Chapter 31
MADDISON
I’m sitting on the bed in my aunt Ellie’s guestroom.
She told me to wait here while she cleans up.
I’m not sure what she’s cleaning, but after seeing her with blood all over her shirt and face, I’m guessing she’s taking a shower and changing her clothes.
I don’t know where the blood came from. I heard gunshots earlier, but I’m pretty sure my aunt doesn’t have a gun.
Then again, she lives on the outskirts of northside, so she might, since most citizens that live here do. It’s dangerous. I know because I grew up in danger. I’ve seen dark things, dead bodies, people at their worst. But seeing my aunt with blood on her clothes… It kind of scared me.
I should stay put because of that, but it’s been at least an hour since she told me to stay here. I’m getting restless.
Finally, after another ten minutes go by, I hop off the bed, pad across the room, and open the door.
“Are you sure you got it all off of you?” my aunt asks. “It’s important.”
“I know that. You don’t think I understand that all traces have to be cleaned up?” The voice belongs to a guy who sounds young, but I can’t quite place his age.
Confused, I step out of the room and into the hallway that leads to the living room, where the conversation is happening.
“What are you even going to tell him?” my aunt says with a sigh.
“He only sent me here to scope out a possible lead. He doesn’t know anything about it other than that,” the guy says. “So I’ll tell him it was a dead end. That we got jumped. That his men set it up. He trusts me because he thinks I can’t think for myself.”
I walk down the hallway and step into the living room.
My aunt and a guy a couple of years older than me are sitting at the dining room table to my left.
I’ve never seen the guy before, but he looks rough, even compared to northsiders.
He has short brown hair, a symbol-like tattoo on his neck, and his knuckles are scraped raw.
He has a mug in front of him and is frowning as he stares at the floor.
My aunt is sitting across from him, and she’s changed her clothes, and her face is no longer bloody.
“I’m sorry that’s how it is for you,” she tells the guy. “I don’t think…” She trails off as she spots me. “Maddy, I thought I told you to stay in the room.”
The guy’s gaze welds with mine, and I’ve never seen someone with such sadness flowing off them, which is saying a lot considering how many broken people I see on a daily basis.
“It’s been like an hour,” I reply to my aunt Ellie. “What’s going on?”
My aunt nervously glances at the guy and then at me. “Maddy, I really need you to go into the room.”
“Hard pass,” I tell her, knowing I’m being a brat, but at the same time, she’s acting as sketchy as my parents. “Who are you?” I ask the guy.
“Aiden,” the guy replies, his gaze dissecting me.
I walk over to the table and point at his knuckles. “Who did you beat up?”
“Some bad people,” he responds, never looking away from me.
“Oh, that’s cool then, I guess.” I note blood spots on the floor. “Is that where the blood came from?”
“Yeah.” He’s still staring at me like I’m a complex puzzle he can’t quite figure out.
I do have that effect on people. “I’m Maddy. Or well, Maddison.” I stick out my hand to shake his.
He stares at my hand like he’s never seen one before.
I’m about to lower it when he shakes it.
His fingers are trembling.
He’s scared, but I’m only able to tell because of how badly his hand is shaking. Other than that, he’s perfectly put together, indifferent, but it’s a mask.
Just who is this guy…
I wake up from the dream—memory slowly, like I’m swimming out of water, and then break through the surface.
I feel groggy and confused, and I have no idea where I am.
It takes me a few gasping breaths to figure it out; that I’m in the bedroom Finn is staying in because I fell asleep in his arms, only he’s no longer in the bed.
Assuming he went downstairs, I throw the blankets off me, exit the room, and start down the stairway. Halfway down, my heart leaps in my chest.
“This sounds crazy,” River huffs in frustration. “I mean, how do you expect us to just believe it?”
River is here.
The way my pulse breathes to life is mildly alarming, but even more so is the way I pretty much bolt down the stairs to get closer to him.
I wasn’t even aware of how much I missed him until I enter the living room and see him standing near the fireplace, all dark hair, stormy eyes, and he’s dressed in all black.
My gothic prince. I’ve missed him so much.
And it freaks me out.
Because it means I’m attached.
That’s not the only reason my heart is stammering with worry. No, the other reason is that when my gaze lands on Finn, I want to walk over and have him wrap his arms around me.
Fuck. This is so bad. I can’t feel this way about both of them.
