Under My Skin (14 page)

Cecelia brushed past me, interrupting my thoughts. She glanced back. “Are you coming?” she asked softly.

Once we made it inside, I took in the grand hallway with marble floors to the wide expanse of the ballroom with ceiling-high windows. Everything was so opulent, so different from what I’d seen before. I searched the many faces in the crowd, hoping to see my cousin’s face among them. My grip on the purse tightened. I had to know if she was surviving like me.

And what if she wasn’t?
Doubt had a strange way of sounding like the General, but it wasn’t him. It was my fear trying to take away one of the few things I had left: hope.

In the corner, a servant offered a drink to a girl with black hair. When she turned around, I couldn’t help but frown. It wasn’t Zoe. Cecelia and Captain Belfry continued to follow behind me.

A man in a servant uniform walked up to me and offered me something to drink. “Would you like some champagne?”

“Yes, please.” The urge to cover my mouth was strong tonight, especially with all the perfect people around me.

I focused on the glass in my hands. I’d heard of champagne before but never tasted it. One sip from the bubbly drink, and I knew why people drank it. It floated down my throat and made me smile.

On the comm-console, only the wealthy had stuff like this. In the books I’d read, no one my age drank. My dad pointed out a few times that with such high prices for alcohol, the poor were reduced to only the cheaper homemade alternatives.

“There’s someone I want to talk to. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Cecelia said. From the way she boldly stated what she planned to do, she knew I was in control.

“Whatever.” I didn’t want to be alone here, but I didn’t want to be like the General either.

After Cecelia left my side, leaving me alone with Captain Belfry, others continued to circle me. Some of the faces I recognized as former Water Bearers. One of the girls I sat with after the initiation ceremony passed me on her way to the other side of the room. At first, I opened my mouth to greet her, excited over seeing the familiar face, but she ignored me as if she didn’t know me at all. My face fell. From the way she kept her gaze centered on someone across the room, I assumed she wasn’t in control anymore.

“Tate, who are you searching for?” Captain Belfry asked.

I jumped a bit. Now where did that question come from? “Someone I’ve lost.” He was a trained killer and didn’t need to know about Zoe.

“So many familiar faces,” he said quietly. “I guess they didn’t get what they wanted from the latest auction, so they decided to hang out for spell in their current host bodies. A few new ones though.” His voice turned bitter. “Same game, just a new set of victims for them to use.”

I glanced at him with wide eyes.

“I was wondering what you’d do after I said that.” He was close to me, his voice barely a whisper. His dark red hair was cut short, but a curl rested on his forehead in an appealing way. Even his freckles were cute. Whether it was the way he said my name or the way he hovered protectively near, I knew those things would make me like him. And I refused to like a boy I couldn’t trust.

“I should just ignore you, especially considering you tried to
kill
me my first night at the General’s home.”

His face was even. “The General has enemies who want him dead.”

“Does that include you?”

He didn’t immediately answer. “You need to be careful around him.”

“If you wanted to kill me, why did you…visit me the other night?”

“I’ve heard he usually takes his hosts quickly.” We strolled for a bit, still talking in whispers. “The house servants say you’re the first one to put up a real fight. I admire that.”

My stomach jumped.

“Maybe you’ll succeed where others failed,” he said. “Or die trying.”

“Die trying?” Wow, he was a piece of work. “Isn’t that a bit harsh, Captain Belfry?”

“That’s the reality of your situation. The name’s Quinn, by the way.”

An enforcer approached me, interrupting my reply to Captain Belfry, or should I say Quinn. The enforcer took in the insignias on my dress and promptly saluted. “I’ve finally found you, sir. Do you have everything you need?”

My first instinct was to turn away, but Quinn gave me a look that said,
Tell him to get lost if you don’t want him around.

Well, that was easier said than done. I stiffened my back and tried to channel General Dagon. “I’m busy right now.”

“Sir? I have people who’d really like to speak with you.”

My reply this time was much more confident. “Didn’t you hear me? I’m busy.”

The man took a small step back. “My apologies, sir. Please let me know when you’re ready to meet with General Ashford.”

Properly dismissed, the enforcer left me alone with Quinn. The Master of Blades half-grin barely contained his amusement. “Not bad. You squeaked a few times, but for someone who doesn’t know him well, you almost pulled it off.”

