Chapter 13
Wyatt
I gagged as we landed in Rafe’s childhood bedroom.
Skye and Aiden appeared a moment later, and Aiden shook out his hair like a dog shaking out his coat.
I would’ve wrinkled my nose at that if I weren’t about to vomit.
Rafe shoved my head toward a literal gold trash can, and I coughed a few times as I tried to settle my stomach.
I hated shadow-walking.
It took a few minutes for the nausea to wane, but when I straightened out, it seemed as if everyone was attempting to give me privacy.
Aiden was studying a piece of awful abstract art on the wall while Skye snooped through Rafe’s dresser drawers.
She made a face like she wanted to laugh when she saw there were only identical black t-shirts neatly folded in every drawer.
I flopped down on the edge of Rafe’s massive bed, not surprised at all to see the black silk sheets were freshly laundered. Either the Princess had ordered his room cleaned in time for his arrival, or the room was cleaned weekly even though he hadn’t been here in months.
The Royals were notoriously wasteful. The room was probably cleaned weekly even though he hadn’t been here in months.
Rafe emerged from his closet in a nicer set of jeans and fresh t-shirt, and he held out his arm for Skye, who practically jumped him.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, then murmured something else I couldn’t hear.
Aiden shot me a look, but I only shrugged.
Rafe’s relationship with his father was weird. He’d disliked him even before the military incident. And after the incident, when I came into Rafe’s hospital room to see him arguing with Alex about whether or not he’d made the call to send us into that building…
Skye wouldn’t have lied to us. It seemed that Alex, in his final moments, was worried for his son, and used himself as a distraction so Skye could escape with Aiden. Rafe was probably feeling more conflicted than ever.
“Let’s go,” Rafe said grimly.
Skye chewed her lip, looking at her sweatshirt slash yoga pants combo in the massive wall-length mirror for a second before Rafe chuckled.
“You look delectable, darling. Come on.”
“I don’t want to look delectable when I’m meeting one of my mother-in-laws!” Skye hissed.
Rafe chuckled as Skye clutched his arm to her chest like a lifeline, her anxiety over her outfit palpable. Aiden and I naturally fell into step behind them.
We strode down the opulent halls, some of which were still damaged from the night of the gala. Heavy drapes littered the floor along with some chunks of plaster. A fine layer of dust covered the velvet carpet, leaving visible footprints behind us.
Why hadn’t anyone cleaned this up?
I could tell Rafe was thinking the same, though I couldn’t see his face. Shadows were darting alongside us, prodding at missing chunks of drywall and zipping around broken vases on the ground.
“No way,” Rafe stopped suddenly with a laugh. A large tapestry depicting some Royal ancestor had been ripped and partially burned. The bald guy’s face wasn’t visible, but his mismatched medals were untouched.
It felt weirdly ominous.
Rafe sighed happily. “I hated that tapestry.”
He strode on, pulling Skye past the blackened hall leading to the dungeons. I swallowed thickly as the old smell of smoke hit me, and Aiden slowed his pace to watch me.
“You okay?” he murmured so he didn’t draw Skye’s attention.
I nodded, staring at the dungeon door, hanging off his burnt hinges.
Had anything in the dungeons been cleaned? Were there dozens of bodies just…sitting there?
We’ll fix it later, Wy. Rafe told me. We need to have a chat with my mother first.
I really hoped the Princess hadn’t known what was going on down here.
The Princess’ personal apartment…was a mess.
Her eyes were rimmed red, her hair disheveled in an obviously old braid. It’d been a week since the gala, and…the room definitely smelled like no one had showered since then.
The Princess was pacing, her favorite activity when she was on the edge of a meltdown, and Hugo, her favorite Link, stood against the wall, watching while running his hands through his hair. Torturing himself, really.
“Mom,” Rafe whispered.
Ramira gasped when she realized we’d arrived. She ignored us completely, throwing herself into Rafe’s arms and sobbing loudly. Hugo ran his hands through his hair again, looking like he was about to crawl out of his skin.
It was a feeling I now weirdly understood.
If Skye were this distraught…I shivered, feeling nauseous again just at the idea.
My Link-mates’ behavior when I’d woken up made a lot more sense, now.
Skye had been this distraught. Maybe even more so, considering Aiden had also been inexplicably unconscious.
“No one can wake him,” Ramira wailed. “They’ve tried everything.”
Skye stifled a gasp from beside me, and Aiden moved in closer to her.
I blew out a breath. Things already didn’t bode well for the Princess, with her single affinity for telepathy, but losing a Link was a horrible thing. It could drive even the strongest of Keys into madness.
“Holmes says he’s fine, but–” Ramira gasped again before covering her mouth with her hand while she squeezed her eyes shut.
I blinked.
What?
“Wait, what?” Rafe pulled back suddenly. “Holmes said what?”
“Sh-she said,” Ramira blubbered for a moment, “She said he’s j-just sleeping.”
We stared, dumbfounded.
“This is about Raaz?!” Rafe exploded, making Skye jump. “You’re serious?!”
“I– of course! Who the fuck else would–”
“My father? Since he’s dead!” Rafe roared, and Skye shrunk back, bumping into my shoulder. I pulled her into my arms before Aiden could, ignoring his glare while Rafe continued shouting. “Where is he? Don’t tell me you’ve left him on the lawn like trash!”
“Of course not!” Ramira shrieked back, just as loudly.
