust you if she thinks you’re keeping something from her.”
“I can’t tell her everything yet,” Aiden responds in a gentle tone that doesn’t seem to fit his harsh demeanor.
“Why not?” Ellie asks. “Maddy’s very understanding. She just wants honesty.”
“I’ll tell her soon,” Aiden mutters. “But right now, I have a ton of other shit to deal with, like figuring out where this goddamn, nearly nonexistent island is. I was beginning to question if it was even real, but this scroll, if it’s real, might be the key to finding it.”
“Where’s the book?” Ellie asks. “I want to look through it.”
They settle into quietness after that, so I tiptoe back up the stairs and down the hallway to the room Finn is staying in. The door is closed, so I tap my knuckles on it.
A pause, and then Finn says puzzledly, “Yeah?”
“It’s me, Maddy.” I roll my eyes at myself. Like he can’t recognize your voice, Maddy?
A beat skips by, and then the door opens.
Finn is standing on the other side, wearing plaid drawstring pajama bottoms and a blue shirt. His hair is sticking up all over the place like he’d either been lying down or raking his fingers through it. Shadows haunt beneath his eyes, traces of his fatigue seeping through.
“Hey,” he greets me with a smile that relaxes me. “I thought you’d be asleep by now.”
“I was trying to, but it’s weird sleeping alone now.” I crinkle my nose at my statement. “That probably makes me sound weird, right? I should be relieved to be alone.”
Shaking his head, he opens the door the rest of the way. “I’m having the same problem. I miss my Maddy cuddle blanket.”
I roll my eyes at him, but can’t stop a smile from emerging. But it hastily falters. “I actually have something I need to tell you.”
Worry divots between his brows. “Is it bad?”
I shake my head. “Not at all.” I shift from one foot to another. “I’m not pregnant.” It’s weird to be saying the words aloud, because while I’m relieved I’m not, it makes what happened feel more real.
“Thank god.” He breathes in relief, then folds his strong arms around me.
My eyes involuntarily lower. Like when we were locked up, the feel of him brings warmth to my body. Safe. He makes me feel safe.
I circle my arms around his waist and rest my head against his chest, listening to the beating of his heart.
“Are you okay?” he asks, skimming his fingers up and down my spine.
I nod, not wanting to open my eyes. “I’m fine. I’m just exhausted.”
He plays with a strand of my hair. “You want to come lie down by me for a while?”
I nod without forethought, and he takes my hand and guides me to his bed. The room he's staying in resembles mine, except his window curtains are closed, and the bathroom is on the opposite side of the room.
We climb under the covers, lying face to face, and a stillness settles between us.
“It’s weird how comfortable this is,” I state. “I thought after we got out, I’d want to sleep alone.”
He wets his lips with his tongue. “I liked sleeping with you. I hated the circumstances, but you sleeping beside me was never a bad thing.”
“Really?” I tuck my hands under my cheek as he nods.
“Do you spend a lot of nights sleeping with women? I mean, I know you’ve had a lot of sex, but do like the women sleepover?
I’m not quite sure how one-nighters work…
” I shake my head as he chuckles and playfully shove him. “Stop laughing at my rambling.”
“I can’t help it. It’s so cute.” He’s all wicked amusement, almost like the old him, but beneath the smile, a trace of darkness resides.
“No, I’m not,” I protest.
“You completely are,” he disagrees. “And to answer your rambling question, I didn’t ever let the women I hooked up with spend the night. Either I had them leave right after, or if I was at their place, I was out the door before I could even get my shirt fully on.”
“You’re such a little manwhore,” I tease him, nudging him with his foot.
The humor evaporates from him. “I don’t want to be that way anymore.
It’s…” Sighing, he rolls onto his back and drapes his arm over his forehead as he stares up at the ceiling.
“I don’t want to sound entitled, but it’s hard being from such a wealthy family and being good-looking.
From the moment I turned fourteen, girls started using me, and I let them because my home life sucked so badly that it messed up my head.
I didn’t know any other way to connect with someone, and I wanted to.
I had to painfully learn, though, that most of the girls were using me to sleep with the idea of Finn Averson.
I don’t even know who I am outside of that. ”
“I do.” I scoot closer to him, and he tilts his head to look at me.
“You’re Finn Averson, the guy who made me feel safe when it shouldn’t have been possible.
You’re funny, charming, and yes, sometimes you can be annoying.
” I smirk at him, and he playfully narrows his eyes.
“But you’re a good guy. Don’t think anything else, okay? ”
He rolls to his side again and traces his fingers along my cheekbone. “Who knew pretty, feisty Maddy could be so sweet?”
“It’s a limited-edition version. Trust me, that feistiness will return when I’m not so fucking tired and stressed out.” I heave a weighted sigh. “Do you really think that we can trust them?”
“Ellie and Aiden?” he asks, and I nod. “Well, you know Ellie, and I don’t, so you’d have a better idea if we can trust her.
As for Aiden…” He wavers, dazing off for a heartbeat of a moment.
“I can’t believe he’s my half-brother. I mean, I guess I can.
Sort of. I’ve always known my father was into some really questionable stuff.
But it’s crazy to think that the child assassin River, Noah, and I used to be afraid of is my brother. ”
“Ellie said I met him before. Kind of.”
“When?”
“Remember how I told you that I had that resurfacing memory of Ellie covered in blood. Well, apparently Aiden was there that day and killed some people who were on to me and Ellie being Everfords.”
“Shit,” he drags out the word. “Did she tell you why she decided to let her sister raise you?”
Nodding, I spend the next handful of minutes telling him everything Ellie told me. By the time I’m done, I’m dozing off.
“Sorry I’m so sleepy,” I murmur with my eyes closed. “Give me like one minute, and then I’ll go back to my bed.”
“Don’t worry about that. Just go to sleep. I’ll make sure you stay safe,” he promises, slipping an arm over my waist.
I mean to tell him thanks. I mean to tell him a lot of things.
But I feel his lips brush against my forehead, and then seconds later, I’m drifting off to dreamland.