18. Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Royal
L ast night was a fucking bust. The warehouse was empty, with no sign of anyone around for miles. We found evidence of someone being tied to a chair and found Raena’s beautiful red strands littering around. We know she was there. But we have no idea where she could be now. Where would King move her?
“What if she’s at the mansion?” I ask from my seat at the kitchen table. Snow prepared a lovely meal for us, but I can’t eat it. Bile rises in my throat when I imagine what King is doing to her right now.
I can’t even breathe. It’s been four fucking days, and I don’t know how much longer we can go on like this.
I need her.
We all need her.
“That’s the only place I can think of. He isn’t going anywhere–not when he doesn’t have his precious heir anymore. He will stick around to find her. It’s only a matter of time before he figures out we took her. Before he comes knocking our door down.” Alek responds.
“Is there anywhere else we can go? Where he won’t find us while we search for her?” Dax asks, pushing his own food around on his plate– none of us have any kind of appetite anymore.
“Does he know about her cottage?” Snow asks from Ronan’s lap. He’s force-feeding her bites of food. They told us the other day about their news, and I know this stress isn’t good for her or the baby. A pang of longing hits me in the chest that we might not ever get the opportunity to grow our family with Raena.
“He doesn’t know the property even exists– it was condemned when I was a kid. He won’t look for us there.” I say, hating the memories of the house that still haunts me. But if it means keeping my family safe from King, I will endure a thousand nightmares.
“Then it’s settled. We pack our things and head to the cottage,” Alek says, clearing the table since it’s obvious no one is going to eat anything right now– not when our assholes are in our throats.
We spend the next half hour gathering stuff to take to the cottage. When I’m done with what I need, I head down to update security. Gage and August have been working around the clock to make sure we are safe from King’s retaliation. But I think it’s time we move to a safer location and get some more people to help us fight this war. If we want a shot at taking King down, we need the numbers to go against him.
“Any sign of trouble?” I ask when I reach the front gate where they’ve set up a lookout. Gage climbs down, leaving his brother to stand watch.
“None,” he responds, shaking my hand when he steps up to me.
“Good, good. Listen, we’ve decided to move to a safe house of sorts. I think it’s best to get out of dodge before King comes looking for his heir. And it will be easier to protect our families on a smaller property.”
“That’s smart,” he agrees. “We’ll pack up.”
“Thank you, Gage. We appreciate your help.”
“We know what it’s like to be under the oppressive thumb of an evil ruler,” he nods before a sly smile plays on his lips. “Plus, the pay doesn’t hurt your cause any.”
“Right,” I say, smirking back at him before turning back to the house and calling over my shoulder. “Bring your truck up to the house when you’re done, will you? We can load our weapons in it.”
“Sure thing, Boss.”
By the time we arrived at Raena's cottage, my stomach was in knots. This place holds so many of my nightmares. The last time I was here, I lost my shit, and Raena was with me. She helped bring me out of it– even though she was panicking because of me.
She’s not here now, and I feel like my lungs are in a vice. We’ve been here for a few hours, helping security set up a perimeter around the property. Now that we’ve settled into the cottage, Snow is once again trying to prepare a meal for us that we might actually eat– a large pot of venison stew fills the entire cottage with its hearty aroma.
My brothers, Ronan, and I are gathered around the small table in the kitchen, with Raena’s research on King still laid out on it. A picture of Jackson stares back at me, reminding me of how we met our little stabby hunter in the first place. An idea comes to mind, but it’s risky.
“We’re not going to find Raena by waiting for King to make a move. We need to take action,” I tell them, breaking the silence as all eyes swing to me.
“Take the fight to King?” Alek asks.
“Yes and no.” I hold up the surveillance photo of Jackson. “First, we need a way in—and more people—if we’re going to take King head-on. We start by abducting his second in command while we build our numbers. We get a location out of him, then make our move.”
“I have some friends we can call for help. They’re loyal to me. They helped me when I was facing my stepmother, ” Snow adds.
“We’ll take all the help we can get. Thank you. I’m almost done re-vetting the rest of our Shadows. They’ll join us, too,” Alek tells us.
Snow looks to Ronan, a silent command to make the call. He stands from his seat at the table, kissing Snow’s cheek as he heads outside to contact their friends.
We continue discussing our plans while Snow and Dax cook. Ronan comes back a little while later, a single nod is all the answer we need to know they said yes. When dinner is served, I think everyone feels much more confident with a plan underway because everyone digs right in, devouring the delicious stew with very few words spoken between mouthfuls.
“I made Caramel Apple Crisp,” Snow says quietly, walking out of the kitchen carrying a cast iron pan that’s almost overflowing. The scent of warm cinnamon and tart apples permeates the cottage, mixing with toasted caramel as she brings the dish to the table. Dax follows behind her with a stack of serving dishes balancing on one hand. His injured shoulder is in a sling to relieve the pressure. With sadness in her eyes, Snow sits the dish in the middle. “It’s Red’s favorite.”
Her words hit me straight in the gut. My Angel. I don’t know if I will ever understand how someone can come into your life and change so much in the blink of an eye. I know I won’t question it. Raena came in and completely obliterated our lives– turned them upside down– and us, inside out. She is everything we never knew we were missing. The final piece to the puzzle of our souls that we could never solve on our own. We fit. All of us. Losing her now would rip our hearts from our chests as if King had cracked them open and shoved his filthy hand inside us himself. It’s not an option.
Pulling my focus back, I clear the emotion clogging my throat and reach for a plate. “Thank you, Snow. Can you make it for her when we bring her home?”
Compassion fills her glassy eyes as she heaps on an ungodly amount of dessert, “Of course.”
