Reluctant Prince (27 page)

Bang!
The door slammed open, hitting the wall.

“Why didn’t you call for me?” Chayce strode into the chamber, his face beet red, his mouth a thin, tight line. He vibrated with anger.

“I’m sorry, Chayce. I—”

“I don’t want to hear it, Jackson. Kai sent for me. It should have been you.”

Jackson searched his brother’s eyes, expecting to find hurt. Instead, he found only anger. Rage.

“But I guess you were too busy chasing your girlfriend around to think of me. Our father has two sons. Remember that, Jackson. You’re not the only one.”

Guilt threatened to crush Jackson. Some leader he would be. Maybe he would just allow Kai to remain in charge. Pain. Confusion. Fear. Regret. The emotions battered him until he couldn’t even think straight.

Chayce stood over the opposite side of his father’s bed and stared hard at Jackson. “And what now, Jackson? What will you do now? Your kingdom is under attack, your father lies dying. Where does your loyalty lie?”

The knife in his gut twisted even deeper.

“Will you remain here and take your place as Kai’s second in command? Or will you abandon your kingdom to run after your little girlfriend?” Chayce never even glanced down at his father, just continued to stare at Jackson, the challenge palpable in his eyes as well as his stance.

Jackson opened his mouth to speak, to explain to his brother that Ryleigh was a Princess of Cymmera. Even wore the mark of a Princess, a future Queen.

Don’t trust him.

His father’s words halted him.

Surely, he hadn’t meant Chayce.

But who had he meant?

Jackson clamped his mouth shut.

“That’s what I thought.” Contempt filled Chayce’s tone. “Don’t worry about it, brother. Kai and I have worked out a plan.”

Jackson’s gaze shot to Chayce.

“Kai has called back all of our warriors. It seems Daygan has halted his attack. Perhaps his only goal had been to remove the king. Maybe he didn’t realize King Maynard’s weak, pathetic son wouldn’t be the one to take over and rule in his father’s place.” Chayce’s smile held nothing but malice. “Three days after the funeral, our warriors will attack the Kingdom of Argonas. We will take no prisoners and leave no witnesses.” Eagerness lit Chayce’s eyes, excitement.

Were they crazy? Three days was the standard mourning period.

Daygan would expect the attack to come in exactly three days’ time.

They would be leading the Cymmeran Guard to slaughter.

Jackson stood and squared his shoulders, held his brother’s gaze. “Perhaps you and Kai should wait to see if
our
father dies before planning his funeral. And your revenge.”

He squeezed his father’s hand. Smoothed his hair back and kissed him on the forehead. Then he turned and left without another word to Chayce. What more could he say anyway?

He had to find Ryleigh, but first he had to figure out where Daygan would have taken her. With no other ideas, he headed for the tunnels she’d disappeared from.

Ryleigh tried to roll over. Pain slammed through her entire body. Everything hurt. Her breath caught. The memory washed over her, threatened to strangle her. The agony in her forearm drowned out all of the other pain. She clutched it to her chest. She opened her eyes to blackness. Pain burned through her arm, but she couldn’t see how bad it was. She struggled to sit up.

“Well, well, well.” The disembodied voice echoed through the darkness, leaving her unable to detect the direction it originated from. “Look who’s finally awake.” The low chuckle surrounded her.

Her heart stuttered. “Who are you?” She squinted into the darkness. Nothing.

“Why Ryleigh, I’m so disappointed. You don’t remember me? And after you had me in your home and everything.”

“Daygan.” Her stomach rebelled. Bile crept up her throat, gagging her. She retched, dry heaved then forced the vomit back down.

A flame formed in his large hand. He tossed it at a torch that hung from the wall. The dim light cast a black shadow across his eerie grin. “Ahh…I’m honored to see you remember me.” He bowed low, sweeping his arm in front of him. He stood outside the bars of the cage where he’d imprisoned her.

She tried to study him, but his dark hair and clothing blended with the shadows, cloaking him in blackness.

She forced her gaze away from him to survey her surroundings. Nothing. A dirt floor, four walls and a ceiling built from metal bars. She was literally imprisoned in a cage.

