Pieces of Jade (Pirates of Orea) (43 page)

Another
Manacle guard stood in the room, hurrying us toward a spot where Lady Meredith’s white divan usually sat. The furniture and rug had been pushed aside to reveal a narrow opening.

Struggling not to slow the others down, I hurried down the rickety wooden ladder into the plummeting darkness. My feet met hard-packed dirt. The cool air smelled of rich earth. At a word from
Aleah, torchlight erupted, revealing a narrow passage crudely dug into the earth. The imperfection made it obvious that this hadn’t been excavated by the kingdom. From above us, the slamming of the hidden door reverberated in my ears.

One of the men led the way, setting a quick pace. I followed behind
Aleah as our path veered down, then up. One section hummed with magic and the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stood on end. I whirled around expecting to see a Guardian but the space behind us was empty. I lost track of time but finally we stood in front of another ladder. We climbed up and my foot touched dried, hard-packed dirt, earth untouched by my blood. We’d found a way out of the palace and had bypassed the barrier? A carriage and team of horse stood ready for us.

As I climbed into the coach, I turned to my rescuers. “Thank you. How did you plan that?”

Aleah smiled at me. “Another time.”

“What about the William? Pearl?
Lafe? Are they all safe?”

“They are well. Sleep now.” She placed a fingertip to my forehead, speaking in a language I almost recognized. My body slumped onto the seat and I fell quickly into a deep sleep.

Chapter 26

I woke with a start, heart racing until I took in my surroundings. My eyes wandered around the porous ceiling, instantly recognizing it as Aleah’s underground home. With a deep breath, I lay back down, willing the tension inside me to ease, knowing I was in a safe place. I took stock of my body, surprised to find myself refreshed and strong in a way I hadn’t since the fateful day I’d first boarded Clay’s ship. In fact I’d never felt better. Magic hummed in my veins, completing me like the final thread in a tapestry.

The goose feathered bed and soft blanket tried tempting me back to sleep, but I forced myself to stand, stirring up the smell of vanilla as I rustled the bedding. Using the water pitcher and bowl on the end table next to the bed, I cleaned up, washing my face and teeth, then brushed my hair and put on a the clean dress I found on the spindly chair.

Peeking at my reflection in the mirror was like meeting a long-lost friend. My skin was smooth, my blonde hair long and lustrous. I’d regained my youth, but I’d been forever changed, too. In my eyes and the set of my mouth I detected an air of wisdom and strength that I’d lacked before. The naïve young girl was gone. I smiled at my reflection, the shame of past mistakes no longer worrying lines into my forehead. I didn’t need a medallion to know who I was—or what I was. Not anymore.

With that thought I ventured out of the room, following the hallway until it led me into
Aleah’s thriving garden. I inhaled the smell of the fragrant flowers and herbs, and let the artificial sun’s heat kiss my skin.

A rush of conversation and a burst of laughter from my right gave me a destination. At a wrought iron table sat
Aleah, Clay, Thomas, Lafe, and the men who had aided my escape, each one watching me. Everyone was present with two notable exceptions. They fell silent when my shadow fell over the table.

“Where are Pearl and William?”

Aleah poured a cup of tea and handed it to Lafe.

The delicate cup looked odd in his large hands. He lifted it to me in a toast. “About time you woke up.”

I grinned at him, but worried my hands together. “Pearl? William?”

Thomas plucked at his
poofy sleeve. “Pearl is fine. Her healing talents were needed elsewhere.”

“Thank the night sky that she’s safe.” I let out a deep breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. But the tension in my chest wouldn’t budge. Not until I knew William’s fate. “And William?”

“Here,” his familiar voice said from behind me.

I spun around. Tears gathered in my eyes as I threw myself into his arms. I clung to him and pressed my nose to his neck, breathing in the smell of pine needles. The soothing scent melted my insides like warm wax. “You’re alive.”

I pulled back enough to see his face, a black eye increasing his rugged handsomeness. My fingers skimmed along his cheekbones, carefully skipping over his black eye, past his ear, curling in his hair.

His brilliant smiled spread across his face and he raised an eyebrow. “I heard you had something to do about that.”

A blade of guilt stabbed me. I might have saved him, but he’d only been so near death because of me. He’d almost died because I’d hesitated to strike at James. I buried my face in the crook of his neck again, unable to handle that knowledge.

I pointed to his blackened eye. “I guess my spell didn’t cure all of your injuries, huh?”

“No, I got this after you healed me. Your magic was flawless.”

One of his hands palmed my cheek while the fingers on his other trailed up and down my neck, brushing past my clavicle and caressing a place behind my ear that made me sigh. I nestled against his hand and he lowered his head, his lips nearly touching mine, when someone cleared their throat.

We sprang apart, my cheeks flaming. It was hard to believe I’d forgotten about the group of people at the table only a few feet away. I’d never lost myself in someone else like that before. With James, we’d been so careful, afraid to be less than perfect, our every action so dictated by the strict guidelines of Orea that we were never one hundred percent ourselves. But with William, we had no such restrictions. We’d shared the worst truths about ourselves and had still completely accepted each other. The imperfections made our relationship stronger, more real.

William took one look at the startled faces at the table and laughed. “Well now, I think we’ve given them enough of a show. Come with me.”

He tugged us toward the garden, away from the watching eyes at the table. I pulled him into the shadows and brought my mouth to his, surprised by my boldness.

He responded instantly, his warm soft lips caressed mine, his arms wrapping around my waist. I pressed myself closer to him, but he pulled back, his chest heaving, his eyes darker than normal.

“We can’t do this, Jade. It isn’t proper.”

I laughed, sure he was teasing
. “Not proper for a wife to kiss her husband?”

