Beautiful Nightmares, page 41
“Laurie and I are friends. That’s all,” I insisted. It had the taste of another lie.
Viessa smiled, but there was something in the curve of her ruby lips that said she didn’t believe me. “There’s no need to choose, you know. At the Unseelie Court, we fuck who we want and leave shame for the humans.”
I reached for my wine glass again, suppressing a smile of my own. “You remind me of Gwyn. She’s always preaching about letting go of my… inhibitions.”
Viessa lifted her head, wearing an incredulous expression. “Gwyn? The huntress? I’m not sure if that’s an insult or a compliment.”
But I was silent; I was too startled to respond. I hadn’t told anyone else about those parts of my conversations with Gwyn. The fact that I was confiding in Viessa, of all people, made me wonder if there was something in the wine she’d brought. “A compliment, I think,” I said eventually. “You’re much less… murdery than she is, though.”
“Did you just describe Gwyn of the Wild Hunt as ‘murdery?’” She laughed. “I like you, Lady Sworn. I figured I would, once I’d had a hot bath and some decent sleep. But now I know for certain.”
Surprise floated through my chest when I realized I was laughing, too. How strong was this wine? I’d forgotten what it was like, just talking with someone. Allowing myself to be instead of forcing myself to become.
Still smiling, I rested my head against the wing of the armchair. “Did you grow up here at Court?” I asked.
Quick as that, Viessa’s mirth faded. “Yes,” she said curtly.
Her tone made me blink, and I straightened. Maybe she thought I was trying to obtain more information for my own gain. Viessa was a faerie, after all, and one who was so good at the game that she’d maneuvered her way to a throne.
I was about to backtrack when she added, “I grew up here, but I was never a child. Sylvyre had… specific tastes, and he began visiting me at night since before I can remember.”
Visiting her at night? I thought blankly. Painful as it was to accept, there was no mistaking her meaning. I’d known Sylvyre was cruel and power-hungry, but I hadn’t known he was evil. Sympathy filled my throat, making my words sound tight as I asked, “Your parents never found out?”
“Oh, they knew.” Viessa tilted her glass closer to her face, frowning. She pressed a fingertip against her cheek and stared at it for a moment. The fire made a popping sound. After another moment, she blew on whatever rested on her fingertip and watched it go into the flames. An eyelash, if I had to guess.
“Over the years, I tried to kill him on a dozen occasions,” she continued, startling me. “But every time, without fail, I faltered. Sylvyre had made sure I was terrified of him, you see. So I decided to get someone else to do it. I knew Nuvian wouldn’t because he was fond of His Majesty—the old bastard had only ever been kind to my brother. Eventually I set my sights on Collith. Back then, he was not the male you know now. He was eager to be the shining knight. When the king put that spell on Naevys, Collith actually went through with it. I was happy to see the king die.” Bitterness leaked into Viessa’s voice. Apparently there were wounds even time couldn’t heal. “You know the rest, of course. I tried to kill Collith and botched the job.”
Firelight flickered over the pain she couldn’t hide, and her knuckles were white from the grip she had on the wine glass. “I’m sorry Sylvyre did that to you, Viessa,” I said softly.
Viessa seemed to shake herself; she twisted in the chair and met my gaze. Her tone became brisk. “I’m going to offer you something I rarely offer anyone, Fortuna.”
“What is that?” I asked, trying not to sound wary.
“My friendship.”
I faltered. She’d surprised me, this new queen who made wishes on eyelashes and whose heart wasn’t as frozen as she would have everyone believe. But I had been tricked by too many faeries.
“That didn’t work out very well for Collith, if I remember correctly,” I said.
Viessa inclined her head, making her curtain of auburn hair sway. Some of the strands were encased in icicles, and they clinked like the strangest of wind chimes. “Oh, but I never offered him my friendship,” she said matter-of-factly, raising those frost-tinted brows again. “Merely my fealty. Which is another beast altogether, wouldn’t you agree?”