Blood seeped from her arm, dripped onto her leg. She pressed her hand to the wound in an effort to stop the bleeding. Her hand came away slick with blood. The puncture burned, heated her entire arm. Then she remembered. A chill coursed through her. A bite mark. Had the savage poisoned her?

“I can help you with that, my dear.” Daygan’s smiled.

Ice water rushed through her veins. Ryleigh scowled, ignoring him as she ripped the sleeve from her sweater and tied it around the wound.

Daygan’s gasp alerted her.

She looked up an instant before the cage door was ripped from its hinges. He’d never moved a muscle, yet the door had torn off and now lay crumpled in a heap across the room.

Ryleigh ducked. She flung herself to the corner of her prison, covered her head with her hands and cowered.

Daygan grabbed her arm and dragged her from the cage. He shoved her against the wall beneath the torch, but didn’t release her. “What is this? Where did you get this?” Fire burned in his eyes.

She tried to convince herself it was nothing more than a reflection from the flame on the torch.

She glanced down at her arm and instantly realized her mistake. The tattoo encircling her arm glowed a dim purple. White light weaved between the purple lines. Oh crap. She’d forgotten about the mark. She looked back to him. “Uh…it’s…um…” She clamped her teeth together, tried to think faster.

“Don’t play games with me? Have you always had this mark?”

She eagerly nodded her head. She wouldn’t mention the Ordination Ceremony, or the fact that Jackson was now a Death Dealer. Didn’t want to give this crazy bastard any more information than he already had.

“Do you know what this is?” He squeezed her upper arm, lifting it as if he could shove it in front of her eyes. Her shoulder burned.

She turned her gaze to the mark then shook her head no. Her heart hammered in her chest, painful as it smacked repeatedly against her ribs.

“This, my precious prisoner, is the mark of a Princess of Cymmera. But, more importantly, it shows the symbol of the future Queen.” Daygan finally dropped her arm. He paced away from her.

She glanced around, frantically searching for an escape. There had to be something, a door, a window, an air vent. She couldn’t find any opening. Dirt walls surrounded her, closed in on her, suffocated her. She gasped. She couldn’t breathe, needed air desperately.

Daygan turned back to her. “Don’t even bother looking for a way out. There is none. Not for you anyway.” He dismissed her and turned to pace again. When he turned back, a frown creased his brow. “A descendant of the former King.” Daygan mumbled more to himself than to her.

She strained to hear his words.

“If King Raya had another child, that child would have been the rightful heir to the throne.” He tapped his finger against his lips. A slow smile spread across his face. “Looks like King Maynard’s reign has come to an end. It’s time for the rightful ruler to ascend the throne.”

Ryleigh’s hands shook. She brushed her hair behind her ear, sat up straighter against the wall. “What are you talking about?” She’d tried to make her voice more forceful, defiant. Instead, only a raspy whisper emerged.

He moved toward her. Slowly. His black robe flowed behind him. “You, my dear have every right to take your place as Queen of Cymmera. You must be a descendant of the original King.” He bent toward her, leaned into her face.

His rancid breath washed over her. Hot. Foul.

She gagged. Cringed.

“King Maynard stole the throne from your ancestors. It’s time for you to take back what’s yours.” He stuck his tongue out. Long, pointed, crusty.

She tried to turn her head away, pressed her cheek against the dirt wall.

He held tightly to her chin as he ran his tongue up the side of her face.

The stench sent the bile rushing back up her throat. She held her breath, forced back the urge to vomit.

“Of course, a woman has no place ruling a Kingdom. You will need a king at your side.”

Ryleigh fought. She pushed him away, struggled to free herself from his grip.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet.

She kicked him, slammed her elbow into his ribs, scratched him. She missed his eyes, but managed to leave three long gouges down the side of his face.

He shoved her back against the wall, his hand splayed forcefully against her throat.

She couldn’t breathe.

Darkness intruded, tunneled her vision. White spots danced before her eyes. Her arms fell to her sides, and she went limp.

He threw her to the ground.

She heaved in a breath, filling her lungs with the foul, moldy air.

Daygan leaned over her. “I will only offer once. You can go along with me, and you will be queen. Think of the power you’ll wield. I am a powerful sorcerer. I can offer you everything you could ever imagine. And, in return, I will take my place at you side as King of the richest realm in existence.”