He shook his head, took my hand in his and his finger caressed my empty ring finger. “Husband no more. When I died, when my heart stopped beating, our vows ended. You’re free.”

Free? But . . . I didn’t want to be free. Not of William. “I—”

He placed a finger on my lips, his touch making my breath turn into a rapid rasp. He bent his head down toward my ear until his lips barely grazing my earlobe. “I’ll forever want to be with you. But I don’t want the decision forced on you. This time, you
choose
me because you want me, not because I’m simply a means to an end. And when you do, there will be lots more kissing.”

Before I could utter a word, Clay walked around the curve in the path. His hand covered his eyes. “Is it safe? Can I look.
”

“If I say no, will you go away? William asked.

Clay responded but I tuned them out, wanting nothing more than to make Clay leave. I wanted to talk with William. Why hadn’t he let me tell him how I felt? He held my heart in his hands. I already knew I wanted him, that I’d always want him.

“Jade,” Clay called, drawing me from my thoughts of William.

Both of the brothers were watching me. William was wearing a knowing smile, like he knew I was thinking of him. Clay’s eyes dropped as soon as I glanced at him.

“Yes, Clay?”

He gave me a smile. “Progress.”

“What?” I leaned back against a tree with flaming red leaves.

“Well, for weeks you refused to call me anything but captain, then eventually Clayton . . . and now Clay.” He fiddled with the sleeves of his jacket. “You don’t hate me anymore, do you?”

Part of me wanted to say yes, but I couldn’t. At some point my hatred had melted away. “No.”

He nodded. “I suspected you might care a smidgen when we were being tortured.”

“Yes, well . . .”

“She would also care about a wounded animal, Clay,” William said with a laugh nudging his brother with his elbow. “I wouldn’t read too much into it.”

Clay pushed William away and gave me his old cocky grin. “I’m impossible to hate for long. Believe me, William has tried.”

William threw his hands up in the air. “It’s true.”

Clay’s smile faded and he drummed his fingers against his thigh, his shoulders hunching. “When I think of all I’ve put you through, I feel ill.”

“You were pretty awful at times.”

“I know. I . . . well you know how I felt—” He cleared his throat. “—feel about you. I know it doesn’t change anything. I usually leap before I think, but until my encounter with you I’ve never regretted anything I’ve done. But my attack on the Iris, I do regret that.”

“As you should,” William said, shaking his head at his brother.

“I forgive you, Clay,” I said.

“Thank you.” He let out a soul-deep sigh, closed his eyes and smiled. When his eyes opened, they shimmered with tears, the features on his handsome face looking at peace. He wiped at his eyes and turned, tearing off one of the red leaves from a low hanging branch.

“That day when you first attacked the Iris, were you really going to shoot me?”

“Yes.” Clay nodded solemnly, the usual teasing in his eyes dying out, his jaw tightening. “You saw that chamber. I wanted to save you from that fate.”

I shuddered to imagine myself a prisoner in that awful room. Despite everything, I was glad Clay had intervened. As strange as it sounded, I was grateful.

Silence settled around us awkwardly before William spoke abruptly. “Our contacts sent word that your family is safe. They smuggled your parents and brothers out as soon as Pearl was taken.”

“Thank you.”

“It was the least the rebellion could do,” William said reclining against the trunk of the tree, facing me. So close, I could reach out and touch him. I grasped the folds of my dress to keep them from temptation.

“The Promise is hiding at a port the Manacle doesn’t know about. Since you’re part of the crew, you’re blood bound to come with us,” Clay said.

“Even if I’m an unmarried woman?”

Clay froze. “What?”

“When William’s heart stopped, it broke our vows.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Clay’s voice sounded strange, half strangled. The corner of his mouth tipped up. He and William exchanged a long, hard look, Clay running his fingers across his swollen and cut knuckles.

“As long as you don’t threaten to rot our limes. You’re part of the crew
Sher— Emmía. Even if your marital status has changed.” He tilted his head back smiling toward the artificial sun. “To think you were on board the whole time. I wonder if that means our trip to the island wasn’t a failure after all, that my luck hasn’t run out. We did get that gem, but I have no idea what to do with it.”

“Speaking of the gem,” I said, “something doesn’t make sense to me. If losing my medallion helped free my magic, I would think the
Manacle would never want it to come off. Why didn’t they remove the three oaths from its magic, so that nothing would make it fall off?”

Clay smirked. “They did. Do you remember when you were little and Lady Meredith used to love admiring your medallion?”

My eyebrows rose. “How would you know that?”

William crossed his arms. “It wasn’t Lady Meredith; it was
Aleah.” I gasped, covering my mouth with my hand.

Clay took over the explanation, “She was changing the spells. She tried to remove them, but the best she could do was add the three oaths so it would act like any other edict medallion and fall off if one of the oaths were broken. At the time, I’m sure she was hoping you’d one day be disloyal to the kingdom.”

I raised my hand to my forehead trying to keep the image of a dying August from my mind. “You’ve been planning this all that time?”

“All that time.” He folded the leaf in half and chewed on his lip, silent for a moment. “We need you, you know. We’re on the verge of a war. Our rebellion is large but their magicians outnumber ours.”

“You’re asking me to officially join your rebellion?”

Clay looked me straight in the eyes. “You give people hope. Now that you’ve seen what’s in that vault, is it enough to persuade you?”

My answer seemed obvious—the evidence spoke for itself. It seemed as though I should have been feeling conflicted, but a strange certainty mixed with strong determination filled me. Whatever doubts I’d had before were gone. The illusion of the kingdom had melted away to reveal the hideousness of the Manacle.

I couldn’t go back to how it was. And I didn’t want to.

William leaned forward, until I was lost in his blue eyes. “Time to choose your own fate, Jade.”