Denial (Goblin's Kiss Series Book One) (38 page)

She was thinking of Wicker, but it
did the trick. “I will get them.”

She told me
where to find the dress and asked what my plan was. I refrained
from telling her so she would be as surprised by the rest and
wouldn
’
t be a target. I didn
’
t want Joshlin hurting her
either.

We went in the
side entrances that Katelyn leaves by. Wicker was very familiar
with the route but didn
’
t say so. I found it odd that he
knew it well, but I had my own quirks in life that surfaced around
a certain female that made no sense to him either. Trigger luckily
kept his big mouth shut without a single question or
comment.

Inside the mouth of the rock-like
emptiness we were dumped into, we surveyed our weapons and vowed to
plow through if it came to it. At this point it was hard to tell if
all had been told of our “betrayal” or if they were secretly hoping
someone would “save them all”.

Here
’
s hoping they want the
latter.

The first sign of a guard
recognizing Wicker gave us reassurance. Jones slapped a hand over
his heart in a silent salute to our cause and admitted us on. We
were in.

I checked my
watch right before we officially came into the inner walls. Three
hours past noon. The hours were dwindling. I had no idea when this
plan of Joshlin
’
s would come down, but I needed
it to be before. We waited for over an hour before Jones surfaced
and told us the wedding was at sundown. That meant he would start
parading around an hour or so before.

Jones slipped
something in my hand. He gave a knowing look and left. I read it.
It was the follow up message from the book room research my inside
person did to find out about the kiss. Inside the book found, a
letter stated that the second generation of our court was foretold
to be the longest reigning of our existence. This was the news from
last time. But this time...this time my informant found the missing
piece I needed. A fortune teller named the ruler. Jem Loggins would
rule all the courts combined. She would survive and
that
’
s all I needed to know. I wasn' t in the habit of trusting
fortune tellers, but sometimes head games gained one courage. And
right now I needed it. Nothing could stop me now. I could beat
Caydon for her hand. And if not, she was the perfect queen for this
realm either way. Both realms could benefit from her leadership.
Not one of them had spent the amount of time she had leading others
astray to guard her abilities and avoid
detection.

The second and third guard
followed suit without a word and the same salute in question thirty
minutes later. The fourth one stopped circling the room diagonal to
the courtyard and adjacent to the giant ballroom where he would no
doubt hold this fiasco of a wedding.

Just then, I
heard his voice and hid behind the retaining wall that separated
the room from the garden terrace. He was yelling at someone to
hurry up his shirt and polish his shoes. Same old
Joshlin. His voice trailed off as if following
his berated tailor.

Seth, the guard
a foot from me and posted just beside where Joshlin had just stood
listening to the same orders I
’
d heard, bent towards me and
said, “If you are successful, we are all with
you.”

That was an
underlying way of saying we go nowhere if you fail. I understood.
Their families depended on them. I just didn
’
t have one. If
Emma...

I shook my thoughts away to
focus.

“Understood. I would expect
nothing less.”

We all three hid
in the small closet just beside the sitting areas for
Joshlin
’
s nightly visitors. I wanted to puke thinking about him
laying a finger on her. It wouldn
’
t leave my mind. It kept
returning like a repeating punch to the gut.

“We move in
fifteen. I don
’
t want anything to be
anticipated. He will not be back to his rooms and will be irritable
as a cat in heat because of what he
’
s about to do. When they pass, we
will wait till they are in the doors and advance on the guards in
tow. If they are really with us, this will go well. He will do as
expected with retaliation demanding the guards take us. Emma will
play a big part if she takes my unsaid advice with attacking
Joshlin. I don
’
t think she
’
ll hesitate. Everyone
clear?”

“What is plan B?”

I thought a second on the outcome
of Joshlin taking her and running, for which I highly doubted him
to be that stupid, but would entertain the idea.

“Then we take her and just
run.”

“If he lives, it
isn
’
t over.
”

“I know, but I
don
’
t think I can kill my brother and save her
too.”

The flicker of
remorse flashed in the glow of Wicker
’
s eyes before it left. I
didn
’
t want to think about what it meant.

Trigger silently
motioned for Wicker and I to go left and he would go right. We
trailed around the corners and headed behind the pack of guards. I
had to assume Emma was already in the room standing in a dress that
was likely far from her liking and dressed up like a porcelain
statue. Oh, she would be breathtaking to see, but not chosen for me
or by me. If I convinced her to be mine, she could wear a potato
sack and I wouldn
’
t care.

The doors clicked shut with Jones
and another guard at the post of “not letting anything in”. I would
have to make it look like I blasted through them with a fight so as
to not get them hung at the gallows.

At the count of
five, all three of us readied our daggers and prepared our magic.
The doors didn
’
t boom open like my mind
imagined, but eased aside noiseless and unnoticed. In the room
stood almost every family and every guard I have known my entire
life. Along the walls gathered children with their mothers and
fathers behind them.

