“Where do you think you’re going, Claire?” Mace asked. He was in my face shoving the gun into my ribs.
“Mace,” Cinnamon insisted. “We must go.
Now
.”
Mace was still eyeing me. Still pressing the gun against my ribs. He should have taken Cinnamon’s advice.
Tsking came from behind us, then The Boss’s unmistakable voice. “This is going to be a mess to clean up,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll hear about it from maintenance.”
Mace sneered. “This isn’t over,” he whispered to me, then faced The Boss. “Father,” he said, with a wave of his hand, a slight bow, and a jovial tone as if they were meeting over drinks.
The Boss had been examining Junior’s body, but turned when Mace greeted him. He was never emotional. Today was no exception. He studied the others. Sage and Sorrel cowered off to one side. Cinnamon’s fists were tightened, but she stood her ground, refusing to show any weakness.
“I think a new location is needed,” The Boss said.
In a flash, we were all exactly as we had been, but now we were in Purgatory, in the great hall in Mab’s castle. Mab sat on her throne, and Quaid hung by his arms from a wooden beam to the right of her chair. He was half-naked, his back a mass of angry red welts and blood. He’d clearly been whipped.
The Boss glanced at him but didn’t comment.
“Brother, it is so good to see you again. I see you’ve brought back my property,” Mab said, rising and walking over to me.
I scurried back.
She smiled and ignited her mark. She didn’t make it too painful, just enough to get my attention.
I stopped and let her approach.
“You’re trainable,” she said. “Good.” Turning back to The Boss, she lifted a brow. “I didn’t expect you to deliver her personally, Brother.”
“You’re not really interested in the girl,” he said. “What would you rather have?”
Mab left me where I stood and moved closer to him. “I see,” she said, smiling. “You have come to trade.” Her eyes briefly fell on the quads, but she didn’t say anything. None of them reacted.
I gasped. The quads were all frozen like statues.
“Done,” he said.
Done? Had he traded the quads for me? Harry said The Boss would save me if he could, but I didn’t believe he actually would.
“And,” The Boss continued. “I want my servant returned as well.”
Quaid lifted his head, and my shoulders slumped. She wanted Quaid to stay with her. Now she’d somehow trapped him, knowing The Boss would want him returned.
The wicked grin on her face was clear. He couldn’t have both of us.
“I have a claim on both,” she said. “You have only bartered for one. I’m willing to let you have either for your trade.”
She knew as well as I did he would choose Quaid.
“It’s against the rules to claim my property. He is not part of the bargain.”
“He betrayed you, Brother. According to our rules
,
that makes him a free agent.” Mab paused, smiling at Quaid as if they were lovers. “I discussed it with him at great length when he dined with me earlier.”
She faced The Boss; her mouth formed a smug line. Jayne warned me about eating the food, but Quaid must not have known that rule, or why else would he have broken it?
“That will not work on him,” The Boss said.
Huh? He’s immune? Not fair
.
“It’s true I did not get the full benefit of his deed, but I do have a claim nonetheless. I have rights to one,” she said, pointing at me. “And a hold on the other.” She glanced back toward Quaid. “You may choose either for the bargain.”
The Boss’s mouth tightened, and his eyebrows dropped into a straight line. Mab smiled, her expression triumphant. She’d bartered for what she really wanted, the quads, and now she was going to get to keep the bonus prize as well—me. Seriously, why the hell did she want me so bad?
“I’ll give you a minute to think about your choice.” Mab walked over to where Quaid dangled. Tracing her hand along his side, she left four tiny lines of blood as her fingernails dug into his flesh. She stopped to check her reflection in the large mirror on the wall behind him.
My heart skipped a beat; the Keeper’s mirror. The Keeper winked at me just before Mab walked away.
“You should take your servant,” she said, glancing up at Quaid as she passed. “Then we will both have something to play with.”
The Boss was apparently bored enough to check the time. He raised his head, but turned away quickly when he saw I was staring. He’d pick Quaid, and that would be it. I’d be stuck in Purgatory forever. He wouldn’t tell my mother the truth. He’d say his hands were tied and be done with it.
I flinched when Mab stopped beside me. I made a conscious effort not to back away from her.
