Ever So Madly (24 page)

Chapter Fifty

Madden

The door creaked open. I needed to oil it. I needed to get up. I had to finish packing, but I didn’t have the energy. The creaking of the floor caused my temples to throb. Blood pounded through my ears. I’d only taken a tumble, but my body was stiff.

“You didn’t have to come back,” I said. My voice didn’t sound like my own, it was hollow and soft.

“Madden…” It wasn’t a male voice. It wasn’t a voice I ever expected to hear again.

“You can’t be real.” I fought against my pounding headache to further open my eyes.

“What happened to you?”

“He’s a fucking idiot; that’s what happened to him,” Colton said from behind her.

“Just a fall. I’m only bruised.”

“At least you’re alive.” He closed the door then leaned back against it. “Your royal arse here thought it would be a good idea to stroll down the back alleys of Harden in fabric worth a month of food.” He said the last distastefully.

“Jocelynn,” I groaned. “Why would you come here? You could have been killed.”

“She nearly was. I saved her from a couple of blokes that had been following her.” Colton crossed the room taking a cloudy glass off one of the shelves before filling it from the faucet and handing it to me.

I took it gratefully drinking down the silver-tinged water. It tasted of the metal. I’d missed it while on Trenton.

“They weren’t following me.” Jocelynn glared over at him.

“Do you realize what would have happened, had I not happened along?” Colton looked her directly in the eyes.

She shook her head. It was cruel, but she had to know. She couldn’t stay here without knowing. J was smart, but she had no idea how to function outside her sheltered life. I wondered if her father would know how to survive in the slums of Trenton. I doubted it. My hand shook as I set the glass aside.

They stared each other down.

She muttered, “No.” Glaring at me she skimmed her fingers over my visible scrapes.

I took her wrists in my hands and looked into her beautiful eyes I’d missed so much. “I’m fine. Looks worse than it is.” I sighed, not sure how much Colton had told her. “Why are you here?”

She frowned. My words were colder than I meant them. “I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t be with him.” Her voice dropped. “You wouldn’t meet me.”

“I couldn’t.” I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “I couldn’t watch it anymore.” I dropped my face to press into her neck. I’d fucked up.

“It was all an act so I could escape. I did what they wanted of me until I could run.” She turned into me kissing my temple. “You don’t have to watch anymore.”

I picked my head up to look her in the eyes. “Yes, I do, if not him someone else. You can’t expect to stay here. You’ll be traced here in days at the most.” Overwhelming sorrow choked off my voice.

She gripped my shirt, and I had to grit my teeth to not wince as her fingers brushed my bruised chest. “You want me to go back?”

“I’m leaving with the Reds. What other choice do you have?”

Her eyes flashed fiery. “I want to go with you. Life’s not worth living without you.”

“They are working to undermine your family, the Emperor.” She wasn’t thinking things through.

“I know. I’m sure I can help.”

“Jocelynn, why did you come here? What did you really expect?”

“At some point I realized I wasn’t me anymore without you.”

I let an ounce of hope seep in. “It wouldn’t be the life you’re used to. No servants, cooling systems, food dispensers…” I brushed my fingers down her cheek.

“I don’t care. I don’t need it all.”

I believed her. Cupping her face, I brought my mouth down on hers and kissed her for the first time in weeks. She tasted better than she had in the matrix. I couldn’t get enough. She grabbed my hair pulling me closer. Nothing existed outside of her lips. I wanted to live and die within this moment. I broke the kiss because if I hadn’t we’d end up giving Colton more of a show than he wanted.

“Colton, if they want me I’m taking J with me.” He looked like he was going to argue. “Don’t say a word. I know she’s worth ten of me. Make it happen.”

“Are you fucking stupid?” Colton never raised his voice, but his tone carried the full weight of his anger.

“She is important to me.”

“You know what she is?” Colton growled. “She is death. Walking, talking death. Anyone who touches her will be killed. He will follow her to the ends of the universe to get her back.”

“I don’t care. This is what she wants, and if anyone has the resources to make it happen they do. Make the fucking call. You have to realize what they have with her on their side.” I wasn’t going to back down. Not after having her in my arms again.

