47. The Red Room
Chapter 47
The Red Room
CINDER
A pparently Jack knows the ins and outs of the castle. Kai left a note behind a loose stone in the courtyard and only a couple of hours later, we’re meeting with the mouse at the storeroom where the Ember of Midnight hangs.
Looking at the painting now causes a strange topsy-turvy feeling inside of me, like I don’t know what to trust.
Though why I should trust an evil bitch like my stepmother over my memories doesn’t make any sense.
“Can you help get her back to the Common World?” Kai asks.
“ Us . Can you help us get back?” I correct.
Jack gives us a look as if he sees more than he should. “That will be tricky. Border patrol has doubled since the wedding announcement. Congrats on the pending nuptials, by the way.”
He seems skeptical, as if ready for one of us, really me, to protest the event.
“Yeah, I’d prefer if it weren’t at the hand of an insane, power-hungry King,” I say dryly. “I would have preferred Vegas.”
“Ohh with an Elvis impersonator?” Kai chimes in hopefully.
“Sure,” I shrug. “Whatever blows your tits off.”
Kai grins at Jack. “She treats me so well.”
“And who is this?” I ask, when Jack is joined by a much larger man. He’s as tall as he is rotund with a close-shaved beard.
“The familiar who broke the glasses when you were confronted with your family,” Kaison says, a sly smile tilting his lips. “I knew I recognized you. I’ve seen you with Jack before.”
The hefty human blushes as he tugs the green shirt which doesn’t quite cover his large stomach. “I thought you needed a distraction.”
“I‘ve told you before,” Jack says impatiently to Kai, “the Mice have eyes everywhere. Gus has been posing as a thrall for a while now.”
I frown, taking a few steps to confront the impossibly large man. “You thought right.” I push up onto my toes and kiss his cheek in thanks. The pink tint of Gus’s cheeks turns into a full-on tomato red.
“Hey now,” Jack says, running his arm through Gus’s with a possessive scowl. “Don’t be trying to seduce my man.”
Kai’s brows shoot up in surprise. “Your man?”
“Didn’t know you were such a homophobe,” I say, addressing Kai’s shocked reaction.
Kai sends a scathing glare my way. “I’m surprised because I didn’t know there were more human/vampire pairings.” Then in the most mature Kai fashion, he sticks his tongue out at me.
I’m tempted to snatch it and hold it.
“Wow,” Jack says to Gus, “They aren’t what you said they were. They are so much worse.”
“Hey,” both Kai and I say in protest at the same time.
“As fun as this is,” impatience tinges Jack’s voice, “we need to tell you what we found about that night. We know what they were arguing about.”
“Something called the Red Room.”
Kai stiffens, his back turning ramrod straight.
“What? What’s the Red Room?” I ask him.
Jack and Gus wait for him to answer as well, but Kai turns to pace away from us before coming back. He runs an agitated hand through his hair.
“And why would there be a place called the Red Room when vampires consider red to be so vulgar?” I throw in for good measure.
“That’s a PR statement,” Jack answers this time. “We don’t consider it vulgar, it’s ah. . . how do I explain this.” He pinches the bridge of his nose. “It’s basically a massive aphrodisiac to us. We see red, we want blood. It makes us lose control.”
“Kai, what is it?” I push again.
“It’s. . . it’s a place where vampires take familiars they want to play with,” he says hesitantly.
“What?” I ask the question though I don’t really want to hear more.
“It’s a space reserved for the Midnight court to play and feed on beaters. The beaters don’t usually walk back out.”
My gorge rises. He’s describing a torture and kill room.
“Repulsive,” Jack says, spitting off to the side before his voice raises in outrage. “Treating humans like they are cattle, playthings, like?—”
Gus grabs his hand, silencing Jack.
“Do we know what was said?” Kai asks.
“Byung-He and the King were discussing the beaters for the Red Room. It was a disagreement about which ones would go in and which ones wouldn’t.”
“Who usually goes in?”
Kai clenches a fist. “Thralled familiars.”
“And no one fucking knows about this?” Gus asks his pitch a little higher than before.
Kai shakes his head. “My father is careful. If he sent a familiar in there, he’d have to make sure they fit a certain profile. No family, no friends, no connections. If they disappeared, they couldn’t be missed.”
“You know this for sure,” I ask, not liking the slithery, sliding feeling in my gut.
Kai shakes his head. “No, but it’s my best guess.”
“You think like him,” I say, not liking it the moment it’s out of my mouth.
His nose wrinkles with dark disgust. “My father sent me to the Red Room when I was fifteen. Telling me I wasn’t a man until I knew how to feed and fuck.”
Just when I think the King’s cruelty and disregard for his son tops out, he outdoes himself again.
“I didn’t do it,” he says, looking at me in earnest. “I shut my eyes.” The look he gives me is half pleading, half probing. As if he’s desperate for me to believe him. Then a dry smirk lifts his lips. “I cemented his belief that day that I would always be a disappointment.”
“I believe you,” I say.
Kai lets out a breath. This time when he runs a hand through his hair, I spot a tremor. “It’s still only one of the hundred reasons why we need to get him off the fucking throne.”
“No shit,” Jack says.
Kai perks up at that. “So you’ll do it. The Mice will help?”
“Can you actually help?” I can’t help but add.
Jack speaks in a low voice, “The Mice grow stronger each day. We recruit more members, gather weapons, and learn of the King's weaknesses. We are not just rebels, but an organized resistance.”
Gus nods with pride, his eyes shining. “We have waited for the perfect moment to strike. Your engagement to Cinder truly has provided us with that opportunity. The people are ready for change, and with our numbers, we can finally overthrow King Valdor.”
Jack gives Gus a meaningful look that makes my heart feel too big. “We’re in.”
“All of us,” Gus adds as he entwines his fingers with Jack’s.
The door cracks open and hot staticky panic explodes in my chest.
Someone is about to walk in on our secret meeting with members of the rebel faction.
We are royally fucked.