The Keeper's Flame (A Pandoran Novel, #2) (17 page)

“Get on with it,” I said, folding my arms.

“Well, they’re daughters of the Arborenne—magic folk. Goldilocks, here, was stupid enough to think himself in love with one”—Thad batted his eyelids—“and of course she grew bored, as they usually do, and found herself a Nordic boy to make out with. By then, Stefan was so drunk on faerie wine he probably would’ve gone hand-to-hand combat with a gorilla. Though, I’m not sure there’s that much difference between a Nord and a gor—“

“Thaddeus.” Alex fixed a hard glare on Thad. “A little help.”

Thad grinned and hopped to Alex’s side.

“We need to take off his boot,” Alex said lowly.

Thad grabbed Stefan’s leg and Stefan immediately stopped laughing in order to scream. “OW! Oh, it hurts! Please don’t take off my foot! I only have two of them.” Stefan started laughing again and hiccupped in between.

“Careful!” Alex said.

“I am being careful! Stef won’t stop—hey, knock it off, would ya! I’m not Sedi!” Stefan had reached over and was stroking Thad’s cheek affectionately.

I glanced down and gasped. Stefan’s foot was the color of an eggplant and about as big as a watermelon. I jumped to his side, eyes wide. “How did that happen?”

Alex crouched beside me, not taking his eyes off of Stefan. “The bones in his foot are shattered.”

“Shattered?” I gasped. “Did he kick a rock?”

“Might as well have.” Thad laid the wet rag over Stefan’s purple foot. “Fighting a Nord is like…well, fighting a block of ice. Come to think of it, they’re about as smart as a block of ice, too.”

Stefan yelled in pain and sat upright, grasping for the rag, but within seconds Alex had both hands against Stefan’s chest, pushing him down. “Lie down.” Alex’s voice was firm.

“But it—“ Stefan hiccupped “—hurts!”

Alex shot Thad a look, and then a smirk stretched across Thad’s face. “I like how you think, Del Can’t.”

“Hurry.” Alex’s features were tight. “We don’t have much time.”

“Time for what?” I asked.

“And make sure no one sees you.” Alex kept his hands on Stefan’s chest, making sure he stayed down.

“What’s going on?” I demanded.

“This is me we’re talking about.” Thad jumped to his feet and headed for my door.

“Wait…where are you going?” I asked.

“Be back, princess.” He started to leave and paused, glancing between Alex and me. “Now, you two lovebirds behave while I’m gone.” He beamed and closed the door after him.

My cheeks flared as I looked back at Alex, but Alex wasn’t looking at me. He wasn’t looking at Stefan, either. He was studying the vase of flowers, the ones Danton had sent. They were on the table next to him and the note had been left open beside it.

Alex didn’t move. He didn’t react, didn’t breathe, until at last, his gaze moved back to Stefan.

Why did I feel so embarrassed? Like I’d done something wrong or…

Why are you even thinking about this right now? There are more important things, like getting Stefan out of here and sneaking Fleck out of Gaia!

I swallowed. “Is he going to be okay?”

Stefan flew an arm out, which Alex caught and pushed back down.

“He’d better be walking by tomorrow night,” he said, adjusting a pillow behind Stefan. His arm brushed against mine and my skin tingled.

“What’s tomorrow night?” I asked, trying to ignore how close we were.

Alex flexed his jaw. “The ceremony. When the champions are bound to the games. It’s a blood contract, and once their blood is sealed, those champions must fight or there can be no winner. If he can’t walk tomorrow night they won’t let him enter.”

That was why Alex didn’t want anyone seeing Thad. No one could know how bad Stefan’s injury was because if this got out, he might not be allowed to enter tomorrow.

As far as I was concerned, Stefan deserved it after what he’d done, putting Fleck in this position. But now Stefan was in my room, incoherent and broken, with no sign of leaving any time soon.

And I needed him out of here. Now.

“Will Thad be able to find something to heal him?” I asked.

Alex raked a hand through his dark hair, his features sharp. “Yes, but it’s a risk, and without proper time—”

There was pounding on the door.

Alex’s eyes snapped to the door, then narrowed, and he went still.

“Help me move Stefan,” he whispered.

He started pulling Stefan up by his torso while Stefan smiled sheepishly and murmured something incoherent.