“If she has ruined everything we’ve been building…” Colton turned his back. There were things he wasn’t telling me.

“I’ll ask, but there is no guarantee he’ll want a high risk passenger. We don’t even know how she got here, and if she was traced.” He hissed the last. I knew he didn’t understand, and probably never would.

“Colton, please find out?” I kept my temper in check, barely.

He pressed his eyes closed and shook his head. “I’ll make a few calls, but this is stupid.” He stepped outside closing the door behind him.

“We’ll go together.” I whispered as I pressed my lips below her ear.

She nodded looking up at me. “I can’t be that person. Not after knowing you. My existence would be empty without you.”

“Mine as well, look what I was volunteering for.” I laid my forehead against hers.

“Where were you going?” She rested her chin on my chest, and I couldn’t help but smile. She was here, and when we got away from this hellhole planet we could focus on each other, and the work of the Reds.

“The Reds have a base outside the rim planets where they house their research. I was going to live in the camp there.” I took another kiss, not sure if I believed this to be real yet.

“Well it doesn’t matter where it is—” She was cut off by Colton storming in. He was ranting, and it took me a few moments to process what he was saying.

“You stupid fucking girl. You think life is easy, and you’re just handed everything on a silver platter along with those cuffs you wear. But there are rules and plans in place, in the real fucking world. People live and die for your whims. How fucking stupid do you have to be?”

I detangled myself from Jocelynn and slammed my fist into Colton’s jaw.

He staggered back, his hand flying to his mouth. I stalked forward, and he removed his hand from his cheek putting his fists in a defensive position.

“You have no idea what she cost us.” Colton turned his head and spat blood on the floor before dodging my second blow and throwing one of his own.

His fist glanced off my shoulder, and although Colton was thinner he knew how to fight better than I did. He ducked again, but it was a fake I realized too late as his fist landed in my gut. Colton didn’t hesitate landing a few of his own in the aftermath. We traded blows until we both dropped our arms at the same time. I didn’t want to fight him, and I knew he didn’t want to fight me.

“What happened, Colton?” I asked rubbing my palm against where Colton had hit me hardest in the jaw.

“They know she’s here. The Baron’s fleet is en route. Our spies just gave word everything is hushed there, but half the fleet took off from the Gavin base.” Colton shot J a look. “You ruined months and months of plans. Plans, you had no idea the plans we had.” Anger dripped from him. I could see it in his rugged posture.

“What plans?” I didn’t know what to make of his ranting now that we’d both cooled down.

He shook his head. “I have to go, but be ready. Both of you will need to be off planet by the end of the night.”

I turned back to her, wrapping my arms tight around her much smaller frame.

“They are coming for me. It’s safer if I leave. I can’t put you at risk,” she whispered.

“No, we have time. Don’t say that. We’ll escape together.” I clung to her, trying to give her some sort of comfort. She’d chosen me over everything, and I wasn’t letting her go anywhere. I didn’t know what plans she’d ruined by coming here, but by Colton’s reaction I could only guess. He was normally so calm and reserved. It scared me, but I couldn’t tell her that.

She held onto me tighter and pressed her face into my shirt, muttering, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come.”

She pushed away from me and turned her back.

“Come back here.” I tried to grab her, but she tugged out of my grip.

Chapter Fifty-One

Jocelynn

“I should go. I’m putting you all in danger. I had no idea.” Everything Colton said was right. I should have listened to Jacob and Phillip. I was playing adult games with childish whims. “I’m so stupid.” It really sank home when Colton said it.

The Baron would kill Madden if he got his hands on him. I needed to let him escape and go back to my prison and hope Phillip forgave me.

“You’re not going anywhere. If they want me, they’ll figure out a way to get you away safely as well. You’re more valuable anyway, if you agree to join their cause.” He was rambling, and I wondered if he even knew how much trouble I’d caused. “It’s too late to go back. We are all in now, and I will protect you.”

I let him wrap his arms around me again. I wanted to talk to Jacob, but I didn’t even know if I could trust him. I closed my eyes, willing myself to be calm. There was nothing we could do right now. When Colton came back we would discuss things.

Madden’s comm vibrated. I bit my lip as I waited for the word.