I didn’t, actually. After exchanging blood with Gil, those lines were forever blurred for me. But I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth—even if Viessa was playing a game, I could benefit from this. “Okay,” I said, nodding. “I accept your offer. On the condition that your first act as my friend is advice. I want to go home, Viessa. How do I make that happen?”
She didn’t seem surprised. “Belanor will send spies to watch your house, if he hasn’t already.”
I leaned toward her in my enthusiasm.“So we pay him a visit. Sometimes confronting your enemy head-on is the best way to win, right? You taught me that.”
“Only if the circumstances are right. If certain pieces have been put into place. This is not the right course of action.” The faerie pushed her hair over one slender shoulder. “In war, most might say that your weapons are bullets. But if you’re really well versed in the ways of war, your greatest weapon is your head.”
Oliver had said something along those lines, once. I searched my memory, and his voice drifted through me. Sometimes it’s not about being stronger. It’s about being smarter.
But I hadn’t been smart; I’d been making terrible decisions lately. No, not just lately—it was something I’d been doing since I was a child. Always rushing headlong into every choice, every feeling, desperate to escape the memories nipping at my heels. The night I could never forget, the event that had forever shaped me into someone else.
A sound through the wall. A cry in the hallway. A shadow under the door.
I tried to think in the way Collith and Laurie had taught me. The way I’d learned while I wore a twisted crown upon my head. The way Oliver had urged me to when all this chaos began.
What was my objective? That was easy. I wanted to be home with the people I loved. What was the obstacle? Also easy. My presence put them in danger. There had to be a way to achieve both outcomes, and usually it was obvious.
Magic. I had magic at my disposal. A force that could do anything. In the past few weeks, I had seen depths and heights of it that I’d never dreamed possible, even growing up knowing such things existed. Witches with their spells, faeries with their glamour…
Glamour.
My mind jerked to attention. That’s it. I already had something that could do the same work as a glamour. Moving quickly now, my thoughts traveled upward. Through the ground, through the woods, and straight into a barn that smelled like new paint. They rushed into one of the bedrooms, bumping the door open like an invisible hand. Then they dove into a shiny vent that breathed warm air in the night, where an obnoxious ring was lodged in a wooden box, twinkling on a bed of cheap velvet.
Slowly I said, “What if Belanor’s spies didn’t see me? What if I went back wearing a different face?”
“Do you have abilities I don’t know about?” Viessa questioned.
Yes, but that was beside the point—I also had a bespelled ring. But I wasn’t about to reveal my new plan to a faerie, hair braiding notwithstanding. “No,” I said. “Just thinking out loud. I thought I was onto something.”
In response to this, Viessa unfolded her pale legs and stood. She was still holding a glass of wine as she adjusted her skirt and strode past me. “If you stay, please know that you are not a prisoner here, Lady Sworn,” she called. “I’ve studied every player in this game, and I decided long ago that you’re not one I’d want as an enemy. You may come and go by your leave; I won’t try to stop you. Enjoy your evening… and thank you for the conversation.”
With that, the Unseelie Queen closed the door behind her, leaving it encased in a glittering layer of frost.
* * *
After Viessa left, I tried to summon Lyari again. She was either sleeping or back on guard duty, because she didn’t appear.
Neither did Gil, whose side of the bond remained dim and silent. He needed to know what Laurie and I were planning, as well, but I couldn’t bring myself to wake him. If he’d managed to find a respite from his pain, I’d give him as much time as possible.
To pass the hours between now and Collith’s grand escape, I curled up in my armchair with a novel from the small bookshelf. Whoever lived in these rooms apparently did a lot of traveling—every book had a price sticker on it with the name of a different airport. In spite of the tension thrumming through my body, I found myself actually caught up in the story. I covered myself with the blanket again. The fire made its small, merry sounds. Hours ticked past, marked by the state of the logs and flames. My stomach growled, but most of the items on the charcuterie board had dried up or turned brown. Deciding to ignore it, I turned the page of the book still open in my lap.