I grabbed Stefan’s legs and the two of us very carefully moved Stefan into my bathroom as whoever it was pounded on my door again.

“Just a minute!” I yelled.

I started for the door when Alex grabbed my arm. He leaned so close I could smell the peppermint on his breath. “No one can know about this.”

His eyes burned into mine, and I nodded.

He let go and slipped into my bathroom.

I hurried to my door, put my hand on the doorknob, and turned. “Danton?” I swallowed. “What are you doing here?”

Oh. My. Gosh.

His eyes glistened and he took a slow step forward. “I told you that I would come check on you.”

He’d been drinking.

“Um”—
He needs to leave!
—“thanks, but I didn’t think you meant, er, tonight.”

“I didn’t think so, either.” Danton grinned. “But I was worried and I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

Please, tell me Alex didn’t hear that.

“May I come in?” Danton asked.

“I’m not sure if that’s…”

“Please.” He grabbed onto my naked shoulders and squeezed gently. “I won’t stay long. I swear to you. There’s just…something I need to talk to you about.”

His eyes were so blue and pleading that I was having a difficult time figuring out how, exactly, to tell him to go away, and then he pushed past me and traipsed into my room.

Shoot. That wasn’t supposed to happen. I followed him inside and closed the door, trying to calm myself.

Danton looked around my room and I glanced at my bathroom. The door wasn’t shut all the way—open just a crack—but you couldn’t tell anyone was inside and, so far, Alex was doing an excellent job of keeping Stefan quiet.

Danton’s eyes settled on the flowers and he smiled. “They look beautiful in here.”

“Thanks.” I glanced at the bathroom door again.

“But—” Danton stepped towards me and touched one of my curls “—not as beautiful as you.”

A thousand alarms went off. I pushed his hand away and turned; his disappointment was acute and this time, he didn’t bother hiding it from his face.

“I’m sorry,” he said at last. “I don’t know why I did that, and that’s…what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Oh, no.

Oh, no, no, no,
no
!

Not here, not now, and especially not with Alex behind my bathroom door.

“I don’t know what has come over me,” he continued, raking a hand through his blond hair, “but when I’m around you, I lose myself, my discretion. I know we’ve only just met, but I can’t stop thinking about you.”

Oh, dear.

“It isn’t my intention to make you uncomfortable and I can sense that you aren’t ready for anything romantic yet; I know that. And I know it probably has something to do with—” he swallowed like it was painful “—Alexander Del Conte.”

“Alex?” My cheeks burned. “We are just friends,” I hurried to add. “I grew up with him, and there’s nothing…”

“Daria, it’s okay,” he said. “I’ve heard how you loved him and I saw for myself how you look at him.”

At first, I was embarrassed—extremely embarrassed—but then that embarrassment morphed into anger. It was always the same, how I had loved him, how I had chased after him. Never how he had loved me. Never the other way around. “You’re seeing things, then,” I said through my teeth, “because if he makes me feel anything, it’s disgust.”

“Disgust?” Danton tilted his head. “Hmm, you may be the only woman in this world that would apply that term to him.”

“Well, I’m also the only woman in this world who sees him for what he is,” I said so fast and with so much conviction, Danton smiled at once.

And then I did feel disgusted. With myself.

“That changes things,” Danton whispered. “I’ll be patient. Whenever you are ready, whenever you are comfortable. I won’t press you.” He was standing so close I could see the different shades of blue in his eyes.

Uncomfortable, I turned away.

“I should let you rest,” he said. “This next week will be exceedingly busy for me, so if you’re feeling better in the morning, may I spend it with you?”

Absolutely not. I would be busy, like sneaking Fleck out of Gaia.

I forced a smile. “You may need the extra sleep—”

“No,” he grabbed my hand, “what I need is—”

A
thud
sounded from the bathroom, followed by a chuckle.

Danton went rigid; his eyes narrowed at the bathroom door.

That was final. Stefan was going to die.

“Is there someone…?” Danton started for my bathroom.

Do something!

“Danton, wait…” I started, but he was already halfway there. If he realized who was behind that door…

Hurry!

“Danton!”

That got his attention. He paused and I grabbed his arm, jerking him back to me. And then I threw my arms around his neck and pressed my lips against his.