“Rich?” Confusion chased away some of the encroaching darkness. She pushed herself up to sit. “I thought Cymmera was dying?”

“Who cares?” Daygan waved a hand.

The dismissive gesture irritated Ryleigh.

“Once we mine all of the riches, we’ll go find another kingdom to conquer.” When he met her gaze his eyes were euphoric.

She was trapped underground with a madman. Goose bumps crawled over Ryleigh’s skin.

“There is so much to do to prepare.” He clapped his hands together. “I will leave you to think about my offer.”

Ryleigh’s gaze quickly darted to the cage door crumpled in the corner.

His laughter sent a shiver up her spine. “Don’t worry, my dear, the cage was only for effect. You’re trapped here. There’s no way out for you. Unless you choose to join me, that is.”

He moved toward her.

She cringed, terrified he would touch her again.

Then he lifted his arms, stepped through the portal, and was gone.

When the portal closed, the torch flickered once and died, plunging her into complete darkness.

Ryleigh’s heart rate kicked up. Adrenaline surged through her system.

He didn’t know. Daygan didn’t realize she could open a portal to Cymmera.

She jumped quickly to her feet. Too quickly. Her head spun. She reached for the dirt wall to steady herself. Pain tore through her arm. Her face burned where Daygan had licked her. Blackness suffocated her.

She forced all of it ruthlessly aside. Focus. Concentrate.
You can do this
. She clapped her hands together, lifted them. She tried to picture the castle, Jackson’s chamber. For all she knew it had already been overrun by savages. Mia. She had to get to her sister. But where would she be? Ryleigh had no idea how long she’d been unconscious. How long she’d been imprisoned. Indecision paralyzed her.

She tried to tell herself it didn’t matter. Time moved differently in all of the realms anyway. She just had to escape her prison then she could worry about everything else. An image of the tunnel she’d been taken from formed in her mind. She grabbed hold of it, clung to it desperately as she ripped her hands apart.

Ryleigh fell through the portal and landed sprawled, face down on the dirt floor of the dimly lit tunnel. She inhaled deeply sucking loose dirt into her mouth. She choked. She had to get out of there before Daygan returned and found her gone. She struggled to her feet, holding the wall for support and cradling her injured arm to her chest.

Ryleigh looked around. She had no clue which way to go, couldn’t find footprints in the hard packed dirt, didn’t see any familiar signs to tell her she’d passed through before. She started to walk, slowly, struggling to clear the fog from her head.

What was that? A sound echoed through the tunnel. She froze, stood perfectly still, listened intently as she tried to determine which way the noise had come from. No use. She couldn’t tell. She started forward again, careful not to jolt her arm. Another sound reached her. This time, the unmistakable click of a door falling shut. Ryleigh turned and ran.

“Hey! Ryleigh. Wait, it’s me.”

The familiar voice reached her ears, but it took another minute for her brain to process. Jackson. She stopped and turned to face him.

He almost ran right into her. “Ryleigh, are you okay?”

She fell into his arms and sobbed. She didn’t even try to regain control, desperately needing the release. “Mia?”

“Shh…It’s all right. I have you now. Mia’s with Dakota. She’s safe.”

She relaxed into his strength.

He held her tightly to his chest, rubbed his hand in circles on her back.

Her injured arm caught between them, burning furiously. Fear of Daygan finding them pounded through her head. She pushed everything aside in her need for comfort only Jackson could offer.

Her sobs finally began to subside.

Jackson held her upper arms and moved her back to examine her. He stroked his fingers lightly down her cheek. “You’re injured.”

She was? The sting on her cheek reminded her of Daygan’s repulsive tongue. She cringed. Had it left a mark?

Jackson examined her arm. “A savage bite can be dangerous. We have to get you out of here then I’ll heal you as best I can and send for Kiara.” He studied her eyes, held her gaze with his. “Okay?”

She nodded, grateful he didn’t press her for answers about what had happened. She wasn’t ready to talk about it yet, needed some space, desperately needed to be out from beneath the ground.

Jackson kept his arm tightly around her as they made their way back through the vault and into the castle.

A guard stood at attention beside the door to Jackson’s chamber. “Send for Kiara, immediately.”