“I’m quite interested in learning what makes her tick,” she said, brushing hair back off my shoulder. “She was in the Deeps earlier, did they tell you?”
“No,” he said, eyeing Mace.
“Do tell me how she managed to survive, Brother.”
I clenched my fist, when she amped up the heat of her mark.
“The watch. It’s one of Harry’s.”
I glared at him, but he wasn’t looking at me. How dare he tell her anything?
Mab clutched my arm and twisted my wrists to see the watch.
I tried to pull my arm away.
She tightened her hold.
“Please stop her,” I said to The Boss.
She laughed. “He hasn’t yet decided, but we both know he’s leaning toward his servant.” Her wicked smile was confident he’d pick Quaid. “You and I will have plenty of time to talk about the Deeps after they have left.”
I gazed down at the watch. I didn’t want her to have it. In my mental landscape of geodes, I picked up the two halves that glowed a bright iridescent purple and slammed them together. The watch’s clasp released.
“Go home,” I commanded, and it disappeared from my wrist.
I was hoping it would find Harry, but with my luck it was probably sitting on the dresser in my apartment. Not that I had a clue what he would do if the watch went to him. It was probably against the rules to interfere, but the watch belonged to him, and I wanted him to have it back.
Mab growled and intensified the heat. Doing my best to ignore the pain, I searched around my mental garden of geodes. As I’d discovered, a geode in use would glow. Unfortunately, Mab’s geode was black, and my power continued to uncover more geodes. Distracted by the pain of her mark, I couldn’t find the other half. I couldn’t turn her mark off, but at least I no longer needed the watch to use my power.
“Take your servant and leave us. I have decided you may not choose the girl.”
“That’s not how the rules work, Sister,” Harry said as he materialized in the great hall. He tucked my watch into his pocket.
Mab hissed and turned away from me
, the
pain of her mark
returning
to something more reasonable. “Why are you here, Brother? This matter does not concern you. You were not invited.”
His mouth puckered and his eyebrows rose as he gave her an indignant look—it was clear he didn’t need an invitation. “Where the girl is involved,” he said. “It concerns me. I’m her guardian in these matters.”
My guardian
.
He strode over to where I was standing and placed his hand on my arm—turning off Mab’s mark completely.
She pointed her finger at me and declared, “I have a legitimate claim to her. We agreed she belongs to me.”
“Yes, but you offered her in trade. You cannot rescind that offer until he has decided which he will choose.”
“Decide then,” she spat and glared at The Boss.
He studied me, but I could tell he’d already chosen, and it wasn’t me. I lowered my gaze. I didn’t want him to see my disappointment at being left with her.
“Quaid,” he said.
“Guards,” Mab bellowed. “Remove the demon, and take the girl to the Deeps.”
My mind was yelling at me to run, but I was frozen to the spot. There was no escape from her. Not in Purgatory. Even if I escaped the castle, I had no way out. I belonged to her now. My power, however, didn’t like feeling trapped. I heard the faint crackle of energy as wisps of power formed around my left hand.
Quaid was lowered to the floor.
He was weak and unable to stand at first. But he was not easily broken. Mab had certainly given it her best shot. He stood with great effort, his jaw tight with determination. Without hesitation, he walked over and took his place behind The Boss. Quaid wasn’t scared at the prospect of leaving with him. I wasn’t sure how, but I was sure he hadn’t betrayed anyone. He’d done his job, and now he was being rewarded by getting to go home.
The guards were on me, seizing me by the arms. The power building in my hand was starting to show. I tamped it down, hiding it until I was ready to use it.
“Wait,” The Boss said. “I wish to challenge your claim to the girl.”
“What?” Mab exclaimed. “That has already been decided. She belongs to me.”
“Has she eaten anything while in Purgatory?” Harry asked.
Mab hesitated. “No, but...”
“What proof do you have to your claim, Brother?” Harry asked.
“She is under signed contract with me. She cannot be claimed by Mab.”
“Signed contract?” Mab said in Ancient. “We agreed she could never be bound to you.”
I was sure she thought she was speaking a language I couldn’t possibly understand, but the parental controls were off on my translator. I could hear her perfectly.