“It’s for you.” He held it out.

Jacob: You’re a fucking idiot.

Jacob: Stay where you are. I have a head start on the fleet.

Jocelynn: What? How did you know where I went?

But I knew. I hadn’t deleted the messages. I’d led him and Phillip right to me.

Jacob: I think the entire universe knows where you’d run to. You’re shit at this. I’ll contact you in a few hours when I’m on the ground. Trust Colton.

I stared at the comm for a minute before I showed it to Madden.

“There is more going on here than we realize—” His eyes searched mine.

“But what?”

“I have a bad feeling we’ve been played with,” he said tentatively.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, but I’m going to kick Colton’s arse when he gets back.” He sank into a seat on his cot. I took one next to him and folded my legs under me.

He leaned into me, and I looked into his eyes. “I have a bad feeling about all of this. How do Colton and Jacob even know each other?”

“I don’t know. He seemed shocked when I told him anything about you.”

“I feel like a pawn. I meant to tell you, Phillip and Jacob are in on something.” I laid my head on his shoulder.

“We are missing a vital piece of the puzzle.” He looked into my eyes.

“We need to have our own plan. I don’t trust anyone.” My mind reeled. I was grasping at anything that made sense, but nothing did.

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Then we will play it by ear, and if either of us wants to bail, we will.”

“Okay.” There was nothing else to do. I’d walked head first into a trap, and if he died it would be all my fault.

Chapter Fifty-Two

Madden

Colton burst back in the room. “We’ve got to run. They are closer than we thought. Fuck.” He pushed his hands into his hair. I’d known and trusted Colton half my life, and I’d never seen him like this. I couldn’t believe the mistrust in all of this. This would be my life from now on. I would be doubting everyone and everything. With lives and more importantly money at stake these people would only look out for their best interest.

“Run? How?” Jocelynn got to her feet.

I grabbed my pack and a spare helmet, tossing it to her. “They can’t be.”

“She put them all on the move. They will be on the ground any minute. This is your only chance, Madden, and I don’t want to see you dead.” He turned on his heel and walked out.

I made eye contact with her. “We don’t have to follow him.”

“Do you trust him?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“What’s clear is, they’ve all been keeping us in the dark, I think because they want to use us both.” She blew out a breath. “We don’t have many options right now, but he’d better explain, and Jacob, too.”

“I agree.”

She followed me out and climbed on my bike behind me. A rush of feelings hit me, but I had to ignore them all.

“Where are we going?” I asked Colton.

“Towards the mines. We are meeting the rest at the Raven One checkpoint. We need to split up so we aren’t tracked.” He took off without waiting for a reply.

I looked at J one more time before skidding off in the opposite direction. We raced through the thin roads between the mines, and she never flinched once. She had an iron will. I wasn’t sure she was scared of anything. She squeezed me tighter as we neared the site. I smiled to myself until she yelled over the noise.

“We’re being followed.”

I glanced around, forcing myself to keep the bike steady. Colton was nowhere in sight, but there were at least three others closing in on us. All I could make out were clouds of dust coming our way.

“We’re surrounded,” I yelled taking another sharp turn cutting the corner too close. They were coming ever closer, boxing us in. I felt her face press in between my shoulder blades.

“Jocelynn.” The strain showed in my voice. I took my hand off the throttle, letting the bike slow to a stop, only a kilometer from where Colton told us to meet him. There was nowhere to go.

I couldn’t see them yet, but there was a dust cloud in every direction, signaling their impending approach.

“They’ll kill you,” she choked out.

“They couldn’t have found us so fast.” I swallowed past the lump in my throat. After all the times I considered death as freedom, it had now become something entirely different. I wanted to stay for her. Even put through hell I had to stay for her.

“Madden.” Her hands fisted in my shirt. “I can’t stand to watch them kill you.”

“You don’t have to watch.” I pressed my face into the handlebars, and by the time I lifted it, it seemed they had closed the distance by half already. “Shit, J, get off the bike.”

She picked her head up and then slid off. “Why?”

I kicked out the stand and then turned to face her. I had no words, so I collected her in my arms and held on.