“Well, isn’t this cozy? I expected to find you bouncing off the walls.”
I yelped at Laurie’s voice, and the book went flying from my hands. I started to glare at him, but then my gaze dropped to the paper bag he held in one hand. There was grease staining the bottom, and the smell hit me a moment later.
“Okay, don’t let this go to your head, but you’ve never been more attractive to me,” I said fervently, bending to retrieve the book.
Laurie set the bag on the table without trying to barter or tease. This time, I recognized his silence for what it was—planning. Glancing up at him through my lashes, I thought about asking where he’d been. He wore a three-piece gray suit now, and there was a distracted look in his eyes. With Laurie, though, it would be a waste of breath. I’d never get a straight answer. In the end, I just took a container of fries out of the bag.
As I ate, Laurie leaned his forearms along the top of the other armchair. “It’s almost time. Are you ready to fetch Collith and blow this popsicle stand?” he asked.
The fry I had just shoved into my mouth suddenly lost its flavor. I swallowed it, along with a resigned sigh. Now seemed as good a time as any to bring up the questions I’d been considering all day. “You do realize that we won’t be able to stay here once we’ve freed him,” I pointed out. “Viessa and the Guardians will be after us, and then I’ll have two murderous monarchs on my ass. Do you have a new hiding place in mind?”
“Actually, you’ll only have one murderous monarch after you, not two,” Laurie replied cheerfully. “I created a diversion that will keep Belanor’s inner circle occupied for a week or so. Didn’t I mention it?”
We both knew he hadn’t—I also didn’t miss that Laurie had dodged the issue of where we’d go once we pulled off this daring getaway. It was why he’d dangled this new information in front of me. It was the equivalent of saying, Oh, look, something shiny.
“What kind of diversion?” I asked, just as he’d known I would.
Laurie lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug. His eyes traveled downward, almost lazily, taking note of the thin nightgown I still wore. “I may have called in my last favor and had a witch curse them with relentless diarrhea,” he answered. “That won’t stop the cherubim, but something tells me you can handle them. By the time Belanor recovers and lifts the curse off his followers, we’ll have a new plan to deal with him, I’m sure.”
He seemed so certain that Belanor would wake up. Thinking about the night ahead, I reached into the greasy bag again and pulled out a cheeseburger. The wrapper crinkled into the stillness. I decided to revisit my first question. Maybe if I annoyed him enough, Laurie would stop dancing around it.
“And where do you expect Collith to go after we get him out?” I asked again, covering my mouth to hide the bite I’d just taken. “He can’t exactly waltz back to his old room.”
“Why, we’ll all stay at Casa de Sworn, of course.”
My stomach dropped. I held the cheeseburger tighter, hoping Laurie wouldn’t notice, and made an effort to sound calm as I said, “Viessa will find him in a matter of—”
“Relax, I’m kidding. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.” He smirked. “Oh, wait, you can’t. I still have those in my pocket.”
I glared at Laurie again and thrust out my hand. “Hand it over. Now.”
“Such a spoilsport.” Laurie sighed and tossed a pair of underwear into my lap, which I grabbed and shoved beneath me. I didn’t ask why he’d taken them in the first place, because I knew I wouldn’t like any answer.
That was when I realized Laurie had managed to distract me again. Tricky, clever faerie. I took another bite of my burger and asked, “You know, why do you even need me? Can’t you just make the guard believe the room is empty while you slip in and get Collith?”
Laurie shook his head. “It’s not that simple. My sources tell me the Tongue has put a spell on Collith’s cell that only allows the queen and her Guardians over the threshold. There’s also the fact that even I can’t be in two places at once—yes, fucking with the guard’s head is part of the plan, but I need to be near him in order for the illusion to remain. Unless you take no issue with my snapping his neck?”
The guard could be one of the faeries I’d grown to like during my time as queen. “Yes, I take issue,” I said tightly.
“Thought you might. Which is why I’ll remain in the passageway and maintain the illusion while you go into the cell.” Laurie paused. “Oh, I should mention that Collith is currently wearing chains drenched in holy water. That’ll be fun for you, won’t it?”