I wouldn’t have believed what I was doing if I hadn’t been the one actually doing it. Danton couldn’t believe it either because he was about as pliable as a wall until I pressed my body into his. His confusion dissolved, and he melted into me.

His arms wrapped around the small of my back, crushing me against him, and his lips moved so fiercely against mine I had trouble breathing. But there was a part of me that enjoyed it. Enjoyed being held and kissed, desired and wanted, and that same part wanted Alex to see. See that someone else could want me like he’d wanted Vera. See if it made him jealous like I’d been jealous; see if it hurt him like he kept hurting me.

Danton’s lips started moving down my neck—wow, he moved fast—and his hands began slipping beneath the back of my dress and I went still. He stopped kissing me and spoke on my lips. “I think I could get used to this.”

This. What was this? I was kissing a guy I didn’t really care about—not like that—right in front of the guy I
did
.

What was wrong with me?

“I think you should probably go,” I said.

He didn’t let go. In fact, he held on to me tighter, and I could feel his heart pounding against me as his desire pulsed. For a long, terrible second, I thought he wasn’t going to leave, like I’d unleashed some caged animal and I was going to have to beat him off with a stick. One that shot bullets.

“Danton.” I pointedly flickered my eyes to the door. “Please.”

At last, he sighed and relaxed his grip around me.

“You’re right, you need to rest.” He brushed his lips lightly on mine. They were delicate and…small. “I’ll come find you in the morning.”

Danton took a deep breath, walked through the door, and I closed it after him.

What had I done?

I was afraid to turn around. Like, really afraid. I didn’t even hear my bathroom door open but I could feel Alex standing there. I couldn’t explain how because it wasn’t like I could feel any of his emotions, which I really, really wanted to right now, but I could feel him physically there. Like a magnet is drawn to a charge.

Finally, I turned around.

Alex stood in the doorway, his arms folded over his chest as he leaned against the frame. I couldn’t read his face, couldn’t tell what he was thinking or feeling. He just stood there, staring at me. I hated that I couldn’t sense his feelings and I might have thought it was because he didn’t have any, but now I knew that wasn’t the case. I felt a surge of something, but what that something was, I had no idea.

“Well.” I dropped my gaze. “That was close.”

He stood perfectly still, staring at me for what felt like an eternity. His eyes were cold and hard, and without a word, he slipped back into my bathroom.

I swallowed and followed him inside.

A bar of soap had slipped from the tub’s rim and fallen to the floor, and Stefan was lying flat on the ground beside it, beaming. Beside him was the little flower, the one Alex had given me, sitting in its bowl atop a pedestal.

Alex had his back to me and was crouched beside Stefan, hoisting him up.

“I’ll help.” I grabbed Stefan’s legs.

Alex didn’t respond.

In heavy silence, we carried Stefan back to the couch, and as soon as Stefan was comfortable, Alex moved to a chair, pulled a dagger from somewhere inside his boot, and fidgeted absently with the hilt, staring at nothing.

His silence was killing me. “Alex?”

He traced his finger along the blade.

I felt sick. Not because of what I’d said and done—I’d only done it to distract Danton—but because I had enjoyed it. Enjoyed using Danton to hurt someone else.

Someone I cared about.

“Say something,” I whispered.

Alex snapped his eyes to mine. There was so much anger in them that my confidence evaporated. In one swift motion, he shoved his dagger back into his boot and started for the door.

“Wait” —I hurried after him— “where are you going?”

He kept walking.

“Alex,
please
!”

He spun on me and I froze. His eyes were so cold. Never, in all my life, could I remember him looking at me like that—like he hated me. I wanted to say I was sorry. Sorry for what I’d said and what I’d done, but I was too afraid the words would never make it out all the way.

“I have to go,” he said in a very low, controlled voice.

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from crying. “Fine,” I whispered. “Run away like you always do.”

He leaned close, his face a handbreadth from mine, and for a split second I felt his anger. I felt it boiling beneath the surface, hotter than fire, sweltering like the sun. He opened his lips to say something, but at the last second, he turned the door handle and left.

I slammed my fist on the door after him and sagged against it, right as a light
tap-tap-tap
sounded on the other side, followed by a soft “Rook?”