In the center
trailed a slide of white lace that trailed a silky carpet all the
way up to Emma, who was facing away from me with her face aimed up
to the ceiling. I looked up to see if I knew what she was thinking
and saw nothing. Lost in a moment of my own I caught the curve of
her hips in the tight material that fit to her waist as she began
to twist around my direction. The extremely low cut front showing
more than any man should see of another man
’
s female led me up to her
face. Frightened and happy when she looked my way, I felt her sigh
from across the room.

More important, she looked
unharmed. She felt unharmed. Nothing in her energy as I sought it
seemed altered other than the fear and anger she was sending out in
heat waves to all. Did he really think everyone would accept her as
happy with this?

Something
prodded my shoulder about the time that various onlookers let out
an audible gasp in our direction. All heads turned including the
two main guests of honor. Joshlin
’
s shock gave me an edge as
Emma
’
s tear stained face covered in a ridiculous amount of make-up
that hid her pretty eyes and face. She screamed out and Joshlin
reached toward her.

With that, all I could see was
red. No, I saw black. If he hurt her, I will have no qualms with
killing him.

He was here. He
was really here. My body wanted to burst out of these clothes and
run to him. I couldn
’
t breathe, my corset contraption
was so tight. Katelyn and Ellen had to half carry me under one
shoulder to get me up the four steps to where I stood so moving now
wasn
’
t going to be easy. Then again, who cared if I ripped the
dreaded gown to shreds? I certainly didn
’
t.

Ames was staring
at me, looking me over. This was not time to play the lust game,
but his face made me have hope.
Then
again, I don
’
t think that
’
s how he was looking
at me. He was checking for damage control. I really
didn
’
t once wonder if Joshlin would hurt me, but
Ames
’
look scared me into further protest of the
situation.

I glanced at king boy beside me
and saw that he was in total surprise that Ames was in here. Taking
advantage of it, I peeled back the first layer of lace and reached
in for the first fold where I had three tiny daggers snugly fitted
into the dress. I had made secret entrances to the smallest ones
without any major movement. In my hand now was the first one that I
flashed Ames. His eyes barely moved, but he saw it. I started for
the rest.

His shoulders reared back making
my confidence rise a little but only seconds left before Joshlin
acted.

Tear. Rip.

“Get him. Hold him down.” Joshlin
barked out his orders. I thought I understood his magic was
stronger than a manhandling crew of guards. Why would Joshlin need
their strength?

A hand went to
my throat and another around my waist. My hands were bound to my
sides all in the same seconds I told myself to be ready for
anything. This was the
any
thing and I was tied up to him
now.

“You will watch
her die if you so much as move yourself or any object near my
person.”
Joshlin
’
s menacing purr
didn
’
t sound the least bit sexy like I thought when
I
’
d
first met him. He wasn
’
t even compassionate like he
tried to sound sometimes. I even wondered then if he would actually
kill me to save himself.

“You harm one
hair on her head and I
’
ll kill you a thousand times and
make sure you
’
re still alive to see me do it
over and over again.”

Joshlin laughed like a madman.
“We
will see about that, dear brother. By the looks of it, I think you
will do anything I say right now.”

A shot of pain
wringed my neck and blood ran down the front of my dress making a
path to the first beads over the bodice. It didn
’
t hurt as much as it
tingled like a numbing bee sting. Joshlin tried to turn me and in
doing so I saw his lips pucker a little. Was the dude trying to
kiss me?

“I will take her with me before I
let you have her.”

He
WAS
trying to kiss
me!

“Why?” Ames asked at the oddest
moment.

“Because I can
feel how much you want her,” he seethed through his teeth beside my
earlobe. “And that only means you
’
ve kissed her already. You always
have to win, don't you, dear brother.”

Can Joshlin feel
his brother
’
s
desire
? I darted my eyes to Ames
attempting the same. I couldn
’
t feel anything but anger and a
very dangerous panic button shooting off him as well as every
single body in the room. They were more practiced at the art
though. I chose to ignore the kiss part, blushing rather wildly but
then let it get the better of me.

“Do I get a choice in this matter?
Why are you still trying to put your nasty lips on mine?” I sounded
like a frog choking on water. I needed to stall for time. I needed
to get my knife in his back.

Joshlin
’
s grip didn
’
t
loosen.
“Ah, he left that part out. The
kiss of the goblin king makes you bound to him forever, my little
Jem.”

But I thought we were already
bound. I looked at Ames in confusion. “But I thought...”

“I
’
m sorry,” Ames mouthed out to me. What does that
mean?

A man out of my
peripheral took a few steps to my left. Joshlin
didn
’
t let go of me, but told the man to get the space cleared so
that I couldn
’
t get my footing on anything to
help myself. The man paled but did as told. Joshlin's body turned
into me and made the hem of my dress tighten me into a human sized
tourniquet from the floor up. His foot must have landed on the
lace, because the second he leaned in more to check behind us for
objects for my own usage, his leg buckled and he tripped into me. I
didn
’
t think, I just acted. I plunged the knife into his side and
yanked then stabbed into his thigh where it stuck from the reach.
My other hand
’
s weapon swooped up and slashed a
nasty scratch into his cheek defiling the pretty boy face he owned.
I hope it scarred.