“We also agreed you would have no direct contact,” Harry said in Ancient. “If you swear an oath that you have not manipulated any of these events, then I will disallow his claim. If not, then you have both broken the agreement, therefore, neither of you will be at fault. Those are the rules, Sister.”
Mab’s eyes narrowed. I could tell she was trying to figure out her best strategy. If she tried to claim she wasn’t involved, I was sure Harry would do everything in his power to prove she was. And if that happened she might lose the quads, which had been her original goal. There were probably other consequences too, but with these three who could keep track? I certainly didn’t want to be trapped here with her while a court date was set.
She smiled and, in English, said, “She was not under contract when she entered my realm. If she had been, you would have stated it before.”
The Boss snapped his fingers, and a signed piece of paper appeared in his hand.
I recognized it immediately. It was the receipt Mike asked me to sign. That seemed so long ago. He’d said I was signing my soul away. A requirement to seal the deal, but I’d thought he was joking. I thought The Boss already owned my soul.
Mab snatched the paper from his hand. “The blood is still wet,” she pointed out as she inspected the document. “How, then, did she sign it before she entered Purgatory?”
“Time is not always as it seems,” The Boss reminded her.
The same words she’d said to him earlier in the meeting at the Lux. Harry smiled. I was sure he understood how it happened. He knew Johnny’s boys had me until a few hours ago, and now the other me had just entered Purgatory. The Boss had been stalling. He had to wait for me to sign the receipt. Even though I had just signed it, I had, in fact, signed it before ever putting a foot in Purgatory.
“He has a claim, Sister,” Harry said. “The girl signed it before entering your realm. Your claim is invalid.”
Mab threw her will and shoved me up against the castle wall. I grunted, losing the air in my lungs. She kept up the pressure, pushing the air out of me until I could barely breathe. The Boss didn’t flinch. He’d worked it so I belonged to him, but I don’t think he actually cared about me.
“Stop!” Harry knocked Mab’s will away.
I fell to the ground.
“You have what you really wanted.” He motioned at the quads. “Now accept the bargain and leave her alone. Unless you have reconsidered and would like to claim no knowledge of events.”
“You have no proof,” she snapped.
“Then claim innocence,” The Boss growled. “And we shall see.”
I had no idea what making that claim meant, but her face made it clear. She wouldn’t try that tactic if her life depended on it, which maybe it did.
Harry helped me up. I stayed close to him. He was the only one I trusted to play by the rules.
“Do not enter my realm again, child...unless you wish to die a thousand deaths.” She turned away from us and returned to her throne. Before I’d become tangled in this mess, she’d been after the quads. So she’d gotten what she really wanted. She was just pissed I’d slipped through her fingers again.
The Boss waved his hand toward the quads. “Awake.”
They peered around, all disoriented for a moment. The scowl on their faces said to me that none of them was happy to be standing in Mab’s castle. The twins looked at each other, shrugging and shaking their heads. They had been under the spell the entire time. They appeared not to know what had happened. Considering her hatred for Mab, I was sure Cinnamon would have rather been anywhere else. She had no one to blame but herself. I opened her eyes before they killed Junior. She could have backed out but hadn’t. The twins weren’t innocent, but in this case they were victims of Mace’s desire and Mab’s plan.
Mace narrowed his eyes on Harry, then me. Quaid stood with The Boss, and I stood with Harry. Mace glanced around, seeing that he and his siblings were on Mab’s side of the house.
Quaid and I would be leaving. If Mace hadn’t already, he’d figure out soon enough that he and his siblings were staying with Mab. I don’t think this was an option he considered when he decided to take this path. Maybe he’d never contemplated his father handing control of him over to Mab.
“You will remain in Purgatory,” The Boss said. “All of you. Mab has control of you now.”
Cinnamon’s mouth opened as if she wanted to say something, but she was too smart to show her hand to Mab. She pressed her lips together, as if she knew it would do no good to beg her father to reconsider. She would have to stay like the others.
She looked away before The Boss did. Did that show compassion? I doubted she would see it that way if it were true, since his tough love basically sacrificed them for a glorified bodyguard. He had other plans all along for getting me back, but I guess he hadn’t counted on Quaid’s being trapped by Mab.