“Madden, you’re scaring me.” Her voice hitched, and I gripped her tighter.

“Just let me hold you.” I dug my nails into her skin, like somehow it would keep me there longer. But I knew they would drag me away from her.

“I don’t want to live in a world without you. I’m sorry I came here.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “Don’t say that. Please … you couldn’t have known.”

“I knew they’d come for me.” She pulled out of my arms, and I didn’t have the strength to keep her there.

She looked down at her wrists, and I knew what she was thinking. “I wish I could give these damn arm bands to anyone else.” Her delicate fingers traced over the metal.

“No, you need to keep them.” It hurt to say the words, but I believed it.

“How can you stand here and say that to me?” Her blue gaze showed the pain we both felt.

“Because you don’t want the title or power, and that’s why you’re the only one who can do it. You can change things.” I wrung my hands together to get them to stop shaking.

“You think by the time the Baron is through with me that there will be anything left? He fucking knows now.”

The bikes approached, the hum of their engines like our death march. The first man pulled off his helmet, and my gut ignited in fiery anger. I wanted to kill the bastard. Phillip pushed his hair out of his eyes and stepped closer.

“Jocelynn, it’s good to see you’re all right,” he called.

Jacob stood next to him, and the third was Colton.

I was going to die at the hands of my best friend out in the mines.

“What the fuck is this, Colton? You better start explaining.” I reached for the knife I had.

Jocelynn set her hand on my arm stopping me from tugging it free.

“You can trust them. Fuck, when did you start doubting me?” Colton’s voice was back to its deadly calm.

“You both are in on this?” I growled looking between my best friend and Jacob.

Jacob nodded. “We had to be sure.”

I lifted a hand and pointed at Colton. “Fuck you.” I sucked the hot air into my lungs. Jocelynn stepped closer to me and set her hand on my back, but I shrugged out of her grasp. “Him, I don’t fucking know him, and he has to answer to J, but you, Colton, you were my best friend.” I shoved both hands into my hair and turned around.

“We didn’t know it would turn out like this.” Colton stepped forward. “You two were great but…” He looked at Jacob.

“Who blocked my comm?” Jocelynn stomped toward her brother.

“No one.” It seemed to click with Jacob. “That’s why you used mine. Shit.” He shook his head. “That’s how they knew. That’s how they traced you so fast. They had to have been watching both ours. We were behind from the start.”

“Back the fuck off. You two planned this from the beginning.” I was losing it. Did I even love her? Or was that part of the plan, too? I turned on Jocelynn stepping forward to get in her face. “Tell me what you knew about this.” I saw Jacob take a step closer to me, but I ignored him.

“Jacob, let me.” She held up a hand to him.

He reluctantly nodded but stayed near.

“Tell me.” I growled, glaring down at her.

“I can’t believe you would ask me that. It’s both of us they want. Me for who I am, but they want you for your mind. I know as much, but do I assume you played me?”

It was all there. Her eyes told me everything. I was an idiot.

“Fuck.” I dropped to my knees, pressing my face into her stomach. “I panicked. I didn’t know what to think.”

She pushed her fingers into my hair. “I know.”

“Mad, this wasn’t about you two until you were already together. Believe me. We were only reuniting you for your mind. We didn’t know if you’d play ball unless she was involved. You were too hesitant. We would have gotten her out. Her brother and Phil had plans.”

“Phillip?” She cut him off. “I still want to know what he has to do with this.”

“He has been with them longer than I have. They wanted our house on board, but I wasn’t enough.” Jacob nodded. “It was why he was he was paying you special attention.”

“You mean—” She wrinkled her nose then shrugged it off. “Not that I wanted his advances so it matters not.”

“He would have married you regardless, but he did enjoy your company.” Jacob dropped his gaze, and I thought there was something he was holding back.

“I am standing right here.” Phillip crossed his arms over his chest.

A growl parted my lips, and I stood wrapping an arm around her waist. “No one gets her. I haven’t come this far to watch her marry anyone, even you, Phillip.”

“Had the match been made, our position would have been stronger. We had plans, and you two threw them all away.” Phillip gritted his teeth.

“You could have told me, both of you.” She looked between her brother and Phillip. “You led me to believe I’d never see him again.”