“Why do I need to be here, exactly?” a voice asked from the doorway.
Laurie raised his eyebrows at Gil. The Seelie Prince must’ve stopped at his room before coming here, I thought. “Because someone needs to be the lookout once I’ve followed Viessa and her guards down into the dungeons. You’ll be stationed near the top of the stairwell,” he informed the vampire.
“Wait, if I can’t get into Collith’s cell, how am I supposed to free him?” I cut in. Appetite gone, I dropped the half-eaten cheeseburger back into the bag. “Not to mention getting him out of the chains? I’m a Nightmare, Laurie. We don’t have supernatural strength.”
“It’s precisely because you’re a Nightmare that you must be the one to free him.”
I waited for him to go on. When he didn’t, I pushed the bag away in a burst of frustration. “I assume you have a plan.”
“Don’t I always?” Laurie stopped again, but this time, I realized it wasn’t him withholding answers—he was giving me a chance to retreat. Change my mind. It felt like once he told me the details of his scheme, there was no going back. I would be in this, to the death. I resisted the urge to sigh again. No matter how badly I wanted to walk out of here, I knew those words would follow me. They’re torturing him, Fortuna.
“I’m listening,” I said, pulling the blanket around me, as if the wool could shield me from whatever happened next.
Laurie didn’t rub his hands together, but he may as well have; his eyes gleamed with cunning. “First, let me ask you a question. Was my spy mistaken in their report of seeing Savannah Simonson leave your room?”
I frowned, wondering where he was going with this. Gil finally entered the room and leaned against an armoire. “She didn’t come in, but she did visit me, yes,” I said.
“Why?”
“She wants to see Matthew. And…” I hesitated. I remembered the look on Savannah’s face when I’d told her I would pass on her message. Her expression was something more than relief and gratitude; there had been hope, too. “I think she wants to be forgiven.”
“So she feels beholden to you.” Laurie didn’t phrase it like a question.
“I guess you could view it like that.” I gave him a hard look. “If you were a manipulative asshole.”
My wily faerie prince just grinned. “Excellent,” he said.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Laurie shielded us from sight as we made our way through the maze.
Courtesy of Rachel, who’d been under the impression that we wanted the clothes for exercise, all of us were dressed for battle. Laurie wore what looked like tactical pants, and a tight, cowl neck sweater clung to his hard body. He’d brought the sword that Tabitha delivered to him in her dragon form, and it hung off his hip in a black leather sheath. His hair was braided back, a detail that had me darting looks at him every few seconds. I’d never seen it braided before. Gil wore a long-sleeved shirt and the same pants as Laurie, his feet protected by thick combat boots. As for myself, I was in a zip-up sweatshirt, black exercise pants, and black tennis shoes.
I longed for a Glock in my hand, but asking Rachel for one hadn’t seemed prudent. She definitely would’ve gotten suspicious then. I’d considered asking Laurie to fetch it, but the fact that he hadn’t offered seemed telling. Getting stabbed with a holy blade had really done a number on him.
The realization still bothered me, even now, as we made our way through the shadowed tunnels on a rescue mission that could go wrong in a hundred different ways. This thought had also occurred to Gil—the air was thick with his anxiety and the bond churned. Laurie led the way, keeping whatever he felt expertly hidden behind that formidable mental barrier of his. None of us attempted conversation, but that didn’t mean it was silent.
Despite its change in leadership, other things about the Unseelie Court had remained the same. For instance, the sounds were still disconcerting. Behind one door there were furious whispers, arguing back and forth… but it was only one voice, one speaker. He became more incensed with every moment, and I quickened my pace, eager to pass. Behind another door came humming. Low, off-key humming, broken now and then with a strange giggle. Behind yet another was the undeniable sounds of sex, flesh slapping against flesh. Laurie didn’t smirk back at me or make a comment. This, combined with the straight line of his shoulders, gave away his own tension.