I inwardly cringed. “Barely.”

With Quinn as my guide, I strolled through the crowd. He pointed out familiar faces. I had many questions to ask him about my new life, but now wasn’t the time.

“That tall man over there is one of Dagon’s oldest friends. Steer clear of him tonight.” I changed directions before the other man could spot me.

“How come you know so much about them?”

“I’ve served in the military for a while now. I’ve seen firsthand what the Guild can do to people.”

“How old are you? You look too young to be an enforcer.”

“I’m eighteen.” He was thoughtful for a moment. “Even though I’m good at what I do, I never wanted to do it. I was forced into joining.

Quinn continued as we walked into a sitting room. “You do know talking to me like this is dangerous for me, right?”

“Yes.”

“If we speak like this in the future, I need to know we’re alone…”

I nodded.

“Do you mind questions—in the future? For your protection and mine? Maybe a signal instead?”

I shook my head. It was for the best. We agreed upon a signal. I’d touch my head or twist the ends of my hair when the General was present. If I were alone, I’d touch my lips.

“I’ll know it’s you if you do that,” Quinn said.

He must’ve noticed my little habit of touching my mouth. “The General isn’t shy, ever,” he clarified.

The sitting room didn’t have many people, so I prepared to leave as Cecelia rejoined us. But not before five people in the far corner caught my eye. Two of them shifted and, a set of black braids appeared from behind them. It had to be her! I left Quinn and Cecelia to reach Zoe. The minute I opened my mouth to call her name, I was stopped. In an instant, the General’s presence wrapped around my neck like a tight scarf. I stumbled and one of the waiters caught me.

“Are you all right?” the waiter asked. Somehow, he managed to keep his tray from falling.

I nodded. Before I made my way to Zoe, I pushed my hair behind my ear, not once but twice, for Quinn. As I approached her, I held my breath and grasped onto the hope that she was okay and that she’d still remember me. I didn’t care if the General watched me.

When she saw my face, her eyes lit up. “Tate?”

She pushed through the two men in front of her and rushed to my side. The minute she hugged me, I released the breath trapped in my lungs. “I’d hoped you’d be here,” she whispered. She glanced at me briefly, maybe doubting I was truly there, before she hugged me again. “Are you okay? The last few days have been a never-ending nightmare, and I was so worried about you.”

Everything about my cousin was the same: the same voice, the same smile I envied. I laughed softly. Compared to the women around her, she appeared lovely in a beautiful dark blue gown with gold earrings. Her hair smelled faintly of strawberries. If she were in trouble, she didn’t look like it.

“Where are you?” I asked. I spotted Quinn and Cecelia in the distance. Quinn’s expression was hard to read, maybe hesitant.

“The woman who bought me lives here in New Amesbury. And you?”

“North in the mountains. I don’t know where specifically.”

The gentle grip of her hands on my arms tightened, and then she pushed me away. A rainbow of emotions cascaded over her face—happiness, confusion, and then the bitterness of a snarl.

“I can’t believe you didn’t stop her from touching me, Frederick,” she snapped. “I know you can hear me, you miserable pig.”

The General controlled my mouth and forced my lips into a half-smile. A laugh gurgled in the back of my throat. All the while, I stared at Zoe with wide eyes. I finally managed to murmur. “Zoe?”

The four people behind her watched the entire exchange with amusement. They laughed when Zoe rubbed her forehead and blurted, “Back off, Justina!”

I reached for Zoe, but she recoiled. “Don’t touch me!”

The knife accompanying her words stabbed deep, so deep. Was this Zoe, speaking to protect me, or the new person who had invaded her mind?

All the while, General Dagon remained silent. He most likely gloated over my pain.

“I have to go.” Zoe stiffly walked away but not before General Dagon finally took over my mouth to speak.

“You always did know how to make an unladylike exit, didn’t you?”

Zoe turned around. Her eyes formed slits. “Remember well, Frederick. Just because you’re in a new body now doesn’t change anything. I’ll still rip your heart out if the opportunity comes.”

To hear those words come out of Zoe’s mouth cut into me. I tried to tell myself it wasn’t Zoe who said that, not the cousin who told me everything would be all right.