“We need to get going.” Colton gestured for us all to follow him to the supply shed.

“I want answers.” Jocelynn pressed as we crowded into the lift. “Why did they help us if they wanted me with Phillip?”

Jacob sighed. “That was my bad. I thought you’d join easier if he brought you in. They were already looking at him, so it worked when you two got together on your own. I thought you were too much like the Baron, too fucking perfect. It wasn’t until you were with him I had any idea you’d want to get in on this. So, I let you two build thinking with enough motivation you’d want out.”

“So, you wanted me hooked so I would go along with your plans?” There was fire in her eyes, and I didn’t blame her.

“You have to admit you went from perfect Baroness in waiting to rebel because of him. The Baron put the doubt in your mind himself sending Madden away. We didn’t use you. We just helped it along.” Jacob wasn’t sorry. I could tell by the look on his face.

Jocelynn looked hurt and betrayed. I didn’t blame her. Her own flesh and blood had done this to her. Colton was my best friend, but this was her twin.

“I cannot believe you, Jacob. I deserved the truth.”

“This is not the time or place to discuss this,” Colton said exchanging looks with Phillip. The lift stopped, and we stepped out into the first level of the mines. Colton went to the supply closet to grab gear, and I took a light pod from him.

“We are trapped down here unless either of you has a better plan, so I think it’s the perfect time to discuss it.” I return to her side and wrapped an arm around her. She leaned into me in turn.

“We are waiting for the Reds’ backup. They should have been here by now.” Jacob tapped his communicator and shifted.

“Why are we down here?” Jocelynn asked.

“Because if we are underground we have a better chance of getting close to the port unseen,” Jacob shot back. He checked his comm again. “Let’s get going.”

Colton led the way through the dark passages.

“Why didn’t you tell us, at least give us hope the last week?” I was struggling to keep my temper in check.

My words hung in the hot air. No one answered.

“Are you purposeful in avoiding Mad?” Jocelynn asked.

“J, not the time.” Jacob locked his gaze with her. “There is more at stake here than you can imagine.”

She held her ground. “I don’t care.”

“Because we didn’t know if we could trust either of you. Like he said, she went from perfect to rebel for you, and you, you fuckin’ know how you are. You just want a different life. You didn’t care which one, that’s why you went to Trenton instead of joining us in the first place. Like you said, you knew I was a member, but you abandoned me to change your status.” Colton’s voice was cold.

My lips twitched up at the corners. “We aren’t doing this for either of you, or the Reds.”

Colton opened his mouth, but I went on.

“We both support you, but we did this for each other. If we can help great, and obviously J will take her place when the time comes, but we will promise no more. Yes?” I turned to look at her.

“He’s right. I will rule when the Baron dies as I am the only one with the cuffs, but I can’t do it at Phillip’s side.”

Colton sighed. “We shouldn’t be talking about this. Lincoln will explain better. Can we drop this?”

She nodded. “For now.”

Another loud bang echoed through the chamber reminding us all of what was still on the other side.

“Where is the damn backup?” Jacob smacked his comm.

“The signal down here is shit.” Colton turned a corner, and we came face to face with the city guard.

“Shit.”

Colton turned around and started shoving us back the direction we came. There was shouting behind us. They were close. Colton ran past the group and punched a few keys to open a side door.

“In here.” We all scrambled in, and he hit the button to close the door as the echo of our pursuer’s boots radiated through the halls. He smashed the panel and then turned. “None of this will matter in about ten minutes when they get a crew down here to cut open that door.”

“Since we can’t rely on this so called backup, we need a plan.” J pulled away from me and walked up to her brother. “Tell me you have more weapons?”

He handed her the duffel he grasped in one hand. She dug through it and pulled out a knife half as long as her arm. She attached it to her belt then knit her brow.

“There are no blasters in here?”

Jacob shook his head.

“Why the hell not?”

I took the bag from her and laughed. “The Ore. It would ignite it all.”

Her eyes went wide for a moment, but then she nodded. “That’s why they haven’t cut the door apart yet.”

“Yeah,” I confirmed.

She pulled her knife out and checked the blade as I selected one for myself.