Skye trembled in my arms, her eyes squeezed shut and her hands wrung together tightly. I’d never seen her react this way to a screaming match before. Was there some trauma I’d been unaware of here? Aiden would probably know, but he seemed just as confused.
“Where is he?” Rafe demanded. “And why do you cry over the guard instead of your Link?! How could you?!”
“THE GUARD IS MY LINK!” Ramira screeched, then gasped as her body jolted backward. Ramira’s eyes flared, and before she could react, shadows exploded across the room.
There were several moments of tense silence, only our ragged breathing filling the space. The shadows parted, revealing Rafe between us and the Royals, and…
Somehow I ended up with both Aiden and Skye in my arms.
Aiden and I stared at each other in horror for a moment, then he scrambled away from me before I could shove him.
The shadows parted further, revealing Rafe’s mother looking…incensed.
“Your Key just attacked me,” Ramira snarled, her dark eyes narrowed on us.
“Obviously,” Rafe replied insufferably. “You were screaming at me like a banshee.”
The Princess looked stunned for a moment, then breathed out slowly. She trained an icy glare on Skye. “How old are you? Far too old to not have control of your affinities.”
Skye didn’t reply, and I desperately wished I could’ve seen her expression. Was she brash enough to talk back to a princess?
The Princess narrowed her eyes, then spoke through clenched teeth. “I just asked you a question. I am the Crown Princess, Key to the Royal Chain. You attacked me, and now you ignore me?”
“Actually,” Skye’s voice shook slightly, then strengthened, “I’m also Key to a Royal Chain, and I was defending the Prince.”
Every jaw was on the floor.
“Listen here, you…you–” Shadows recovered Hugo as he spluttered for some type of insult.
Aiden appeared equal parts in love and ready to run for it. Rafe had hearts where his eyes should have been.
I tightened my arms just slightly around Skye’s warm stomach, since her sweatshirt had ridden up when I grabbed her. If she decided to teleport away, she wouldn’t be leaving me.
The Princess stared down her nose at Skye, one of her eyes twitching slightly. I didn’t think anyone had ever spoken directly against her like this. I could almost see the gears turning in Ramira’s mind as she considered my Key.
Finally, she sniffed. “My son is never in danger from me.”
Rafe snorted. “That’s debatable. This is the second time in a week you’ve nearly attacked me. You worry me.”
“Rafael,” Hugo muttered in warning, having been uncovered again.
“Don’t Rafael me,” Rafe sneered. Hugo snapped his mouth shut.
Ramira ignored the exchange with her Link, looking around at the rest of us instead. “I will not discuss this in front of the…others.”
“This is my Chain,” Rafe said. “Whatever you’d say to me can be said in front of them. I’ll only tell them what you say, anyway.”
Ramira pursed her lips, looking to Hugo.
“You cannot fault him for that,” he replied simply.
Rafe seemed surprised, and I held in a snort as Ramira rolled her eyes at him.
“Who is this woman?” She asked, looking Skye over again, her expression carefully blank. They’d gotten off on the wrong foot, but maybe the Princess was willing to set things right.
Rafe blinked, then took Skye’s hand, but didn’t pull her away from me. “Mother, this is my darling Skye. You know Wyatt. The red hair is Aiden Brandt. Now can we address the elephant in the room?”
“You mean the one where your Key just attacked me, an offense punishable by death?” Ramira sneered. Anger spiked inside me, but I knew better than to speak. Rafe’s mother was Rafe’s problem, just like my mom was mine.
Aiden’s arms were so hot, I took a step away from him, bringing Skye with me as she began to squirm.
“No. The one where you just screamed your guard is one of your Links while ignoring the death of your son’s father,” Skye snapped. “Do you not care how he feels at all?!”
“My son hates his father,” Ramira replied, narrowing her eyes. “You do not know him better than me.”
Rafe gave me a bewildered look like he had somehow been unaware of just how possessive his mother was until this very moment, and Aiden looked back and forth between the two women uneasily, expecting a fight.
Skye rolled her eyes at the Princess, dismissing her as she looked back to Rafe. He ran his hands through his hair, then sighed.
“You summoned me for Raaz? What am I supposed to do about him?” Rafe asked.
“He’s only sleeping,” Skye said, straightening in front of me. “I can wake him.”
“Do not play games with me, girl,” Ramira snapped.
Rafe coolly slid between the two women before Skye could snap back, and his voice was quiet but deadly when he spoke.
“You will watch your tone when speaking to her.”
Ramira reared back, her eyes going wild, but she only stared while Rafe stared back in a silent battle of wills.
Finally, the Princess cleared her throat, then crossed her arms. “Is it…true? Can you wake him?”
Skye shifted her weight. “Let me try. What other options do you have?”
Ramira chewed her lip for a moment, then hunched her shoulders. “Come with me,” she muttered before turning on her heel, making her dressing gown swirl behind her.
No one moved for a moment, and then Skye slipped out of my arms and around Rafe to follow Ramira.
Hugo moved then, grabbing Rafe by the shoulder. “There’s an explanation for all of this,” he said softly. “I promise you, Rafael.”
Rafe only stared back.
“If it means anything, I am very sorry,” Hugo went on. “He’d been like a brother to me, once.”
Rafe shoved Hugo’s hand off his shoulder, pointing toward me. “You barely care that he’s gone. That’s my brother, and I would’ve fought all of you for him. My mother included.”