“River, we know this sounds insane, but it’s true,” a woman around Ellie’s age says to him.
She’s sitting in one of the sofas, and she’s wearing a pair of silk pants and a button-down shirt that declares her royal blood. She also has dark hair like River’s and eyes like Finn.
She has to be their mother.
“Your father may sound insane, but there is some truth to his madness,” she adds, reaching for a glass of wine.
Ellie and Aiden are in the room too, along with Noah and a man who’s probably close to forty. He has brown hair, and his eyes are sunken in.
Is that my dad?
“So you’re actually trying to convince me to believe that Maddy is the heir to the world, and if we can find some sort of secret island, she’ll be able to claim the throne?” River arches a brow, then downs a drink he’s holding.
It takes my brain a second to register what he said. “Wait, what? I’m not claiming any throne.”
Everyone’s attention darts in my direction.
River’s gaze welds with mine, and then he’s rushing toward me, weaving around the coffee table that’s blocking his way.
I meet him halfway, and I throw my arms around him.
He slips his arms around my waist and lifts me up enough that my feet aren’t touching the floor.
“God, I’ve missed you,” he murmurs into my ear. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop him from taking you.”
“It’s not your fault,” I whisper with my eyes shut. “He had Will cause the accident.”
“I know, but… he’s my dad.” He hugs me tighter, and I hold onto him, never wanting to move out of his arms.
Safe.
Safe.
Safe.
He makes me feel safe, too.
But then I open my eyes and see Finn sitting over near the window on a bench, watching us with a frown.
I want to go to him and tell him that I…
Well, I’m not really sure what I want to say. I’m so confused, my heart feeling as if it’s been torn in half.
When Finn tears his gaze off me, the acknowledgement that everyone is watching River and me washes over me. I’m not a fan of it, and thank god, River senses this. He puts me down and steps back, but doesn’t go far, slipping an arm around my waist.
“This is your daughter, Ellie?” the woman asks. When Ellie nods, the woman stands up and approaches me, her smile friendly. “I’m Jocelyn. I’m River and Finn’s mother.”
I don’t return her smile. “Aren’t you supposed to be missing?”
“I faked my own disappearance,” she explains. “If I hadn’t, my husband would’ve had me killed.”
“Why?” I question. “I mean, I get that your husband is a fucking lunatic, but why would he kill you?”
“Because he found out about my nearly decade-long betrayal,” she responds, glancing at Ellie. “Your mother and I, along with Aiden’s help, have been working together since you were eleven to keep your identity hidden, but a few weeks ago, my ex-husband found out about this.”
“I’m assuming at the same time he found me,” I state the obvious. “And also took Ellie.”
Ellie nods while tapping her fingers restlessly against the armrest of the sofa.
“James thinks he needs to sacrifice me to get to the throne. At least, that’s what he’s told the society.
However, I’m not convinced he believes that.
I think he’s convinced the society that needs to be done, so he could get them to kill me, and then only one Everford would be alive.
He’s controlling every narrative he can. ”
“He has the society brainwashed,” I say, shivering at how the men in cloaks watched James force Finn and me to sign the contract. And god knows what else they watched.
“Are you okay?” River whispers with his lips close to my ear.
The idea of telling River everything that transpired sends my stomach lurching.
I nod, resisting the urge to dry heave. “I’m fine. Just exhausted.”
He doesn’t believe me, and I have a love/hate relationship with his ability to read me.
“The society members are just as evil as my husband.” Jocelyn returns to the sofa, collecting her wineglass off the coffee table as she whisks by it.
“James was just the first person to figure out that an Everford was still alive, so he’s become their leader.
For now, they may worship him, but that’ll change now that too many people are aware of your existence.
More than likely, a war is coming.” She looks at me, then takes a sip of her wine.
“Dangerous men are going to fight to get a hold of you.”
“Easy, Jocelyn. We don’t need to frighten her,” Ellie tells her with a pressing look. “If we get to the island first, a war could be avoided.”
“No, it can’t,” Jocelyn disagrees as she slants forward to set the wineglass down on the table. “Even if we make it to the island first, Maddison will need protection. She’ll be the heir to the world, and a bounty will be put on her head.”
“She’ll be protected,” Aiden assures her. “But none of this matters yet. We need to decipher that book so we can figure out where the island is.”