Silence falls over the cottage as she serves each of us our girl’s favorite dessert, emotions seeping into the quiet as we eat our fill in her honor.
When our bellies are full and our plates empty, we gather around the fireplace to continue building our plans. Dax and Ronan head out to swap out with security, letting them come in and eat a hot meal.
“I’ve finished re-vetting our men. I’ve called them in, so they’ll be here first thing in the morning. We’ll set up a schedule for patrol duty,” Alek tells Gage, taking a seat at the table next to him.
“I’ll do my own vetting if that’s okay. I don’t have a good history of playing well with others. I’ll choose my team and they’ll answer to me.” His gaze never leaves his steaming bowl of stew as he responds, and his spoon pauses in the air as he waits for an answer.
“Not a problem. I’ll get you a list. You can vet them yourself in the morning.”
A grunt in response is all he provides as he resumes devouring the decadent stew. His brother beside him is much more friendly and more talkative, giving Snow all the praise she deserves for preparing such an excellent meal.
“It’s an honor to help,” she says kindly, and if I didn’t know her history, I’d never guess her ivory skin– pale as the winter snow, had ever been stained in crimson blood like mine. She’s pure, kind-hearted, and light. You’d never know her past bathed her in its wicked darkness.
Her face is the mask of a polite host, even though she’s our guest here. But I can see the exhaustion, the stress, hidden beneath. She begins clearing away the dishes, pushing past that bone-deep tiredness in her eyes. I’m on my feet, nudging my brothers on the way to her with a silent command.
“You cooked for us. The least we can do is clean up after ourselves,” I tell her, taking the stack of dishes from her hands and depositing them in the sink behind me. “You and your family take the master bedroom. Get some rest. The real work begins in the morning.”
She looks as if she wants to protest, but when my brothers join me in cleaning up the mess from dinner, she gives a grateful nod and squeezes my arm before retreating into the bedroom.
Gage and August finish eating and wash their dishes before returning to their posts outside.
Once the kitchen is back in its pristine condition, every dish put away and the counters gleaming in the dim light, Maddox finally speaks, quieter than I’ve ever heard him.
“I need both of you to keep me in check. I won’t be able to control myself. We need information out of Jackson, and I will kill him before he gives it to us.”
Maddox's back is to me as he faces Alek, his head hanging in defeat. Alek's eyes dart to mine over our brother's bowed head with a question, a plea. .
With the answer in my eyes, we cage him in, not leaving a single sliver of space between our bodies. Alek lifts his chin as my hand closes around his muscular throat, pressing firmly enough to feel his thunderous heartbeat and his Adam's apple shift as he swallows.
“I am proud of you, Maddox, for coming to us– telling us your concerns. We will always have your back. We trust you. Now you need to trust yourself,” Alek soothes, his golden brown eyes never leaving him.
Squeezing his throat, I feel his breath catch, and he shudders against me when my words whisper across his skin. “We’ve got you, Pet.”
Before everyone starts arriving and the house and surrounding forest are filled with our men and allies, there’s one thing we need to do.
Snow is in the kitchen when we walk out of the cottage, making enough breakfast to feed an army, which I suppose is fitting since that’s ultimately what we’re building today– an army to slay a wicked king and rescue our Queen.
The view of Grimm River from this cottage has always been my favorite. Even as a boy struggling to bear the weight of my mother’s addiction, these boulders and rocky banks were my safe place. The early morning sunlight dances with the rushing waters, shining glimpses on the river bed of life fluttering under the surface. I used to envy that lifelong freedom. Going wherever the current flows. Now, as a man, I know that life is what you make it. It can be as freeing as the river flowing through the veins of this land…or as stifling as a stagnant pond.
My brothers follow behind me, their footsteps crunching on the rocks as we near my favorite spot— a large group of boulders that sit overlooking the water. The years have not changed much about this place. Maybe the stones are a little easier to climb now since I’m a lot bigger than when I sat here as an eight-year-old boy, waiting on this rock while the police carried the bodies out— my mom and baby sister.
Alek and Maddox climb up with me, positioning themselves at my sides. None of us speak for a moment. We just watch life flow beneath the Grimm River– the freedom we are fighting for. For Em. For Raena. Our family. Shadow Forest. For the eight-year-old boy who sat on this rock with the weight of the world on his shoulders, grief and relief in equal measure, drowning him.
Pulling out the burner phone from my pocket, I call the only person who can give us the hope we need right now. Ella’s face fills the screen a moment later.
“She’s okay. Sleeping,” she whispers, turning the phone to let us see Em sleeping peacefully in the bed, curled up next to her. Her little white horse tucked under her chin.
“How are things there?” I ask softly after a few minutes of staring at Em’s beautiful little face–the face of her mother. Ella slips from the bed, and I hear a door close a moment later.
“It’s good. This place is a fucking fortress. She’s safe here.” She swings the camera to show the two armed guards stationed on either side of the door she just exited.
“Thank you. It will never be enough. For what you’re doing for us.” Alek says, sliding his hand into mine. Maddox places his hand on my knee, giving it a squeeze.
“Don’t flatter yourselves. I mean, you’re cute and all,” She winks, trying to lighten the mood with her sass before it fizzles out as her eyes go distant, worry and guilt plaguing her. “Rae would do the same for me. This is for her. I couldn’t protect her. Not the first time– not this time. I won’t make that mistake again. Just bring her home. I’ve got this here.”
“We’ve got a plan.” And as if on cue, I hear a vehicle approaching from the long driveway. “We’ve got to go. Call you soon. Just…stay safe. Keep her safe.”
“With my life.”
The same vow she made before she left. I disconnect the call, looking at my brothers.
“She’s safe,” I say, feeling the pressure in my chest lighten just a bit. “Let’s get this done.”