With that woman in place, we’d never be able to get close again. What was she to the General, a past lover or a former wife? And whatever did Justina mean? Those words were meant for the General, though, not me.

The rest of the evening passed as a series of events I wanted to forget but couldn’t. With Quinn and Cecelia at my side, I was introduced to important people in the military, met other Guild members, and listened to jokes from some Gladiator Ball players. I didn’t know any of them personally, and they acted stiff and cold. What kind of people did things like this all evening? Even worse, all the Second Water Bearers followed their Guild members like obedient sheep. Was this what the poster had boasted of?
Leadership comes from honor and pride
. When would Cecelia or any of those others show some leadership? Did they feel honor and pride holding a champagne glass or the plate of Guild members who wasted expensive food?

Quinn was silent now, all business. I kept my thoughts to myself and didn’t speak unless the General had something to say. That was until the Prime Minister himself appeared in front of me. I stood among a group of Guild members, all high-ranking and intimidating, with their blank faces and words with hidden meanings.

He was exactly as I’d remembered him. Perfect skin as pale as old parchment paper, hair as black as the soot around my home’s fireplace. His eyes resembled smoke—gray and deep. Two sets of personal guards surrounded him and eyed us as if we’d dare to touch him. Everyone’s demeanor changed. Their backs straightened. Eyes were cast down. Everyone feared the Prime Minister.

Adam Falcon’s gaze swept over me from my expensive, high-heeled shoes to the top of my head. He stared at my lips.

“Interesting choice, Frederick.” He smirked as I took a half-step back. “What’s next? A man with one arm and one leg?” Except for Quinn and Cecelia, everyone else laughed around us, but there was a brief hesitation on their part. My left leg shifted to flee, but the General locked me in place.

Let me go!
I thought.

Silence was my reply. Of course, he couldn’t hear my thoughts, but I bet he enjoyed this. They all continued to laugh. I stole a glance at Quinn and his mouth formed a hard line.

Adam stepped close enough for me to catch a brief smell of his cologne. If I wasn’t revolted by seeing his mocking face, I would’ve enjoyed its spicy scent. “You’re always unpredictable, General. I think that’s why I’ve always depended on you to take care of what must be done.”

The General forced a smile on my face. Now he wanted to speak. “In your service, I will always be the first soldier at the battlefield—”

“Thus you will always be ready to fight,” Adam finished. “Wise words from one of my trusted generals. You and I need to speak privately while you’re here.”

“I look forward to our meeting.”

The Prime Minister turned to speak to one of his men. “Make sure General Dagon is sent an invitation to my polo match tomorrow.” The soldier nodded and followed the Prime Minister away from the group of men around me.

The General glowed with pride. He’d impressed the Prime Minister. He just made me hate him even more. All I wanted to do was shrink to the size of a dandelion seed and float away with the wind.

Most girls in my position would’ve churned with excitement at the prospect of spending the morning with Adam Falcon. A few months ago, one of Adam’s speeches had been displayed in class. Along with the other girls, I had watched the console with rapt attention.

As I rode to the venue where the polo match would take place, I thought to myself that those girls wouldn’t feel so eager if they knew he was an old man who had taken over the body of an innocent person.

Quinn sat in the front seat of the vehicle, his head trained on the road ahead of us. My ever-present companion, Cecelia, gazed out the window, taking in the landscape outside New Amesbury. The land was mostly barren with overcast skies and patches of ash trees. Only a few buildings, most of them abandoned and decrepit, could be seen. Compared to the city, the area told the tale of a time when homes and farmland had made it vibrant.

“I wonder if this place had ever been beautiful,” I said.

“Have you ever seen a beautiful farm before?” Quinn asked from the front seat.

I laughed out loud. Cecelia threw a dirty look in my direction. She was far too serious for her own good. Even under our unfortunate circumstances.

We were both quiet for a few minutes. I tugged at my knee-length white dress and tried to clear my head. But it wasn’t easy. Ever since we’d talked at the reception, I’d become self-conscious around Quinn. I shouldn’t care. Didn’t he work for General Dagon? Didn’t he almost attack me? Yet, my wandering thoughts settled on questions: Did he like what I was wearing today: my dress, make-up, and expensive boots made of real leather? My fingers brushed against my scar. Someone like him would never think someone like me was pretty.